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Eow Links 10 |
| 2021-03-07 |
Eow Links 10
"Eow" for End Of Week. Links I gathered during the week. This is iteration 10.
For more weekly links, head to The Seed of Worlds Shiny TTRPG link collection.
The other possibility, with which I originally started, was to use a 2d6 system. This fits with the reaction roll mechanic and downtime system I'm using. Also, as Alistair mentioned in the comments on the 1d6 skills post, classic Traveller used a (janky) 2d6 skill system, so it has a nice pedigree for old school sci-fi gaming. That it picks up the PbtA resonance is a welcome result for me, and Cepheus system games use it as well.
Last week, I linked to The Simplest RPG System Out of This World, that echo of a Traveller-esque skill system reverberates. I like the Star Without Numbers fork of it, which I discovered via Wolves of God skill checks.
The problem with 5e? ... it's best feature.
The problem with that post? The grammar error in its title.
You don't need to find the higher grounds. You don't need to flank the giant. Just get advantage by doing one thing and you're good. And a lot of classes have ways to easily give themselves or others advantage. So you don't need to engage with the world as much! Just show up, and get ready to rumble!
Get the upper hand and win (too often). The post proposes an interesting solution.
Sublimating the advantage into the upper hand can be found in 5e Hardcore Mode
Much of any game’s table time is spent with players working to gain the upper hand on a situation. This involves use of cover, distance, henchmen or surprise.
sound is more important than spelling when it comes to verbal components
"No, it's not a spellbook, it's a picture-less Ikea catalog".
Villainous friends: using Red Teams in your game
From a recent campaign start-up I enlisted some friends to take charge of some larger factions and power-players within the start region to create a sense of the world around them being in motion. These notes are expanded with advice from recent discussion on the discord of The Adventuring Party
Next, the uberization of opposition forces.
So to get a feeling for the system, lets quickly whip up two characters and have them face off in a brawl. I spared the regular character creation system for now and just rolled up two Universal Personality Profiles or UPPs and gave equal skills in unarmed combat to both contestants.
Test driving Traveller 5 with a brawl fight example.
then
Traveller 5 - Thoughts, and Characters
Marc Miller is a genius.
Now, I'm not saying that T5, as incarnated, is going to be everyone's cup of tea, but going deeper into the wealth of tables available, the most relaxing thing about them is not that they are there when you need a quick and dirty lookup for something you didn't plan ahead of time, but that you can safely ignore them unless there is something going on that requires scientific/universe/random knowledge that doesn't naturally flow from the current state of the game world.
The post's core is the creation of Tanner Grim a character. Before that, there is a quick mention of QREBS, a rule module for Quality, Reliability, Ease of use, Bulk/Burden, and Safety. Makes me want to have a look at this system.
Two points of view on Traveller 5. Excellent.
Guest Post: There is No Dungeons and Dragons
He described how neither Gary Gygax nor Dave Arneson had actually played Dungeons & Dragons while developing the system. They had both played their own free-form games with increasingly open and evolving role playing elements; Their own respective Formulae of Chainmail mixed with Braunstein mixed with Stratego. Dungeons & Dragons was, at its inception, a mutant third way between their ideas.
Put it out there and make money from it.
I combine that with the post just above and I am thinking "playing is generating a game". Make money? Creating is sometimes necessary, I have this friend who is constantly scribbling, the reward of the creation. And the reward of the fun had at the table too.
Of course, one has to survive in order to make games.
Rule books seldom used by a competent DM
How I manage Events and Clocks in My Game
Clocks are a very convenient and visual way to represent what is occurring in your game-world and track it in an easy manner, it also helps you to portray your campaign consistently
I love how the author turns clocks into "progress bars" and explains how he chains them together. That has a Microsoft Project feel.
It feeds my reflections on using abacuses for gauges and clocks/timers.
