>>97818725
>the next day, Henrik went back to tell everyone how they hadn't died
>Grimald recounted how the following night, Thuja's minions were expected to show up, expecting them to have drunk the potions
>but they didn't even know what they did
>faced with the mystery potions, the players finally made use of my third gimmick system
>"know a guy" tokens
>handmade little envelopes with an actual wax seal that I melt and stamp myself, containing a little card with "I know a guy... but X", where they get to add a character to their backstory that can help them with a particular situation, but with some caveat X, like "I owe them money" or "they're currently imprisoned"
>Ida's player drew the most severe one "they want me dead"
>we came up with a chemist from her old settlement who was the main driving force behind her getting expelled out of fear for her armor
>only he had the expertise to appraise a potion like this
>she wasn't allowed near him but through an intermediary they eventually got to learn the potions were no good, would transform mind and body

>next night a group of homunculi came knocking on the castle gate
>Thuja had only two teams left, these ones; a quartet of defensive fighters, and a trio of ambushers called Nil, Nol, and Nul
>they called upon Vilneus and told him to bring out his "dogs"

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>>97818921
>The witch had tried to hex the bandits, there was no way they wouldn't ride into battle with them.
>They managed to get 4 bandit minions, one of which was Grimald with his giant sword.
>Then, on the way to Thuja, they visited the settlement to come retrieve Henrik. Giving them a fifth.
>I let them do the turns for their minions, so I could focus on just the enemies.
>When they got their first random encounter crossing through the woods, it played like some sort of war game.
>I had my army of 5 wolves, and they have their army of 7 people, and we just played warhammer for a bit
>DC20 wolves can drag a character prone and inflict bleeding on a prone target (bleeding is continued damage the following turns) and nearly killed Grimald
>but the player characters weren't in any real danger
>Harald got to be badass and use his piercing shot on 4 of them at once, basically killing all of them at once, and we remembered to give him his stamina back for hitting, and then killing, his quarry

>so they arrived at Thuja's hut in great shape
>the defender squad wasn't back yet, so there was just Nil and Nol on guard duty (they knew it was a trio, but Nul was nowhere to be seen)
>Harald appealed to them to desert, and we brought out the diplomacy system
>this time he expertly appealed to the values motivating them, they were motivated by fear of Thuja and he brought up how the Hildebrands were accepting people that they did not need to be afraid of, and that Thuja was about to die and weren't they afraid to be on the losing side?

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>>97819045
In DC20 terms, Thuja was a controller-type enemy with spell-casting abilities. None of that adventure game stuff with a third eye, and sisters or whatever.
Just an evil witch. She'd warped her body to eat children for eternal life, thus earning her the title of hag.

>As soon as she stepped out of the hut, she summoned a shield of briars around herself. Giving her half-cover and inflicting piercing damage on anyone attempting a melee attack against her for one turn.
>This ability is useful to stall a fight while your minions whittle down your opponent.
>Then she hexed the hunter directly in front of her with vulnerability.
>This ability is useful when you have minions to make many small attacks against an opponent.
>The players had the melee-focused bandits keep their distance and shot her with a psi-bolt and a flaming arrow
>she stomped out the flames on her robe and summoned constricting roots from the ground (finally something targeting AD!) immobilizing one bandit
>this ability is useful if you want to keep an enemy locked in place while your minions wail on them
>she commanded nil nol and nul to attack, but they weren't there
>that's when the warlock hit her with a silencing psi-bolt

>silenced spellcasters can't cast because they can't recite their magic words (I tried to get my player to have a magic phrase for every spell she can cast, but I guess that's 'uncool')

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>>97819255
>eventually Grimald strikes the finishing blow
>I describe him cleanly decapitating her
>then I decide that due to her weird hag biology, she can still talk as just a head and make her do her faustian deal in a quick panic
>"Girl, I can still be revived. Put my head in my cauldron. I can teach you how to wield that armor, and not be controlled by it."
>Up until now she had been speaking in slow eerie whispers, so it was quite the contrast.
>Anyway, Ida of course refuses and Grimald stomps on the head, squashing it. "How about you quit while you're ahead?"
>As the presence of the hag fades, the color of the green path loses its vibrancy. The magic goes away.

