It took less than 24 hours for my new game, Ascendant, to be banned from discussion over at RPG.net. https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/new-superhero-rpg-ascendant.860081/
Hopefully, RPG Pundit won't mind if I hold some Q&A here. Ask me anything! Game is Kickstarting now at //www.kickstarter.com/projects/autarch/ascendant
Quote from: amacris;1123345It took less than 24 hours for my new game, Ascendant, to be banned from discussion over at RPG.net. https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/new-superhero-rpg-ascendant.860081/
Hopefully, RPG Pundit won't mind if I hold some Q&A here. Ask me anything! Game is Kickstarting now at //www.kickstarter.com/projects/autarch/ascendant
They banned it from discussion because they fear legal action from you. Apparently the posters can't resist calling you a nazi because of your unflattering one year working under you know who.
I was actually just looking at this yesterday thanks to the "Kickstarters projects for 2020" thread over at RPG pub. You might consider weighing in or starting up a dedicated thread over there.
In any case, the game looks really interesting. I'm a huge fan of logarithmic progressions in RPGs and this looks like a pretty nicely intuitive way of handling it. What sort of support does this system provide for playing inhumans (dragons? octopi? etc.)? What about pitiful dirt-eating peasants, ala sub-50-point GURPS characters? Given that it's a supers game, at the lowest end of the power scale does it become more difficult for PCs to differentiate themselves? The scalability looks solid based on the KS page but I'm curious about what you have to say on it personally.
Edit: And oh yeah of course the thread would be banned at TBP. You haven't been scapegoated for nearly long enough yet.
Quote from: Antiquation!;1123347Edit: And oh yeah of course the thread would be banned at TBP. You haven't been scapegoated for nearly long enough yet.
It was banned because they're afraid of being sued for defamation. The moderators know that posters won't be able to resist calling him a nazi, so they don't want to risk it.
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1123346They banned it from discussion because they fear legal action from you. Apparently the posters can't resist calling you a nazi because of your unflattering one year working under you know who.
It's better to be feared than loved, Machiavelli says.
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1123348It was banned because they're afraid of being sued for defamation. The moderators know that posters won't be able to resist calling him a nazi, so they don't want to risk it.
Because the Moderaters themselves and Applecline would *never* overtly say or dare intimate the same thing? Puh-lease.
This is just most spiteful vindictive bullshit from TBP. 112 Pages of Infractions against Wrongthink don't lie.
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1123348It was banned because they're afraid of being sued for defamation. The moderators know that posters won't be able to resist calling him a nazi, so they don't want to risk it.
Right. I may be mis-recalling but I thought even some of the mods themselves did as much. Afraid they should be then.
Quote from: Antiquation!;1123351Right. I may be mis-recalling but I thought even some of the mods themselves did as much. Afraid they should be then.
You're not misremembering. It was posts by the *moderators* that caused the ruckus. That said, my "legal threats" were simply an email to Shannon pointing out that his moderators were engaged in defamation and asking him to have them cease doing so.
Quote from: Antiquation!;1123347I was actually just looking at this yesterday thanks to the "Kickstarters projects for 2020" thread over at RPG pub. You might consider weighing in or starting up a dedicated thread over there.
In any case, the game looks really interesting. I'm a huge fan of logarithmic progressions in RPGs and this looks like a pretty nicely intuitive way of handling it. What sort of support does this system provide for playing inhumans (dragons? octopi? etc.)? What about pitiful dirt-eating peasants, ala sub-50-point GURPS characters? Given that it's a supers game, at the lowest end of the power scale does it become more difficult for PCs to differentiate themselves? The scalability looks solid based on the KS page but I'm curious about what you have to say on it personally.
Edit: And oh yeah of course the thread would be banned at TBP. You haven't been scapegoated for nearly long enough yet.
The game provides extensive support for playing inhumans. You can select an alternate Body Form from humanoid. You can choose various Disturbing Appearance drawbacks for disturbing cthulhuesque vibe. And he game includes statistics for a ton of animals so if you want to be a "super-tiger" or something you have the baseline to start from.
Pitiful dirt-eating peasants would be built as characters with between 200 to 400 Character Points. Ascendants (superheroes) start at 400 CP or more. I've posted some rules and stat blocks below.
BODY FORM
The character has an unusual body form resembling that of an avian, fish, insect, quadruped, or worm. He cannot use Crewed or Worn Objects unless specifically designed for his body form. He cannot use his MIG to throw Objects. He can use his MIG -3 to clumsily pick up objects with his mouth, paws, talons, etc. He can use his full MIG to carry or pull objects that are strapped to him, to push objects, and to stop moving objects, as the Damaging Attribute for Melee Attacks, and as the AV for Wrestling Attacks. Should he attempt an Action that would require a biped to use its hands for fine manipulation (e.g. disarming a bomb, giving first aid, driving a vehicle, or writing information), he must resort to teeth, paws, talons, etc.; he is treated as having an INS and AGI of 0 for purposes of that Action. If the character has an Additional Limb, the limitations of this Drawback do not apply to the Additional Limb.
When this Drawback is selected, the character must choose from one of the following types of Body Forms, which determines the Base Refund for the Drawback. Some forms have additional effects.
Avian (20 CP): The character's body has a pair of wings and a pair of legs. All of the normal effects of Body Form apply. This Drawback doesn't necessarily have to coincide with Winged Flight; an ostrich has Avian Body Firm without having the Flight Power.
Aquatic (40 CP): The character's body has flippers, fins, or other means of submarine locomotion instead of arms and legs. All of the normal effects of Body Form apply. The character does not have a Jumping Speed or Running Speed on land unless purchased separately. He has a Jumping Speed in water equal to his Swimming Speed – 2, if any. He can take a Challenge Action to move at a Running Speed of 0 SPs on land by crawling, twisting, or flopping around. If the character does not have another Speed (through a power, object, or other means), his DV against Ranged Attacks is also reduced to 0 SPs when on land. He suffers a -1 penalty to his AV and DV when making and defending against Melee Attacks on land. He suffers a -2 penalty to his AV and DV when making and defending against Wrestling Attacks on land. This Drawback doesn't grant Swimming Power but it's highly recommended!
Insectoid (20 CP): The character's body has many legs and no arms. All of the normal effects of Body Form apply.
Quadruped (20 CP): The character's body has four legs and no arms. All of the normal effects of Body Form apply. A quadruped with one Additional Limb has a grasping trunk or tail. A quadruped with two Additional Limbs might be a centaur.
Vermian (20 CP): The character's body has no limbs of any sort, similar to a snake or worm. All of the normal effects of Body Form apply.
Here's an example of two different 200-point characters. You can see they're very different even though they have same points.
OBNOXIOUS IT GUY (200 CP, CR 0.75)
Attributes: MIG 2, AGI 3, VAL 2, RES 3, INS 5, CHA 3, Weight 3, Height 0, Running Speed 3, Jumping Speed -1, Initiative 2, Income 2, Reputation 3
Skills: Avocation (videogames) 6, Craft (miniatures painting) 4, Engineering (IT) 7
Perks: Wealthy
Drawbacks: Duty (9-to-5 job), Easily Winded (-2 SP Time), Unlikeable
SELF-ABSORBED FASHIONISTA (200 CP, CR 0.75)
Attributes: MIG 2, AGI 3, VAL 2, RES 3, INS 3, CHA 5, Weight 2, Height 0, Running Speed 3, Jumping Speed 0, Initiative 2, Income 1, Reputation 12 (Notoriety 6)
Skills: Avocation (beauty & fashion) 5, Craft (selfies) 5, Sport (yoga) 5
Perks: Famous (social media influencer), Sex Appeal, Wealthy
Drawbacks: Hunted (stalker), Notorious (haters), Unobservant
Here's a 400-point commando, about as tough as a real person can be.
SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER (400 CP, CR 4)
Attributes: MIG 5, AGI 5, VAL 5, RES 4, INS 4, CHA 4, Weight 3, Height 0, Running Speed 5, Jumping Speed 2, Initiative 5, Income 0, Reputation 3
Skills: Alertness 6, Combat Posture 6, Engineering (combat engineering) 6, Intimidate 6, Interrogate 6, Marksmanship (shooting) 7, Martial Arts 7, Parkour 7, Persuasion 5, Piloting (ground vehicles) 6, Smack Talk 6, Stealth 7, Stoicism 5
Perks: Authority (NCO), Combat Maneuver (Super-Fast Ranged, Super-Power Ranged), Contact (buddy at DoD), Criminal Connections (terror networks), Multitask, Watchful
Drawbacks: Code of Honor (Army code of conduct), Dependent (family back home), Duty (enlisted soldier)
And here's a few animals. You can see that animals (when you really take into account their senses and abilities) are basically mini-superheroes. This makes playing a shapechanger/animal mimic really fun.
