Digizel

Digimon: Digital Monsters- Pillars of Blood (Digimon d6; Hard Drive Catacomb v1.0)

Posted the Digimon sheet. Just know that I haven't rolled for HP and Energy yet. You may need to instruct me on how to do that. Unless you want me to just roll it by myself.

Heh. Well the thing is, most tabletops don't "make" you roll your stats. That's usually just a suggestion. In D&D, for example, there's several rules you can select stats from. You can roll for them if you want. Or you can give specific numbers to each stat. Or you can distribute stat points.

Haha. If you want a Pokémon tabletop, I would STRONGLY recommend you use Pokémon: Tabletop Adventures (PTTA for short). It's gone through loads of changes and balance tweaks over the years. There are few things about it that I dislike. My friends and I have had a few campaigns of it going before.

Digimon: Digital Monsters- Pillars of Blood (Digimon d6; Hard Drive Catacomb v1.0)

Digimon CS

Name:
Species: Botamon
Gender: Male
Level: Baby - 1
Appearance:

Botamon

No obvious difference in appearance
Height: .5m
Personality: A very brave, if not stubborn, rash and hot-headed Digimon who spends many of his days looking for any Digimon he can do battle with and get stronger. Ever since he was hatched, he watched many powerful Digimon fighting, which always excited him. One day, however, he ended up getting caught in the middle of a particularly heated battle. But what happened then shocked him. An attack had come flying in his direction, off-target. He was sure to get destroyed by the blast...but the Digimon that had been the initial target took the hit for him, hindering his chances to win the battle. And yet, that Digimon did manage to win in the end. Ever since, he decided to follow that Pegasusmon's way of life. He pledged to one day be the strongest Digimon that ever existed...and he would use that power to protect those who couldn't protect themselves from dangerous or destructive Digimon. He will stand up for what he thinks is right, no matter what that might mean.
Family: Virus Busters
Attribute: Vaccine
EXP: (0/0)
Techniques:

• Acid Bubble
  
  • Energy cost: 2
  • Type: Baby Technique
  • Element: N/A
  • Effect: Attacks the target with an acidic bubble. Ranged; 1d6 damage.

Features:

• Vengeful Smite- After being damaged by a Virus Digimon, this Feature allows Techniques use to attack that Digimon with this Digimon unable to miss. Failed to-hit Rolls become glancing blows, and do half Damage. This does not stack or carry over between turns and must be used immediately. (Free.)

Stats:
---Hit-Points: (4/4)
---Energy: (2/2)
----------Power: 6
----------Endurance: 7
----------Force: 4
----------Fortitude: 5
----------Dexterity: 3
----------Agility: 2
----------Vitality: 7
----------Wisdom: 1
----------Cunning: 2
----------Generation: (0/8)
----Weight: 6g
Equipment:

• N/A - Nothing is equipped. No effects or bonuses.

Human CS

Name: Hideaki “Hide” Saitou
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Height: 5'9”
Appearance:

Hide

Bio: Hide was born in the United States, but raised in Japan. His parents were successful lawyers in the States and soon moved to Japan in order to become successful in another country's legal system as well when Hide was still a toddler. His father is a defense attorney and his mother a prosecutor. They both agree that they want Hideaki to also become a proficient attorney when he gets old enough, so they spared no expense to give him the greatest education they could. They home-schooled him, gave him the best private instructors that their money could buy.... When his high school-level days approached, he was practically buried by his books. Both those that he needed to study with and the ones he read in his personal time. However, his parents did often disagree on which side of the courtroom they wanted him to pursue. It was nothing major that they fought over, and the times they did fight about it, it was only in small bickers at a time. But eventually, Hide decided that he needed to start getting some fresh air to clear his head and get some fresh thoughts flowing.

