Fallout Equetria PNP
Re: Fallout Equetria PNP
Like I said earlier about S.A.T.S. it should be something only characters with a Pip-Buck or Power armour should have. But to balance, it has an AP cost associated. Like 1-2 AP to activate, then additional AP to fire your rifle with +5% accuracy or something.
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shadethepony
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- Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2011 7:59 pm
Re: Fallout Equetria PNP
Just wanted to give my two bits on a few things. Fair warning; I'm no game designer, so keep salt cubes handy.
Take the big example, S.A.T.S.. In the games, it gives a player like myself a way of playing the gunslinger, even though my 1st person shooter skills are weak. In PnP games, there's no need for this, since I can just pump points into my guns skill to ensure my character can hit something. Where S.A.T.S. really shines in the stories are the "Hollywood" moments, i.e. Blackjack's tk bullet fired from across the junkyard that distracts the guard, shooting the grenade as it hurtles towards your character, and so on.
However, other characters in the stories can pull off similar feats without S.A.T.S.. Xenith is capable of disarming and paralyzing attacks that in the games would only be available in S.A.T.S.. Given that, I think that the mechanical benefits of S.A.T.S. need to be available to all player characters in some form. Mechanically, it might work something like this:
Every character gets a certain number of Action Points based on their Agility. As part of the combat system, a character can spend those action points to activate special attacks, make called shots with reduced penalties, and so on. S.A.T.S. is a special version of this 'bullet time', available to characters who used a perk to acquire a PipBuck or power armor (gaining access to S.A.T.S., E.F.S., and other benefits, in the process). At the outset, the S.A.T.S. version may not be much of an improvement over the standard 'bullet time' (after all, the character got other benefits from the perk as well), but perks like Math Wrath could be used to improve things like crit chances and damage in S.A.T.S., where without S.A.T.S. a character can really only increase their number of action points. A quality versus quantity situation.
Regarding injury and death, you might consider taking a page out of the Fate system's book. Fate uses a two part damage track; traditional damage boxes and a 'complications' track. When you take damage from an attack, a character can opt to mark off damage boxes or take a complication (like, say, losing an eye) to mitigate the damage. Once a character fills either track they are 'taken out'. Normally, the GM decides what that entails.
GM: Oh, you just lost a gun battle with slavers? You wake up two days later in a boxcar with a dozen other slaves and an explosive collar around your neck! Mwahahahaa!
However, an option is provided for a character to 'take themselves' out, before suffering fatal damage or complications. In that instance, the player still loses the fight, but they still have some control over the fate of their character. It also gives groups a system supported way to make their game as lethal to PCs as they want. And the same rules apply to major NPCs, giving the GM a way to save that favorite villain when the PCs get lucky.
Wow, full of words there... Hopefully somepony finds something in there helpful.
I agree that representing the source material should be the primary goal of the game. No need to copy the mechanic exactly, if it gives the proper feel. That said, what about looking at the mechanics in terms of how they affect telling the story?Fallen_Kaisar wrote:Fallout has never been a particularly 'realistic' setting, lorewise or mechanically, and My Little Pony takes realism and gives it to Pinkie Pie to bake cupcakes with. What we should be, or at least I have been, is focusing on the feel of the game. What Fo:E is is gritty and comically dark, Littlepip, Blackjack, Puppysmiles, they all take large amounts of damage in combat and are rarely the worse for wear after it afterwords. Healing Potions fix just about everything short of death and taint in the story, so they should in the game as well. The priority should be representing the Wasteland as authentically to the source material as possible.
Take the big example, S.A.T.S.. In the games, it gives a player like myself a way of playing the gunslinger, even though my 1st person shooter skills are weak. In PnP games, there's no need for this, since I can just pump points into my guns skill to ensure my character can hit something. Where S.A.T.S. really shines in the stories are the "Hollywood" moments, i.e. Blackjack's tk bullet fired from across the junkyard that distracts the guard, shooting the grenade as it hurtles towards your character, and so on.
However, other characters in the stories can pull off similar feats without S.A.T.S.. Xenith is capable of disarming and paralyzing attacks that in the games would only be available in S.A.T.S.. Given that, I think that the mechanical benefits of S.A.T.S. need to be available to all player characters in some form. Mechanically, it might work something like this:
Every character gets a certain number of Action Points based on their Agility. As part of the combat system, a character can spend those action points to activate special attacks, make called shots with reduced penalties, and so on. S.A.T.S. is a special version of this 'bullet time', available to characters who used a perk to acquire a PipBuck or power armor (gaining access to S.A.T.S., E.F.S., and other benefits, in the process). At the outset, the S.A.T.S. version may not be much of an improvement over the standard 'bullet time' (after all, the character got other benefits from the perk as well), but perks like Math Wrath could be used to improve things like crit chances and damage in S.A.T.S., where without S.A.T.S. a character can really only increase their number of action points. A quality versus quantity situation.