ELEPHANT
Attributes: MIG 7, AGI 3, VAL 3, RES 5, INS 1, CHA 4, Weight 8, Height 1, Running Speed 5, Initiative 3
Powers: Additional Limb (trunk) 5, All-Frequency Hearing 5, Extended Hearing 4, Lacerating Strike 8, Narrowband Radio Communication (ultrasonic vocalizations) 12, Noncombatant Super-Strength 10, Physical Invulnerability 4, Running 5, Super Senses 5, Ultra-Sensitive Hearing 8, Ultra-Sensitive Scent 8, Ultra-Sensitive Touch 2
Drawbacks: Body Form (quadruped), Dim Vision (Passive Spotting Range 5 SPs), Illiterate, Unspeaking
MIMIC OCTOPUS
Attributes: MIG 1, AGI 4, VAL 2, RES 4, INS 1, CHA 2, Weight -2, Height -1, Swimming Speed 4, Initiative 2
Powers: Additional Extended Limb 2 (set of tentacles), Burrowing 1, Dark Vision 3, High Pressure Protection 7, Invisibility 5, Instant Self-Range Fog 1, Naked Animal Replication 5, Super Senses 5, Swimming 4, Underwater Vision 3, Ultra-Sensitive Scent 8, Ultra-Sensitive Touch 1
Skills: Escape Artist 6, Stealth 6
Perks: Grappling Expertise
Drawbacks: Body Form (aquatic), Power Flaw – Miscellaneous (Fog only works underwater), Illiterate, Unspeaking
Quote from: amacris;1123352You're not misremembering. It was posts by the *moderators* that caused the ruckus. That said, my "legal threats" were simply an email to Shannon pointing out that his moderators were engaged in defamation and asking him to have them cease doing so.
LMAO wow, holy shit. That last part I was *not* aware of. Every time I think I've seen the most petty, pitiful and infantile TBP reactionaries can get they surprise me with a new low.
Quote from: amacris;1123353The game provides extensive support for playing inhumans. You can select an alternate Body Form from humanoid. You can choose various Disturbing Appearance drawbacks for disturbing cthulhuesque vibe. And he game includes statistics for a ton of animals so if you want to be a "super-tiger" or something you have the baseline to start from.
Pitiful dirt-eating peasants would be built as characters with between 200 to 400 Character Points. Ascendants (superheroes) start at 400 CP or more. I've posted some rules and stat blocks below. [snip]
These look great, thanks for the examples. Way less fiddly than I've come to expect from both GURPS and HERO (and way, WAY less than EABA even though I want to like it). Maybe I missed it from the KS page, but how do the Drawbacks and Vulnerable States work with the point system? Do these provide build points back ala GURPS or are they active-use-reward based like Fate? Are Vulnerable States required or optional?
Quote from: Antiquation!;1123357Maybe I missed it from the KS page, but how do the Drawbacks and Vulnerable States work with the point system? Do these provide build points back ala GURPS or are they active-use-reward based like Fate? Are Vulnerable States required or optional?
They offer a refund on build points.
VULNERABLE STATE
Base Refund: Special
The character has some sort of vulnerability that, when triggered, leaves him substantially less powerful. There are three aspects to determining the Refund afforded by selecting a Vulnerable State: The effect of the Vulnerable State (how weakened is the character while vulnerable), the frequency of the Vulnerable State (how often the character becomes vulnerable) and the duration of the Vulnerable State (how long the character stays vulnerable).
Effect of Vulnerable State: Determine what the character's Primary Attributes, Powers, Skills, Perks, and Drawbacks are when in his Vulnerable State. Then calculate the difference in CP cost between the character's normal state and his Vulnerable State. The CP difference is the Effect Refund for the Vulnerable State.
Imagine Airborne has a Vulnerable State that deprives him of his 12 SPs of Flight. The difference in cost between Airborne's normal condition and his Vulnerable State is [15 + (12 x 4)] = 63 CP, so that's the Effect Refund.
Frequency and Duration of Vulnerable State: The frequency and duration of an entity's Vulnerable State will depend on what triggers the state. Some Vulnerable States are triggered by common circumstances ("exposure to daylight"), others by a period of usage ("operates for 8 hours"), others by a combat outcome ("disarmed of the sword of power" or "reduced to half Health"). The triggers determine a Refund Modifier which is applied to the Effect Refund to find the Total Refund for the Vulnerable State. The more frequent the Vulnerable State, and the longer the duration, the higher the Refund Modifier, and hence the bigger the Total Refund. The method to calculate the Refund Modifiers for a variety of Vulnerable States is described below.
And then the game offers up a bunch of guidelines on various common Vulnerable States, including "Exposed to Substance", "Caught out of Costume", "Deprived of Device", and so on.
What if Airborne's Flight Power is nullified when he gets wet? Water is a common substance (50% Refund Modifier). Getting wet is touch (10% Refund Modifier). Let's say that the Vulnerable State lasts for 5 Pages after he's immersed, as he has to be fully dry for his Power to be restored (130%). His Vulnerable State's Frequency Modifier is 50% x 10% x 130% = 6.5%. With an Effect Refund of 63 CP, Airborne's Total Refund is 63 x 6.5% = 4 CP.
What if Airborne's Flight Power is nullified by sunlight? Sunlight is a common substance (50% Refund Modifier). It's ambient (100%). Let's say the Vulnerable State lasts only while he is directly in the sunlight (80%). His Vulnerable State's Frequency Modifier is 50% x 100% x 80% = 40%. Airborne's Total Refund is 63 x 40% = 25 CP.
Quote from: amacris;1123356MIMIC OCTOPUS
Attributes: MIG 1, AGI 4, VAL 2, RES 4, INS 1, CHA 2, Weight -2, Height -1, Swimming Speed 4, Initiative 2
Powers: Additional Extended Limb 2 (set of tentacles), Burrowing 1, Dark Vision 3, High Pressure Protection 7, Invisibility 5, Instant Self-Range Fog 1, Naked Animal Replication 5, Super Senses 5, Swimming 4, Underwater Vision 3, Ultra-Sensitive Scent 8, Ultra-Sensitive Touch 1
Skills: Escape Artist 6, Stealth 6
Perks: Grappling Expertise
Drawbacks: Body Form (aquatic), Power Flaw – Miscellaneous (Fog only works underwater), Illiterate, Unspeaking
I love this one.
Quote from: amacris;1123358They offer a refund on build points.
VULNERABLE STATE
Base Refund: Special
The character has some sort of vulnerability that, when triggered, leaves him substantially less powerful. There are three aspects to determining the Refund afforded by selecting a Vulnerable State: The effect of the Vulnerable State (how weakened is the character while vulnerable), the frequency of the Vulnerable State (how often the character becomes vulnerable) and the duration of the Vulnerable State (how long the character stays vulnerable).
Effect of Vulnerable State: Determine what the character's Primary Attributes, Powers, Skills, Perks, and Drawbacks are when in his Vulnerable State. Then calculate the difference in CP cost between the character's normal state and his Vulnerable State. The CP difference is the Effect Refund for the Vulnerable State.
Imagine Airborne has a Vulnerable State that deprives him of his 12 SPs of Flight. The difference in cost between Airborne's normal condition and his Vulnerable State is [15 + (12 x 4)] = 63 CP, so that's the Effect Refund.
Frequency and Duration of Vulnerable State: The frequency and duration of an entity's Vulnerable State will depend on what triggers the state. Some Vulnerable States are triggered by common circumstances ("exposure to daylight"), others by a period of usage ("operates for 8 hours"), others by a combat outcome ("disarmed of the sword of power" or "reduced to half Health"). The triggers determine a Refund Modifier which is applied to the Effect Refund to find the Total Refund for the Vulnerable State. The more frequent the Vulnerable State, and the longer the duration, the higher the Refund Modifier, and hence the bigger the Total Refund. The method to calculate the Refund Modifiers for a variety of Vulnerable States is described below.
And then the game offers up a bunch of guidelines on various common Vulnerable States, including "Exposed to Substance", "Caught out of Costume", "Deprived of Device", and so on.
