Post by Neros on Oct 4, 2021 15:01:28 GMT -5
Hello there
So I have been playing a lot of pbta (Powered by the Apocalypse) games lately which has very little "hard mechanics" on the GM's side of the table which I really enjoy. It allows me to focus on telling the story instead of tons of mechanics, book keeping and what not.
But I found my old MURPG folder and looked back at my days spend on this forum and got thinking:
"I want to play this again.. But there is just so much bookkeeping when it comes to NPC's and fights for the GM."
So I am hoping for some feedback to see if I am totally bonkers for this, or if it might actually work. The below is just a small example. Didn't want to go overboard with to much text, which might already be to late:
Mission/Vision
Quick Rundown
Engagement: The player does what they normally do in MURPG; describe the character’s action, spend stones into the actions and shift stones into defense.
D&R: The difficulty and resistance is equal to a fitting Action/Ability/Modifier the opponent has.
Counter: When attacking, the character will be exposed to a counter attack (GM don’t spend stones or shift stones to defense).
NPC Actions: When an NPC wants to do something against a PC, the GM should give a heads up to allow the player to react. The exception to this is if there is a golden opportunity.
This will hopefully make fights less management heavy for the GM, faster to get through and more dynamic.
More Detailed Rundown
1. When a player engages an enemy, they describe how and place stones to determine the amount of effort they put into it. Stones can also be shifted into defense as normal to decrease possible harm.]
2. The GM then picks a fitting Action/Ability/Modifier that would fit as a way to resist the players action. The GM also applies any situational modifiers as usual from the description, environment, specialities or other factors. The Resistance could be higher for specific things the character is trying.
3. If the action the PC is performing is an attack; the action that will be used to Resist will usually be another combat action. In which case, the character is exposed to a Counter attack. This attack doesn’t have to be the same action that the PC is using. As long as it would be narratively fitting, any attack action could be viable. But the strength of it will be equal to the NPC’s total AN plus any situational modifiers.
The Counter attack also doesn’t have to be to harm. It can be of a more narrative nature or might as well be to try to inflict a condition on the PC.
The GM spends no stones into this action, and the effect will be equal to the AN the NPC has (NPCs don’t use ability bonus with this mechanic).
4. The effects and attacks are resolved and damage is dealt as normal: defense subtracting from stones of damage.
5. Being downed and with an enemy to deal with, it is very obvious that the robot would try and deal with this threat. Since this isn’t a surprise or other golden opportunity, the GM is honest and makes it clear what is about to happen.
Lowering the D&R
The D&R to affect an NPC (an attack or otherwise), can be lowered through two methods:
Considerations
I know this won’t work with the actions as they currently are. But I figured I wanted to make a strong base first, and then go over which actions would need changes later.
So I have been playing a lot of pbta (Powered by the Apocalypse) games lately which has very little "hard mechanics" on the GM's side of the table which I really enjoy. It allows me to focus on telling the story instead of tons of mechanics, book keeping and what not.
But I found my old MURPG folder and looked back at my days spend on this forum and got thinking:
"I want to play this again.. But there is just so much bookkeeping when it comes to NPC's and fights for the GM."
So I am hoping for some feedback to see if I am totally bonkers for this, or if it might actually work. The below is just a small example. Didn't want to go overboard with to much text, which might already be to late:
Mission/Vision
- Lessen the workload for the GM
- Make combat flow better
- Bring combat more in line with the rest of the system
- Have more focus on the fiction and descriptions
Quick Rundown
Engagement: The player does what they normally do in MURPG; describe the character’s action, spend stones into the actions and shift stones into defense.
D&R: The difficulty and resistance is equal to a fitting Action/Ability/Modifier the opponent has.
Counter: When attacking, the character will be exposed to a counter attack (GM don’t spend stones or shift stones to defense).
NPC Actions: When an NPC wants to do something against a PC, the GM should give a heads up to allow the player to react. The exception to this is if there is a golden opportunity.
This will hopefully make fights less management heavy for the GM, faster to get through and more dynamic.
More Detailed Rundown
1. When a player engages an enemy, they describe how and place stones to determine the amount of effort they put into it. Stones can also be shifted into defense as normal to decrease possible harm.]
GM: Wolverine is facing off against a human-sized, flying robot wreaking havoc in the streets of good ol New York. It is hovering in the middle of the street some yards above the road, firing its arm cannon at whatever it designates as a target.
Player: Hmm. Wolverine will leap up along some nearby debris to get some elevation and jump on to the robot. Also, he wants to disable its flight capabilities.
GM: This would surely be Acrobatics and I would say Close Combat.
