Shadowrun
Off-topic => General Gaming => Topic started by: Cranstonvm on <07-15-13/2318:29>
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Curious I am.
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Curious I am.
Its called Rifts, is from Palladium Books and from the late '80s (IIRC )
I've got especially the NGR Splatbook in Mind
with a Multitude of Dances
Medicineman
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Ahh...Rifts. Quite possibly one of the most awesome RPGs, IMO.
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What about cthulutech?
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There's also a Robotech variant of Rifts, if you have an urge to be Roy Fokker. One of the best games I've ever played. (Ah it turns out Robotech predates Rifts and had the MDC damage first. I had no idea, as I had played RIFTS before Robotech) But basically you get to play a squadron of pilots of giant robots that turn into xwing type fighters. Good times.
Looks like a newer version of the game was out in 2008. I may check it out.
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Browsing the mecha tag on drivethru rpg i came up with a few candidates.
BRP Mecha (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/115012/BRP-Mecha?SRC=FeaturedProduct&motds_id=6764&from_home=0&filters=530_0_0_0_0), Chris Perrin's Mecha (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/82258/Chris-Perrins-Mecha?filters=530_0_0_0_0), and Mecha Vs. Kaiju Campaign Setting (True 20) (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/54716/Mecha-vs-Kaiju-Campaign-Setting-(True20)?filters=530_0_0_0_0). The first two I have heard of, the third seems to be precisely what you are looking for.
As a side note, there is a lot of weird stuff in the Mecha tag (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?filters=530_0_0_0_0&term=mecha&page=1).
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Steve Kenson's been pushing Mechas vs. Kaiju on Facebook.
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Steve Kenson's been pushing Mechas vs. Kaiju on Facebook.
Isn't Kenson they guy who wrote the Kellan Colt novels?
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Yes.
He's also one of the heads of Green Ronin.
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Yes.
He's also one of the heads of Green Ronin.
I rather enjoyed that trilogy of novels. Kellan was kinda cool I thought.
Green Ronin, you say? I wonder if he's one of the ones who has a hand in the game based on the Ice and Fire books.
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He's credited with Design and Development of the QSR (http://grfiles.game-host.org/gr_files/SiF_Fastplay.pdf), so I'm guessing ... Yes.
He's also the mastermind (so to speak) behind Mutants and Masterminds and the DC RPG.
Steve has influenced Shadowrun enormously, and had basically succeeded Nigel Findley as the go-to writer before FASA folded and SR books stopped being written by single authors.
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RPG? This thing is the closest thing to BattleTech I've seen yet. Let's think wargames, people...
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RPG? This thing is the closest thing to BattleTech I've seen yet. Let's think wargames, people...
Primary combat is wrong for BattleTech. The ranged weapons should be used more than the hand-to-hand. BattleTech isn't Big-O.
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What about cthulutech?
Yeah, OK ,that fits even better :)
HokaHey
Medicineman
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RPG? This thing is the closest thing to BattleTech I've seen yet. Let's think wargames, people...
Good point. There were at least three times I was watching and I thought, "I want to play Battletech again."
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RPG? This thing is the closest thing to BattleTech I've seen yet. Let's think wargames, people...
Good point. There were at least three times I was watching and I thought, "I want to play Battletech again."
Exactly. And, although I don't like the two-pilot drift thing (it makes sense for the story, though), I think it makes much more sense for the gyroscopic nature of the pilot and all that for them to be standing and the mech mimicking their movements instead of the cockpit console we're used to.
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It seems a lot cleaner interface now that we (mostly) have the science. Though there is something to be said for the mechs to be the 31st century equivalents of fighter aircraft.
But then again, fighters are going towards more intuitive and natural UI. :/
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What about cthulutech?