What if Airborne's Flight Power is nullified when he gets wet? Water is a common substance (50% Refund Modifier). Getting wet is touch (10% Refund Modifier). Let's say that the Vulnerable State lasts for 5 Pages after he's immersed, as he has to be fully dry for his Power to be restored (130%). His Vulnerable State's Frequency Modifier is 50% x 10% x 130% = 6.5%. With an Effect Refund of 63 CP, Airborne's Total Refund is 63 x 6.5% = 4 CP.
What if Airborne's Flight Power is nullified by sunlight? Sunlight is a common substance (50% Refund Modifier). It's ambient (100%). Let's say the Vulnerable State lasts only while he is directly in the sunlight (80%). His Vulnerable State's Frequency Modifier is 50% x 100% x 80% = 40%. Airborne's Total Refund is 63 x 40% = 25 CP.
Very nice, thanks for the summary. I'm digging the way Vulnerable States are priced. I think you've sold me on at least a PDF copy.
In general, Drawbacks are not as "valuable" as they are in GURPS or HERO. I've often felt that drawbacks are priced incorrectly in most games because they assume that a penalty is worth as much as a bonus. But because of the team-based nature of RPGs, people build their characters into niches, and a penalty in an area you don't care about is worth much less than a bonus in an area you do care about. So that insight informed a lot of how Drawbacks were priced.
Quote from: amacris;1123361I've often felt that drawbacks are priced incorrectly in most games because they assume that a penalty is worth as much as a bonus. But because of the team-based nature of RPGs, people build their characters into niches, and a penalty in an area you don't care about is worth much less than a bonus in an area you do care about. So that insight informed a lot of how Drawbacks were priced.
I always thought that's why one of the GM's jobs is to make sure that Drawbacks cause genuine problems. It's easy to not care about an area you can count on never having to deal with, but an adventurer's life takes that control away from you; the point of the GM is to make sure that PCs have to face challenges tailored to their weaknesses rather than their strengths.
In practice, dramatically, Superman runs into kryptonite a lot
more often than most "point value" builds of that weakness indicate, simply because he's so powerful that that's the only way he
can be seriously threatened.
Quote from: amacris;1123352you're not misremembering. It was posts by the *moderators* that caused the ruckus. That said, my "legal threats" were simply an email to shannon pointing out that his moderators were engaged in defamation and asking him to have them cease doing so.
How dare you question the Anointed Godkings of the Antichurch!!!!
;)
Quote from: Antiquation!;1123357LMAO wow, holy shit. That last part I was *not* aware of. Every time I think I've seen the most petty, pitiful and infantile TBP reactionaries can get they surprise me with a new low.
I was under the impression they thought all republicans were nazis, given that they effectively banned republicans from their forum. So it strikes me as strange they would attack a particular person for working under a famous republican.
Good luck with your kickstarter!
Quote from: amacris;1123361In general, Drawbacks are not as "valuable" as they are in GURPS or HERO. I've often felt that drawbacks are priced incorrectly in most games because they assume that a penalty is worth as much as a bonus. But because of the team-based nature of RPGs, people build their characters into niches, and a penalty in an area you don't care about is worth much less than a bonus in an area you do care about. So that insight informed a lot of how Drawbacks were priced.
That makes sense; I agree with that logic. I am more familiar with GURPS' pricing schema than HERO's but there are definitely some wonky bits in there, much of it comes across as highly arbitrary and it can be obnoxious fiddling with the pricing and dancing around all the edge cases for any given campaign. And to your point, because of how high return some disadvantages are you run the risk of having the one-eyed, terminally-ill, paraplegic psychokinetic problem. The model you written as you've described it appears to reach a nice middle ground between disadvantages being too mechanically rewarding, and not at accounting for them at all. Which also seems to fit the superhero genre better, as on average you'd probably want flawed heroes who are nonetheless not entirely crippled mentally or physically.
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1123365I was under the impression they thought all republicans were nazis, given that they effectively banned republicans from their forum.
Oh they absolutely do. They will breathlessly string together "Republican," "rightie," "alt-right," "nazi," "KKK" labels all in the same sentence when referring to basically anyone outside the far capital-L-Left, with absolutely no provocation or reasoning whatsoever. It's actually really funny how many posts there are over there along the lines of "oh no, my friend turned Republican! whatsoever shall I do?! :(" followed by the cacophonous outburst of comments like "burn that bridge!," "oh no I'm so sorry for your loss," "vibes," "get rid of that toxic sumbitch, they're simply not the person you were friends with anymore!". :rolleyes: It's like reading a fucking obituary over at TBP, lol. They're so desperate and hateful of the idea of having Republican in office that they literally don't care which candidate wins the election "so long as they're not red." "Vote blue, no matter who!" :o If I couldn't keep friends with differing political views from myself, well, I wouldn't fucking have any... or family (ESPECIALLY family) for that matter.
In any case, to drag this back to the topic such as it is, I'm glad to see Ascendant fund so quickly. I have to admit I'm a bit sore about the stretch goals being locked to higher tiers but I'm still at least going to grab the PDF. Might hold out to see what funding is like closer to the end date before I jump in, just to see.
I downloaded the quickstart yesterday and was pleasantly intrigued. Now I find out that the Outrage Brigade is still filled with untempered irrational hatred?
I'm so in. PARAGON!
So, you planning on a compatibility license so other peeps can make cool things for Acendant?
Quote from: amacris;1123361In general, Drawbacks are not as "valuable" as they are in GURPS or HERO. I've often felt that drawbacks are priced incorrectly in most games because they assume that a penalty is worth as much as a bonus. But because of the team-based nature of RPGs, people build their characters into niches, and a penalty in an area you don't care about is worth much less than a bonus in an area you do care about. So that insight informed a lot of how Drawbacks were priced.
I'm glad to hear that. I recall in GURPS everyone pushing to have that 95 pt DNPC, or in the old exponential system DC Heroes game where Traumatic Flashback got you some of the most points, but was a really limited Disadvantage. Same with Fatal Vulnerabilities.
On one hand, it's nice to be able to get some extra points with Disadvantages/Flaws, but I didn't like feeling that I had to take the full available amount to be as useful as the rest of the group. A lot of times it felt like coming up with plausible ones was the most time consuming part of character generation.
How can rpg.net be taken remotely seriously when you ban discussion of a fucking superhero game because the dude who wrote it told the owner of the site to tell the mods to stop calling him a Nazi? What a bunch of faggots.
I'll back it at $20 just because it'll piss them off.
Yeah I got a question:
How are you gonna spend my $60?
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1123365I was under the impression they thought all republicans were nazis, given that they effectively banned republicans from their forum. So it strikes me as strange they would attack a particular person for working under a famous republican.
To avoid "he said, she said" I have uploaded a screenshot of the exact email I sent to RPG.net
https://www.dropbox.com/s/43urm7mzgrmgua5/RPGnet%20Email.jpg?dl=0
The text of my email read:
Shannon:
One of your official Moderators has once again libeled me.
https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?828681-Recommend-me-an-OSR-game/page6
This is false. I do not have "strong Neo-Nazi ties". I don't have any affiliation with Nazism at all. I do not believe what Nazis believe. I happily work with talented people regardless of religion or ethnicity. The idea that I am a Nazi can only perpetuated through malicious misconstrual of the facts. My current writing partner is a black Hispanic veteran married to an Asian immigrant. My previous co-author was an Israeli designer recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Another Autarch writer is a gay Broadway actor.
All of these facts are publicly available but I want to make sure you are personally aware of them because your staff is openly lying about me and ACKS to gamers with direct intent to cause me and my company harm. And it is not just causing me reputational harm, it is causing reputational harm to my co-writers, who do not appreciate being accuse of being associated with Nazis.
The last time I brought this up you told me to handle it through moderation. But because your staff banned me for "Rule Zero" despite being a member in good standing without even a single warning ever, I cannot. You need to handle it.
This is straightforward libel. I trust that you will remove the libel and inform your staff to halt its ongoing campaign of defamation against me and my company.
Alexander Macris
Quote from: trechriron;1123369I downloaded the quickstart yesterday and was pleasantly intrigued. Now I find out that the Outrage Brigade is still filled with untempered irrational hatred?
I'm so in. PARAGON!
So, you planning on a compatibility license so other peeps can make cool things for Acendant?
Where is this mythical download?
