Comments | eyelessgame: Champions design assistance, anyone?

eyelessgame

Champions design assistance, anyone?

May 19, 2013 16:36

My Champions players have come up with some excellent concepts, but they're not skilled character designers. And we're hitting smack against two different barriers I don't know how to scale ( Read more... )

Comments 8

eyelessgame May 19 2013, 23:38:26 UTC

Maybe what I should do is buy the Harry Dresden roleplaying game and see if those mechanics would work better.

merlinofchaos May 20 2013, 03:36:39 UTC

Ping me on LogrusMUSH about the Dresden RPG. It's based on FATE and as such it works a lot better for things that are more loosely defined, but it may still ultimately be a little bit problematic. I can answer lots of questions about it, though, which I can't do about Champions because I never liked the hero system. It is really bad for people who aren't number-crunchy. Which, uh, you're in that exact position ( ... )

eyelessgame May 21 2013, 01:09:55 UTC

(Leaving the stuff below because it's a fine little mini-rant; it's just that it really has virtually nothing to do with what you actually wrote. Shouldn't post when I'm distracted. I really like the idea of the backstory event that pulled away everybody's powers, and revealing "balancing" stuff within the context of the adventure... this is really useful. And believe me, there's a grand idea brewing for Greater Forces ( ... )

merlinofchaos May 21 2013, 05:05:36 UTC

Right. Yes you figured it out but I was definitely not wanting to take away the character's strengths all the time. That's not a fun thing to do to a player. It *is* a fun storyline from time to time, and it's a growth experience. It's an opportunity for the character to grow. It forces a player to do something with it. It can be challenging, and it can be rewarding!

Also the idea wasn't to pull away everybody's powers, but in fact to make those powers the lynchpin to making something bigger.

Thread 5

anonymous May 20 2013, 02:23:56 UTC

You sound like you already know how to solve your problem: tune down everyone slightly so they still have dominance in their area but won't be helpless. Body armor and taser for cyber mage, make the illusionist more limited (60 points of total invisible, uses up mental def + ego of observer in points - I.e. 5 agents but not 10 - their choice who they have to stealth against), and Druid gets natural animal defenses only with regen on shifting shape, so they're not invulnerable against guns (but can't wear armor and shift). Limits make the story interesting while preserving character ( ... )

eyelessgame May 21 2013, 01:20:56 UTC

I kind of like this. The cyber mage already has a taser; I need to convince her to use body armor too. (She's also the hardest to buy while staying in the point range, specifically because she has the most backstory and most interesting "world-related" extra powers, like contacts and skills and perks, and they add up to being expensive, and that makes it really hard to afford all the other powers she wants. And then she finds herself helpless a lot because the other two are, comparatively, combat-monsters ( ... )

anonymous May 20 2013, 02:43:31 UTC

Previous comment was me, Earl. The idea is to make sure that no one is helpless when the others are shining by carefully dovetailing both power levels and the pyramid of evil, so that evil is usually responding to the last person to shine, leaving screen time for the other two (and giving props to whoever shone last as the villains prep for them).

And of course making sure everyone can deal with the cyborg velociroosters, so that most combats have something fun that is dangerous enough to be covered, but vulnerable to everyone in their own way. The Druid can slap them around as a bear, the stealthier can take down the controller, and the cyber mage can disrupt them. But they'll mess you up if you let your guard down, so someone has to play the fox.

Not that I would have done that in a previous game to provide important balance to fights...