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[Rolan7]

Huh I'm interested to hear more about that!  We're all new to the whole system though, just finished our second session, so we're taking it seriously.

And there are mechanics, though...  yeah it's mostly stuff that probably doesn't come up in regular play, like "how long you stay in torpor".  But also "how easy is it to stay awake during the day".  And at 4 humanity you noticeably look like a corpse without makeup, and at 2-3 humans instinctively know "within minutes" that they're "in the presence of a monster".

Of course, my allies merit is for fellow hackers...  Some of which apparently got ghoulified as part of my embrace...  I'd probably be fine, but I'm aiming for 5 anyway (Robbing civilians is fine, but not major arson).  Maybe even 6, since my character is well-off and primarily steals secrets instead of cash.  It's about the rush anyway, not the wealth.

[penguinofhonor]

It sounds like you could ignore certain supplements if you wanted a game more focused on struggling with your humanity. You might not have as many options to turn to if you start getting bored and want more content/depth though.

[Spehss _]

Making a simple level 1 pathfinder character using the pathfinder core rulebook to make sure I understand the process. Dwarf barbarian. Because Dorf Fortress.

Questions about skills. Book describes assigning skills based on the character's skill ranks per level by class and bonus from the int modifier. Then lists skills in the class page. A barbarian gets 4 ranks per level. So a level 1 barbarian gets 4 ranks for starting skills. My barb has an int modifier of -2. Does this mean I only have 2 ranks or do I simply not get any extra ranks from int bonus for each level? And can I only select skills for my barb from the list of skills described in the class page for the barbarian?

[Rolan7]

You do apply the negative modifier, so you only get 2 skill points.  You always get at least 1 skill point per level.
Apparently Pathfinder did a weird thing (compared to 3.5e) such that you can spend your skill points in cross-class skills with no penalty.  You just get a +3 bonus on every class skill that you have any ranks in.
(By comparison, in 3.5e it cost two skill points to buy a rank in a non-class skill)

[Jimmy]

Yeah, you'll usually find that most Pathfinder characters will invest into Perception as well, even without it being a class skill. No half ranks for cross-class training means that it's only a -3 penalty overall. This is typically because Perception is the most commonly used skill, so having maximum ranks in it will be a big advantage to your character.

Also remember that any permanent increases in Intelligence modifier retroactively apply bonus ranks to skills in Pathfinder. If it's from an item, such as a Headband of Intelligence, your skill bonus is by default a random Knowledge skill without the item being specifically crafted to grant something different. If the increase is from another source such as a level increase or a Wish spell, you can choose where the skill ranks get spent. This still doesn't allow you to exceed your natural maximum for ranks in a particular skill however.

[MrWiggles]

Huh I'm interested to hear more about that!  We're all new to the whole system though, just finished our second session, so we're taking it seriously.

And there are mechanics, though...  yeah it's mostly stuff that probably doesn't come up in regular play, like "how long you stay in torpor".  But also "how easy is it to stay awake during the day".  And at 4 humanity you noticeably look like a corpse without makeup, and at 2-3 humans instinctively know "within minutes" that they're "in the presence of a monster".

Of course, my allies merit is for fellow hackers...  Some of which apparently got ghoulified as part of my embrace...  I'd probably be fine, but I'm aiming for 5 anyway (Robbing civilians is fine, but not major arson).  Maybe even 6, since my character is well-off and primarily steals secrets instead of cash.  It's about the rush anyway, not the wealth.

Well, just remember universal rule Zero. Play the game how you want. WoD had /lots/ of books and lots of supplements. That added more secret societies inside secret societies. In the book I particularly named, there were powers for stopping and reversing time. And some vampire cult has access to a city in the ghost realm, that gets nuked with an atomic bomb, because there are ghost versions of atomic bombs...

[Sergius]

Seems like Pathfinder Perception should be the new Concentration skill (only more so, because everyone maxes it, not just casters) and a good candidate to turn into a flat attribute check or something.

On other news, this sunday my RPG group could be playing in my Star Control 2 campaign. First session/episode/thing is going to be 10-8 years before the game event, players are kids trying to sneak into the Unzervalt Precursor factory and kickstart the whole Flagship construction thing (so they're basically The Captain, except several). After which there will be a time skip to year 2155 and junk.

I think I'm going to use the whole Atomic Robo rules as is. Skill modes, infinite "science" skills, maybe even allow that Brainstorming mechanic. For the start episode, I'm only let them use the 2 lower Skill Mode slots (standard modes only), then when they grow up they can add a third mode, even a Weird one. And shuffle all 3 modes as they see fit. Maybe even swap one out.

Like I think I mentioned before, Space Battles will just be the PCs standing on some sort of movable map zones (the ships), and attacking / getting attacked individually. So damage to ships = damage to crew (very Star Controlly!). Depending on ship size, the ship could have one or two groups of Mobs in addition to named characters. Ships blow up if everyone inside dies (PCs getting "taken out" without dying will need to get handled in a per-case basis). For the global zone map for space battles, I'm thinking a circular planet zone, with another ring zone around it, surrounded by 4 or more zones in a circle, and another complete ring on the outside. To imitate the wrap-around nature of SC2 battles.

