Working on the Rifts campaign I've been running for...maybe a year now, in roughly fortnighly installments.
Well, 'working on' as in thinking about it!
I want to actually do some detailed map work, working out maybe 10 km squares of a map I drew up awhile ago. I have some gridded paper that can just about do a 20x20 grid. But each square being 500 meters seems a little big (that's about two square blocks). On the other hand making them 200 square meters each (about one block or a bit less), while I like the resolution of that more would make one page only cover 4km.
It's curious - I've played alot of GTA 5 recently BUT I want to make a map which is more like the old days of GTA where there was stuff around just about every corner. GTA games these days (starting with San Andreas) are so spartan with regards to having anything there! So I'm aiming for that.
I'm also aiming to not just have threats the PC's could engage, but also relatively minor threats they could instead engage. The reason is I've come to think the model of 'well, do you take them on' is problematic, because it's actually 'well, do you take them on or...do nothing'. And that's actually just bad gameplay. Sure they could head on to something else - but in that moment, if they don't take it on, then they are doing nothing.
Anyway, that's what I'm up to. Also must remember to put a path through the map - this is a map they travel through a bit, so it'll need a path. Whether it's a smooth sailing path, who knows?
Showing posts with label rifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rifts. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Rifts RPG : High cost of armour repair isn't scary
It strikes me, also having played alot of Rifts recently, that a PC with 60 Mega Damage Capacity armour just does not get any fear from an enemy who does, say, 1D6 - even though that's 1D6x600 credits in repair cost.
But the repair costs aren't scary.
This is what struck me. Because to get money to pay for them, you are still going to have to get out there amongst enemies. You can't get scared and shy away from doing that.
So it ends up at being no big deal. So small time damage (once you have tough armour) is not made thrilling by repair costs.
I'm tossing up the idea of some kind of additional 'magic damage' dealt by supernatural creatures, in a fixed amount (something like 10 Mega Damage or 20 Mega Damage) on top of the creatures paltry 1D6 or 3D6.
This damage can't wreck your armour, but it can disable it. It dissipates at one point per hour (you can pay for a faster dissipation).
This promotes the 'Well, I think I'm going to shy away from combat now!' thing which shakes play up a bit and makes for a loss condition in combat. Ie, you got beat up so bad you want to go hide in a corner for awhile. When you have to pay for repairs though, there's really no room for that as you still need to get out and make money (to pay for repairs or make up for money lost in paying for repairs).
You have to make a place for being scared in.
But the repair costs aren't scary.
This is what struck me. Because to get money to pay for them, you are still going to have to get out there amongst enemies. You can't get scared and shy away from doing that.
So it ends up at being no big deal. So small time damage (once you have tough armour) is not made thrilling by repair costs.
I'm tossing up the idea of some kind of additional 'magic damage' dealt by supernatural creatures, in a fixed amount (something like 10 Mega Damage or 20 Mega Damage) on top of the creatures paltry 1D6 or 3D6.
This damage can't wreck your armour, but it can disable it. It dissipates at one point per hour (you can pay for a faster dissipation).
This promotes the 'Well, I think I'm going to shy away from combat now!' thing which shakes play up a bit and makes for a loss condition in combat. Ie, you got beat up so bad you want to go hide in a corner for awhile. When you have to pay for repairs though, there's really no room for that as you still need to get out and make money (to pay for repairs or make up for money lost in paying for repairs).
You have to make a place for being scared in.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Rifts: Tying power increase to abstract exploration
I'm thinking of adding a particle beam underbarrel attachment.
The idea is that the device powers up over time as the user figures out ways of increasing it's power. As they explore the world ways of increasing its power come to them in dribs and drabs. The way this works is the device does 3D6 MD base damage, but has a percentage chance (starting at 50%) of doing an extra 2D6 damage. You roll during initiative - if you pass, it does the extra damage for the rest of the combat (until it's ammo runs out - it can do four shots a day. Costs 50 credits a shot). I'd go 1D6 extra damage, but I don't think 1D6 is terribly impressive.
Anyway, so now instead of having to put some kinda new weapons in every nook and cranny they explore, or somehow giving them a new weapon for figuring out stuff in the world, I can tell them that percentage increases by one or two points! Thus slowly making the weapon more powerful!
When it gets to 100%, it resets back to 1% and the weapons base damage increased by 1D6 (3D6 goes to 4D6).
Though this kinda means a step backwards in power as when the percentage is 90%+ they'd probably be getting the +2D6 extra damage, well, over 90% of the time. But when it upgrades, it's as if they go down by one die because at the start your going to have a very low percentage and rarely roll it.
Not sure what to do about that. As said, I could just make the bonus 1D6...but it doesn't seem alot. I'm certainly not having the base damage increase by 2D6!
