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Mage, World of Darkness 2e, and horror games

Started by obryn, April 27, 2006, 01:01:46 PM

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shooting_dice

Quote from: obrynShooting_Dice - those all would make the game more balanced.  I just don't think our GM is going to end up using any of them.  I have that feeling...

It's not the balance I have a problem with so much - it's the mechanics, which I think are jackassed.

-O

What is it you have a specific problem with? In any system, Mage will not work properly without the conditions I'm talking about unless the changes are radical enough not to make it Mage anymore.
 

obryn

Quote from: shooting_diceWhat is it you have a specific problem with? In any system, Mage will not work properly without the conditions I'm talking about unless the changes are radical enough not to make it Mage anymore.

(1) Large dice pools, sometimes with varying numbers of dice.  Sometimes there are rerolls on 10, sometimes not.
+
(2) Floating difficulty numbers on a roll-by-roll basis, combined with
+
(3) Varying numbers of successes needed on a roll-by-roll basis
+
(4) Nutso botch rules that make rolling more dice scary rather than reassuring
+
(5) The system requires 4 rolls (hit-dodge-damage-soak) in order to do routine combat acts like hitting someone with a stick.

Overall, I find it needlessly complex and obscure.  As a GM, I'd find calculatnig probabilties to be either impossible or ridiculous.  The system is supposed to be about story, but it gets bogged down by a system more tedious than any I've played to date.  Combats take far longer than my 3.5 encounters, even when I use a battle map.

-O
 

Xavier Lang

Quote from: obryn(1) Large dice pools, sometimes with varying numbers of dice.  Sometimes there are rerolls on 10, sometimes not.
+
(2) Floating difficulty numbers on a roll-by-roll basis, combined with
+
(3) Varying numbers of successes needed on a roll-by-roll basis
+
(4) Nutso botch rules that make rolling more dice scary rather than reassuring
+
(5) The system requires 4 rolls (hit-dodge-damage-soak) in order to do routine combat acts like hitting someone with a stick.

Overall, I find it needlessly complex and obscure.  As a GM, I'd find calculatnig probabilties to be either impossible or ridiculous.  The system is supposed to be about story, but it gets bogged down by a system more tedious than any I've played to date.  Combats take far longer than my 3.5 encounters, even when I use a battle map.

-O

I think you would enjoy the new World of Darkness rules system better.

Difficulty is static, its always 8

Combat is one roll.  Defense and soak are all built into the one roll.

Botch rule is basically gone.  (You have you have such a small chance at something the GM gives you a hail mary attempt, if you roll on one on the only die you get to roll for your hail mary, you botch, otherwise you can't botch.)

Dice Pools can still be large, but if something is more difficult you lose dice before you roll.
 

obryn

Quote from: Xavier LangI think you would enjoy the new World of Darkness rules system better.

Difficulty is static, its always 8

Combat is one roll.  Defense and soak are all built into the one roll.

Botch rule is basically gone.  (You have you have such a small chance at something the GM gives you a hail mary attempt, if you roll on one on the only die you get to roll for your hail mary, you botch, otherwise you can't botch.)

Dice Pools can still be large, but if something is more difficult you lose dice before you roll.
Yep, I get that impression, too, from looking through the new rules.  It looks like they fixed more or less everything I have a problem with.  Probabilities would still probably be a bitch, but at least it's relatively manageable now.

Of course, that helps me not at all in this 1e Mage game. :)

-O
 

shooting_dice

Quote from: obryn(1) Large dice pools, sometimes with varying numbers of dice.  Sometimes there are rerolls on 10, sometimes not.
+
(2) Floating difficulty numbers on a roll-by-roll basis, combined with
+
(3) Varying numbers of successes needed on a roll-by-roll basis
+
(4) Nutso botch rules that make rolling more dice scary rather than reassuring
+
(5) The system requires 4 rolls (hit-dodge-damage-soak) in order to do routine combat acts like hitting someone with a stick.

Overall, I find it needlessly complex and obscure.  As a GM, I'd find calculatnig probabilties to be either impossible or ridiculous.  The system is supposed to be about story, but it gets bogged down by a system more tedious than any I've played to date.  Combats take far longer than my 3.5 encounters, even when I use a battle map.

-O

Ah -- you're talking about the core rules, not the magic system per se. My reccomendation would be to use the Aeonverse rules (diff always 7, soak rating, not roll) for a high adventure game, or the new WoD rules for a low fantasy thing. The NWoD rules don't really have as many discrete options for fights, but they do run faster.
 

obryn

Quote from: shooting_diceAh -- you're talking about the core rules, not the magic system per se. My reccomendation would be to use the Aeonverse rules (diff always 7, soak rating, not roll) for a high adventure game, or the new WoD rules for a low fantasy thing. The NWoD rules don't really have as many discrete options for fights, but they do run faster.
Well, the botch rules kind of severely limit my enjoyment of the magic system :)

But... yes, I think that's exactly what I was complaining about.

-O