I just hope they all don't decide to play Scion instead in the last moment.

[Rolan7]

I am very excited to hear about that campaign!!  Star Control 2 is a great setting, and it sounds like you've put a lot of work into mechanics specifically for it.

[Sergius]

At first I thought, well, Science and Banter and Intrigue don't sound like things Star Control characters would use a lot.\
Then I realized, the only skills used in SC2 are Turn Left, Turn Right, Primary and Secondary
So, yeah, the focus will have to change a lot for proper roleplaying, doesn't seem that weird to focus on less shooty stuff.
Also, more off-ship stuff will definitely be needed.

I am very excited to hear about that campaign!!  Star Control 2 is a great setting, and it sounds like you've put a lot of work into mechanics specifically for it.

EDIT: Less work than you think, actually. Could probably fit it in half a dozen post-it notes. I'm sorta going out of the way trying to do as little "system hacking" as possible, and conveniently enough it fits with how ship damage is handled in SC2


FakeEDIT1.1: Another thing, to avoid dropping the players in space and tell them "yeah go wherever", I'm going to try to give them a more focused play. Well, sorta like missions. Not that I'll give missions, but they decide what to do before leaving port, then run the whole thing as a scenario over 2-3 sessions, until the moment they finish whatever it is they set out to do (explore a specific sector, find a race, find a clear spindle, I dunno) and then they end up either back home or at some other docking point in the story. I hope that doesn't feel like a railroad, but I want "episodes" to have at least some semblance of structure. No "going back to refuel" every 2 hours or whatever

Easier to run scenes that way I suppose. For example, give them a conflict scene, a talky scene, and a challenge scene in whatever order.

[Rolan7]

Nngh.  Now that I'm in the group again, I find my thoughts returning to it often.
But we only got a paltry 3 XP for our first outing.  (The second session.  Nothing for the first session, our embrace).
Yeah I know we haven't accomplished anything of note yet...  But still, I *DESPERATELY* hunger for experience.  Upgrading my primary attributes would be absurdly expensive, I just want to buy relatively cheap cross-class upgrades.  IE, strength and melee weaponry.

I can wait.  But every time the Skype pings, I get a little rush.

I can't wait to see how things go now that "that player" is gone.  Well, and we're playing a system that's completely different from 3.5e...

[Fniff]

I'm homebrewing a NWoD-based communist spy thriller. I'm lacking systems for factions, which I think should be more active (I.E. rules for interactions between factions) than the vanilla systems.

Does anyone have any recommendations for interesting faction systems in other RPGs that I could rip off?

[Cruxador]

Honestly I don't think the 3.5 grappling rules are actually that complex... :/ It's... Er A couple of checks and then you have a list of actions you can do? Once you get used to it it's really not any harder then normal combat.

Compare them to the 3.5 swordplay rules though: Roll one die, add a modifier that's written on your character sheet, and see if it beats a number already calculated for the enemy monster. One roll, everything all nice and sorted ahead of time.

Now compare either of them to, say, Song of Swords.

[Harry Baldman]

I'm homebrewing a NWoD-based communist spy thriller. I'm lacking systems for factions, which I think should be more active (I.E. rules for interactions between factions) than the vanilla systems.

Does anyone have any recommendations for interesting faction systems in other RPGs that I could rip off?

You could check out the faction system in Stars Without Number as a starting point. It's pretty loose from what I've gathered, but apparently pretty easy to port into other games as well.

[Criptfeind]

Honestly I don't think the 3.5 grappling rules are actually that complex... :/ It's... Er A couple of checks and then you have a list of actions you can do? Once you get used to it it's really not any harder then normal combat.

Compare them to the 3.5 swordplay rules though: Roll one die, add a modifier that's written on your character sheet, and see if it beats a number already calculated for the enemy monster. One roll, everything all nice and sorted ahead of time.

Eh, that's a sword strike at it's very base, and even then it's not like, massively more simple then a grapple. Once you start adding in situational  feats modifiers buffs class abilities and other effects it can quickly rise to be even more complex (of course, the same could be said for grappling, but w/e). If you're using a martial class then your sword play can become even more complex then spell casting!

[Tack]

Playing 3rd party pathfinder.
The DM has encouraged creativity with our character design, so I play a gearforged sniper.
Gunslinger 1 (Musket Master) - Unchained Rogue (Sniper).

So far, it's freaking fun. I use a 3rd party gun (Jezail), so I get a staggering 60ft of range (longbows are 110, muskets are 40).
It's fun. I do nothing but called shots and fuck people up with my 2d8+2d6 kapow. (Then a turn of reloading, but who's perfect?)

Gearforged, in other news, are magical clockwork constructs.
Their only real downside is the staggering 2k gold every two levels "memory wheel" tax.
In return I'm immune to basically every meatbag ailment, switch out sleep for 4 hours maintenance, and most importantly cannot be fatigued, exhausted or burdened.
Which is good, because traditional horses can't carry me.
So it's pretty fun that my party rides ahead and I catch up a day later, trodding through the night with an oversized rifle slung over my shoulder.

I Like creativity.
(Right up until someone remembers I'm basically X from Y)