Hawthorne

To The Depths

An RP about slaying demons in 3000 BC with the power of God, huh? Interesting premise. I just wanted to ask- what level of technology are we looking at? It's certainly an interesting thought.

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

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Caasicam mostly has it. Most Orbitals are flight capable, but not necessarily capable of effective flight for combat. Not all, but most, Orbitals are able to fly a bit like a cargo transport, able to get from Point A to Point B. Orbitals meant to fly for the purpose of combat still require a lot of purpose building because they have to be able to handle so much better in the air, and not just "capable of taking off and landing".

Short version, what you're thinking of should be fine. With enough work you could just fit an Oberth Reactor into an older unit, if you really wanted to, so there should be no reason that wouldn't work. Heavies, mind you, aren't necessarily literally heavier; they're just seen as less mobile owing to older technology.

@Krayzikk

Sounds about right, thanks for the info! And also thanks to the other people posting their apps, this is good info to have.

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

mine's got no specific in-atmo flight capability, but i'm assuming most have general zero-g combat abilities. just with how prevalent space combat is.

i'll get my sheet up here sometime today, if it helps anyone w/ ideas.

@Caasicam

Gotcha. Appreciate it!

To The Depths

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I wasn't really even thinking about separating damage types. more that shrugging off an axe blow using a force field (spirit) and using an metal shield (physical) have the same effect, which is not dying. Same with punching/blasting something really hard or shooting an arrow/lighting bolt with incredible accurately.

@DracoLunaris

Ah, I see. I think that's a good way of trimming down the number of stats to keep track of, if that becomes necessary.

To The Depths

@DracoLunaris@Hawthorne

That sounds good!
We'll keep intelligence, wisdom, and charisma as RP restricted and then the main ability scores will be

Strength
Dexterity
Constitution

&
Magic,
Potency
Refinement
Resistance

--

And then in regards to spirit capacity similar to milestones, I'll most likely just increase it's capacity every time we go through a major event.

If there are any other suggestions please do tell! ;D

@DesperatePerson

Glad to be of help. In hindsight, it might be better to go with Magic Power or Spellpower instead of Magic Potency. It should be fine either way, though.

you could refine it down even further and just have

Power
Skill
Resistance

for everyone and depending on if it's a spirit of physical char affect how those stats are applied to the world (either via body or via spellcraft)

@DracoLunaris

Also viable, though I suppose that runs into the problem of people with Physical Gifts being wholly unable to deal with Spiritual threats and vice versa-- though that in itself is an interesting concept to explore.

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

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lunatics

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Welcome aboard! Two of the lunatics have sheets mostly ready for me to look at, so that'll help some. I have a sample Orbital sheet I can get posted in a couple hours and I'll try and whip up a sample CS, too.

EDIT: I liked! I had time earlier than I thought. This is a quick Orbital sheet I worked up to give the lunatics an idea for formatting and content and, honestly, for fun.

Sample

Model Number: XC|RG-171B G-Hawk
Role: Rapid Assault/Superiority Fighter
Appearance:

Appearance

Systems:
Transformable Frame: A transformable frame allowing the Hawk to convert from Orbital to a fighter configuration in approximately 0.7 seconds, assuming no impedimentary damage.
Enhanced Communications Package: Encrypted communications with a strong signal, capable of relaying comms, sensor data, and GPS positioning over substantial distance, through substantial interference, in real time. Useful for synchronizing attack runs, providing telemetry for other Orbitals, and synchronizing linkup.
Docking Clamps: Owing to its legacy the Hawk retains a series of magnetic clamps on its underbelly, capable of connecting to less mobile Orbitals to aid in rapid deployment.
Weapons:
-J&J Split Missiles x16, stored in pods on either shoulder.
-30mm Vulcans, mounted along the fuselage in fighter and the chest as an Orbital
-Beam Sabers x2
-XC Beam Shot Launcher with Beam Spike
-XC Heat Blades
-Shield
Manufacturing History: The 171 has a storied lineage more than a century old, beginning life during the era of Heavies. Modeled after an earlier prototype, the original G-Hawk came off the assembly line sporting an old school fusion reactor. Its technology was cutting edge at the time, and the variability of its loadout (and compatibility with other machines from the same manufacturer, and with a little work, others) lead to its wide spread adoption as the superiority unit for the back half of the century. Improvised improvements, after market equipment, and its unique range of strengths enabled its market domination.

Forty years later the Oberth Reactor Initiative came about, and the Hawk faced a grave threat. Until a handful of engineers and a long weekend figured out how to fit an Oberth Reactor into the same frame, and the G-Hawk’s operational time and acceleration skyrocketed. The Hawk is an old machine now, even with the Mod B retrofit to add an Oberth Reactor and EM drives, but many pilots, PMCs, and even branches of service will still bet on it over a newer model when the chips are down.
Weaknesses: The G-Hawk’s arsenal at this point is fairly antiquated. Though no less effective for its age, it has few of the bells and whistles that pilots more accustomed to newer models might rely on. Or, as some of those older hats might put it, ‘no crutches’.