Quote from: Ratman_tf;1123366Good luck with your kickstarter!
Thank you!
Quote from: Antiquation!;1123367That makes sense; I agree with that logic. I am more familiar with GURPS' pricing schema than HERO's but there are definitely some wonky bits in there, much of it comes across as highly arbitrary and it can be obnoxious fiddling with the pricing and dancing around all the edge cases for any given campaign. And to your point, because of how high return some disadvantages are you run the risk of having the one-eyed, terminally-ill, paraplegic psychokinetic problem. The model you written as you've described it appears to reach a nice middle ground between disadvantages being too mechanically rewarding, and not at accounting for them at all. Which also seems to fit the superhero genre better, as on average you'd probably want flawed heroes who are nonetheless not entirely crippled mentally or physically.
That is the hope, in any case! I'm fortunate in that one of my playtesters is absolutely committed to designing paraplegic space aliens if it means he can eek out one extra point here and there. So far his most triumphant success was an armless floating invisible sphere with telekinesis and cause fear... For about 3 months, each time he made a new character, I had to make a new draft of the rules to fix what he broke!
Quote from: GeekyBugle;1123386Where is this mythical download?
You can download a sneak preview of the rules here:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/304959/Ascendant-Preview
You can download a sneak preview of the backstory here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jy4aeavo0757uwu/Backstory%20Preview.pdf?dl=0
Quote from: trechriron;1123369I downloaded the quickstart yesterday and was pleasantly intrigued. Now I find out that the Outrage Brigade is still filled with untempered irrational hatred?
I'm so in. PARAGON!
So, you planning on a compatibility license so other peeps can make cool things for Acendant?
Yes, I will definitely do that! Thanks for backing the game.
Quote from: Azraele;1123380Yeah I got a question:
How are you gonna spend my $60?
Saving it towards the $1 billion stretch goal where I become Batman!
Quote from: amacris;1123389You can download a sneak preview of the rules here:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/304959/Ascendant-Preview
You can download a sneak preview of the backstory here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jy4aeavo0757uwu/Backstory%20Preview.pdf?dl=0
Thanks! You rule!
Re: The Quickstart vs the actual book
Is the same type size used in the actual book?
Quote from: GeekyBugle;1123394Re: The Quickstart vs the actual book
Is the same type size used in the actual book?
I'm not sure yet. I'll probably collect feedback from the backers before deciding.
What's your sense?
Quote from: amacris;1123397I'm not sure yet. I'll probably collect feedback from the backers before deciding.
What's your sense?
Thanks for answering, too small IMHO, what's it? 10 points? In the quickstart I mean.
Quote from: amacris;1123397... What's your sense?
That @GeekyBugle is old as fuck and needs to get new glasses...
Wait. :p
Quote from: trechriron;1123399That @GeekyBugle is old as fuck and needs to get new glasses...
Wait. :p
I'll have you know you whippersnapper that I'm 54 springs young! and my glasses are new! :D
Quote from: GeekyBugle;1123401I'll have you know you whippersnapper that I'm 54 springs young! and my glasses are new! :D
Thanks for the feedback! I'll talk about it with the designer.
Tiny print sucks. Easy to read is always better.
Quote from: amacris;1123388For about 3 months, each time he made a new character, I had to make a new draft of the rules to fix what he broke!
Those are the best playtesters. Better to break the game now than after its published.
Have you considered providing a early play-test version for backers? Could be fun to kick the tires on a game or two waiting for the final version...
Quote from: trechriron;1123431Have you considered providing a early play-test version for backers? Could be fun to kick the tires on a game or two waiting for the final version...
And then I see on the comments page that you doing just that!!
Quote from: amacris;1123388That is the hope, in any case! I'm fortunate in that one of my playtesters is absolutely committed to designing paraplegic space aliens if it means he can eek out one extra point here and there. So far his most triumphant success was an armless floating invisible sphere with telekinesis and cause fear... For about 3 months, each time he made a new character, I had to make a new draft of the rules to fix what he broke!
I had no idea my brother was one of your playtesters! :p
Quote from: trechriron;1123433And then I see on the comments page that you doing just that!!
Yes! I'm also running some playtests in our Discord channel from time to time. Let me know if you need an invite!
I've never backed a Kickstarter faster. The $1 billion stretch goal really sold it to me.
Jokes aside, I'm actually quite intrigued by what you've made. It seems to hit all the right spots for my engineering mind with the mathematics, and yet still engender the creative juices to start flowing. It's always a bummer to find an RPG system that seems cool on the outside, but then is easily broken in half by anyone who tests its limits merely because the designers didn't account it. This looks to hit the right amount of crunch for me, so I'm excited to read, run, and play the final product!
I backed it even before I saw that TBP hates you. can I suggest that at half a billion you burn rpg.net to the ground and salt the earth as a warning to others?
because if THAT were a stretch goal I'd start selling body parts to get you more money. some of them might even be mine!
Quote from: remial;1123442I backed it even before I saw that TBP hates you. can I suggest that at half a billion you burn rpg.net to the ground and salt the earth as a warning to others?
because if THAT were a stretch goal I'd start selling body parts to get you more money. some of them might even be mine!
Stealth goal. How do you think he will be prepared to be Batman at a billion?
The radleft is definitely getting twitchy over being hit with defamation lawsuits.
Sure, there's the endlessly dragging on Vic Mignogna versus various gormless halfwits lawsuit. But Sandmann wrenched a settlement out of CNN and his lawsuits against NBC, et. al. are still pending. Gibson's Bakery won theirs against Oberlin College and while Oberlin wastes time flailing around, the interest on their payout continues to stack up (they got lucky too; tort payouts are limited under a state law pushed by Republicans. Irony...). Don't know how the Meyer vs Waid lawsuit is going -- anyone heard anything new?
And of course, though it's still in the early phases, you have Tulsi Gabbard dropping a defamation suit on Hillary Clinton herself.
Lesson: if you're going to lob incendiary charges and accusations, maybe you need to be able to back them up.
OK, that being said, I'm intrigued enough by this to take a look at the KS when I get home. I like superhero-genre games :)
I'm definitely backing this because fuck RPG.net and all their punk culture SJW commie bullshit nonsense!
I'm definitely backing this game.
Fuck RPG.net and all their pretentious SJW bullshit nonsense!
The game looks interesting. I'm keeping an eye on it for now, but chances my group will try a supers game that isn't M&M are slim.
Quote from: Ghostmaker;1123460Don't know how the Meyer vs Waid lawsuit is going -- anyone heard anything new?
It's still ongoing. Wade's lawyers are dragging it out as long as they can. They finally know what charges are going to be allowed in Texas and have a court date. I think it's set for Spring of 2021. Yep, it's getting dragged out another whole year before actually starting. Meyer reopened his Patreon for anyone willing to help defer some of the costs.
For those who've been following the Kickstarter, I just updated it with a lengthy panel-by-panel writeup of combat.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/autarch/ascendant/posts/2778530
Quote from: amacris;1123642For those who've been following the Kickstarter, I just updated it with a lengthy panel-by-panel writeup of combat.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/autarch/ascendant/posts/2778530
Is it just me that worries about the collateral damage that occurs when the hero approaches at Mach 23?
No, not at all! I actually wrote tons of rules available to address what happens but most people don't care, so I didn't go into it.
E.g...
1 SP: 25% of unprotected personnel are wounded. 67% of vehicles and buildings have minor damage such as broken windows.
2 SP: 35% of unprotected personnel are wounded. All small vehicles are lightly damaged. All other vehicles and all buildings have minor damage such as broken windows.
3 SPs: 50% of unprotected personnel are wounded. All small vehicles are lightly damaged. All other vehicles and all buildings have minor damage such as broken windows.
4 SPs: 2% of unprotected personnel are dead, 10% are unconscious, and 55% are wounded. All small vehicles are moderately damaged while all large or huge vehicles and all buildings are lightly damaged.
5 SPs: 3% of unprotected personnel are dead, 20% are unconscious, and the remainder are wounded. All small vehicles are moderately damaged while all large or huge vehicles and all buildings are lightly damaged.
6 SPs: 35% of unprotected personnel are dead, 40% are unconscious, and the rest are wounded. All small vehicles are heavily damaged. Large vehicles are moderately damaged. Huge vehicles, small buildings, and large buildings are lightly damaged.
