Welcome to My (Flat) World

[Legendary Sidekick]

Ireth asked a question about the moves you can create when you roll a 20.

are these special moves things we can expect to use multiple times throughout the game, like Stunts in the Fate system? Or are they situation-specific one-time crazy things?

Since you can only roll a twenty 5% of the time, it doesn't matter to me whether you repeat a move you played with a previous 20 or use a different attack. If your attack is too powerful (like hit and stun every enemy in sight), your attack might do little or no damage and enemies might get to roll to resist the effect. If your attack is too weak, I'll make the attack hurt more or have an effect you didn't ask for.

Ireth's current idea, if she plays it as she PM'd me, is pretty cool. She's only hitting two targets, but the way it's written implies that one takes more damage than the other. So when I make the attack stronger (so it's better than a 2-enemy combo you get rolling 16-19), I know to concentrate damage on the enemy that took more damage from her description.

We're lucking out that, 2 turns in a row, a friendly 20 has been rolled. (Lily rolled one last turn, and now Ariel!) I was wondering how long it would take to test out this idea for the 20s.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Attack Damage
≤9 = Weak
10-15 = Normal / Weak Combo / Non-Damaging Effect (such as Stun)
16-19 = Strong / Combo / Damaging Effect / Non-Damaging Lasting Effect (such as KO)

This^ applies to everybody. (A magic user "combo-ing" would cast a spell with each hand, hitting two targets.)

In addition, charged magic will allow for optional area damage (10+) or damage to all enemies (16+ after charging more than one turn). Damage will be standardized, and I'll keep the math behind the scenes. If you notice damage isn't consistent, it's because I'm tweaking the math as we test.

Only the fighting nun and brawler will need to think about their bonuses for rolling 13-19. The amazon's damage bonus is automatic. The samurai's fine as I have it (I think), and other classes have skills that don't need to be tied to a given number.


Ariel and Dila:
For the huntress (merc = same as huntress), I'm thinking trap-setting, lighting explosive arrows or taking time to aim are all options, and that would be the equivalent of a charged spell: one turn to "charge" and the next to release the arrow (or finish setting the trap). The power is the same as magic as well: the lit arrow can do area damage or the carefully aimed arrow can do extra damage. The trap could have the effect of either special arrow, or it can have a holding effect.

Because nobody likes to waste a turn, I think the huntress can get the same break as the magic user -- that is, she can choose not to take the shot if she rolls low and use that turn to "charge" her shot. There's no risk for "charging a 9" as the huntress like there is for a mage, but of course the huntress might hit with a 9. Also, the huntress' next roll needs to be good to hit. And she MUST release the lit arrow! (For the trap and aimed arrow, I could justify letting the huntress hold her shot until she gets a good roll, but it won't be like a spell that gets extra powerful with multiple charges.)



Does that make sense? I'm basically thinking you can do this:

---

((Aw, nuts. I rolled a 5. That's gonna miss, ain't it? Well, screw that... I'm lighting an arrow.))

I can see I ain't got a shot, so I duck behind a bush and whip out my bag of bovine methane emission. It's already fastened to a shaft--thank the goddess I remembered to do that!--so all I need to do is light the wick and hope Ariel's mom can hold off that reverse-minotaur guy.

---

***ONE TURN LATER***

---

Diana's too close to the cow-man, so I can't shoot him. But maybe I can singe his back if I shoot the nearest manazon goblin.

"Out, you green sickness baggage!" ((A Shakespearean insult.))

What did I just say? I think I'll give up battlecries for Lent.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I already posted some art in the Dragon's Egg thread…

…but I thought I'd share what this^ comment is about.

It's about THIS:

Amelia is the fourth lamb from the left.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Just a slight clarification on what happened—though characters can interpret what they see however you want them to…

Lorenzo's prayer to The Voice was answered. The Voice lent her power to Mariya's charged spell. Had Mariya failed, she'd have been unharmed by the lightning that would normally zap her. Since she succeeded, the charge was released as if charged at full power. A 16+ is (optionally) "attack all."

Damage is actually weak if you attack all, but combo damage (2 enemies) is quite high if the magic is fully charged and strong (16-19). So I based the damage on a two-enemy combo, but thought the "attack all" effect would be more fun to draw.

 

[Devor]

Hey all - I'm sorry for vanishing on everyone. I'll be catching up sometime this weekend.