@Krayzikk

Cool stuff, thanks! This has definitely given me a few ideas. A question, though. Are most Orbitals expected to be flight-capable and mobile? I was considering a mech more akin to the original Heavies, serving as Point Defense or Mobile Artillery as the situation requires. Thanks in advance!

To The Depths

Hmm, perhaps if we have the classic Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution as physical stats, we can try and mirror that with magical stats? Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma can potentially remain as RP-only things, if necessary.

Magic Potency: Denotes the power of a creature's magical abilities. Fireballs are bigger and burn hotter, barriers are tougher and more resilient, etc. The magical equivalent to Strength.
Magic Refinement: Denotes the precision of a creature's magical abilities. Fireballs can be shaped and can fly further, barriers can be shaped and are cheaper to maintain, etc. The magical equivalent to Dexterity
Magic Resistance: Denotes a creature's level of protection against hostile or otherwise unwanted magical effects. Allows a creature to shrug off mental attacks or better protect themselves against magical fire.

Names and effects can be changed of course, and really, I'm just spitballing.

To The Depths

You have my interest. I’d also agree with the above, for these kinds of things keeping it as simple tends to work. I’d even go so far as to say just making a very basic skeleton of a system with only the things you know will be used a lot included and then just improvising the specifics as you go for whatever else comes up is a perfectly valid way to do things. If you want something more concrete than that though I've got some ideas.

System Idea Thingy

Everything is broken into Stats, Checks, and Abilities. I'm too tired to write this idea out properly so think D&D to get an idea of how stats and checks would work.
Stats: I’d merge Intelligence and Wisdom into one Mind stat, add a Spirit stat for magic, and remove charisma entirely because that can just be roleplayed out.

• Strength: Physical output.
• Toughness: Ability to take a hit and stamina.
• Dexterity: Fine motor skills and agility, maybe those should be split into two different stats.
• Mind: Essentially the character's intelligence and wisdom, as well as anything else solely within there, mind that isn't their memories or personality.
• Spirit: Magical strength and capacity.

Abilities: Players would specify a number abilities which are passive or active abilities they have that distinguish them from average people. This includes the good and the bad as well as both mundane abilities and those resulting from. These could be things as non-specific as the circumstances of the character's background, but the less specific the less the bonus.

Example Abilities

• Light Bearer: Thanks to a gift they can produce small balls of light from their hands and move them about at will.
• Stealthy: They are good at hiding and moving about unnoticed.
• Bad Hearing: An accident years ago left them deaf in one ear.
• Former Sailor: Has spent years out at sea where they picked up a number of useful tricks for adventuring.

Checks: Checks are a number that is rolled against with a relevant stat modifier applied. DC for any given check is determined by how hard it would be for a normal person (maybe something like, Trivial: 5>, Easy: 6-10, Normal: 11-15, Hard: 16-20, Very Hard: 21-30, Impossible: 30+), and modified by whatever circumstances are relevant to the check as well as the player in questions abilities.

Example Scenario

Climbing a Cliff Face: DC 22 Strength Check; Adjusted DC: 17

• Modifier – Plenty of Hands Holds: -5
• Modifier – In a Storm: +5 DC
• Player Ability – Former Sailor: Has climbed in far worse storms at sea. Negates penalty from storm.

Checks should only be made if it’s reasonable for it to have a chance at working (e.g. a peasant trying to stab a trained fighter is fine despite the low odds, but that same peasant trying to perform brain surgery without training is automatically going to fail). Likewise, the opposite is true when a check could not reasonably be failed. Additionally, things where there shouldn't be any variability in result based on specified actions should not be rolled for.

Examples

• Auto Fail – Untrained Brain Surgery: Under no feasible circumstances could this ever be at all successful even if theoretically possible, certainly not as a 5% chance.
• Auto Success – Assassination: Slitting the throat of someone that is unaware and unable to defend themselves. No reasonable chance at failure assuming no other factors. Checks may still need to be made for secondary functions, such as doing it quietly.
• No Check – Discussion: Many discussions shouldn't require checks. Results should instead be based on the personalities of the participants and their reactions to what specifically has been said.

@TheMushroomLord

I quite like this, myself. In the RPs that I used to play in, we eschewed difficulty checks completely and let players just RP things as they decided, using their stats and skills as a reference. In this case though, I wouldn't be opposed to rolls when done like this.

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

Hell yeah, I had a hankering for sci-fi and mecha RPs lately, and was half-tempted to start my own. Thankfully, it seems a pretty good one has appeared. Consider my interest piqued!

Also, would like to see a sample application at some point, if only for reference.

To The Depths

Forgive my absence I've been working on re-writes for the roleplay's lore. I'm specifically having trouble with the implementation of gifts and how it's going to work in combat.