It is during times like these that he often found himself wandering the town by himself, exploring and eventually making his way through various schools around the city, driven by his curiosity about how other children received their education. He would always carry a bookbag to avoid looking out of place. However, he never made outside friends. But he was content living the way he was. Loneliness never struck him so long as his parents continued to set time aside for him and play his favorite games with them...usually puzzle or strategy games like Chess. In fact, Chess quickly became his specialty. He played and studied the game so much that he was able to beat his father and any computer AI-controlled opponents in any program he ever installed on his personal computer on any difficulty level. He became a phenomenal tactician, learning how to read at least a couple of steps ahead. His parents harbored this talent of his and helped him grow it, as it would become very useful in courtroom arguments.

Hide continued to live peacefully in this manner, continuing his usual routine until he soon realized that his High School-level days were nearly behind him. It would not be long before he was sent off to a private college, where he would then transfer into a prestigious law school. He just hoped that he would be able to handle such a change in his lifestyle....

Stats:
- Morale: *****
- Athleticism: **
- Spirit: ****
- Knowledge: *****
- Psychology: ****
Inventory: Small Wallet (contains: a few different ID cards, a debit card, a credit card, ~1500 Yen), pocket chess board, a non-digital watch, Medium Bookbag (contains: a few small books, notebooks (70-page college ruled x3), water bottle, small medi-kit [contains: miniature flashlight, backup flashlight batteries (2 sets), adhesive bandages (10), gauze pads (5), gauze roll, elastic bandage roll, painkiller medication (unopened, 100 tablets), small scissors, mini turkey baster, tweezers], writing utensils (pencils, pens and a highlighter)), unopened package of “Wild Berry” flavored gum (15 sticks)
Bits: 0

Digimon: Digital Monsters- Pillars of Blood (Digimon d6; Hard Drive Catacomb v1.0)

Heh. Well, the thing is that they might just want to do something different. Sometimes, it's more fun having battles and such being at the whim of the goddess of luck. What I was trying to say was that, yes. Battles and outside influences (such as attacking, missing, hitting, making a jump, etc.)...and those are well and good and part of what make a tabletop a tabletop. But it's the character creation itself that should avoid the randomness. My recommendation would be that the only change (for now) would be to alter the HP and Energy formula to not include a d6 roll.

But...fair enough. 'Tis your Tabletop game, after all. I'll be more than willing to play by your rules for now. Speaking of which, I think my Digimon character might be just about done.... Now to do my Tamer. xD Should I go ahead and post what I've got for my Digimon to see if it's all okay?

Digimon: Digital Monsters- Pillars of Blood (Digimon d6; Hard Drive Catacomb v1.0)

But it's not just what the character wants, that's how the player wants to play the character. It's the kind of character that that person likes playing. Otherwise, they'd have made the character differently. And if the game rules prevent that, you create friction, potentially even frustration, between the player and the game mechanics. If a person wants their character to be in the thick of things, then they should be able to arrange things so that that character can do that. Especially in a tabletop where -25% HP is all that's required for destruction rather than -100% and with no death savings throw equivalent.

It's basically an argument of realism vs. player enjoyment/choice and creative freedom.

{also, in regards to the "odds are" thing, I know that that's the best you can do. The possibility of being defeated is always present in any game. But that's talking about outside influences, such as battles or RP sections, which is completely irrelevant to the creation of a player character, which was what my main point was.)

Furthermore, I would like to point out that, even if it's not seen as a problem in our particular use of the system doesn't mean it's not a problem. That's the problem with randomness. There's no guarantee that you'll ever be balanced properly. Meanwhile, if you have a static formula without a random variable, you can see clearly whether the formula is too strong, too weak, or just right. And it's easier to make changes as a result.

Digimon: Digital Monsters- Pillars of Blood (Digimon d6; Hard Drive Catacomb v1.0)

I understand where you're coming from, Tobi, but it makes no logical sense from any standpoint in terms of the characters. And in terms of the game, if you leave so much to chance, then it can lead to an unfair experience. You can either have one player who's too OP or a character that's so underpowered they're barely alive at any battle. Let the dice speak for themselves when they matter: During battle or during RP. But when you're creating your character, I really think you should have a more solid foundation with no randomization involved.

