Sunday, September 30, 2018

Why do we play what we do?


So, after reading yet another ‘powergamer is ruining my game’ thread on Facebook, I got to thinking about how I play, and why.

I know some in our local Society can find my play disruptive.  While I’m not outgoing, and am definitely not a fast talker, my characters often are.  Some, like Miroslav and Ksenia, are enjoyable for shock value, their ‘fish out of water nature’ is fun to play in a party. (for those of you who don’t follow Pathfinder, while both characters are on the ‘good’ side of the alignment box, the environment they came from is known for its casual inhumanity.  When you’re a great grandchild of THE Baba Yaga, the being who won’t become a god because it would be a demotion, the being who every hundred years comes back and harvests her daughter and grandchildren and plops a new ruler on the throne, you tend to have a ‘skewed’ version of morality) Others, like Shankar and Mayim are my flirty sex on a stick characters.  I save them for adult tables, because their sense of adventure is not appropriate for children.  Still others, like Samiel and Kiril, are the ‘mobsters with hearts of gold.’  I wear a variety of hats as a player, and a few others as a GM.

Now this isn’t what is ‘disruptive’  Despite trying to send a GM to therapy with Mayim, and egged on by another player or three in doing so, I can tone them down.  Usually what some folks find ‘disrupting’ is my non-conventional tactics when the fight breaks out.  I prefer debuffs, trips, disarms, entangle, well I’m known as Tanglefoot Matt for a reason, and buffs like bard song.  Basically, make the party better and the bad guys worse.  For added amusement, I also like spells like murderous command and unnatural lust, depending on the character.  I always have my ConditionCards handy, and have joked about getting the entangled card blown up and printed on a shirt.  Most of my characters are also skill builds, also known as ‘skill monkeys’ so I’m also the one telling them what the bad guys’ weaknesses are.

So yeah, I’m making it more challenging than ‘he hits me, I hit him’ but the reason is above.  I’m making the party better at what they want to do. The player who loves his high damage build, is going to enjoy more that the bad guy is easier to hit, or is coming to him to cop a feel rather than standing back and shooting a bow  The player who loves multiple attacks is going to love the to hit and damage boost from bardsong, as well as that the badguys are easier to hit.  The role player who doesn’t want to use player knowledge is going to be grateful that his character doesn’t have to run through the golf bag of weapons because of my character going. “Just cave its head in with the golf club!”  This also means that I’m not stealing anyone’s spotlight.  Mr. “High damage meele” doesn’t have to worry about my character out punching him.  Miss “I’m the healbot” can heal all the nicks and scratches without me whipping out a wand of cure on my utility belt, I can save that for later.

Aside: I played a game where my slayer (think a stealthy fighter) had higher ranks in knowledge religion than his cleric and Paladin co-adventurers.  When the Paladin of Iomedae (a Lawful Good deity) is fine with you administering the last rites of Lissala (Lawful Evil deity) on the dead people you find, that’s hilarious.

And remember, this is my preferred playstyle.  I’ll have my moment to shine when the skill roles are needed, or when local campaign fluff is needed. (I have a decent memory for game world, lore.  Part of my love of skill monkeys.)  So I’m perfectly happy to let everyone play to their strengths, and help them do so.

I’m also the guy with the utility belt I mentioned above.  Need an alchemical item?  Step right up.  Need a trap disarmed, sure!  Need a door unlocked, yup.  Need the guard distracted while the rest of the party cases the place?  Sure.  Though the method of distraction will vary, from fast talking by Miroslav, to um, other things of Mayim and Shankar.  Need a scroll of control weather when the storm comes up?  Well I don’t normally care one, but the look on the GMs face when I said “I reach for my scroll of control weather” was priceless. (When I said, no, I don’t have one. His reply was “If anyone at this table would, it would be you!”)