I guess a mitigation (but not solution to that) is to not have it reset to 1% on upgrading, but to 50%. But I want this mechanic to stretch, giving about 2% every ten minutes of play. It'll cut back on that alot if I do that and it still doesn't really solve the problem.
The idea is that the device powers up over time as the user figures out ways of increasing it's power. As they explore the world ways of increasing its power come to them in dribs and drabs. The way this works is the device does 3D6 MD base damage, but has a percentage chance (starting at 50%) of doing an extra 2D6 damage. You roll during initiative - if you pass, it does the extra damage for the rest of the combat (until it's ammo runs out - it can do four shots a day. Costs 50 credits a shot). I'd go 1D6 extra damage, but I don't think 1D6 is terribly impressive.
Anyway, so now instead of having to put some kinda new weapons in every nook and cranny they explore, or somehow giving them a new weapon for figuring out stuff in the world, I can tell them that percentage increases by one or two points! Thus slowly making the weapon more powerful!
When it gets to 100%, it resets back to 1% and the weapons base damage increased by 1D6 (3D6 goes to 4D6).
Though this kinda means a step backwards in power as when the percentage is 90%+ they'd probably be getting the +2D6 extra damage, well, over 90% of the time. But when it upgrades, it's as if they go down by one die because at the start your going to have a very low percentage and rarely roll it.
Not sure what to do about that. As said, I could just make the bonus 1D6...but it doesn't seem alot. I'm certainly not having the base damage increase by 2D6!
I guess a mitigation (but not solution to that) is to not have it reset to 1% on upgrading, but to 50%. But I want this mechanic to stretch, giving about 2% every ten minutes of play. It'll cut back on that alot if I do that and it still doesn't really solve the problem.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Rifts: Post game musings
I think I completely forgot to use psychic blasts in the last game of Rifts I ran. And it's kind of important for scares and danger! Mostly, I think, because they happen on a 18-20 natural roll of the dice, so they kind of slip off the radar. I was playing Serious Sam 2 recently and I often forget I have grenades, or serious bombs. Or a cannon.
So I'm going to have it that groups who have the psychic blast ability, one of them has it prepped to fire on their first attack, no matter the roll. The rest continue to fire them on 18-20. As before, they can only fire one each.
Also, as is expected, bio-manipulation: paralysis will be nerfed. I'm thinking one target only and to use it on another target you have to remove it from the first target (as a free action on your attack. You can do something else with the attack, like shoot, for example), if that target is still alive.
So I'm going to have it that groups who have the psychic blast ability, one of them has it prepped to fire on their first attack, no matter the roll. The rest continue to fire them on 18-20. As before, they can only fire one each.
Also, as is expected, bio-manipulation: paralysis will be nerfed. I'm thinking one target only and to use it on another target you have to remove it from the first target (as a free action on your attack. You can do something else with the attack, like shoot, for example), if that target is still alive.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Rifts RPG (the pen and paper game, not 'Rift'!): Pondering the SDC/MDC schism
Once again I consider the gordian knot that is the Rifts ruleset. Particularly how to make BOTH SDC and MDC combat occur, not just one or the other. Of course the author (Kevin Sembieda) just forces players out of their armour (cause you can't wear it all the time) then has a bear turn up, coincidentally, just at that time. There, done and dusted in his opinion. Either you probably think what I think about that, or you think that works just dandy and I wont shower you with my dismissals.
Anyway, for the former camp, this is the method I'm thinking of to blend MDC and SDC threats. For one, alot of SDC monsters, together with their SDC attacks also have a psychic slam or psychic blast attack. This attack does 1 Mega Damage (or 2 Mega Damage on a crit) on a hit. During their melee attacks, a natural 18-20 on the dice rolls means instead of doing a normal attack, they do a psychic slam melee attack. Once they have done it, they can't do another such slam or psychic blast for an hour. Psychic blasts take awhile to charge up, generally done on the monsters last attack of the melee and similarly, once used the monster cannot do another psychic slam or blast for an hour.
Second is that the chest/torso plate of body armour can be removed and replaced with a homespun, salvaged armour (made of shards from old bits of armour and/or old pre rifts building fragments) that has 200 SDC and an armour rating from 12 to 15 (generally 15).
The thing is psychic slams and blasts are slow enough that the wearer can see them coming and opt for the armour to take the blow, making it automatically hit the armour even if the attack is above the AR or even if it's a critical hit! So it soaks the hit. But if it's hit even by just 1 point of Mega Damage, all of it is destroyed. If hit by a crit and it's already taken damage, the PC takes the remainding damage.