Yeah, OK ,that fits even better :)
HokaHey
Medicineman
Cthulhutech
"CthulhuTech is inspired by various anime such as Robotech, The Guyver and Neon Genesis Evangelion, and by cyberpunk games like Shadowrun. "
One strong point that is given in favor of Cthulhutech are the game's mecha options, of which the review states, "This makes games of all mecha pilots very viable since players have enough options to select unique mecha and still not step on one another’s toes."
All of the oceans and most of the coasts of the world are sparsely controlled by the Esoteric Order of Dagon, who use sea beasts, monstrous Deep Ones and Hybrid soldiers, brainwashed or conscripted humans, and their own brand of oceanic mecha in their search for R'lyeh, the lost underwater city of Cthulhu.
The setting features futuristic elements such as the architecturally efficient and futuristic arcologies, powered armor and mecha, energy weapons, and bio and nano-technology
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Something.
Are... are you actually allowed to talk? Like, I mean, stuff other than warnings and such? It's like we're walking down the street in Greece, and suddenly overhear a guy talking about which team is his favorite. You turn to see who it is, and Zeus meets your eyes and gives you a wink and nod. Then he goes back to sipping his iced tea and chatting with Hephaestus.
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...I think it makes much more sense for the gyroscopic nature of the pilot and all that for them to be standing and the mech mimicking their movements instead of the cockpit console we're used to.
Given the AI systems of a BattleMech I'm keen with how they combine the gyro and the neurohelmet. Though the system I did like the best was Full Metal Panic!'s Bilateral Angle multiplier. Take the arc movement of the pilot's limbs and multiply by the BMSA value, so a 30 degree swing of my left arm with a BMSA of 3 means the mecha's arm moved 90 degrees.
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Are... are you actually allowed to talk? Like, I mean, stuff other than warnings and such? It's like we're walking down the street in Greece, and suddenly overhear a guy talking about which team is his favorite. You turn to see who it is, and Zeus meets your eyes and gives you a wink and nod. Then he goes back to sipping his iced tea and chatting with Hephaestus.
Remember, FastJack is posessed, or diseased or something. Some allowances have to be made.
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Are... are you actually allowed to talk? Like, I mean, stuff other than warnings and such? It's like we're walking down the street in Greece, and suddenly overhear a guy talking about which team is his favorite. You turn to see who it is, and Zeus meets your eyes and gives you a wink and nod. Then he goes back to sipping his iced tea and chatting with Hephaestus.
Remember, FastJack is posessed, or diseased or something. Some allowances have to be made.
I have a ban hammer and I'm not afraid to use it. :P
That being said, yes, I'm allowed to talk. I just do so carefully since I'm not a designer/developer working for Catalyst and don't want my opinions/house rules to be mistaken for "official" material. ;)
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You have the wisdom of the Gods, oh might Perseus. Do with us as you will!
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RPG? This thing is the closest thing to BattleTech I've seen yet. Let's think wargames, people...
Good point. There were at least three times I was watching and I thought, "I want to play Battletech again."
I'm been playing Mechwarrior Online but the initial group of Shadowrun folks I have on my friends list stopped playing.
:(
About Rifts... fun system, but oh my god did they ever have problems with power creep with each new book.
-k
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About Rifts... fun system, but oh my god did they ever have problems with power creep with each new book.
I wonder if Palladium games regards it as a Problem or if they rather embraced Powercreep with open arms ?
The Gamesystem was Cranky and needed Houseruling on as many Levels as SR5 needs it now, but the Gameworld was Fascinating . A kind of ....Living & breathing Entity ( in a way similar to Shadowrun)
With a new Dance in a new Forum
Medicineman
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I'm been playing Mechwarrior Online but the initial group of Shadowrun folks I have on my friends list stopped playing.
About Rifts... fun system, but oh my god did they ever have problems with power creep with each new book.
Shadowrun has a better lid on it (by leaving such things as blood magic to GMs) but also seems to tend to have it creep in later in the editions as more sourcebooks come out. I'm hoping that's not the case this time around. Perhaps the limit mechanism will help.
