New Multiplayer book!

[Zipp Dementia]

I have to say that this is the best RPG I've ever seen. Simple, to the point, easy to write for... I really love this.

For my part, I'll be GMing this much as I've been GMing the Female Lone Wolf adventures:

http://projectaon.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=auxiliary&action=display&thread=1730&page=1

To be specific, I'll be allowing the Combat Ratios to shift in combat if the players do something very clever or smart... and, adversely, if they do something stupid, too...

One clarification... I'm guessing, from the description, that when you attack multiple enemies at once, you don't combine their CS scores but you take them on one at a time (or rather, on your turn you would attack three different creatures with three different Combat Ratios), but each of them with bonuses to their CS. I guess the benefit to doing this would be to distract or detain multiple enemies so your buddies can get away or get better position.

Note I'm not talking about ganging up on enemies (ie. 2 players attacking 1 enemy) but rather one player attacking multiple enemies, and the related bonuses. Speaking of which, is this different from the bonus an enemy would get for attacking a player who has been engaged earlier this turn?

Another clarification... how do the writers suggest we deal with the fact that some players are just going to be better than others because of CS and END? It seems like some players could just get the hard end of the stick, with nothing going for them that is going for other players.

And finally... is there any reason why players shouldn't start as a Kai novice with 1 skill and work their way up through 10 adventures to Kai Master? I imagine it's mostly because of setting (I can't remember if Kai are even sent on missions prior to gaining mastery of five skills) and partially because of difficulty (though I think many missions could be written for Kai Lords with less than five skills). My main concern is that I'm not sure how to reward players after five adventures. Is the idea that they should be struggling so hard to survive at this point that completion is its own reward? Or should I start messing around with Magnakai skills.

Anyway, great work. Nice mission, Darren, I'll be looking closer at it tonight and probably playing it Saturday. I'd also like to submit some original adventures to Signs and Portents... is Mongoose accepting? I'm sure there's some value in free work...

 

[Zipp Dementia]

One more question: it says the introductory mission is part of a three-mission campaign, advertised as being part of this initial book, but obviously not included beyond the first one... where can I see the other missions in the campaign?

 

[The Wolf]

Keep an eye on S&P because I'll be doing some adventures for it, building on what's already there. (and thanks Zipp)

As for writing adventures, the more the merrier I say - so contact Mongoose and see if you can get an adventure or two published in S&P, don't do /anything/ for free.

 

[Mongoose Pete]

Another clarification... how do the writers suggest we deal with the fact that some players are just going to be better than others because of CS and END? It seems like some players could just get the hard end of the stick, with nothing going for them that is going for other players.

I noticed this too. For Terror of the Darklords I suggested an optional rule, where you roll a single d10 and add 10 for CS, but remove the same rolled value from a starting END of 29. Its a slight fudge and probably still better to have a higher CS, but helps to avoid poor luck when creating a PC.

The other option is start all the PCs with the same CS and END.

And finally... is there any reason why players shouldn't start as a Kai novice with 1 skill and work their way up through 10 adventures to Kai Master?

None whatsoever. It'd help differentiate between starting PCs, who become increasingly similar (save for character) as they near Kai Master.

My main concern is that I'm not sure how to reward players after five adventures. Is the idea that they should be struggling so hard to survive at this point that completion is its own reward? Or should I start messing around with Magnakai skills.

Terror of the Darklords is written so that each adventure has a specific mission objective. Failing to complete the objective, whether by not acting as noble Kai Lords or simply being foolish, results in no level being gained. So 10 adventures does not equate to 10 levels. In addition, you can extend adventures to last weeks or months of roleplaying before they conclude.

Using these two methods you should be able to match Kai promotion in a campaign to your preferred rate of advancement. :wink:

 

[Xex]

My houserule is that all players roll 3 times for their combat skill and endurance, and take the best results. Feel free to try this, I think it will result in a overall higher spread of scores all around.

Zipp, are you going to be running a game of this?

 

[Zipp Dementia]

Probably what I'll do, after consideration, is again what I've been doing in the female LW adventures, where no one has a set CS score but rather they roll it at the start of every combat, adding bonuses based on their position. This has kept every combat exciting, because there is no such thing as a powerhouse character. END I'm happy to leave as a random roll, but this would give players a chance to switch up who shines and also force them to think more on their feet about whether or not they really want to get into combat.

I may mix this up slightly by using the following set of rules I developed:

CS rolls are made at the beginning of an adventure and this is your starting CS (+ the usual 10). However, after each FULL combat (so all enemies defeated), as fatigue sets in, each player loses one point to this score permanently for each enemy they engaged. Any time a player rests, the score is reset with a new roll.

I like this, because it adds in a fatigue element to the game, in which players have to decide whether the party's overal CS is high enough to keep moving or whether they need a break. It also simulates the fact that combat is tiring and you can't have a thousand fights in a day, or even more than a few.

GREYWOLF: I'll be using the start of your adventure to lead into the Dawn of Darkness adventure (easy enough to convert to this style). I'm planning this as the start of a 7 or 8 adventure campaign in which the players hunt down and find the Book of the Magnakai and end up being the ones who bring it to its fateful resting place in the Vassagonian kingdom.

XEX: See above for the game I'll be running, in person. I don't think I'll be running an online game right now. The Adventures of the Female Lone Wolf keep me pretty busy as far as my online time goes.

 

[The Wolf]

Zipp: I am now convinced (after reading the TotS post) that 1 and 2 are in the LWMPGB, 3 will be available soon...

 

[phantomdoodler]

cant wait to get my mitts on this. My initial thoughts on starting CS and EP would be to start these both at 10 and 20. Then each player can either spend 9 points between each of these, or pick two numbers and assign that many points between them, with no more than 9 on any one.