Vagabonds: New World of Darkness Game. (interest)

Started by Senti, December 03, 2010, 07:12:26 AM

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ReijiTabibito

I'm an OWoD fan, but NWoD appeals to be in certain lines.

I have the books for Hunter and for Geist.  (Well, the corebook for Geist, anyway)

I did have this one idea for a possible Hunter character who isn't trying to actively kill the other supernaturals.

It's a Null Mysterii character (think mad science in the form of Ghostbusters-ish style) who is conducting a study on the various other characters.  His job is to investigate, gather info, and stay low on the radar, since Hunters and the other supers don't exactly get along well.  It's like TGT's concept - the journalist - in that fashion.

Senti

Will he be a part of the Vagabonds group?

Just organising how people will fit in.

ReijiTabibito

In theory?  Probably.  The way I had it in my head was that the character was sent by the NMs to be undercover with the Vagabonds.  Is that fine?

Also, are we doing just base creation, or do we get something a little extra...?

Senti

I can be tempted with offering a few more points with a good and interesting background. In general though they are pretty much start out.

As for being undercover, thats fine, but one might have to be very careful.

Who knows what might happen during the game.

ReijiTabibito

Mkay.  I'm also a fan of the Loyalists of Thule, with a similar character concept (hunter sent undercover to learn more about the opposition), but I figured that the FOR SCIENCE! thing of the Nulls would resonate a little better.

Also, I am looking into building a Geist, so...yeah.

Senti


ReijiTabibito

One other thing.  NWoD characters don't get the 'bonus points' that OWoD characters do.  Are we arranging that in some way, or no?

Senti


ReijiTabibito

No, I mean...usually, after OWoD characters bought Attributes, Abilities, Backgrounds, and whatnot with their allotted creation points, they'd get 15 bonus points to spend on any of those, right?  So, for NWoD, all we get are points for Attributes, Abilities, and Merits (the new Backgrounds).  So, do we get those bonus points, or no...?

Senti

I am afraid not. 

Any chosen flaws go towards XP's if they are played,

ReijiTabibito

Yeah, I was wondering about that.  Where does it talk about flaws?  Or their point values, more specifically.  It seemed kinda odd to me to have Merits but no way to gain more points by taking on complications...

Senti

Flaws it appears...or at least in Senti World are a grey area, as it will depend on the setting. For example here, with the Vagabonds a phobia of dogs would get lots of XP's if the character played it out in play.

From what I have seen the NWoD system is that they were merely trying to stop CHEESE.... be honest some flaws are just points gainers. At least in my opinion. And said flaws are often very eaily forgotten by the players.

Anyway give me a good background and there may be extra points.....

As it is flaws are the players choice and we can work out XP's as the game goes on.

The Great Triangle

If you're playing as a supernatural creature, you can also get an extra 10xp to garnish your character with by taking a hit to your initial humanity score.  (or whatever the equivelent for the type you're playing is)  Since you're already likely to fall to that level if you play like a typical PC, there's not much of a downside in taking that route.  (unless your character is one of the especially pure types.  It's a bit of a system flaw in the nWOD that morality is ridiculously expensive to buy up the further up you go, and there's no way to start at a high level.)

The basic character creation system in nWOD is for making characters fresh from their supernaturla transformation and initial training, so if your character is past that point, and you've got the skeletons in your closet to prove it, you should be able to harvest some xps from Senti to cover things.  (my character, for instance, is 8xp over standard character creation)
Meow!  I'm a kitty; made of fire.

Ons and Offs

ReijiTabibito

Well, TGT, here's the thing.  The type of supernatural that I'd be playing is a Sin-Eater (from the Geist line), and as far as Sin-Eater's Humanity - referred to in series and hereafter as Synergy - goes, it's very difficult for Sin-Eaters to suffer from degeneration.  Sin-Eaters have a very different sense of Morality than most other supernaturals.  Humans, Hunters, and Vampires are directly subject to Humanity.  Mages are close, with Wisdom.  And Werewolf's Harmony is a bit more lax, but still has shades of Humanity.  Changelings I can't speak for, but Sin-Eaters?  Get a lot of leeway.  They can steal and lie with impunity - and they're mostly immune when it comes to murder, as long as it wasn't unintentional, or they don't becomes a serial killer.

So, given the sins on the Synergy meter, it's very difficult for Sin-Eater PCs to worry about degeneration.

The Great Triangle

The Geist morality meter is definately pretty well PC proofed, though there are a few points on which you could still degenerate pretty easily.  Destroying a ghost is something a geist is frequently tempted to do, and raising the dead is something that can justify a degeneration while being a really cool background element.  Sure, you do have to bend your PCs backstory a bit to justify having done sins against synergy, but flaws basically put you in the same boat. 

One main consideration with Geists is that they're built on a different power scale from other supernaturals because they don't have any extremely broad powers.  They're just plain nasty within their niche, and incapable of mustering powers outside of it.  On the other hand, we've got a lot of mages, (or so I hear) who take the opposite extreme in character design.  For balance reasons, I'd caution you against using xp to pick up additional keys, because that can give geists an unfair jump in power level.

When you're designing the background of a Geist, remember to think of your Geist and what it's trying to do, what its goals are.  Geists are led around by powers beyond themselves quite deeply, or at least on a far more personal level than other supernaturals. 