My wife is pregnant again, and it's turned things a little upside down here. I'm stoked about the baby - number four! Fingers crossed for the girl this time - but the pregnancy itself takes a lot out of her during these early months, throwing off the balance and eating up a lot of time.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Congratulations, Devor!

By the way, you may have guessed from my avatar that I'm working on my art skills and taking your web comic advice into serious consideration--as in I'm starting to act on it. (Baby steps include "creating a sketch bible" and of course writing the script.)

 

[Devor]

Awesome! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

It's my 42nd birthday today… and my oldest turns 7 on Monday. AND my friend who moved to Washington is in the area, and he has a birthday on the weekend. So does my mother-in-law.

In other words, Christmas is crazy busy! I might have my characters chime into the RP, but the next map is more likely to appear in 2015.

In case you don't hear from me much in the next week, Merry Christmas, everyone!

 

[Ireth]

Merry birthday and happy Christmas!

 

[Ruby]

Hi Legendary Sidekick,

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas! Your daughter and her friends look SO cute!

Seasons Greetings to everyone here on Flat Earth!

 

[Aspasia]

Congratulations, Devor!

Hope everyone enjoys the holidays! I'm finally on break so I'm planning to catch up with my writing and reading--now that I have time!

 

[Noma Galway]

So Rolz is completely refusing to load for me...I'll try again later.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I'll work on a map soon. Players who rolled will be shown on the map. Devor and Ruby are free to join in, even if their characters aren't on the map.

 

[Ruby]

I'll work on a map soon. Players who rolled will be shown on the map. Devor and Ruby are free to join in, even if their characters aren't on the map.

Hi Legendary Sidekick,

Thanks! Are we back to using the old rolling system? And is it possible to have a plot update?

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Working on it… and I'll put Fenella on the map! (Devor, Furtano's in as soon as you post!)

EDIT - I decided to drop the health just a little bit. Not a punishment. Just trying to keep things interesting. (If the party dies, it's play-test; it won't count!)

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

To answer your questions, Ruby…

1) Yes. Old system. Just roll a d20 and see what happens. Generally speaking, 13+ is successful, 6 or less tends to fail, 7-12 depends on the player/enemy/obstacle.

2) Well, mostly the play-test is straight up action. You can see 6 enemies on the current map, dialogue tells you to expect a 7th. Words were overheard which implied 10 donkey men (6 of which are dead) and 10 orcs (7 of which were killed early in the play-test. So you're taking on the remaining 4 ass-hats and 3 orcs.

The orc you can't see is the play-test boss from my original play-test. The Pale Jackal narrowly defeated him with a sleeper hold, but no one killed him while he was down! So, even though it's just a play-test, there's continuity with the play-test that none of you saw. That test also happened on Roku-Roku Island.



After we finish this test, we'll get back to the main plot. Beatrice has been in hiding with Vincent and Diana for about a month. You're headed to Mount Neverest to find her sister, Belle (a.k.a. The Spirit). Every character in the play-test can head over to the main game. (Er… spoiler alert? Oh well.)

What I'd like to do is kind of switch between RP and action, so we can bridge the play-test and episode 3 with plot stuff. I also want to tell a story that ends, so if we can keep up a pace of 1 episode every two months, maybe we can finish the game at the end of the year or early 2016.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

This is the first time that elements actually make a difference! Lightning allows Mariya to zap a guy who's in a safe cover position. And now Ariel can opt to charge an exploding arrow without risk because she can dunk the arrow if she knows she doesn't have a shot.

To explain my reasoning behind that^… I think Huntresses should be able to stop an arrow from being misfired, since they train to hunt in parties. In real life, that's what safe hunters do. That is, they don't fire if they're not sure they have a shot. They wait. If the d20 is below 10, the Huntress can suspect she doesn't have a shot (though it's possible a 9 or a little less will graze the target).

I never did consider that water would create a loophole, allowing you to charge exploding arrows risk-free. I'm not about to take that back. If Ariel wants to stay in the watery area (and Dila too), feel free to blast away. The brown rock at the bottom is a ledge where the watery area extends into the foreground, meaning Dila, Ariel and Mariya can shoot from that area.

Just don't forget that one more enemy will appear, and you don't know where he's going to pop up!


EDIT - Another loophole I failed to consider: lightning in water! And Mariya can prevent the lightning from zapping her friends (except in a spell-fail situation).

