So the crew that I play DnDNext with wants more - more time to play, more play time, more action and more intensity. In discussing the options, modern day and vampires kept coming to the front as things people wanted to experience, but actually playing a vampire wasn't exactly what they were wanting. After some thought and more discussion, the idea of playing *semi* normal humans (Hunters) in a modern setting, the Underworld world, was pretty much agreed on.
Now, Underworld is pretty similar to WoD, but not quite as...depressing...and Hunters are pretty normal people, just...intense. But, right now I'm not totally into running a stock WoD system (old or new), so I'm thinking of doing a bit of Fudge/WoD hybrid. I think I'm gonna let the players pick their attributes and abilities, set them on a 5 scale, pick a *power* or two, set it on a 5 scale or just give it a specific ability, pick some merits and flaws (I have always really liked that aspect of WoD) and go. I don't want to worry about having to go through the "low" level powers to get to something you want and I don't want to worry about spending 5 points here and 9 points there and 3 points someplace else.
Fortunately, the group I've been playing with is relatively new to gaming except for the DM, who has been running such a bastardized version of Swords and Sorcery meets 4th Ed that he has no room to question my desire for a hybrid rules set. Plus, he's cool enough and comfortable enough with just letting things flow that he wouldn't complain anyway and will probably be a major help to resolving things at the table so that a judgement call is fair and balanced.
We're getting together at my place this coming week on the 4th of July to BBQ and watch some setting/genre movies so that people have some idea of what this world will look like. We've got a full burn ban on, so no fireworks for most of the middle of the U.S., so might as well stay inside in the cool and watch some decent movies.
Happy 4th all!!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Next on DnDNext
Well, we are several games into the DnDNext playtest and several issues are starting to show.
Most notably the lighting system seems...strained at times to apply effectively. There also seems to be an abundance of usefulness to some of the class specific stuff that may be making said class (cleric) a bit overpowered (again). Granted, I usually play clerics, so being overpowered doesn't bother me so much, but for a play test environment, it seems *off*. Some of the rule changes related to surprise also seem a bit ineffective or possibly not fully implemented, so I hope the next round of updates will address this.
However, on the whole, I'm enjoying the change from feat based character development of 3rd ed and complete uselessness of characters outside of combat that was 4th ed.
Combat seems to be flowing smoothly (outside of surprise situations) and the whole advantage/disadvantage thing so far seems to be working and easy enough for inexperienced players to grasp while granting enough randomness to the outcome for experienced players to accept.
Ok, next round of play test rules, I'm ready for your release.
On a side note, it seems my SWTOR server is one of the ones that will be shutting down soon as character transfers to Jung Ma have started and there is almost nobody in fleet anymore. So, if you play on Jung Ma, let me know so I can look you up once my guild has transferred over.
-PA
Most notably the lighting system seems...strained at times to apply effectively. There also seems to be an abundance of usefulness to some of the class specific stuff that may be making said class (cleric) a bit overpowered (again). Granted, I usually play clerics, so being overpowered doesn't bother me so much, but for a play test environment, it seems *off*. Some of the rule changes related to surprise also seem a bit ineffective or possibly not fully implemented, so I hope the next round of updates will address this.
However, on the whole, I'm enjoying the change from feat based character development of 3rd ed and complete uselessness of characters outside of combat that was 4th ed.
Combat seems to be flowing smoothly (outside of surprise situations) and the whole advantage/disadvantage thing so far seems to be working and easy enough for inexperienced players to grasp while granting enough randomness to the outcome for experienced players to accept.
Ok, next round of play test rules, I'm ready for your release.
On a side note, it seems my SWTOR server is one of the ones that will be shutting down soon as character transfers to Jung Ma have started and there is almost nobody in fleet anymore. So, if you play on Jung Ma, let me know so I can look you up once my guild has transferred over.
-PA
Friday, June 1, 2012
D&D Next
Disclaimer: I am not yet endorsing this version in any way.
Our group test played DnD Next this past Thursday. We had been playing some mish-mash of Swords and Wizardry and 4th Ed (don't ask, I still haven't figured out how it worked). Fortunately, the pre-gen characters with the play test fit our group almost exactly so there was very little adaptation needed to convert the current game over.
The biggest difference was the amount of abilities that were is some way magical that the various characters could do - most notably magical light sources. This is great considering we are running around on either the plane of shadow or some reasonable facsimile.
Since we only get about 2 hours of game play, most of the game was tied up in puzzle solving, both in game (interactively talking doors - 2 that were in different hallways, not visible to each other, but aware of each other's presence) and the puzzle of the new rules-set. So, we didn't get to have a combat, but seeing how the various classes function out of combat was just as, if not more, interesting considering out little functionality 4th Ed provided for out of combat activities.
It should be interesting to see how the next session goes, hopefully some swords will get swung and spells cast in an aggressive manner.
Our group test played DnD Next this past Thursday. We had been playing some mish-mash of Swords and Wizardry and 4th Ed (don't ask, I still haven't figured out how it worked). Fortunately, the pre-gen characters with the play test fit our group almost exactly so there was very little adaptation needed to convert the current game over.
The biggest difference was the amount of abilities that were is some way magical that the various characters could do - most notably magical light sources. This is great considering we are running around on either the plane of shadow or some reasonable facsimile.
Since we only get about 2 hours of game play, most of the game was tied up in puzzle solving, both in game (interactively talking doors - 2 that were in different hallways, not visible to each other, but aware of each other's presence) and the puzzle of the new rules-set. So, we didn't get to have a combat, but seeing how the various classes function out of combat was just as, if not more, interesting considering out little functionality 4th Ed provided for out of combat activities.
It should be interesting to see how the next session goes, hopefully some swords will get swung and spells cast in an aggressive manner.
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