7 SPs: 55% of unprotected personnel are dead and the rest are unconscious. All small vehicles are wrecked. Large vehicles are moderately damaged. Huge vehicles, small buildings, and large buildings are lightly damaged.
8 SPs: 98% of unprotected personnel are dead. All small and medium vehicles are wrecked (0 Durability), while large vehicles are heavily damaged. All small buildings are moderately damaged while large buildings are lightly damaged.
9 SPs: All unprotected personnel are dead. All small and medium vehicles are completely destroyed. All large vehicles are wrecked. All huge vehicles and small buildings are heavily damaged. All large buildings are moderately damaged.
10 SPs: All unprotected personnel are dead. All small and large vehicles are completely destroyed; even huge vehicles are wrecked. All small buildings are partially collapsed and uninhabitable. All large buildings are heavily damaged. Large naval vessels such as yachts are have hull breaches and take in water.
11-12 SPs: All unprotected personnel are dead, their bodies unrecognizable except by dental records. All small buildings are flattened while all large buildings are extremely damaged. Small, large, and even huge vehicles are completely destroyed. Large naval vessels are blasted apart and immediately begin to sink.
13-14 SPs: All unprotected personnel are reduced to cremated ashes. All small buildings and all vehicles are utterly destroyed. All large buildings are partially collapsed and uninhabitable. If the buildings are skyscrapers, they are visibly falling apart and in imminent danger of toppling over.
15-16 SPs: All small buildings are reduced to dust and fragments. All large buildings are flattened. If the buildings are skyscrapers, they collapse in a freefalling tower of fire and dust.
17-18 SPs: All modern buildings are flattened. Sturdy medieval castles and cathedrals are moderately damaged. Huge naval vessels such as carriers, cruiser liners, and container ships have hull breaches and take in water.
19-20 SPs: All modern buildings of any size are flattened, and their rubble strewn as dust and fragments everywhere. Sturdy medieval castles and cathedrals are partially collapsed and uninhabitable. Huge naval vessels are blasted apart and immediately begin to sink.
21-22 SPs: Even the sturdiest medieval castles and cathedrals are flattened into fragments of scorched and burned rock. Modern buildings are utterly reduced to dust. Huge naval vessels are reduced to molten slag that boils the sea. Personnel leave behind shadow-like silhouettes.
23 SPs or more: The 3-million-ton Great Pyramid of Giza is reduced to ash and cinder. So is everything else.
So an 18 SP impact would be a big deal.
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1123348It was banned because they're afraid of being sued for defamation. The moderators know that posters won't be able to resist calling him a nazi, so they don't want to risk it.
If only the mods had the ability to kick people off the site for saying things that are against the rules like making personal attacks...
Quote from: amacris;11236529 SPs: All unprotected personnel are dead. All small and medium vehicles are completely destroyed. All large vehicles are wrecked. All huge vehicles and small buildings are heavily damaged. All large buildings are moderately damaged.......
17-18 SPs: All modern buildings are flattened. Sturdy medieval castles and cathedrals are moderately damaged. Huge naval vessels such as carriers, cruiser liners, and container ships have hull breaches and take in water.
So an 18 SP impact would be a big deal.
So not only did he cause major damage to a downtown Atlanta, killed an unknown number of bystanders and office-workers (presumably in the buildings) but he also killed the NPC!
How does this play out?
Missing out on hero points, is listed as one prescribed outcome, presumably the rest is up to the GM(?) or are there any Ascendant setting details that come into play? For example the government sponsored superheroes were to disappear in "The Incredibles" movie.
It seems to me that unleashing your strongest move is bound to kill someone if they're a glass cannon. What options were available to the player use their power at a lower level?
[Q&A] #randomworlds welcomes Alexander Macris (Ascendant) 03/09/2020 7:30 p.m. CDT!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/autarch/ascendant?fbclid=IwAR1GTopve7sPU2n2POZEqzXWm_3AyLWdF1Ubk_BNLNqyFGlAnyUiNoiserk
To join: https://tinyurl.com/randomworldsIRC
Log to be posted at: https://gmshoe.wordpress.com
Quote from: Toadmaster;1123685If only the mods had the ability to kick people off the site for saying things that are against the rules like making personal attacks...
That's not exactly the problem they had. People talk smack all the time. And, as you say, they can be ejected for stepping over the line (they threadbanned and temp-banned one guy for talking bad about Monte Cook).
The problem was that you had
official moderators for RPG.net saying these things, without reprimand. Which could be construed as site policy.
It's not too dissimilar IMO (I'm not a lawyer, so take with a big bag of salt) from what burned Oberlin College during Gibson's lawsuit. It wasn't that Oberlin students were protesting, it was that Oberlin was aiding and abetting them and letting them use college resources.
Quote from: Ghostmaker;1123716That's not exactly the problem they had. People talk smack all the time. And, as you say, they can be ejected for stepping over the line (they threadbanned and temp-banned one guy for talking bad about Monte Cook).
The problem was that you had official moderators for RPG.net saying these things, without reprimand. Which could be construed as site policy.
In theory, mods are subject to the same rules as everyone else and are picked as sterling examples of RPGNet participants. In practice ... well ...
But that arguably just makes the situation
worse if the admins won't stop them. Apparently they decided a blanket shutdown of discussion was easier--which would be fine, but I'm getting a little tired of the way they make themselves purely the victim every time the topic comes up.
Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1123720I'm getting a little tired of the way they make themselves purely the victim every time the topic comes up.
To be fair, admitting anything else in public would essentially be committing lawsuit suicide. And we all tend to perceive ourselves as victim rather than aggressor in most conflicts.
Quote from: ponta1010;1123689So not only did he cause major damage to a downtown Atlanta, killed an unknown number of bystanders and office-workers (presumably in the buildings) but he also killed the NPC!
How does this play out?
Missing out on hero points, is listed as one prescribed outcome, presumably the rest is up to the GM(?) or are there any Ascendant setting details that come into play? For example the government sponsored superheroes were to disappear in "The Incredibles" movie.
It seems to me that unleashing your strongest move is bound to kill someone if they're a glass cannon. What options were available to the player use their power at a lower level?
You get Character Points based on limiting destruction/saving lives and defeating baddies, so sadly American Eagle would have also not gotten many experience points. But this was his very first superhero fight in his career, he didn't really know what he was doing, so we can't be too hard on the big guy.
As far as the setting - in the official story, government-sponsored superheroes end up in a battle against a superhuman-supremacist terrorist group in Washington DC that leaves about half of the government-sponsored heroes as casualties. Then WikiLeaks reveals the fact that the superhuman villain of the Battle of Atlanta, the Manticore, was actually a US government soldier created by an experiment. Thereafter American Eagle flies off into space. That's where the campaign begins.
The game affords you any number of options, including attacking at a lower power level, using nonlethal attacks, and so on.
Quote from: Ghostmaker;1123716That's not exactly the problem they had. People talk smack all the time. And, as you say, they can be ejected for stepping over the line (they threadbanned and temp-banned one guy for talking bad about Monte Cook).
The problem was that you had official moderators for RPG.net saying these things, without reprimand. Which could be construed as site policy.
It's not too dissimilar IMO (I'm not a lawyer, so take with a big bag of salt) from what burned Oberlin College during Gibson's lawsuit. It wasn't that Oberlin students were protesting, it was that Oberlin was aiding and abetting them and letting them use college resources.
That's correct. So the situation that RPG.net's owners found themselves in was:
1) If they allowed their moderators to defame me, they were at risk of a lawsuit.
2) If they told their moderators to stop talking about me, the moderators would be forced to allow others to say nice things about me without being able to let everyone know how terrible I am. That, in turn, would have led to a moderator revolt.
So the owners did the only thing they could do, which was to simply ban discussion of me.
I personally always liked Shannon (the owner) and thought he was doing good work on the history of RPGs; and I sponsored his site with gifts and ad dollars when I ran The Escapist. So it's sad how it all played out.
Not really to into supers games. How well would this work for kind of silly supers like the Tick? That is really more my speed for supers games and not a lot out there that really does it well. I may get in at the $20 level just to spite the big purple, I did the same for ACKS and was very happy with that, ultimately getting everything because it is a solid game.
Quote from: Ghostmaker;1123716That's not exactly the problem they had. People talk smack all the time. And, as you say, they can be ejected for stepping over the line (they threadbanned and temp-banned one guy for talking bad about Monte Cook).
The problem was that you had official moderators for RPG.net saying these things, without reprimand. Which could be construed as site policy.