Player: Okay. Wolverine has a pool of 20. He places 4 stones into Acrobatics to reach the robot and 6 stones into Close Combat. He also has his +3 claws (total 9 stones). He will shift 2 stones from Close Combat into Defense.
Player: Hmm. Wolverine will leap up along some nearby debris to get some elevation and jump on to the robot. Also, he wants to disable its flight capabilities.
GM: This would surely be Acrobatics and I would say Close Combat.
Player: Okay. Wolverine has a pool of 20. He places 4 stones into Acrobatics to reach the robot and 6 stones into Close Combat. He also has his +3 claws (total 9 stones). He will shift 2 stones from Close Combat into Defense.
2. The GM then picks a fitting Action/Ability/Modifier that would fit as a way to resist the players action. The GM also applies any situational modifiers as usual from the description, environment, specialities or other factors. The Resistance could be higher for specific things the character is trying.
GM: [The GM decides that the Acrobatics would be against the robots Flight action (AN 3) and to disable it, he would have to overcome its Close Combat action (AN 5). For situational modifiers, Wolverine is trying to do something specific, so the GM adds +2 to the difficulty. Wolverine still has 8 stones in Close Combat, so he achieves his goal of disabling the thrusters].
The Counter attack also doesn’t have to be to harm. It can be of a more narrative nature or might as well be to try to inflict a condition on the PC.
The GM spends no stones into this action, and the effect will be equal to the AN the NPC has (NPCs don’t use ability bonus with this mechanic).
GM: [The robot is clearly on the offensive and Wolverine doesn’t try to be sneaky about what he is doing. So the GM chooses the robot’s Range Combat (5 and x2 damage) as its Counter Action. This will inflict 6 stones of damage (2 x (2 - 5) = 6)].
4. The effects and attacks are resolved and damage is dealt as normal: defense subtracting from stones of damage.
GM: Wolverine jumps and leaps over the debris toward the robot. But as he comes into view of the menacing machine, it turns to him and starts blasting away at this obvious threat advancing on it. A couple of the blasts hit Wolverine, but he presses on, leaping at the robot with an angry growl.
He slams into the machine and it starts to try and get him off. But Wolverine quickly brings out the claws and embeds them in one of the thrusters of the robot, sending them both pivoting out of control, eventually slamming into the road.
The page ends, so recover your energy.
Player: [Wolverine has a recovery of 4 and now has 14 stones in his pool].
He slams into the machine and it starts to try and get him off. But Wolverine quickly brings out the claws and embeds them in one of the thrusters of the robot, sending them both pivoting out of control, eventually slamming into the road.
The page ends, so recover your energy.
Player: [Wolverine has a recovery of 4 and now has 14 stones in his pool].
GM: The robot stiffly stands up, trying out its damaged thrusters but to little effect. So instead, its red eye focuses on wolverine and moves in to attack, swinging its metallic fists.
Player: Now I am sure that it can’t get away, Wolverine will start dicing it up. It might also be an idea to try to evade some of its attacks since that blast hurt pretty bad. So I put 6 stones into Close Combat for a total of 9 again (6 + 3 = 9) and shifts 2 to Defense.
GM: [This is clearly a simple scuffle between combatants, so both the Resist Action and the Counter Action will be Close Combat (AN 5)]. You both start to swing at each other, the robot clearly being programmed to deal with these kinds of fights, getting a couple hits in. But it isn’t something you haven’t tried before.
[Wolverine overcomes the robots' Close Combat by 2 and therefore inflicts 2 points of harm (1w health is lost as normal).]
Player: Now I am sure that it can’t get away, Wolverine will start dicing it up. It might also be an idea to try to evade some of its attacks since that blast hurt pretty bad. So I put 6 stones into Close Combat for a total of 9 again (6 + 3 = 9) and shifts 2 to Defense.
GM: [This is clearly a simple scuffle between combatants, so both the Resist Action and the Counter Action will be Close Combat (AN 5)]. You both start to swing at each other, the robot clearly being programmed to deal with these kinds of fights, getting a couple hits in. But it isn’t something you haven’t tried before.
[Wolverine overcomes the robots' Close Combat by 2 and therefore inflicts 2 points of harm (1w health is lost as normal).]
The D&R to affect an NPC (an attack or otherwise), can be lowered through two methods:
- For every character attacking the enemy, the D&R is lowered by one. This is done even if they fail to hit the NPC. This effect will “reset” at the end of the page.
- By inflicting specific conditions that through the narrative, could affect the action. Like harassing them to tire them out, webbing up their hands.
Considerations
I know this won’t work with the actions as they currently are. But I figured I wanted to make a strong base first, and then go over which actions would need changes later.