Now all that said, it’s also part of my play-style to step aside and let the other skill monkey shine.  Most of my characters can do some decent damage if they have to cut loose.  Samiel is an archerologist (archer archaeologist) and with him buffing himself, the damage he can do is not inconsiderable.  Miroslav and Shankar are both melee fighters if need be, and Ksenia, well, she is a full spell caster, not just a hex casting machine.  I had a GM learn that first hand when I cut loose with her higher-level spells and turned the battlefield into a nightmare for the melee types.  So, My ‘annoying playstyle’ by debuffing, buffing, and skill monkeying, is designed around making everyone else’s time better.  You want me to go up front?  I can, but I’ll let you go first if you don’t mind.

Aside the second, I was playing Shankar in a trap filled scenario.  I went to take out the first trap, and the person playing the ninja said she wanted to.  I stepped back and let her.  She proceeded, through mostly bad dice rolls, to set of every single trap in the scenario she tried.  When we came across the last one, she was worried that she couldn’t disarm it and let me try.  It was at that point she found out that my die modifier was almost twice hers. Trap easily disarmed.  When she asked me why I let her set off all the traps I said “Hey, I don’t step on other players’ toes.  You wanted to be the one to disarm the traps, I’m not going to deny you the die rolls and chance to shine in the spotlight.”

So in closing, I’d ask… What’s your playstyle, and how is it ‘disruptive’?

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Playtest II, Rogue Bugaloo


Just got home from playing the Pathfinder 2e playest module “Doomsday Dawn” Since my first playtest was lost to the ether, I figured I’d write my notes while the memories were hot.
Character Creation:  Went much easier this time, building a human rogue rather than a half elven bard. Without having to worry about spells (and the weird not right spell list of the bard) character creation was easy.  I went for two rogue feats, since I felt trap sense was essential (more on that later).
The multiclassing rules, well ‘archetypes’ as they’re called, caught my eye, so rather than build a character for the scenario, I went with a character I'd play through higher levels.  I chose human this time, because of wanting essentially an extra feat.  As a result, I built this character with both intelligence 16 (for the archetype) and dexterity 16 (because he’s a rogue, duh).  The stats ended up being like this.

Strength 12, Dexterity 16, Constitution 12, Intelligence 16, Wisdom 10, Charisma 12

Not ‘optimal’ (by comparison, the iconic Rogue has all 12s except for an 18 dexterity) but enough for my needs.  Next came that Race, er Ancestry feat.  I chose General Training to get feather step.  I then took the street urchin background, as the idea of a kid alone on the streets being taken in by a wizard fit the background I was going for.  Then we went on to class.
Rogue is surprisingly straightforward.  It is the ‘feat and skill monkey’ class, more so than even the bard.  And I love my bards.  With an intelligence of 16, my rogue has 13 skills he can be proficient in. By comparison there are 18 skills in Pathfinder 2e (not counting the subset of lore, which can get rather trivial.)  Add in underworld lore from the background I start at 14 skills.  Wow.  So, having taken all the roguey skills (acrobatics, athletics, craft, deception, diplomacy, intimidation performance, society, stealth and thievery), I moved on to what to do with my three remaining skills.  Well since I was going to multiclass wizard, arcana makes sense. (see below) I added in survival, to help represent the time he lived on the street, and finally Medicine, because why not?  So the only skills my rogue is not trained in are religion, occult, and nature (and all the subsets of lore, he’s not a jeopardy champ).  He’s a city boy after all. 
So now we go on to the class feats.  As I mentioned above, Trap Spotter seemed to be a must.  With traps being more lethal and disarming them a must, I thought the ‘danger sense’ aspect of trap sense was a must have.  That is gives bonuses to disarm and spot traps is even better.  The other first level feats pale in comparison.  Then I get a free ‘skill feat,’  The rogue gets one of these at every level. Going with my “rogue working for a wizard” concept, I took arcane sense, a feat that allows me to detect magic at will.  Again, the idea is that he can break into another wizard’s room and quickly find “the good stuff”. 
I think in some ways ‘feats’ is going to be to Pathfinder 2e what ‘level’ is to old school Dungeons and Dragons (see, this cartoon, for what I mean).  Race, er, ancestry feats, class feats, general feats.  It can be a feat to keep track of which is which.  
I’m of mixed feelings on skill feats. On the one hand they open up new possibilities, like battle medic giving an alternative to magical healing.  On the other, things that were part of a skill in first edition Pathfinder have become feats in second edition.  For example, survival has a section of skill on surviving in the wild, but then the forager feat just means you can do more at higher levels, which you could do in first edition with a simple skill roll.  Not a big deal, but I do worry that feats will come along in the future that make it so things you assumed were always possible, suddenly become impossible without the feat.  A term from the 3.X days of D&D was FSBNBNN “Feats should be nice, but not necessary.”
Equipment is pretty straightforward, hand crossbow, short sword and main gauche as weapons, studded leather armor and thieves tools.  Most all weapons have properties now, and my choice of melee weapons allowed me to add dexterity to damage and add a bonus to my armor class for an action.  I nicked most of my starting kit from the iconic rogue.
Finally, a name.  Having been listening to “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” I named him Tan Staafl.  Voila one complete character to run.