It's not too dissimilar IMO (I'm not a lawyer, so take with a big bag of salt) from what burned Oberlin College during Gibson's lawsuit. It wasn't that Oberlin students were protesting, it was that Oberlin was aiding and abetting them and letting them use college resources.
I am aware, my sarcasm obviously was weak.
I just found the idea that a site where they ban people for something as simple as using the wrong color of text (some kind of pink / purple apparently triggers posters) or eye rolling emoticons (because again triggery) being portrayed as the victims amused me. "Oh nos we can't talk about this game here because we can't control what our posters say and we might get sued."
A particularly lame excuse when the issue wasn't even limited to posters, but was coming from mod staff.
I'm pretty sure the mods over there have ban quotas to meet to ensure they are working.
Quote from: Toadmaster;1123788Not really to into supers games. How well would this work for kind of silly supers like the Tick? That is really more my speed for supers games and not a lot out there that really does it well. I may get in at the $20 level just to spite the big purple, I did the same for ACKS and was very happy with that, ultimately getting everything because it is a solid game.
Well, the official setting has a levitating manatee named Levitee and a blind-deaf assassin named Helen Killer, so I'm certainly comfortable running with silly. I think it would work fine if you tuned the Hero Points a bit to reward silly play rather than serious mission-focused objectives and if you switched combat to Nonlethal by default. It might be a bit overpowered for your needs but if other super games aren't getting the job done it might work for you.
In any case, thanks for your support of ACKS and kind words - cheers!
I won't deny it's disappointing, watching them fall into their own assholes.
Getting back on topic, my only question about Ascendant -- there seems to be a HELL of a lot of numbers flying around if I'm reading some of these sheets right? I hope actions are streamlined so we're not having to do complex math to run an encounter?
Quote from: Ghostmaker;1123801I won't deny it's disappointing, watching them fall into their own assholes.
Getting back on topic, my only question about Ascendant -- there seems to be a HELL of a lot of numbers flying around if I'm reading some of these sheets right? I hope actions are streamlined so we're not having to do complex math to run an encounter?
Most of the math is taken care of by the CHART and the Damage tables. But there is some math.
A typical example would be:
A: "I attack with AV 14."
B: "My DV is 13".
A: "OK, my RV is 14 - 13 = +1".
A rolls on chart at +1.
A: "I scored a Yellow result. I deal 128 damage".
B: "I have 32 protection, so I take 96 damage." or it might be
B: "I roll with your blow, reducing it to 64 damage. I have 32 protection, so I take 32 damage."
Whether that's too much math is definitely going to vary on a player by player basis.
I saw a link to this on Facebook and thought it looked like a cool idea. I didn't back it, as I'm not gaming much these days.
I'm backing it tonight, after hearing how TBP reacted. Screw them.
Good luck, amacris!
It's not for me, but I did just buy Ruined City of Cyfandir for 5e so I deserve brownie points. :D
Quote from: Tait Ransom;1123865I saw a link to this on Facebook and thought it looked like a cool idea. I didn't back it, as I'm not gaming much these days.
I'm backing it tonight, after hearing how TBP reacted. Screw them.
Good luck, amacris!
Much obliged, thank you!!
Quote from: S'mon;1123867It's not for me, but I did just buy Ruined City of Cyfandir for 5e so I deserve brownie points. :D
Oh, nice! I love that adventure. Do you want chocolate chip brownie points or fudge brownie points? :-D
Quote from: amacris;1123914Oh, nice! I love that adventure. Do you want chocolate chip brownie points or fudge brownie points? :-D
Chocolate chip, thanks. :cool:
Quote from: rgalex;1123471The game looks interesting. I'm keeping an eye on it for now, but chances my group will try a supers game that isn't M&M are slim.
After thinking about it some more, I backed the $20 pdf level. Even if I never get to run the system, I should be able to get some mileage out of the setting material and hopefully the mission generation system.
The mission generation and the event handling of asteroids, volcanoes is what is selling me here as well. Not to discount the mechanics! It seems like it flows well and the effort to match up physics beyond weights and speeds is appreciated.
Quote from: Half the people in the threadHaha, rpg.net hates and bans it so I will back twice
I agree with the sentiment but this Supermetric system was originally for Vox Day's Alt*Hero RPG kickstarter stretch goal. And now it is not after a lot of hue and cry against the author.
I would count that as a win for the cancel culture.
So I backed at the $60 level, but I haven't had the time to dig too deep into the setting. Does the setting currently include any evil super groups? Anything like the Mutant Brotherhood or the League of Calamitous Intent?
There's a really good actual play of the system posted at https://youtu.be/fejJL5TlnY8 (https://youtu.be/fejJL5TlnY8).
Seems to play out really well in the session. I'm getting the vibe that the game might run like GURPs, in that the character build is crunchy and there a lot of crunchy/well built systems for you to work with for various situations. But you can also ignore the systems you want to and keep it to a lighter core in actual play. ACKs was sort of built the same way. The core game was pretty simple with a lot of added well mathed out systems on top for designing kingdoms, dungeons, magic items, new classes, etc. But you could pick and choose the systems you wanted to play with.
Quote from: wmarshal;1123999So I backed at the $60 level, but I haven't had the time to dig too deep into the setting. Does the setting currently include any evil super groups? Anything like the Mutant Brotherhood or the League of Calamitous Intent?
Yes, it does. There is a group of superhuman-supremacists called Exodus who believe that superhumans need to "exit humanity" to take their rightful place as apex creatures. Exodus has conquered the Pacific island of Nauru and declared it their "homeland", and it has terrorist operatives around the world.
Quote from: Dracones;1124003There's a really good actual play of the system posted at https://youtu.be/fejJL5TlnY8 (https://youtu.be/fejJL5TlnY8).
Seems to play out really well in the session. I'm getting the vibe that the game might run like GURPs, in that the character build is crunchy and there a lot of crunchy/well built systems for you to work with for various situations. But you can also ignore the systems you want to and keep it to a lighter core in actual play. ACKs was sort of built the same way. The core game was pretty simple with a lot of added well mathed out systems on top for designing kingdoms, dungeons, magic items, new classes, etc. But you could pick and choose the systems you wanted to play with.
That's my design philosophy in a nutshell. As a game designer and GM, I would always prefer that the sub-systems be available if I want them, but I want the core of the game to be fast and elegant. You could play Ascendant without ever worrying about, say, the pandemic disease rules, but if you WANT to run "superheros vs. ebola", it's there for you.
Quote from: amacris;1124011That's my design philosophy in a nutshell. As a game designer and GM, I would always prefer that the sub-systems be available if I want them, but I want the core of the game to be fast and elegant. You could play Ascendant without ever worrying about, say, the pandemic disease rules, but if you WANT to run "superheros vs. ebola", it's there for you.
The word I use is "coherent". A coherent game is one that runs well as written, with few to no optional rules, and room for the GM to make the rules their own. Optional rules can come in supplements, especially those that "open the hood" and expose a toolkit for GM use.
ACKS nails the above. I will not be surprised when I read my Paragon-backer hardcopy of Ascendant and discover the same.
Edit to add for clarity: whatever optional rules Ascendant has will not invalidate the above.
Quote from: RandyB;1124012The word I use is "coherent". A coherent game is one that runs well as written, with few to no optional rules, and room for the GM to make the rules their own. Optional rules can come in supplements, especially those that "open the hood" and expose a toolkit for GM use.
ACKS nails the above. I will not be surprised when I read my Paragon-backer hardcopy of Ascendant and discover the same.
Edit to add for clarity: whatever optional rules Ascendant has will not invalidate the above.
I am from the same tribe as you and would like to now perform our ancient ritual dance to show my allegiance to your cause
Whereas I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Whereas I find both you amazing, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter to lean how to join your tribe.
Quote from: trechriron;1124028Whereas I find both you amazing, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter to lean how to join your tribe.
You're already in. You just didn't know it yet.
The first rule of Acks Club is: You do not talk about Acks Club. The second rule of Acks Club is: You do not talk about Acks Club. Third rule of Acks Club: Someone holds up an X-card, goes limp, taps out, you decide if the fight is over. Fourth rule: Only two gamers to a fight.
Quote from: amacris;1124010Yes, it does. There is a group of superhuman-supremacists called Exodus who believe that superhumans need to "exit humanity" to take their rightful place as apex creatures. Exodus has conquered the Pacific island of Nauru and declared it their "homeland", and it has terrorist operatives around the world.