>The knight Reinaard, a member of the conspiracy, sees something has gone wrong while flying overhead with his two retainers.
>He was about to bring in a few orphaned children as child sacrifice to hopefully appease the witch.
>He doesn't know what's going on, but swears swift vengeance against those responsible.

That's the story up till now.
I'm going to bed. Let me know if I wasted my time, good night!

>>97816486
>convinced her personal guards to defect
This shouldn't be possible. If she has guards that aren't some evil fae creatures already, they should be compelled or forced to serve her in some way. People who got stuck due to not understanding what they were giving up, or forced to serve or else she threatens to undo the aid she gave to a loved one.

>>97800235

Well, I guess in Fading Suns the suns technically were

>>97800235
A campaign I ran ended with the party blowing one up.

Reminder to sage and ignore bumpfag threads

>>97803060
Or better systems.

>>97800235
Yes.

We did not win.

The egg hatched.

>>97791782
I lowkenuinely fucking hate this kink to worldbuild retardation dude tspmo. legit just take a particular point in hsistory and shuffle it and you have a peak campaign
rn: early part of the Wars of the Roses (like just before 1st Saint Albans), but the tech is 13th century English and the Geography is like if the Faroes were way bigger and also there's a beastman invasion at some point. Use harnmaster or CORPS as your ruleset and let your players do what they want with careful time tracking and incoming pressure points
there u go on the Jordans this WILL be a great campaign

I just had one of my players ask to co-GM in the setting I semi-created (just a mass of things I like).

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>>97791782
No. I don't remember it ever happening.
When I was new, I used preexisting worlds. And then I learned to git gud.

>>97801204
>>97801222
>Online critique is terrible
>>97803209
>critisism is just one of those things that everybody thinks they can do but nobody does well.
>>97801276
>>97801513
>>97806335
>>97805802
Critiquing is a skill as is taking a critique. It must be learned and developed.
Most people simply talk about what they like or dislike, which is largely separate and independent of an actual critique.

A critique examines what something is and how well it achieves its intent.
For example, I agree with the positive critiques of A Clockwork Orange but I personally don't like it.

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>>97819192
>Most people simply talk about what they like or dislike, which is largely separate and independent of an actual critique.
not on the internet it isn't, you better be ready with a twelve paragraph lecture on why you don't like the thing or you're just trolling and should be banned for such sacrilege.

>>97809109
It's just autism.
Same shit with bell-curve champions. People really just don't understand statistics, so they tout whichever dice system "feels" best as objectively superior. It always falls apart under scrutiny.

>>97816332
Bell curves make modifiers behave distinctly differently though.

>>97816170
The PCs are all amnesiacs ;)
It fits with the genre of Noir/Hardboiled and can be explained easily with a spell.
Or they came from another dimension. They are known to be real in the setting.
Or they were raised in a secluded city fort with no contact with the outside world. Maybe one who didn't permit the use of magic or non-humans mixing with humans. I call that city: Fort Chin.

Solo RPGs are a lot easier to play than I thought. A lot more fun too. I did a test run scenario the other day where I was a mech rampaging in a city fighting police and the military. Now I just need to figure out how to make quests lines and stories.

>>97819395
tbqh, I find combats really easy and fun. non combat is the harder brain power part that can easily fall into boredom if not done well.

>>97817523
Characters are as competent as always. They simply have more HP.
Which still works.

>>97815373
Kamigakari is what you want.

>>97815373
Option 1:
Any of the japanese urban fantasy games like tenra banshou zero, they all more or less play the same. They're competent enough.
Option 2:
Genesys. Good combat, but it's a generic system so you have to put on the work.
Option3:
GURPS. If nothing else is what you want, you can make gurps do what exactly what you want exactly how you want, it just takes a lot of work.

>>97815373
Night Shift?

>>97819463
>Any of the japanese urban fantasy games like tenra banshou zero,

That is not evenly remotely urban fantasy.