I confess, I don't understand the need for 'Skill Level X required to attempt' style thresholds. If my character with Lockpick of 25 is willing to break an average of 5 lockpicks trying to jimmy an Average lock (assuming the percentage is halved along with the skill), why shouldn't she be able to try? I would be willing to accept a system where, against an Average lock, Lockpick 50 is a 40% success rate, but Lockpick 25 is only 10% and Lockpick 10 requires a critical success (numbers pulled out of thin air, there). Going back to the stories, Little Pip has never met a lock that she couldn't crack with enough time and bobby pins, but time and bobby pins are often in short supply. Just makes more sense to me, story-wise.A d100 roll-under based system with thresholds. Lockpick of 50 is required to attempt to pick a Average (50) lock, at equal skill vs difficultly, success chance is 40%, each rank above the threshold is +1%. If skill rank is double the threshold, no roll is required.
Regarding injury and death, you might consider taking a page out of the Fate system's book. Fate uses a two part damage track; traditional damage boxes and a 'complications' track. When you take damage from an attack, a character can opt to mark off damage boxes or take a complication (like, say, losing an eye) to mitigate the damage. Once a character fills either track they are 'taken out'. Normally, the GM decides what that entails.
GM: Oh, you just lost a gun battle with slavers? You wake up two days later in a boxcar with a dozen other slaves and an explosive collar around your neck! Mwahahahaa!
However, an option is provided for a character to 'take themselves' out, before suffering fatal damage or complications. In that instance, the player still loses the fight, but they still have some control over the fate of their character. It also gives groups a system supported way to make their game as lethal to PCs as they want. And the same rules apply to major NPCs, giving the GM a way to save that favorite villain when the PCs get lucky.
Wow, full of words there... Hopefully somepony finds something in there helpful.
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Fallen_Kaisar
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2011 1:03 am
Re: Fallout Equetria PNP
Thresholds I'm still considering the exact implementation of, but my rationale is that any given task requires a certain amount of know-how, be it lockpicking, hacking terminals or even home brewing up a batch of Sparke-Cola RAD. Assuming I keep the skill formula from Fo3 and NV, with 5 in a special attribute and 5 Luck a characters starting value in any given skill will be 15. I'm considering allowing attempts to be made at 1 threshold above the characters rank, but that's more a function of luck rather than skill. That has its place in Fo:E, but it would only be in non-stressful situations. Or perhaps each threshold below required would double the critical failure chance, allowing you to attempt very difficult feats, but with the full knowledge that you will likely screw them up completely if you fail badly enough. What I don't want is starting characters picking Hard locks from the get go unless the character is tightly focused on that and has the time to do it very carefully. This is mostly still just brainstorming though, how I work it out is still up in the air, I do appreciate the comments though.
As for FATE, I actually had the same idea and am very seriously considering the merits of its damage system and how it would translate. Possibly something along the lines of allowing a character to sustain END/2+(Armor bonus) 'injuries' before going down. This could be modified by Perks, Toughness giving +1 light injury or a Canterlot Ghoul's Unholy Stamina raising it to END+(Armor bonus) injuries and downgrading severity by 1 rank. This seems more in keeping with the way damage is presented in Fo:E proper, although Project Horizons and Pink Eyes (my other two main sources so long as they don't conflict) seem to lean more toward Hit Points. Most average enemies such as Raiders or Slavers would only have one or two injuries before going down, in keeping with the 'quantity over quality' theme enemies have in Fo:E, but tougher foes like Manticores or MoAw tanks might have 6-10, or ignore light injuries, have specific weaknesses that must be exploited ect...
Now, as much I may like the idea at the moment, I haven't even begun work on the combat system yet, so it may not mesh all that well. We'll see. However, as I have the next 9 days off, I have the time to play with it.
As for FATE, I actually had the same idea and am very seriously considering the merits of its damage system and how it would translate. Possibly something along the lines of allowing a character to sustain END/2+(Armor bonus) 'injuries' before going down. This could be modified by Perks, Toughness giving +1 light injury or a Canterlot Ghoul's Unholy Stamina raising it to END+(Armor bonus) injuries and downgrading severity by 1 rank. This seems more in keeping with the way damage is presented in Fo:E proper, although Project Horizons and Pink Eyes (my other two main sources so long as they don't conflict) seem to lean more toward Hit Points. Most average enemies such as Raiders or Slavers would only have one or two injuries before going down, in keeping with the 'quantity over quality' theme enemies have in Fo:E, but tougher foes like Manticores or MoAw tanks might have 6-10, or ignore light injuries, have specific weaknesses that must be exploited ect...
