I want to clarify, codify and collect all of the House Rules that we use, and so I am looking to clarify a few points.
1) Has anyone purchased any combos at all (really, for any character?)
2) Are there any skills you wish you could buy more specialties for?
3) What other system changes do we/don't we use that you think we might need? For example, should we change the number of languages that Lingusitics grants (I saw a suggestion for a House Rule somewhere that granted 2 languages learned at Ling4+)? Is having Craft (Elemental) good as it, or should we further combine or seperate the crafts? Should there be a 1xp price break for favored/caste specialties? Stuff like this
4) If Thaumaturgy were somehow made more accessible, would you bother to use it, or just leave it be?
first, answers to specified ?'s:
1)no. if i do, it will be either a multi-action god combo, faster buffing, or social. i don't think aggressive combos that include no multi-action effects are really worth it.
2)not as of yet. i think at higher power levels it could be cool, but right now i don't have the spare xp.
3)
a: i think linguistics is fine. languages are more complex, and include comprehension of many dialects. at the same time, there are only like 10 languages in the game. compare to owod, at ling 5: 16/100's vs. 5/10. you still rock compared to owod.
b: i don't like the skill subsets in general. i think it is clunky with the wod system. that stated, i think that category purchase should be more like a qualifier, not individual dots. pay x pts, you get to use that subset. simple stuff like craft wood costs 3xp. complex stuff like magitech might cost 10.
c: i think it would be appropriate for there to be a decrease in spec cost, and new skill cost, in favored/caste.
other stuff:
1) lunars. needs a'fixin. i think that the rules fix steven provided is viable, and should be used. they get a bit of an advantage in some ways, but are still so focused and take so long to hit really powerful charms in trees (like perfects) and have such high costs on everything else, that i think it is even.
2) siddies. their charms don't all work. first, dice adder should be ess x 2. we already said this, but it needs writing in the compiled rules changes. second, some things need specification, like the wierd quasi-perfect dodge (that should be perfect).
3) i haaate not being able to add on to MA trees. shit, that is what you do in real life.
4) db's get to use MA + their appropriate paired combat ability in combo creation. water gets screwed on this however, so something should be given to them as well... not sure what though. Pick any 1 maybe? dunno.
5) abyssals are scary enough. we need a final ruling on VAP.
6) social/mental influence stuff needs more clarification
7) any way to make mass combat easier is better
gaian's need incorporation in shared world, and i need to clarify some stuff on them... will do that today
9) there is probably more, but i'm not sure what right now. will make more posts as i think of things.
1)no. if i do, it will be either a multi-action god combo, faster buffing, or social. i don't think aggressive combos that include no multi-action effects are really worth it.
2)not as of yet. i think at higher power levels it could be cool, but right now i don't have the spare xp.
3)
a: i think linguistics is fine. languages are more complex, and include comprehension of many dialects. at the same time, there are only like 10 languages in the game. compare to owod, at ling 5: 16/100's vs. 5/10. you still rock compared to owod.
b: i don't like the skill subsets in general. i think it is clunky with the wod system. that stated, i think that category purchase should be more like a qualifier, not individual dots. pay x pts, you get to use that subset. simple stuff like craft wood costs 3xp. complex stuff like magitech might cost 10.
c: i think it would be appropriate for there to be a decrease in spec cost, and new skill cost, in favored/caste.
other stuff:
1) lunars. needs a'fixin. i think that the rules fix steven provided is viable, and should be used. they get a bit of an advantage in some ways, but are still so focused and take so long to hit really powerful charms in trees (like perfects) and have such high costs on everything else, that i think it is even.
2) siddies. their charms don't all work. first, dice adder should be ess x 2. we already said this, but it needs writing in the compiled rules changes. second, some things need specification, like the wierd quasi-perfect dodge (that should be perfect).
3) i haaate not being able to add on to MA trees. shit, that is what you do in real life.
4) db's get to use MA + their appropriate paired combat ability in combo creation. water gets screwed on this however, so something should be given to them as well... not sure what though. Pick any 1 maybe? dunno.
5) abyssals are scary enough. we need a final ruling on VAP.
6) social/mental influence stuff needs more clarification
7) any way to make mass combat easier is better
gaian's need incorporation in shared world, and i need to clarify some stuff on them... will do that today9) there is probably more, but i'm not sure what right now. will make more posts as i think of things.