What, you don't like 4-armed giant Rahu men with Atlantean tattoos? And then there was the poor suckers that chose rogue scientists and vagabond characters.
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I'm been playing Mechwarrior Online but the initial group of Shadowrun folks I have on my friends list stopped playing.
About Rifts... fun system, but oh my god did they ever have problems with power creep with each new book.
Shadowrun has a better lid on it (by leaving such things as blood magic to GMs) but also seems to tend to have it creep in later in the editions as more sourcebooks come out. I'm hoping that's not the case this time around. Perhaps the limit mechanism will help.
What, you don't like 4-armed giant Rahu men with Atlantean tattoos? And then there was the poor suckers that chose rogue scientists and vagabond characters.
The worst offenders in Rifts are NPC Antagonists only as well. Rogue Scientists are freaking awesome for some things, just not combat. In the "Ultimate Edition" the Vagabond got a serious upgrade.
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I started out a RIFTS campaign as a scholar. She was so consistantly gimpy in combat eventually the GM had her get "left behind" after a botched raid on a mysterious lab.
Six months game time later, the PCs started running into this killer cyborg and her private borg army. At the end of the arc, after the climactic boss fight, the GM revealed the cyborg was in fact my old character, at which point the PCs figured out how to undo her brainwashing and control of the now considerably more powerful character was returned to me.
An entire story arc becuase our GM was frustrated at how gimpy my character was in fights.
:)
-k
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Rifts is really far into the Great Idea/Horrible Rules end of the gaming spectrum.
Pacific Rim on the other hand is AWESOME!
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started out a RIFTS campaign as a scholar. She was so consistantly gimpy in combat eventually the GM had her get "left behind" after a botched raid on a mysterious lab.
Six months game time later, the PCs started running into this killer cyborg and her private borg army. At the end of the arc, after the climactic boss fight, the GM revealed the cyborg was in fact my old character, at which point the PCs figured out how to undo her brainwashing and control of the now considerably more powerful character was returned to me.
An entire story arc becuase our GM was frustrated at how gimpy my character was in fights.
Awsome story! Our players were wise enough not to pick the weak archtypes. I did have an NPC rogue scholar that became somewhat famous, Norbert and his plastic man armor everyone laughed at.
RIFTS worked okay if A) If everyone played one of the "decent archtypes. For example, Juicers, Crazies, and Glitterboys. I loved playing Crazies. B) It kind of broke things if you allowed some the sourcebook stuff. I recall Rahumen in particular, because I remember steaming when one of my friends played one.
The rogue scientist only worked if the GM really worked at it. RIFTS skill system wasn't that great and if you are playing RIFTS in the first place it's likely to be a Pink Mohawk game.
Oh, another wonky thing was skills like boxing, that every character had to have, as it gave extra attacks in all forms of combat. So, for example all our squadron of Robotech pilots all had to be former boxers or lose an extra attack in our mechs, the main combat in the game. I guess it was a required course at the military academy. :)
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He's credited with Design and Development of the QSR (http://grfiles.game-host.org/gr_files/SiF_Fastplay.pdf), so I'm guessing ... Yes.
He's also the mastermind (so to speak) behind Mutants and Masterminds and the DC RPG.
Steve has influenced Shadowrun enormously, and had basically succeeded Nigel Findley as the go-to writer before FASA folded and SR books stopped being written by single authors.
Big difference between rules and fiction though. Not that he was the worst SR novel author though, but his contributions to the game don't make his fiction appeal to everyone :)
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Whatever disagreements I have with his interpretations and its effects on the rules of, say, magic ... whatever creative license he took with magic in his fiction has to be colored through the lens of knowing that he not only knew the rules he's bent or broken, but he created them. And I think it's safe to assume that given his involvement in the rules of magic that it's safe to assume that would color someone's interest in his fiction, which leans heavily towards magic. It's not like his novels are about deckers. They're about the same subject his rules material is about.
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now I want to read the Kellan Colt trilogy again :(