Odds are, it should even out by the time there's any decent fighting.

tobiax

In my tabletop experience, "odds are" is a bad thing to be saying when it comes to the player characters. When it comes to NPC's, that's a different story. But there should be certainty when it comes to how the character is RP'd. For argument's sake, I'll use my Agumon character as my example. My Agumon would never be the type to rely on others to fight for him. He'd want to be up front and throwing punches. But there's always the possibility that doing that would get him killed because he rolled poorly on his HP. So then in order to keep him alive, I'd have to play him like a game piece rather than an RP character.

In the end, the point of a tabletop is to blend game with roleplay. That's the key. So imo, you should be guaranteeing the characters involved some kind of solid ground or certainty. After all, in an RP, a character is not created with any kind of uncertainty involved. The creator of the character has everything planned out the way (s)he wants it.

Plus, in the context of a game, you should never discredit any stat in a game where you upgrade stats over time. If it's possible to get less benefit from a certain stat (as is the case when anything random is ever done), then the logical thing to do would be to put stat points into a stat that's guaranteed to give you the benefit you want.

Digimon: Digital Monsters- Pillars of Blood (Digimon d6; Hard Drive Catacomb v1.0)

Right. I've played multiple tabletop games in the past. D&D, Pokémon TTA, etc. For HP or MP, each one uses a specific formula that utilizes a certain stat with no randomization involved. Trust me...in a proper tabletop, there'll be plenty of randomization to screw people over. xP It's good to give the players some certainty in how their characters will at least start. Just because it's a tabletop doesn't mean you should use dice rolls for everything. xD

...And actually, most don't even use an MP system. They usually use go by a Frequency system. At-Wills can be used one after another, Dailies can only be used once per in-game day, Battle means once per battle, etc. But of course, since digimon use MP in their games, using MP probably makes more sense here.

Digimon: Digital Monsters- Pillars of Blood (Digimon d6; Hard Drive Catacomb v1.0)

True, but that's not my point. Both in the context of a game and the context of an RP it makes NO sense for a character with a higher vitality stat to have a lower HP value when compared to another Digimon.

When I was making my character, I decided to try a tank build, since it fits his character and you don't have one yet. But then I realized it's impossible to guarantee he'll be any better at tanking anything than anyone else because of how the calculation works.

Digimon: Digital Monsters- Pillars of Blood (Digimon d6; Hard Drive Catacomb v1.0)

I see, I see....

Also, can I just put in my two cents about something? I really don't like the idea of requiring randomization when calculating HP or Energy stats. Every tabletop I've ever played uses a specific formula for a reason. Because it makes no sense in the context of this game that a character with a Vitality of, say, 10, should potentially have less HP than a character with a Vitality of 1 just because of a bad roll.

...And actually, I was going the Virus Buster route. It's PERFECT for him the way the stats upgrade and it works. xD Agumon is primarily a Virus Buster, not a Dragon's Roar.

Digimon: Digital Monsters- Pillars of Blood (Digimon d6; Hard Drive Catacomb v1.0)

@tobiax @Lugia

So I have a question. Can somebody please explain exactly what Generation does? It's hard for me to gather going by the document alone. Like...what benefits could you specifically get from adding points to that instead of your other basic stats? If you could provide an example or two, that might really help. I understand that you can't upgrade it the same way as other stats, but...

Digimon: Digital Monsters- Pillars of Blood (Digimon d6; Hard Drive Catacomb v1.0)

I'm thinking of using the same character I was using in your RP board, Hideaki and Agumon. They're my best character duo atm and they're always so fun to play together since they're so different. But I'll have to see what I get once I read the rules and actually start making the character. xD

Well then, sounds like I popped in at an opportune time before the slots filled up~ I'll get to work on that stuff soon. =} and if I'm lucky, I might have my character done before I got to sleep tonight.