Now, as much I may like the idea at the moment, I haven't even begun work on the combat system yet, so it may not mesh all that well. We'll see. However, as I have the next 9 days off, I have the time to play with it.
Re: Fallout Equetria PNP
Like I've said before, I will make a version with levels once I got all the shit done on the original version.
As what goes for realism, I know the latest Fallouts have been ignoring those factors quite frankly. My problem with hit points (which will be allowed to get to the regular batshit crazy heights in the second version) is that later in game, everyone is a freaking tank. You can literally shove a chainsaw up someone's ass, twice. Or unload a minigun into their face, point blank. And they can shrug it off and go "Oh damn, only 50 % HP left! Oh well, better sit down and eat some of this food and my face will mend back together. Or wait, I'll just lie down and sleep for an hour, and tada! Full health". Now while this can be done in the games, the FoE setting doesn't allow it story wise... well, apart from PH, but that has a story explanation.
So what I think of the "wounds" system, then sure, it would be "fair" and simple, but people would want to have like, 30 wounds in the end. But my main concern is "damage" overall. Since in theory, everything would cause "a wound". It would be hard to balance damage on things.
I know my system is far from good, but it will be trying at least heh. You'll have a starting health, and that's it. You can get perks to increase it yes, but not by "able to take another point blank shotgun blast in my cranium per rank/level". I want to reflect the whole "you are fragile, armour is requite for your survival" they have in 40k. Since imho, Fallout is not far from. I can just say I remember from playing Tactics not to long ago. I had a "fucking tank" as a character. At the start, if I got a shotgun to the face, I died. At the end, I could: Run over 5 anti tank mines, be shot by a minigun 3 times, point blank. Be ran over by a tank and hit by flails several times, then get up and PUNCH the tank apart with their bare fists. And that was WITHOUT armour. Now, I know people might want these characters that can do stuff like take a rocket in the eye socket and survive, jump of a 200 ft building and just break a few bones. But that is what the "level version" will supply. The first version I'm making will try to be realistic.
And like said with the lockpick example: I hate the idea of automatic success or failure. Even in D&D, they have the "natural 20" rule that allows for most things to succeed. Not impossible, but most. I plan to have a "degree of success" in this. So if you attempt to pick a hard lock, it WILL be hard and break allot of pins. And regarding the DoS system: Lets say you have 70 in doctor skill. And a certain procedure requires two DoS. This means you need to roll 50 or bellow. If your skill was 50, then it needs to be 30 or bellow. So the more experienced you are, the bigger chance to succeed. Oh, and something I have a problem with in the 3+NV rules regarding skills from what I've seen so far: Your current ranks have nothing to do with how big of a chance you have. Only how good you are at it, or how much you know. I find it rather stupid that with more medicine or explosives, you know how to "inject more properly" or "how to toss that grenade". How does a stimpack manage to contain more healing, or a granade explode harder just since you want it to? It's not like a sword becomes sharper and harder just because you know who invented fencing. It's still the same material. I can agree with you being better at swinging it, but how the hell does a granade explode twice as large just since YOU threw it?
What goes for SATS: I still don't have a very solid reason for it sadly. But hopefully I can come up with one.
I've been working really slow on the module sadly... but hopefully I can get things started soon again. And I hope I covered most topics here.
As what goes for realism, I know the latest Fallouts have been ignoring those factors quite frankly. My problem with hit points (which will be allowed to get to the regular batshit crazy heights in the second version) is that later in game, everyone is a freaking tank. You can literally shove a chainsaw up someone's ass, twice. Or unload a minigun into their face, point blank. And they can shrug it off and go "Oh damn, only 50 % HP left! Oh well, better sit down and eat some of this food and my face will mend back together. Or wait, I'll just lie down and sleep for an hour, and tada! Full health". Now while this can be done in the games, the FoE setting doesn't allow it story wise... well, apart from PH, but that has a story explanation.
So what I think of the "wounds" system, then sure, it would be "fair" and simple, but people would want to have like, 30 wounds in the end. But my main concern is "damage" overall. Since in theory, everything would cause "a wound". It would be hard to balance damage on things.
I know my system is far from good, but it will be trying at least heh. You'll have a starting health, and that's it. You can get perks to increase it yes, but not by "able to take another point blank shotgun blast in my cranium per rank/level". I want to reflect the whole "you are fragile, armour is requite for your survival" they have in 40k. Since imho, Fallout is not far from. I can just say I remember from playing Tactics not to long ago. I had a "fucking tank" as a character. At the start, if I got a shotgun to the face, I died. At the end, I could: Run over 5 anti tank mines, be shot by a minigun 3 times, point blank. Be ran over by a tank and hit by flails several times, then get up and PUNCH the tank apart with their bare fists. And that was WITHOUT armour. Now, I know people might want these characters that can do stuff like take a rocket in the eye socket and survive, jump of a 200 ft building and just break a few bones. But that is what the "level version" will supply. The first version I'm making will try to be realistic.