(The way I think of nWOD supernaturals in general, by the way, is that Mages have the most flexible powers, but with a signifigant risk of failure and limitations in pure power, Changelings are halfway between mages and vampires in terms of power level, and can generate a lot of power really fast at the risk of being caught by the fae.  Vampires have the most robust power set and find it very easy to fuel, but they pay through the nose in flexibility.  Promethians and Geists are roughly equal in power, slightly below vampires, though Promethians have the edge of being able to apply permanent boosts to their abilities, while Geists can rapidly arm a vast arsenal of powers, as well as having a major edge within their theme.  Werewolves are pretty much the gimpy ones, without house rules to improve them, though the pack instinct makes them reasonably scary foes if you don't have a good supply of silver.  Anything about werewolves goes double for hunters, though letting werewolves use the rules of hunter is pretty awesome.)
Meow!  I'm a kitty; made of fire.

Ons and Offs

ReijiTabibito

Quote from: The Great Triangle on December 13, 2010, 01:27:15 PM
The Geist morality meter is definately pretty well PC proofed, though there are a few points on which you could still degenerate pretty easily.  Destroying a ghost is something a geist is frequently tempted to do, and raising the dead is something that can justify a degeneration while being a really cool background element.  Sure, you do have to bend your PCs backstory a bit to justify having done sins against synergy, but flaws basically put you in the same boat. 

Oh yes, with a couple of exceptions, unless you are pure out-and-out evil, and trying to drive down your Synergy all the way, then you rarely need to worry about committing sins against it.  The only sins that I could see reasonably happening are three: reviving a dead person, destroying a ghost, and destroying a Sin-Eater (or, destroying a Geist).

The first one I would only see happening in a 'Pushing Daisies' sort of manner - bringing back a dead person (temporary or no) to try and help solve a mystery.  The latter two I would only see happening in the case of the entity being patently evil.  I plan on working such a scenario into my Sin-Eater's backstory, though whether or not he loses Synergy because of it (if I were GMing the situation, I'd provide the player bonus dice to resist degen, both because of the situation, and possibly depending upon the player's Virtue) is up in the air.

Besides, I think that if I can come up with a suitable enough backstory, then I won't need the 10 xp from the point of Synergy. I'm hoping for 10-15 XP, at the most, I think.

Quote from: The Great Triangle on December 13, 2010, 01:27:15 PM
One main consideration with Geists is that they're built on a different power scale from other supernaturals because they don't have any extremely broad powers.  They're just plain nasty within their niche, and incapable of mustering powers outside of it.  On the other hand, we've got a lot of mages, (or so I hear) who take the opposite extreme in character design.  For balance reasons, I'd caution you against using xp to pick up additional keys, because that can give geists an unfair jump in power level.

Well, you are correct that in most places, the powers of Geists are mostly suited for their own niche.  There are a handful of exceptions (the Rage and Shroud Manifestations, as well as certain categories of the others), but yeah, mostly Geists are Ghostbusters.

And for the most part, any XP I get from Senti will be used in one of three categories: Merits, Manifestations, or maybe Psyche, depending on whether or not I spend 3 Merit points at creation to boost it from 1 to 2.  Probably will, though.

Quote from: The Great Triangle on December 13, 2010, 01:27:15 PM
When you're designing the background of a Geist, remember to think of your Geist and what it's trying to do, what its goals are.  Geists are led around by powers beyond themselves quite deeply, or at least on a far more personal level than other supernaturals. 

Mmm.  *thinks*  I'm coming up with a character concept now for a Forgotten Sin-Eater...perhaps I can rack your brain for some inspiration?

Quote from: The Great Triangle on December 13, 2010, 01:27:15 PM
(The way I think of nWOD supernaturals in general, by the way, is that Mages have the most flexible powers, but with a signifigant risk of failure and limitations in pure power, Changelings are halfway between mages and vampires in terms of power level, and can generate a lot of power really fast at the risk of being caught by the fae.  Vampires have the most robust power set and find it very easy to fuel, but they pay through the nose in flexibility.  Promethians and Geists are roughly equal in power, slightly below vampires, though Promethians have the edge of being able to apply permanent boosts to their abilities, while Geists can rapidly arm a vast arsenal of powers, as well as having a major edge within their theme.  Werewolves are pretty much the gimpy ones, without house rules to improve them, though the pack instinct makes them reasonably scary foes if you don't have a good supply of silver.  Anything about werewolves goes double for hunters, though letting werewolves use the rules of hunter is pretty awesome.)

I couldn't really speak too much about this, given that I only have Geist and Hunter.  But, the fact that Geists have a large assortment of powers does resonate with me.

Senti

Well a Giest is more than fine with me.

so send away....

As I said XP extras depend on background.

Also will be posting the first IC post tommorow but stats are not needed for the first scene ...or at least for some of it. :)

Senti

IC started, anyone that still wants to join is welcome, after all the vagabonds come and go.



https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=92150.0

Prakkie

We're still looking for dedicated players. Anyone interested in some story-driven, free-form NWoD set in the 1980's? Werewolves, Mages, Geists, Vamps and others very much welcome.

Currently active characters:

- Whitney Cooper, Geist [played by Cadavar]
- Betty Hamelin, Werecat [played by Prakkie]
- Felicity Moreno, Changeling [played by Muse]
- Sam Phoenix Benit, Werewolf [played by Grovercjuk]

OOC here: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=91818.0
Story thread here: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=92150.0