Now for the adventure and game play.

The party ran through part one of Doomsday Dawn, a multipoint module allowing for playtest at low to mid levels.  Our group consisted of my rogue, an iconic cleric, a monk, and a fighter.  With the exception of the iconic cleric, all the other PCs were created by the players (with the help of their parents).  We didn’t use the backgrounds in the module, but if we had, I’d have taken mindquake survivor.
The first combat was the most lethal.  With no darkvision and only one light source, combined with some incredible rolls, knocked most all the party down to single digits.  We made it through, barely, but burned out the cleric’s healing.  Thus, our humbled adventurers headed back to the town to heal.
Combat is much more swingy than first edition.  Between the new level of critical damage, and the new critical rules, a hot streak of rolls can wipe out a party.  Stealth is a must, and darkvision is even better than ever.  For some reason, goblins and dwarves are the only ones to have it.  
Trap sense was well worth it, as the traps in the scenario were picked up by the free perception check.  With healing and other magic being more limited, play smarter, not harder, looks to be the rule for second edition.  Teamwork is going to be your friend.
Initiative is also going to take some getting used to.  Perception is the initiative modifier now, with some situational exceptions.  Since it is a wisdom based skill, it means that clerics and druids will be the faster characters when the fight breaks out.  “Speed of cleric.” Is gone.  
Combat is simple with the ‘three actions and a reaction’ rule.  It also makes fights more challenging for characters like bards and other casters with concentration-based effects.  Concentration is an action to maintain.  So if your bard casts bane, and does bardic performance first round, that’s all three actions.  After that it is two actions, one to maintain inspire courage, one to concentrate on bane.  This leaves a move or attack.  Decisions, decisions.  It makes it more tactical and faster.  Bonuses are rarer now, which is good and bad.  Good in that it simplifies and speeds turns.  Bad in that it is hard to be really good at something. A first level character with +6 to +7 in skills is not unheard of in First Edition, but is impossible in Second.  Makes a first level rogue nervous with only a +3 or 4 to stealth. Skills run on a d20 + level + attribute modifier + proficiency.  Making it a toss up between equal level characters. 

In closing, Pathfinder Second Edition looks, in this beta, to be the difference between a Dodge Charger L-body and a Dodge Charger LX.  They have the same name, and look similar, but have many years of refinements and differences under the hood.  Will Pathfinder Second Edition be an Edsel?  We’ll see.  I’m cautiously optimistic, but still love my First Edition.

The Pathfinder open beta is currently a free download on Paizo.com


Saturday, August 18, 2018

Saturday Battletech, Careful with that Axe, Marcus,

A little background.

I played Battletech with my best friends and my little brother back in High School.  Like any teenager, I tinkered with designs.  And, like now, I loved my joke names.  I decided early on one of my Mechwarriors was going to be a son of a pair of historians.  While the bad fiction I wrote has been lost to the mists of time (for the better I'm sure) I remember the first lines I wrote about Marcus.