Eg, if it had been reduced to 190 SDC and a psychic slam hits it with a crit for 2 Mega Damage (200 Standard Damage!), the armour is gone and the PC takes the remaining 10 damage (200-190 = 10 Standard damage taken)
So, if you get the set up, this basically works if you have a low cash campaign - you don't want to wear your normal armour all the time, because even one point of damage costs alot to repair (assuming you can even find a repair place). So instead you want to wear this armour and attack with SDC attacks, soaking the psychic slam/blasts with the homespun armour (which simply costs time and effort to make, rather than money).
Anyway, for the former camp, this is the method I'm thinking of to blend MDC and SDC threats. For one, alot of SDC monsters, together with their SDC attacks also have a psychic slam or psychic blast attack. This attack does 1 Mega Damage (or 2 Mega Damage on a crit) on a hit. During their melee attacks, a natural 18-20 on the dice rolls means instead of doing a normal attack, they do a psychic slam melee attack. Once they have done it, they can't do another such slam or psychic blast for an hour. Psychic blasts take awhile to charge up, generally done on the monsters last attack of the melee and similarly, once used the monster cannot do another psychic slam or blast for an hour.
Second is that the chest/torso plate of body armour can be removed and replaced with a homespun, salvaged armour (made of shards from old bits of armour and/or old pre rifts building fragments) that has 200 SDC and an armour rating from 12 to 15 (generally 15).
The thing is psychic slams and blasts are slow enough that the wearer can see them coming and opt for the armour to take the blow, making it automatically hit the armour even if the attack is above the AR or even if it's a critical hit! So it soaks the hit. But if it's hit even by just 1 point of Mega Damage, all of it is destroyed. If hit by a crit and it's already taken damage, the PC takes the remainding damage.
Eg, if it had been reduced to 190 SDC and a psychic slam hits it with a crit for 2 Mega Damage (200 Standard Damage!), the armour is gone and the PC takes the remaining 10 damage (200-190 = 10 Standard damage taken)
So, if you get the set up, this basically works if you have a low cash campaign - you don't want to wear your normal armour all the time, because even one point of damage costs alot to repair (assuming you can even find a repair place). So instead you want to wear this armour and attack with SDC attacks, soaking the psychic slam/blasts with the homespun armour (which simply costs time and effort to make, rather than money).
Sunday, October 18, 2009
A smidge of Rifts
We actually played Rifts the other day. Rifts Australia, to be exact!
One thing I did that was quite different was that the mission that was lined up, was very very short - it got completed in a short time. After that, I simply left the impression of the mysterious Australian bushlands and towns and the players started poking around. Also I was handing out XP for pretty much any character expression that happened - it was coming up naturally at first, but I think giving out XP helped bring out more of it. Keep in mind this was a reward not for whether it was 'cool' roleplay, it was XP for showing the character at all - it's the showing that matters, not the skill in delivery. Skill comes with practice, anyway! :)
I've got this idea for the rifts australia body armour - as it's supposed to have an AR. Which means instant death if an MD weapon hits over it's AR. What I've already done, which is kind of nifty, is to have scrap MDC. This is pieces and shards of broken MDC stuff, that's just tied together with SDC leather and SDC wire. Impacts from SDC attacks, like bullets swords and clubs can still tear apart those leather/wire bindings (the MDC shards then fall off). But if an actual MDC attack occurs, the MDC is worn down. This scrap MDC covers where the armours normal AR leaves off - leaving the character fully MDC protected, but still vulnerable to SDC weapons to a degree! Thus enabling both MDC and SDC combat!
But that's not the nifty idea, just yet. More latter...
One thing I did that was quite different was that the mission that was lined up, was very very short - it got completed in a short time. After that, I simply left the impression of the mysterious Australian bushlands and towns and the players started poking around. Also I was handing out XP for pretty much any character expression that happened - it was coming up naturally at first, but I think giving out XP helped bring out more of it. Keep in mind this was a reward not for whether it was 'cool' roleplay, it was XP for showing the character at all - it's the showing that matters, not the skill in delivery. Skill comes with practice, anyway! :)
I've got this idea for the rifts australia body armour - as it's supposed to have an AR. Which means instant death if an MD weapon hits over it's AR. What I've already done, which is kind of nifty, is to have scrap MDC. This is pieces and shards of broken MDC stuff, that's just tied together with SDC leather and SDC wire. Impacts from SDC attacks, like bullets swords and clubs can still tear apart those leather/wire bindings (the MDC shards then fall off). But if an actual MDC attack occurs, the MDC is worn down. This scrap MDC covers where the armours normal AR leaves off - leaving the character fully MDC protected, but still vulnerable to SDC weapons to a degree! Thus enabling both MDC and SDC combat!
But that's not the nifty idea, just yet. More latter...
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