Okay, so I missed my scheduled update. But, I have a good reason. I'll just chalk it up to medical... well, I wouldn't go as far as to say 'emergency,' but yeah, that. So, with that out of the way, I must also explain that there will be no Saturday post, as scheduled, because I start a six-day shoot on Saturday, and I will not be hosting my game on Friday in order to get enough sleep for my first day on a new show. On to the content!
The Serenity Roleplaying Game was one of the first roleplaying books I picked up, during my early years of high school. Before that, it had mainly been just DragonQuest and home-brew systems. So, having never really picked up another book, I was overwhelmed with new ideas. After playing it for a year or two, I came to find things about the system that were simply not designed well.
First of all, the system progress your skills and attributes by assigning a die value (d6, d8, d10, etc.). Whenever you test a skill, you roll the dice for the associated attribute and the skill (or specialty). Higher ranked character rolls up to four dice at one time, and it makes you feel cool, until you roll all 2's. The problem is that you hardly, if at all, increase your minimum roll. Sure, you're maximum increases by two with every rank, but it only increases your average die result by one. For example, if you have a d6 in Guns and a d8 in Agility (which are the two stats used for shooting a firearm), your minimum roll is 2 and your maximum roll is 14. If you take the average of each die, you get 3.5 for the d6, and 4.5 for the d8. That means your average roll is an 8. If you raise you ability with Guns (which, in this system, requires you to take a Specialty to get past d6, so lets say Assault Rifles at d8) to d8, than your new average is 9 (4.5+4.5), and your minimum roll is the exact same.
A place for all to read about the adventures led by one game-master. They call him GM Jaken. It's about roleplaying, gaming, and all things nerd.
Updates after each session.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Star Trek: Invincible - Session 2
The Norexan, Part II
With the Tahkar on the run, Captain Ozozah sends an away team. Commander Sevik leads the team, consisting of Lieutenant Valryon, Lieutenant Commander Juliana Phelps, Lieutenant Commander Coul Anala, Cadet Korvan, and a security personnel. The six suit-up in EVA Suits, aware that there is an unknown pathogen aboard the Norexan. Korvan is brought in case his knowledge of his people might come in handy, and he is a learned security personnel.
They beam to Main Engineering of the Norexan. Phelps immediately sees the condition of the Romulan crew. A fourth of the engineering staff is dead, and the rest lay unconscious with lesions and flaky skin. Sevik instructs Coul to see what is affected this ship, causing it to drift.
Coul accesses a terminal and discovers that not only is the propulsion systems offline, but the life support system is malfunctioning. Instead of filtering out the pathogen, it is continually recycling it. When he tries to correct the problem, he is hit with a command lockout, preventing him from reaching the high functions of the ship's computer. He attempts to override, but discovers the lockout is being done manually from the computer core. He opens a schematic to the computer core to learn the route, and he discovers that the computer core itself is being shielded from sensors.
With the Tahkar on the run, Captain Ozozah sends an away team. Commander Sevik leads the team, consisting of Lieutenant Valryon, Lieutenant Commander Juliana Phelps, Lieutenant Commander Coul Anala, Cadet Korvan, and a security personnel. The six suit-up in EVA Suits, aware that there is an unknown pathogen aboard the Norexan. Korvan is brought in case his knowledge of his people might come in handy, and he is a learned security personnel.
They beam to Main Engineering of the Norexan. Phelps immediately sees the condition of the Romulan crew. A fourth of the engineering staff is dead, and the rest lay unconscious with lesions and flaky skin. Sevik instructs Coul to see what is affected this ship, causing it to drift.
Coul accesses a terminal and discovers that not only is the propulsion systems offline, but the life support system is malfunctioning. Instead of filtering out the pathogen, it is continually recycling it. When he tries to correct the problem, he is hit with a command lockout, preventing him from reaching the high functions of the ship's computer. He attempts to override, but discovers the lockout is being done manually from the computer core. He opens a schematic to the computer core to learn the route, and he discovers that the computer core itself is being shielded from sensors.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
System Spotlight: Song of Ice and Fire RPG
In my experience as a game-master over my many years, I have picked up a lot of roleplaying books, mainly the core book systems. My most recent grab was the Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying Game, A Game of Thrones Edition. This edition of SIFRPG is fresh of the printing press, and I bought one of the first copies to arrive at my local gaming store. The reason I bought it is because a friend of mine, the man who plays the Caitian Captain Ozozah, is narrating a SIF game using the system.