My name is Marcus Aurelius Borden.  Marcus Aurelius, because my parents were historians by trade.  Borden, because my family maintains the tradition of a family name.  One of my ancient ancestors achieved a level of infamy, and I named my 'Mech after her.
Cheesy I know.  But it stuck with me.  So of course his Mech's name was Lizzy.  (If you don't get it, google it and complain to your American History Teacher).  I've played Lizzy in one form or another for 30 years now.  So now I share her with my few readers.  Happy Gaming!


Field Testing Summation: Prototype Hatchetman HCT-3F refit designated HCT-3B
Producer/Site: New Avalon Institute of Science, New Avalon
Supervising Technician: Marcus Aurelius Borden
Project Start Date: 3029
Non-Production Equipment Analysis:
None

Overview
“Lizzy” was a reconstruction project supervised by the graduating class of 3029, but her ‘final exam came in the defense of the NAIS by the cadets and staff, and of course First Prince Hanse Davion.  While severely damaged in the fight, she was later rebuilt and became the personal ride of the newly graduated Leftenant Marcus Aurelius Borden.  The ‘Mech takes her name from an ancestor of Leftenant Borden’s

The frame of the Hatchetman was rebuilt around a DAV 225 fusion engine, and the larger gyro taken from an “Avenging Angel” Vindicator.  To make room the Defiance Killer Autocannon was replaced with a ChrisComp 43 Special large laser, “donated” from a wrecked Enforcer, along with additional heat sinks.  The communication and electronics systems were replaced with components from captured Ravens, giving her better communications than the standard model This required removing the Ares-8a and the sensors were replaced with a spotlight.   The Defiance B3M medium laser was moved from the right arm to the left, which helped the balance.  Finally, armor was increased almost 50%, making her as well armored as ‘Mechs 10 tons heavier.  Limitations of the frame meant that the jump capacity remained 120 meters but the resulting increase in ground speed remained the biggest surprise to opponents expecting a ‘regular’ Hatchetman. 

Combat History
Marcus Borden and Lizzy served with distinction along the Federated Suns/Capellan Confederatuib prior to thewar of 3039.  As the 3039 war escalated Marcus was rotated to the Draconis March, where the combination of superior speed and ammunition independency made for an ideal raider and hunter killer.  When teamed with other Hatchetmen or slower Medium units, Marcus would play the role of “wounded bird” holding back and using his medium lasers to lure foes closer, thinking he was simply out of autoncannon ammunition.  He would then use his ‘Mech’s superior speed to get to the flank of his foes, when he would fire all his weapons and use the hatchet, only to jump away to quickly cool down.  Marcus was eventually promoted to command a fire support company, where he often would keep his speed equal to a standard Hatchetman’s 64.8 KPH maximum, only to suddenly shoot ahead and provide spotting or a surprise physical assault to the enemy.  When asked about the risk in his tactics, Marcus replied “When you’re facing down close to 120 long range missiles and multiple PPCs, a medium ‘Mech with a stick seems a slightly lower threat.”

Notes: If playing with advanced rules, Lizzy has a full head ejection system.  Lizzy has the following quirks. Improved Communications, Spotlight, Difficult to Maintain.





Type: Hatchetman HCT-3B “Lizzy”
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Introductory)

Equipment



Mass
Internal Structure:



4.5
Engine:

DAV 225

10.0

Walking MP
5



Running MP
8



Jumping MP
4


Heat Sinks:

13

3
Gyro:



3.0
Cockpit



3.0
Armor Factor:

152

9.5


Internal Structure
Armor Value


Head
3
9


Center Torso
14
21


Center Torso (rear)

6


R/L Torso
11
17


R/L Torso (rear)

5


R/L Arm
7
14


R/L Leg
11
22


Weapons and Ammo
Location
Critical
Tonnage
2 Medium Lasers
LA
2
2.0
Large Laser
RT
2
5.0
Hatchet
RA
3
3.0
Jump Jets
LL
2
1.0
Jump Jets
RL
2
1.0





Heatsinks are in the left arm, left torso, center torso and right torso respectively.

As always, the Battletech Universe belongs to Topps. (unless I win the Powerball, then we'll talk) Marcus Aurelius Borden however is mine

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Saturday Mechwarrior New design SDR-8N Nagaina

A brief overview.