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Normally, I'd have updated by now, but I'm making the final preparations for next week's exams.

While I'm waiting, I'm putting together a document with different skills. We have a player interested in ice magic, so my thought is to have different kinds of magic available. Most class skills are available to other classes, but not all. (Pixie skills are exclusive to the class.) The healing magic is called "sacrificial life," emphasizing that you drain your own life force to save others. Since there's no MP in this game, I think all healing should be sacrificial.

The full list has:
10 starting class abilities
10 advanced class abilities
13 professions (each tied to a deity)
7 classes of magic
7 classes of weapons
3 interactive skills: "stealth mode", "perception" and "personality"

Stealth Mode is self-explanatory; Perception is Fate's Notice/Investigate; Personality can be defined by the player (charismatic, manipulative, honorable, standoffish, etc.). Of course, you have a personality with or without the skill. The skill basically means you can roll the die to use that personality to your advantage.

When we near the end of the play-test, I hope to have my skill list ready to post. I'm also hoping it will make character creation simple in case we can attract some new players. We'll see.



EDIT - For returning players, I'll have your characters with skills I think you already have based on how you played. So you can simply add one more skill (for having leveled up), or you can edit what I put in as your existing skills if you'd prefer something different than what I come up with.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Here's what I came up with. I hate to give stuff away, but if I'm looking for opinions, it's best I show all my cards. It's just my own personal notes, so I apologize in advance to those who don't get the references to WWF and Street Fighter.


The Strong
Amazon: HEAVY WEAPON - carry oversized weapons & throw heavy objects

> WOAD WARRIOR - pure adrenaline grants strength or other advantages!
​

Brawler: GRAPPLING - grab enemies & attack with holds & throws

> PRO WRESTLING - use crazy WWF techniques & grapple two guys at once​

Fighters
Fighting Nun: COMBO - attack multiple enemies

> WIRE FU - use SF2-2010 style chi attacks, uppercuts, flying kicks, etc.​

Samurai: QUICK DRAW - start the fight with a powerful katana attack

> NINJITSU - use draw-hit-sheathe attacks & smoke bombs​

Shooters
Huntress: TRACKING & TRAPPING - don’t let enemies get away

> BEAST RIDING - befriend & mount a wild beast​

Pirate: CANNONS & NAUTICAL WARFARE - you’re a gunner with sea legs

> SWASHBUCKLING - disarm, taunt & humiliate your foe​

Defenders
Shield Maiden: PROTECTION - use your body or shield to protect others

> VALKYRIE FORM - eventually fly!​

Preacher: FAITH HEALING - revive the fallen

> DEMON SLAYING - know evil when you see it… & destroy it​

Magic Users
Pixie: PIXIE FORM - your tiny little body can go where humans can’t

> DEMI-GODDESS FORM - aww, our little pixie’s growing up… a lot!​

Mentalist: MIND READING - find out what NPCs are thinking

> TELEPATHY - so easy you can do this in your sleep​

Professions: COOK - make tasty food

HERBALIST - find nutritious plants
BARKEEP - mix drinks
SMITH - forge steel armor and weapons
CRAFTSMAN - make things using wood, leather or gems
TAYLOR - make stylish clothing
WRITER - tell your story
MUSICIAN - entertain crowds
ARTIST - make the world beautiful
ENTREPRENEUR - make big bucks so you can have nice things
MEDIC - slap on a Band-Aid
RULER - flaunt your status
KILLER - know what most people don’t want to know
​

Magic: PSIONICS - use your mind to move objects

EARTH - control plants
WIND & WATER - control the stormy skies
FIRE - blow stuff up!
ICE - find out why Frozen devotes an entire song to this element
SACRIFICIAL LIFE - use your own life force to heal others
TRICKS! - cast spells for fun & profit
​

Weapons: 1H - smaller weapons leave one hand free

2H - larger weapons have a long reach
DUAL - carry two 1H weapons at once
SHIELD - increase defense
BOW/GUN - shoot people
THROWING WEAPON - fight or shoot
UNARMED - bah… who needs a weapon?
​

Interactive: STEALTH MODE - be sneaky

PERCEPTION - be observant​

PERSONALITY - be yourself… & use that to your advantage!​

 

[Ireth]

I think you mean telekinesis, not telepathy. ^^ Telepathy is the same thing as mind-reading. Love the lists though!