Because I like complex moral conflicts, how feasible is it to make these guys, let's say not exactly sympathetic, but understandable? How much, to coin a term, "titanophobia" (fear, antipathy and hostility for paranormally powerful individuals) is there among the general population in this setting?
It's very grey. My own (real world) ideology leads me to believe that most organizations are grey, most people are grey, and most conflicts are real dilemmas with no easy answers, so that's the sort of world I built.
Domestically, there is a pressure group, American Citizens Against Vigilantism (ACAV), that is demanding a nationwide registry of ascendants with tracking and confinement of dangerous "humans of mass destruction". Exodus responded by setting fire to their HQ during the middle of the night. Star-Spangled Squadron responded with a counter-attack and that led an act of arson to turn into a bloodbath.
Internationally, Exodus chose to take over an extremely isolated island (Nauru) to claim as their homeland, but the UN has refused to recognize their sovereignty. The leader of Exodus claims they want to be left in peace to transcend their humanity. Whether it's true or not that they have no violent plans is left uncertain... and even if it's true it's not clear that humanity would be comfortable with ascendant transhumanizing.
Quote from: amacris;1124102It's very grey. My own (real world) ideology leads me to believe that most organizations are grey, most people are grey, and most conflicts are real dilemmas with no easy answers, so that's the sort of world I built.
That's very mature of you. It's extremely difficult for the overwhelming majority of people, including politicians, to view the world that way. Our current polarized environment demonizes all opposition.
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1124104It's extremely difficult for the overwhelming majority of people, including politicians, to view the world that way. Our current polarized environment demonizes all opposition.
True, although in the end, this is an RPG setting; if there isn't occasionally
someone around whose butts the PCs can kick with a perfectly clear conscience, audience appeal is going to be limited in some key ways. And the whole point of trying to find one's way through shades-of-grey conflicts is that you can't have shades of grey without black and white both being in there, and it mattering how much of both
is in there.
Even the tragic conflict at the end of
Captain America: Civil War (one of my favourite examples of shades-of-grey conflicts in moviedom) is most cathartic when it shows another character how to make the clearly right choice, forswearing vengeance in favour of justice.
Quote from: Stephen Tannhauser;1124108True, although in the end, this is an RPG setting; if there isn't occasionally someone around whose butts the PCs can kick with a perfectly clear conscience, audience appeal is going to be limited in some key ways. And the whole point of trying to find one's way through shades-of-grey conflicts is that you can't have shades of grey without black and white both being in there, and it mattering how much of both is in there.
Even the tragic conflict at the end of Captain America: Civil War (one of my favourite examples of shades-of-grey conflicts in moviedom) is most cathartic when it shows another character how to make the clearly right choice, forswearing vengeance in favour of justice.
Sure. It's like I said: *most*.
American Eagle is characterized as unquestionably good in the setting. He is a firefighter, a husband, a father, a little league coach. His powers manifested when his neighbor's little kid got trapped under a car and he saved her.
The Manticore is characterized as unquestionably evil. He's a psychopath Special Forces operator who murdered innocent civilians in Iraq, becoming known as the "Maneater" (Manticore) for his kill count. When his powers manifested, he became the monster he was inside. You can have sympathy for him - as a prisoner of the US Army he was experimented on - but it doesn't change his nature.
At the start of the official campaign, American Eagle has gone missing and the player characters have arrived on the scene; so it's set up that they can, if they wish, fill the gap and be the good heroes the world needs.
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1124104That's very mature of you. It's extremely difficult for the overwhelming majority of people, including politicians, to view the world that way. Our current polarized environment demonizes all opposition.
Thank you, that's very kind. Speaking of our current polarized environment, that was a difficult needle to thread for Ascendant, since it's set in "the real world, right now". I ultimately decided there was nothing I could do with President Trump that wouldn't alienate half of the consumers. So I replaced President Trump with his expie, President Flush. Flush is portrayed as a dirty old man who has the hots for one of the female superheroes, but not as an evil fascist or as a MAGA god-emperor. I think we can all laugh about someone's sexual peccadilloes without it being too political. (I also replaced Secretary Esper with Secretary Esperanto, but that was because having someone called Esper running around who wasn't actually, you know, a telepath was too confusing.)
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1124104That's very mature of you. It's extremely difficult for the overwhelming majority of people, including politicians, to view the world that way. Our current polarized environment demonizes all opposition.
I too demonize my opposition...
But only in-game, when I'm playing the Wizard, and I have the appropriate summon spells memorized.
Quote from: amacris;1124120(I also replaced Secretary Esper with Secretary Esperanto, but that was because having someone called Esper running around who wasn't actually, you know, a telepath was too confusing.)
I knew it! Green on the outside, red on the inside! amacris is a sekrat Communist!!! :D
Amacris, earlier in the thread you commented that 'non-lethal' combat was an option. Is this one of the modes already described in the text (we've already seen lethal)?
Hello Amacris,
I like what I've read in the preview chapters, except for one detail that really puts me (and probably my group too) off... Would it be much work to add an SP table with metric measurements instead of imperial?
Because I have no intuitive clue what a square ft, gallon or lbs really means, and going logarithmic in another base will obviously mess up stuff. Maybe as a stretch goal, when you reach a reasonable number of backers that are not from US or UK.
Or could I go e.g. SP-2 = 1 kilo: bag of sugar, SP-1 = 10 kilo: small dog, SP0 = 100 kilo: strong built human, ... without messing too much with the SPs, if everyone uses the base 10?
Quote from: ponta1010;1124135Amacris, earlier in the thread you commented that 'non-lethal' combat was an option. Is this one of the modes already described in the text (we've already seen lethal)?
NONLETHAL ATTACK
Many heroes have an aversion to killing. A Nonlethal Attack allows a character to pull his punches or aim for nonlethal locations to avoid killing his foe. A character can make a Nonlethal Attack if the Attack uses MIG, Blast, Strike, or Mind Blast as the Damaging Attribute, but not Explosion, Fog, or Life Drain.
An attacker suffers no AV penalty for making a Nonlethal Melee, Ramming, or Wrestling Attack, nor for making any Nonlethal Attack dealing Bludgeoning Damage. An attacker making any other type of Nonlethal Attack suffers a -1 AV penalty. If a character succeeds on a Nonlethal Attack, he cannot reduce his target's Current Health to less than a negative value equal in magnitude to his Maximum Health. However, he can still cause Special Effects, so there is a risk of accidentally killing a target.
Stiletto claws a thug with her eponymous nails (7 SPs of Lacerating Strike, Base Damage 24). Her VAL is 10 SPs and the thug's VAL is only 3 SPs, so she has an RV of +7. The thug only has a Health of 30. She wants to keep him alive for questioning, so she decides to make a Nonlethal Attack. She rolls an 04 on the CHART, a Red result! That deals 24 x 8 = 192 Lacerating Damage to the thug. Normally that would instantly slay him, but since she declared a Nonlethal Attack the thug's Current Health is just reduced to -30. Unfortunately, her roll of 04 is also below her AV, which means she has triggered a Bleeding special effect with an SEV of 7 SPs. At the end of his Panel, the thug bleeds out, reducing his Current Health to -54. Her "prisoner" dies messily.
Quote from: Godfather Punk;1124146Hello Amacris,
I like what I've read in the preview chapters, except for one detail that really puts me (and probably my group too) off... Would it be much work to add an SP table with metric measurements instead of imperial?
Because I have no intuitive clue what a square ft, gallon or lbs really means, and going logarithmic in another base will obviously mess up stuff. Maybe as a stretch goal, when you reach a reasonable number of backers that are not from US or UK.
Or could I go e.g. SP-2 = 1 kilo: bag of sugar, SP-1 = 10 kilo: small dog, SP0 = 100 kilo: strong built human, ... without messing too much with the SPs, if everyone uses the base 10?
So I set all the parameters in Imperial, but then converted them to metric to do the *math* for the system because it's what I was trained to use during college physics classes. I then converted it back into Imperial because 90% of my playerbase is American or English. For instance, 0 SPs of MIG was about 110 Newtons, and Damage is all (hidden) calculated on Joules. So offering a version of the SP tables that shows their metric equivalents shouldn't be too hard, I can do that after funding.