Battletech the game system has existed since the 80's.  While not quick playing by itself, (though there are apps that can speed the rolling up, one of my favorites is here)  it is a game that I've fond memories of.  There's even the popular unofficial version of the game, Megamek.  There are official computer based RPGs; Mechwarrior Online and Hairbrained Schemes Battletech.  These articles won't be touching those, since a) I can't run them on my old machine and b) they don't have the customization that the tabletop (and Megamek) has.  So I'll be posting some custom designs and if anyone wants to use them, great, just let me know if you enjoy them.

Disclaimer: Battletech and all its associated trade dress, trademarks and logos are property of Topps Company Inc, and this does not challenge that.  Frosch Military Technologies, Kabaker Agricultural Technologies, the names and places created for these articles are property of me.  Also, if you want to play me on Megamek or table top, drop me a line.

So without further rambling, I give you the Nagaina!


Field Testing Summation: Prototype Spider SDR-8R refit
Producer/Site: Frosh Military Technologies, Summerstide
Supervising Technician: Sally Frosh
Project Start Date: 3074
Non-Production Equipment Analysis:
Engine Supercharger
Partial Wing
Small X-Pulse Laser

Overview
The Nagaina began as the personal ride of Lieutenant Gina Taklachak.  A former AFFC mechwarrior, she operated an independent command of light hunter mechs.  She found her ride was too short ranged for her preferred style of being able to provide cover for her command.  The pulse lasers, while highly accurate, just did not have the range needed.  Clan made pulse lasers would have been too expensive, and too difficult to maintain.  The answer came with a shipment of Magna extended range medium lasers.  The initial plans to replace the two pulse lasers with four of the extended range lasers  were scrapped when she realized the heat burden would quickly overwhelm the Spider’s cooling system.  Instead she planned to install just two, with the extra weight to electronics. 

An ambush by a Word of Blake infantry battalion changed those plans.  The scout lance was able to extradite themselves from the ambush and route the Blakests in good order, but she realized she also would need the anti-infantry abilities a flamer, machine gun, or small pulse laser would provide. 

The answer came with the arrival of an FMT repair and refit team.  The technicians of Frosch Military Technologies were able to provide a compromise that filled all of Lieutenant Taklachak’s needs.

By replacing the paired pulse lasers with paired extended range medium lasers, the Nagaina’s range doubled, with a slight reduction in damage potential.  The diminished accuracy was compensated for in part by the installation of a Suns made targeting computer, which was installed in the head.  Finally, to help deal with the threat of infantry and fast moving targets, an expensive FMT Small X-Pulse laser was added to the right arm, mimicking the placement of the flamer on the original 5D variant.

The end result, a longer ranged and still cool running light ‘Mech, suited Lt. Taklachak’s style of leadership perfectly.  She can often be seen leaping from skirmish to skirmish on the battlefield, using the 300 meter jump distance (in normal atmospheric pressure) to dictate the range of one on one combat, or to suddenly support a member of her scout lance with well placed laser fire.  Whatever units her lance might be supporting, many have found the sight of the brilliantly painted red and gold Spider a welcome sight.


Type: Spider
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced)

Equipment



Mass
Internal Structure:

Endo Steel

1.5
Engine:

240 XL

6.0

Walking MP
8



Running MP
12



Jumping MP
8(10)


Heat Sinks:

10(20)

0
Gyro:



3.0
Cockpit



3.0
Armor Factor:

104

6.5


Internal Structure
Armor Value


Head
3
9


Center Torso
10
15


Center Torso (rear)

4


R/L Torso
7
11


R/L Torso (rear)

3


R/L Arm
5
10


R/L Leg
7
14


Weapons and Ammo
Location
Critical
Tonnage
2 ER Medium Laser
CT
2
2.0
Small X-Pulse Laser
RA
1
1.0
Targeting Computer
H
1
1.0
Partial Wing
LT/RT
4 LT/4 RT
2.0
Jump Jets
LT
4
2.0
Jump Jets
RT
4
2.0