Anyway OMM: City of Mist, Monsterhearts, Urban Shadows, Witchcraft, Wickedness, Feng Shui, Nobilis, Scion, Home by Dark

(I'm trying not to cross the boundary over "proper" horror, which would multiply the numbers at least thenfold)

>>97819453
yeah I mean don't disagree with that because airships can sometimes go through space. the original in-universe one for Magic, living Skyship Weatherlight traveled across the planes. not exactly space travel but it was high-fantasy airship design that fit with the established world

from what I've seen of eternities beyond it seems to be trying to tap into the "nasa punk" No man's sky or that other Bethesda one. that style of ships and stuff, which is generally cool but its my opinion that it doesnt fit really

the automobiles, sports cars race cars none of that fits to me at all though

>>97817765
Can any nerd clarify something for me?
Does the life loss still trigger if they DONT attack?
Like I understand it triggers if they attack you, but if they simply pass through their combat, they incur no life loss, right?

>>97819327
What really surprises me is that they haven't tried to sell off the unprofitable brands for a quick buck. They are egregiously focused on the short term profits, but I guess a company selling off parts of itself looks bad to shareholders even if that part of the company was literally costing them money and it was only a prestige thing.

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Goongala!

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Its that one artist from Tarkir Dragonstorm who loves doing dogheaded buff guys. That said, yes this card is so good for my Elas il-Kor deck

>>97807888
Can't say much, haven't looked into them yet. Interesting, but not fully sure in what context to put them in

>>97807888
Not a big fan of them. The cardinal directions lack the evocative flair of seasons. I like the Traders Courts though. Mantles build on and around business feels proper for modern fantasy set in the real world. What are stock traders and bankers if not the alchemists and oracles (and gamblers) of today.

>>97803972
Why are True Fae such assholes?

>>97811111
I don't know but look at those digits!

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>>97803972
>when you play Cyberpunk 2020 but it's secretly Changeling The Lost with the corporate war being a conflict between the Gentry
>the Blackwall is the Hedge

>>97812331
>fujos and gay men betrayed bushi multiple times
>somehow bushi still comeback for more betrayal
As I said, this might be the most pathetic TCG I've ever known

>>97809631
They really hate and killed Mikoto.

>>97812232
Remake v2 is just them going back to the OG because the remake was a hot timeline mess in what was supposed to be a simple card game anime
>Leon in S1
>he's Kamui-sized for some reason
>endless shipbaiting for ships that went nowhere anyway

>>97815572
The timeline's not a mess if you think of the V-boot as its own continuity and story, which it is.
Leon being a kid doesn't matter when it's a completely different Leon

Lyrical Impauldio shouldve been an April Fools joke. Im not ready for tommorow

>>97812108
I think this is important to remind people, thank you anon

>>97812186
Now, now, Anon! He could also mald!

>>97815863
>30
Well the thread is slowing down some.

>>97811715
The guys you pay to identify items have 3 ranks in magical engineering so pass on a 3+. They also have loremastery in 18+.
>>97811681
I might

>>97819401
Of course it did, the obsessed faggot ate a ban again. Some of the responses were likely him sockpuppeting an opposition, like he does sometimes OTOH, if any of you gave him multiple replies instead of a single "fuck off"/"kill yourself", then shame on (You)

Finally, a good thread.
Great story OP. I have nothing to contribute but thanks.

>>97805379
It was meant to be a suicide mission.
The plan was for the last three guys to basically spend their lives flipping this Elder Vampire and basically-master-of-Oxford the bird.

But all of our PC’s were basically the perfect beginner hunters.
The average combat check that session needed something like 4-6 successes to pass. Exception being the 75mm, which needed two seperate checks. One to plot a firing solution, one to actually fire the gun.

Edgar nearly destroyed his soul with his prep and his self-dosing, but also discovered at least three different types of magic.
Jason by his own hand, sank a pre-WW1 antique ship that was basically his wife/baby to escape, after it’d been 90% taken by police and escaped underwater, and is now the wanted criminal “The Oxford Killdozer/Killcruiser”.
Knightblade and The White Rose had like, four exchanges where they both rolled five successes each.


No hidden roles either. All on an app for transparency.

>>97805379
Ours did too, except replace Angel with the Messengers, and replace swordsman with “psycho med student with an entrenching tool”. He did consistently outfight a frenzied vampire with it somehow.