At first glance, there were some things in this book that kinda blew my mind. For one thing, I don't remember looking at a system previous to this that didn't have Attributes and Skills, but instead just a combination called Abilities. I'm sure this isn't a first, but it was for me. This system used a d6 additive dice-pool system, where you have a pool of d6s and add the result together. Another incredible aspect was the House Creation system, which was just plain neat. Another mind-blowing rule was the Intrigue system, which was a sort of combat for conversational, well, intrigues. At first, this system seemed extraordinary.
But, after our first session, I started to see things I didn't like. For starts, the standard skill cap of Rank 7 seemed way too high. The ratio between the defense values and the amount you normally roll in an attack was totally unbalanced, making it so that the only way to have a defense that actually stopped enemies from hitting you was to build a specific character.
At first glance, there were some things in this book that kinda blew my mind. For one thing, I don't remember looking at a system previous to this that didn't have Attributes and Skills, but instead just a combination called Abilities. I'm sure this isn't a first, but it was for me. This system used a d6 additive dice-pool system, where you have a pool of d6s and add the result together. Another incredible aspect was the House Creation system, which was just plain neat. Another mind-blowing rule was the Intrigue system, which was a sort of combat for conversational, well, intrigues. At first, this system seemed extraordinary.
But, after our first session, I started to see things I didn't like. For starts, the standard skill cap of Rank 7 seemed way too high. The ratio between the defense values and the amount you normally roll in an attack was totally unbalanced, making it so that the only way to have a defense that actually stopped enemies from hitting you was to build a specific character.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Quality and Accountability
I showed this blog to my parents the other day. Roleplaying runs in the family; they used to play in the 80's, and my father game-mastered frequently. My parents are educated, much more so than I, and I welcome their input. I was surprised when they informed me of my many errors, mostly grammatical. My mother said, "Your father said that if he had taught you in school, you would not make those errors."
This got me thinking about the state of American education, my literary work, and even Star Trek. I attended public school for all but a half-year of my grade-school life, like many in the United States. I was always ahead of my class, despite my recollection in elementary school of my mother telling me I had a minor reading disability (which she now has no memory of, typically, but there it is). When I went to college for my Associate's Degree, my two semesters of Freshman Composition were so painfully easy that I don't remember a dang thing about them, except one overly and intrusively Democratic instructor and that I got a 4.0 in both classes (though some can argue that the courses were not to par with that of a university, and they would probably be right). Despite this, my parent's saw enough errors in my posts to comment on, although I'm sure one error would have sufficed.
This got me thinking about the state of American education, my literary work, and even Star Trek. I attended public school for all but a half-year of my grade-school life, like many in the United States. I was always ahead of my class, despite my recollection in elementary school of my mother telling me I had a minor reading disability (which she now has no memory of, typically, but there it is). When I went to college for my Associate's Degree, my two semesters of Freshman Composition were so painfully easy that I don't remember a dang thing about them, except one overly and intrusively Democratic instructor and that I got a 4.0 in both classes (though some can argue that the courses were not to par with that of a university, and they would probably be right). Despite this, my parent's saw enough errors in my posts to comment on, although I'm sure one error would have sufficed.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Star Trek: Invincible - Session 1
USS Invincible, Clear to Embark
The USS Invincible has completed construction and sits, ready for its maiden voyage, in dry dock. The Senior Staff has just begun to arrive, and Captain Ozozah is glued to his Ready Room as he handles paperwork and meets new officers.
The first of the cast (other than Ozozah) to arrive is Lieutenant Valyron. He meets Yeomon Yinshi, a Tellarite woman. She instructs him to meet the Captain in his ready room. When he arrives on the bridge, he introduces himself to his Assistant Chief, Ensign Vin Dal, a bajoran man. Afterwards, he makes his way to the Ready Room. He and Ozozah introduce one another, and Valyron is given clearance to begin security drills.
The USS Invincible has completed construction and sits, ready for its maiden voyage, in dry dock. The Senior Staff has just begun to arrive, and Captain Ozozah is glued to his Ready Room as he handles paperwork and meets new officers.
The first of the cast (other than Ozozah) to arrive is Lieutenant Valyron. He meets Yeomon Yinshi, a Tellarite woman. She instructs him to meet the Captain in his ready room. When he arrives on the bridge, he introduces himself to his Assistant Chief, Ensign Vin Dal, a bajoran man. Afterwards, he makes his way to the Ready Room. He and Ozozah introduce one another, and Valyron is given clearance to begin security drills.
Labels:
adventure,
gaming,
roleplaying,
sci-fi,
Star Trek
Star Trek: Invincible - Introduction
An Introduction to my latest table-top roleplay, Star Trek: Invincible.
Star Trek: Invincible is my latest game in the Star Trek universe. I have seven players, each characters within Starfleet serving on the Sovereign-class starship, the USS Invincible.
Labels:
adventure,
gaming,
roleplaying,
sci-fi,
Star Trek
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