Last edited by rydi on Tue Feb 24, 2009 5:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Threading the Gerbil since 1982
then there is dragon king, claw speak, and a few other smatterings here and there. Honestly though, i don't think ling 5 should let you communicate with virtually anyone. that is the province of the higher dots... perhaps get rid of low realm though? that would be nice. just make it a dialect of realm common.
lethal soak is fine... seems almost too trivial for a change (eventually those types of changes add up to a long list of errata) but at the same time it would be in line with all the other rounding rules.
lethal soak is fine... seems almost too trivial for a change (eventually those types of changes add up to a long list of errata) but at the same time it would be in line with all the other rounding rules.
Threading the Gerbil since 1982
One of the suggestions I saw was actually to just make it (number of charms). I think adding in the high skill is probably good too.
I'm also down for 'branching' combos. Pay say, ~3xp (maybe +highest ability?) to create a new combo of the same charms and then 1+xp to add additional charms to it. Probably only usable on combos that already have 4+ charms included.
I'm also down for 'branching' combos. Pay say, ~3xp (maybe +highest ability?) to create a new combo of the same charms and then 1+xp to add additional charms to it. Probably only usable on combos that already have 4+ charms included.
I have not purchased any combos for any of my characters, mainly because of the cost, as mentioned by Cheyne and Jason before me. I don't mind having to spend a will to activate a combo because it encourages you to stunt it, which is appropriate for what it does.
I DO have a problem with Siddies having to spend a Will for almost every charm that is decent, and I believe that all of their capstone charms require the loss of a health level, and most of the time it is Lethal. It makes them very difficult to be effective, at least unless you have Siddie MA, especially if you try to do a combo whose charms require the expendature of a will and loss of health levels. You can easily wind up with a combo that eats up half of your will and puts you at wound penalties. I don't know if there is a fix for that, but there should be some consideration.
I like Cheyne's idea of "buying in" to subsets of skills.
I don't know what Lunar creation rules you are talking about, but I am sure that it is better than what it is now. I was really happy when other people tried to make one and realized that they really kind of suck.
I DO have a problem with Siddies having to spend a Will for almost every charm that is decent, and I believe that all of their capstone charms require the loss of a health level, and most of the time it is Lethal. It makes them very difficult to be effective, at least unless you have Siddie MA, especially if you try to do a combo whose charms require the expendature of a will and loss of health levels. You can easily wind up with a combo that eats up half of your will and puts you at wound penalties. I don't know if there is a fix for that, but there should be some consideration.
I like Cheyne's idea of "buying in" to subsets of skills.
I don't know what Lunar creation rules you are talking about, but I am sure that it is better than what it is now. I was really happy when other people tried to make one and realized that they really kind of suck.
For reference:rydi wrote:1) lunars. needs a'fixin. i think that the rules fix steven provided is viable, and should be used. they get a bit of an advantage in some ways, but are still so focused and take so long to hit really powerful charms in trees (like perfects) and have such high costs on everything else, that i think it is even.
2 Caste Attributes, 2 Favored Attributes (instead of 3 Caste, 1 Favored).
9/7/5 Attributes (instead of 8/6/4) + the bonus dot in a caste/favored attribute.
28 Ability dots (instead of 25).
7 Charms (4 must be Caste/Favored).
3 Knacks.
Backgrounds cost no more than they do for Solars.
Knacks cost 8xp (instead of 11xp).
Some of this has to be done charm-by-charm. I also think the modifed xp costs should be used. Something more like this:2) siddies. their charms don't all work. first, dice adder should be ess x 2. we already said this, but it needs writing in the compiled rules changes. second, some things need specification, like the wierd quasi-perfect dodge (that should be perfect).
[input later, gotta dig the file up, the gist is that CMA charms are 8xp, siddie charms are 9 and SMA charms are 10 or 12, I forget.]
Honestly, I think this is a game balance issue and do not want to change it. MA is powerful enough as is.3) i haaate not being able to add on to MA trees. shit, that is what you do in real life.
This doesn't work both for Water and for Earth (who have War as their ability). I would suggest going with the rules I stated - Any charm can be put into a combo with any other provided that they could all logically enhance the action being performed and the charm text allows that action. This is basically like Lunar combo restrictions.4) db's get to use MA + their appropriate paired combat ability in combo creation. water gets screwed on this however, so something should be given to them as well... not sure what though. Pick any 1 maybe? dunno.
We really don't until someone actually takes it. When they do I would say to make it 100% offense and no defense, as that does not thematically fit with the charm. If it does have a defensive aspect for some godforsaken reason then it should be a flat PDV bonus and NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT a perfect defense.We need a final ruling on VAP.
Not sure what you mean by this, actually. Most of it makes pretty good sense to me, with exceptions that I can't think of off the top of my head.6) social/mental influence stuff needs more clarification