But one solitary bump

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Here's one

>PCs meet with picrel, Casiel, owner of a makeup company and very obviously a bad guy (heavily implied to be a rapist)
>asks them to deal with a tax collector that constantly extorts him
>they can kill the tax collector or intimidate him to stop
>they spend a fucking hour and a half just talking to Casiel asking inane questions like "what should we do" / "how should we do it" / "what if we do x y or z"
>basically an hour and a half of these questions followed by "do whatever you want as long as it makes him stop"
>they leave to go to the other city where the tax collector lives
>they know where the tax collector's house is and that he spends the majority of his days in the VIP section of one particular tavern
>they walk around constantly asking people where the tax collector is
>"I hear he spends his time at the tavern. If he's not there, check his house."
>nearly an entire Goddamn session is spent just on them asking where this guy is, being told where he is, then asking someone else where he is
>at one point one of My players verbatim says "I'm getting real sick of being redirected to this guy's house"
>eventually they go to his house during the day. it's surrounded by a 120cm fence and has a locked gate. the fence is spiked at the top, but not insurmountable it you get creative about it
>player knocks on the gate. it is too far from the door for anyone inside to possibly hear it

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>>97816362
4e was one of the most noob DM friendly editions of the WorC era, the fuck are you on about?

>>97818303
Thanks a lot

>>97796539
>>97810157
I remember when I played 4e I rolled up a paladin/warlord who by level 12 could give allies something like +14 ac just by standing next to them
4e was not hard, it just filtered buildlets

>>97819387
4e is noob friendly (it is an actual game that bothers teaching you how to play it)

5e and other editions are noob friendly (the game is half designed and you are encouraged to basically just play pretend and call it D&D)

>>97819387
for players

>>97818555
Mod thread.

>>97818555
The player character is "supposed" to have quite limited information, with the details of statblocks "supposed" to come from knowledge-related skills rather than sourced externally, though 5e doesn't have much clear framework for how good a skill roll gives what result and the bonus scaling is a horrible constraint.

It's a holdover from Gygaxian adversarial DMing where the players were expected to puzzle these things out from the results of roles, to my understanding.

>>97818555
dirty cheat

>>97819373
Depends on what you need them to represent. While I like them with big supple asses, if the idea is to make them fae and ethereal then juicy milkers genuinely work against the notion.

>>97819107
Anon, they're still around as a fringe faction. Your statement is hyperbole.

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>>97819373
Dunno anon, aren't elves described as a lithe and slender race with bonuses to dexterity and agility, as well as a lack of toughness and constitution in most games? What do you think a creature described as such should look like, in comparison, for instance, to stocky and broad dwarves with their tough and durable bodies?

What is the stat attribution of elves in your game? That could be a pretty good indicator of what your elves "should" be in your games.

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>>97816087
>Now if she had some raspberry cider
I think simple raspberry juice would suffice

>I wonder if Telonius is an art thief and forger?
Nope. He is literally just a noble who collects and commissions art. He organizes local cultural events and traditions.
>With the campaign focus on intrigue I must imagine there may be another reason to avoid too much time at home.
It's actually pretty simple. His wife died during childbirth so he just avoids being inside because it reminds him of her. It's also a guaranteed trigger for rage if you mention his wife.
>Artificer
Never played them so I dunno their capabilities. This seem like casters with extra step

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>>97819373
Depends on the subrace but generally thin. I usually rule out dark elves as busty and wood elves flat with stronger legs/asses but still generally thinner and slimmer than other races.

>>97819141
There is no therapy. You can get kidnapped by authorities, sent to looney bin where they strip your chrome and brainwash you back to full humanity.
There are rules in one of the Chrome books for more expensive cyberware that eats less humanity, but that benefit is only available at the time of installation.

>>97819141
Port the rules from Red and EMK

>>97819246
Speaking of therapy, I really thought it was a good idea when first running red, but too many players just treat it as paying a tax rather than a narrative turning point for the character. I think it should be scrapped for something with better incentives, or just made into an actual consumable.

>>97818298
They literally made vat-grown werewolf mutants in 2020, on the Forlorn Hope adventure splatbook.
Mutant abominations are not unheard of in other cyberpunk works, like the Transgenic creatures from Deus Ex

>>97819246
Well that blows

>shitskin ESL retards still continue to prove their inability to read, inability to separate fiction from reality, and inability to think in layered hypotheticals
I've wasted enough energy on you faggots.

>>97809442
You hate logic.

>>97710539
Ok

Real life is gay

>>97816520
It isn’t. You just haven’t found satisfaction yet.