And like said with the lockpick example: I hate the idea of automatic success or failure. Even in D&D, they have the "natural 20" rule that allows for most things to succeed. Not impossible, but most. I plan to have a "degree of success" in this. So if you attempt to pick a hard lock, it WILL be hard and break allot of pins. And regarding the DoS system: Lets say you have 70 in doctor skill. And a certain procedure requires two DoS. This means you need to roll 50 or bellow. If your skill was 50, then it needs to be 30 or bellow. So the more experienced you are, the bigger chance to succeed. Oh, and something I have a problem with in the 3+NV rules regarding skills from what I've seen so far: Your current ranks have nothing to do with how big of a chance you have. Only how good you are at it, or how much you know. I find it rather stupid that with more medicine or explosives, you know how to "inject more properly" or "how to toss that grenade". How does a stimpack manage to contain more healing, or a granade explode harder just since you want it to? It's not like a sword becomes sharper and harder just because you know who invented fencing. It's still the same material. I can agree with you being better at swinging it, but how the hell does a granade explode twice as large just since YOU threw it?
What goes for SATS: I still don't have a very solid reason for it sadly. But hopefully I can come up with one.
I've been working really slow on the module sadly... but hopefully I can get things started soon again. And I hope I covered most topics here.
I do not suffer from insanity... I quite enjoy it....
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Arcane_Scroll
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Re: Fallout Equetria PNP
Well, it had ponies, and was RPG related, to it was semi-semi related? xP
I do not suffer from insanity... I quite enjoy it....
Re: Fallout Equetria PNP
Alrighty then, this party has been too quiet for too long! I've gone ahead and wrote up a basic ruleset that is hopefully very easy to use and shouldn't take much effort to roll up a character (see bottom of post). I'm more than open to suggestions but I'm going to be running a game using this system as it stands currently. As a quick overview the game uses d100 and d10 combining Skills with SPECIAL stats and currently allows you to play Ponies, Unicorns, Pegusi, Griffins, Zebras and Ghoul versions of them. It also features weapons and perks familiar to the Equestrian wastelands. Finally it has a magic system similar to the one Kkat described Lil'Pip as having, this one has been branched out a little to incorporate Zebra alchemy and Pegasus tricks.
The only thing this game is missing is players!
I am free to GM (Or Overmare) Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Drop me an email at sourberry123@gmail.com or simply reply here. Don't forget to mention your time zones!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uPX ... GTj2g/edit
The only thing this game is missing is players!
I am free to GM (Or Overmare) Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Drop me an email at sourberry123@gmail.com or simply reply here. Don't forget to mention your time zones!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uPX ... GTj2g/edit
Re: Fallout Equetria PNP
You know guys, we'd get allot more work done if we combined our efforts instead of creating 3-4 RPG's at a time... then again, we'd have the players able to chose from a few different systems. Still, not the most effective hehe xP
Anyhow, will check your system out.
It looks rather good tbh, I'm personally not much of a fan of the Fo3/NV game system, but it'd prove as a much simplified system. found the perk list useful, althou the "confirmed stud" sounds really contradictory to it's effect tbh xD
Also, does anyone know if sent messages should go to the "sent messages" box, or the "outbox" box?
Anyhow, will check your system out.
It looks rather good tbh, I'm personally not much of a fan of the Fo3/NV game system, but it'd prove as a much simplified system. found the perk list useful, althou the "confirmed stud" sounds really contradictory to it's effect tbh xD
Also, does anyone know if sent messages should go to the "sent messages" box, or the "outbox" box?
I do not suffer from insanity... I quite enjoy it....
Re: Fallout Equetria PNP
Oh, and completely forgot: I will (likely) test my system tomorrow.
Will hopefully work out if my system works, or is completely bucked up heh.
Will hopefully work out if my system works, or is completely bucked up heh.
I do not suffer from insanity... I quite enjoy it....
Re: Fallout Equetria PNP
That's because we have 3 very different ideas about how the game should be run!Kattlarv wrote:You know guys, we'd get allot more work done if we combined our efforts instead of creating 3-4 RPG's at a time
I wasn't quite sure how to phrase it myself, hahaha, suggestions? :3 Thanks for taking it a look over. As a side note, I presume the games will be ran on IRC right?Kattlarv wrote:althou the "confirmed stud" sounds really contradictory to it's effect tbh xD
EDIT: Upon further reflection, I find myself recoiling in horror as I'm trying to give a witty name to a homosexual stallion.