The bad news is that I won't be able to post the previews I originally intended. The good news is that it's because the backer draft of CAMELOT Trigger was released! I'm so excited to get it out to everyone and get some feedback. This draft went through a few rounds of edits, but I hope from the 7000(!) backers to catch more mistakes and suggest additional edits for clarity.
Please leave your comments here, on the FATE Core G+ group, or in the Kickstarter comments.
Next week, I'll post some of the stuff that was cut for space that digs a little deeper in the setting. Until then, read, enjoy and make haste to armour launch!
Let me say here and now, as the guy who sliced out the stuff to fit the space, Rob has some pretty cool stuff to post. Every cut took out a little bit of my soul to do it, but had to be done.
ReplyDelete"Down with the machines, long live PASTAC!" :)
Hm. Looking at the example Cancer armor... the head system is oddly underpowered. Spend a fate point to reduce a consequence by a level? You can already do that! It's called spending a fate point for +2 on your defense roll! Yes, there are corner cases where it might still come in handy - when you have a lot of fate points, are trying to absorb some extremely strong attack, and have already invoked every relevant aspect - but I can't imagine that comes up very often. Even then, with the 1/conflict limit, you might as well just get your +2 by disabling the system.
ReplyDeleteThe auto-repair system is at least a little bit stronger; I can imagine situations where you disabled a system, and later decide you really need it back. Still, I'd expect it to be the pilot's second choice of system to disable - after only the head.
In general, if I have a stunt (or stunt-equivalent, such as an armour system) that requires a fate point to activate, I'd expect to get about two fate points worth of effect - one from the fate point itself, and one from the stunt; "once per scene when I spend a fate point" ought to be a sufficiently limited scope to get a +2 value out of a stunt.
TomC, at least you know Rob will be showing us many if not all of those things you had to cut out. May the Gods bless the internet.
ReplyDeleteDamurxac, I think a +3 total might be more appropriate, simply because a +4 just sounds to high and I am thinking of the killing blow stunt from dresden. +3 damage with a fate point on a successfully attack. IIRC.
Actually this does bring up a point of interest I have been discussing with rob on here before. Aspects on armour. The way the head stunt is written now it would be of more use if it was an aspect as that would give that same +2 bonus for a fate point as you mentioned and it might get used in creative ways. +2 damage when head butting an enemy who grappled you? I was wondering what you guys think of allowing aspects as systems on a suit. I am mainly thinking of stuff like "enhanced recon suite" which could be used for a bonus on mark but also for a upfront declaration to detect enemies ahead of time. Heck imagine a head which has the aspect "emerging AI"
Sorry for the double post but something caught my eye. You appear to have used the word "Harm" in multiple places where it should probably read "Stress".
ReplyDelete@damurxac: One thing to note is that he can reduce the severity of the consequence after he's taken it. So two turns later, that severe can become a moderate. The shell helmet pops off and his armour is less damaged.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about self-repair - one it's used it's something of a dead slot. That's part of balancing its usefulness. And a lot of playtesters took it because they wanted to make sure they could use one of their other slots no matter what.
But you do have a point in that there are some stunts that steer close to things you can already do with aspects. I was guilty of that in some earlier drafts.
@tim: You can do the same stuff with aspects on the pilots. I'd absolutely let L4-NC3-L07, for example, invoke his Warlord of Mars aspect to headbutt another armour because that's the type of dirty arena fighting he does.
If you want to use up a slot for an aspect, or put one on top of the five slots as a concept/chassis aspect that works for your game, that should work. Just make sure everyone has one that can be invoked and compelled to keep the FATE points flowing.
Harm got changed from stress in later drafts. That's a TomC question.
I have a little idea for you.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere (dont know where) you posted that with MerGN-A and the siege armours you couldn't get the exactly final-boss flavor you wanted to. I think it's because once you start the fight it gets easier every turno: The siege armour starts deactivating systems, and it finally gets nearly unprotected.
Think about limit systems. The kind of ultra-system that only activates when the boss is nearly defeated, making the last turns the hardest, in the style of FinalFantasy and other videogames.
I'd allow it in the shape of aspects: You can take a Limit Aspect instead of a regular one for a Siege Armour. Limit Aspect are systems that consume a lot of energy, so they are disconnected until everything else is deactivated, as a last-line emergency stand.
So, you can't use a Limit Aspect until all the other systems in a Siege Armour are deactivated. When there no systems left, the Limit activates, and the Siege Armour can invoke it for free as many times as she wants.
I'd substitute "Glowering Face" of Medusa Moon's aspects for "Limit: Intelligent energy field", giving her a last stand when is about to be defeated. That's how a Final Boss would work.