So I would like to ask you all of whom is interested, for your opinion.

What do you think is the best route to take for this roleplay's combat? What would be more interesting and fun that you would like to see translated into this roleplay?

=

@DesperatePerson

While I do quite like stat systems and combat, I'd recommend keeping it simple, whenever possible. The more complex the rules end up becoming, the less intuitive it usually becomes. That being said, having some idea of how combat and stats work can go a long way to making sure RP runs smoothly. If I may recommend a simple system that has worked wonders on similar "Tabletop-lite RPs", it would be something I used to play on another forum.

System 1.0

Within this RP you are given 5 stats Strength [STR], Defense [DEF], Dexterity [DEX], Intelligence [INT] and Magic [MAG].

You start with 10 points to split between these stats to spend however you wish

(Ex. STR:5, DEF:2, DEX:1, INT: 1, MAG: 1).

Points are awarded after defeating monsters, completing missions, and other such things. Extra points are awarded for good Roleplaying.

A 1 in any given stat is human average, 2 in any given stat denotes above average skill and 3 or more in any stat designates a particularly refined skill.

Of course, what the numbers are and what they mean can be tweaked slightly to suit your needs, but this way, you can tell whether or not your character is physically stronger than another character or monster. There also used to be Skills, Spells, and Powers that could edit your stats. For example, the Swordsmanship Skill improved your STR and DEX by 1, but only when you were wielding a sword. Players could make any skills they liked, so long as the skill in question was approved.

Sample Skills, Spells, and Powers

Skills

First Aid: You are taught in the way of medicines, with this skill you are adept enough to forage medicinal herbs to cure a number of minor ailments and generally just patch up your patients. At higher INT levels you begin to get a better understanding of how to minimize recovery times. At INT 10+ you can complete complex surgeries.

Swordsmanship: Taught from a young age, you have mastered the way of the blade. When handling a sword you are familiar with your STR and DEX are treated as 1 point higher each.

Defender: Trained with a shield, your Defenses are greatly increased depending on the type of shield wielded in battle. (+1 DEF for a shield, +2 for a tower Shield, +? for an enchanted shield)

Rage: [STR 3+] When wounded or taunted you may enter a blinding rage. Your INT is treated as - and your STR is treated as 4 points higher.

Stealth: [DEX 3+] You become the shadows. You are very adept at sneaking around and disguising yourself.

Unnatural Breath Weapon: [MAG 2+] Somehow you have learned or inherited the ability to use a breath weapon of Flames, Ice, Air, Light or Dark.

Spells

Unlike Skills, you have a limited number of spells per rest (meals or rests). This of course, may be subject to change.

Magic Missile: [Req. MAG 1+] The most basic of attacks, your magical skill is transmuted into a physical blast, usually of an element you have a particular affinity towards. (Power is determined by your MAG skill, accuracy determined by your INT.) You can pick one type of elemental blast and another for every multiple of 5 MAG you reach [2 at 5MAG, 3types at 10MAG..]

Deflect: [Req. MAG 1+] So long as this spell is cast at a higher MAG level than an opponent's Spell, you can negate all effects of that spell. This spell costs 2 spells uses.

Ghost sound: [Req. MAG 1+] User can create sounds as if throwing their voices, limited to mimicking simple sounds or your own voice, but with a higher MAG stat can be used in more complex ways.

Mage Hand: [Req. MAG 1+] Like a limited range Telekinesis, lets the caster lift around 2.5kgs using their mind. Handy for retrieving small objects without ever needing to get up.

Detect Magic: [Req. MAG 2+] Using your own magic you can determine whether there is powerful magic nearby. Higher MAG allows for better accuracy of type and location.

Summoning Circles: [Req. MAG: 2+, A pentacle drawn in chalk, blood, or salt] You have mastered the art of summoning and trapping through pentacles. You can Summon a small fiend to do your bidding or trap a being in a circle for 10 minutes times your MAG stat. The Pentacle takes 1 minute to draw per 10 minutes it will last, it can be cast at a lower MAG level]

Heal (Choose Divine or Nature): [Req. MAG: 2+] Utilizing magic of a Holy or Druidic nature, you can restore a target to a more energetic state. Divine Healing calls upon the wishes of a higher order, be it a particular deity or just the collective power of a cult. Divine Healing can cure the negative effects of some dark magics, depending on the skill level of the user.
Druidic Healing calls forth the power of nature to cure disease and refresh targets, it can even be utilized through medicine.
Both types can heal all minor ailments but only Divine can cure major curses and only Nature can heal deadly poisons without an antidote. [This barrier is broken at MAG 10+]

And so on and so forth. Of course, this is just a suggestion, so if you decide to use your own system, that's no problem for me. Otherwise, do feel free to ask if you need more information regarding this system. Regardless, I'm excited to see what you cook up!