I'd use these as the benchmarks and build from there:
0 SP Mass ~ 10 kg
0 SP Distance ~ 1.5 meters
0 SP Area ~ 2.25 square meters
0 SP Volume ~ 3.33 cubic meters
0 SP Speed ~ 1.5 kph
So a human with Weight 3 would be around 10x2^3=80kg.
A car with Speed 6 would be benchmarked at ~ 100kph.
Well, it looks like you just sold another copy :cool:
Thanks!
Quote from: amacris;1124157NONLETHAL ATTACK
At the end of his Panel, the thug bleeds out, reducing his Current Health to -54. Her "prisoner" dies messily.
[/I]
You do realise that this is not selling me as an RPG to mimic any animated superheroes series don't you. :)
Every example I've seen so far has had the opponent die at the end of combat! (Even the non-lethal one)
Quote from: ponta1010;1124219You do realise that this is not selling me as an RPG to mimic any animated superheroes series don't you. :)
Every example I've seen so far has had the opponent die at the end of combat! (Even the non-lethal one)
Heh. Well, I design my games to match how I like games to play. I'm notoriously bloody-minded! And I do list the game's inspirations as Boys, Watchmen, Invincible, Squadron Supreme, Authority, etc. -- all of which are relatively bloody.
But I also assume any GM who wants to house rule my game will do so. "Every campaign is a law unto itself." My philosophy is that it's easier for a GM to choose to ignore a sub-system then to be forced to make-up a sub-system that's not present. So I tend to offer lots of rules, full well knowing that different groups will do different stuff with them.
If you want completely nonlethal combat, you just say "All combat is completely nonlethal" and be done with it. You can ignore the effect of special wounds on lethality just by ignoring that rule.
There's various designer's notes scattered about the game to help you tweak stuff.
Quote from: insubordinate polyhedral;1124126I knew it! Green on the outside, red on the inside! amacris is a sekrat Communist!!! :D
report this to the Computer, Citizen!
They banned your company. And your company is not the first one they have banned. Only the latest.
I have never been under any illusions what RPG.net is. It's a dictatorship. They can ban anyone at any time for any reason they want. Real or made up. They are under absolutely no obligation to anyone else. And the meaning of the rules they have there switches on the individual moderator's whim.
Quote from: amacris;1124257Heh. Well, I design my games to match how I like games to play. I'm notoriously bloody-minded! And I do list the game's inspirations as Boys, Watchmen, Invincible, Squadron Supreme, Authority, etc. -- all of which are relatively bloody.
That's a great selection.
They've de-facto banned any mention of my products too, they were just too scared to ever declare it. Not like it matters, that's not my audience, it's not yours either.
Quote from: trechriron;1124122I too demonize my opposition...
But only in-game, when I'm playing the Wizard, and I have the appropriate summon spells memorized.
Is the wizard's specialization diabolist, diablerist, or satanist? Trick question! There's no difference.
Quote from: Darrin Kelley;1124278They banned your company. And your company is not the first one they have banned. Only the latest.
I have never been under any illusions what RPG.net is. It's a dictatorship. They can ban anyone at any time for any reason they want. Real or made up. They are under absolutely no obligation to anyone else. And the meaning of the rules they have there switches on the individual moderator's whim.
Something I'd like to note here.
Most Internet fora and social places (MUDs, for example) are dictatorships anyways. Someone is paying the bills, so ultimately they have the last word on policy. It's not good, or bad. It just
is. Yes, some strive to be enlightened despots, encouraging feedback, showing an open mind towards constructive criticism -- but once again, the man who pays the piper, calls the tune.
What strikes me as so infuriating about RPG.net is how casually two-faced it is. Inconsistent rulings, mods who are clearly power-tripping, and vague warnings simply don't add up to good administration.
RPG.net is a modern and virtual redo of the Stanford Prison Experiment.
Quote from: Melichor;1124897RPG.net is a modern and virtual redo of the Stanford Prison Experiment.
With no adult in the room to shut it down.
Well, we're seven days away from the end of the crowdfunding period. It doesn't look like we're going to hit the $1 Billion stretch goal. But we are going to fund! When I launched this Kickstarter, I didn't expect to be launching it in the midst of the worst global pandemic since Spanish Flu, nor in the midst of the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression.
If you're a backer, I want to make sure that everyone who is counting on stretch goals is rewarded for their pledge. Therefore:
1) I am updating the $30,000 stretch goal to include BOTH battlemaps rather than just one. If we hit $30K, we'll treat it as though we hit $40K, and all the way up the chain. (Technically if we hit $1M that means I have to become a crimefighter.)
2) Regardless of whether we hit anymore stretch goals at all, all backers at the $90 level and above will get an Exclusive 11" x 17" Special Edition poster of Aurora and Stiletto illustrated by Jinky Coronado. I'm incredibly thrilled to have Ms. Coronado working on this. A former FHM and calendar model, she is the creator/writer/artist of Banzai Girl, has illustrated such diverse projects as Avalon High and Exposure, and is a cover artist for Archie Comics.
You can see a sneak peek of the poster here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/autarch/ascendant/posts/2794029
Thanks again for the outpouring of support on this thread. Cheers, hope you're all staying healthy.
Congratulations, you are the recipient of only my second kick starter pledge ever (and the first for an RPG).
I have to say that none of the stretch goals tempted me in the least, but the hardback looked too good to ignore.
Quote from: Steven Mitchell;1124908Congratulations, you are the recipient of only my second kick starter pledge ever (and the first for an RPG).
I have to say that none of the stretch goals tempted me in the least, but the hardback looked too good to ignore.
Thanks very much for pledging! Especially in such crazy days.
Hey there. I was the one that started the thread on RPG.net to discuss the game and virtually immediately told that it was a non-topic that is banned from discussion and my thread was unceremoniously closed.
I am also the backer that wrote in the comments of the Kickstarter that despite me being very excited for the game, backing it at the Paragon $90 level, that now I have to back out of my pledge because the assclowns that run the company my fiancé and I work for have decided to furlough us both without pay and now we are trying to get unemployment going and wondering how we are going to pay our bills due to the COVID-19 crap. It is an utter shame. I was looking forward to it and had been openly promoting it online at RPG.net (I tried) and the DC Heroes Facebook group, etc.
Quote from: daddystabz;1125290Hey there. I was the one that started the thread on RPG.net to discuss the game and virtually immediately told that it was a non-topic that is banned from discussion and my thread was unceremoniously closed.
I am also the backer that wrote in the comments of the Kickstarter that despite me being very excited for the game, backing it at the Paragon $90 level, that now I have to back out of my pledge because the assclowns that run the company my fiancé and I work for have decided to furlough us both without pay and now we are trying to get unemployment going and wondering how we are going to pay our bills due to the COVID-19 crap. It is an utter shame. I was looking forward to it and had been openly promoting it online at RPG.net (I tried) and the DC Heroes Facebook group, etc.
Thanks for the kind words on DC Heroes and RPG.net. Can you check your Private Messages? I left you a note there.
Everyone - thank you all for your support! It's the last day of the Kickstarter so if you want to pledge, now's the time.
Quote from: daddystabz;1125290Hey there. I was the one that started the thread on RPG.net to discuss the game and virtually immediately told that it was a non-topic that is banned from discussion and my thread was unceremoniously closed.
I am also the backer that wrote in the comments of the Kickstarter that despite me being very excited for the game, backing it at the Paragon $90 level, that now I have to back out of my pledge because the assclowns that run the company my fiancé and I work for have decided to furlough us both without pay and now we are trying to get unemployment going and wondering how we are going to pay our bills due to the COVID-19 crap. It is an utter shame. I was looking forward to it and had been openly promoting it online at RPG.net (I tried) and the DC Heroes Facebook group, etc.
I'm so sorry to hear about your situation and wish you all the best. :(
I only backed it at the $20 mark, because at this time that is all I can afford, but rest assured, if you have a pledge master or backer kit open to collect information, I will boost my backing to the level that will get me a hardcover of the book, cos I love me some supers games.
I have a question tho, how easy is it to create new powers in the game system?
It's probably worth mentioning that you can now get in on this on Indiegogo, and it'll apparently honour the total pledges between the two campaigns as far as stretch goals.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ascendant#/
so maybe he will get to the super hero level!
I'm not too interested in superhero games, nor do I particularly enjoy toolkit systems (like GURPS, Hero, or Tri-Stat), but damn, there is something eerily beautiful in the way Ascendant works. I especially enjoyed reading Exploring the Physics of Superheroes and We're Running Out of Time! on the Kickstarter page.