The Obliging Wench Tavern - OOC Chat

[IsabellaRose]

1 hour ago, Ceberskie said:

I like the idea of specializations as a part of the skill pyramid that Rob mentioned as a way to allocate specialties. You can do anything with a d4 roll and you're allotted a certain amount of d6,8,10,12 in a pyramid as derived from your vocation. Distinctions can be something you get in character creation to provide additional skills and customization seperate from vocations as well as certain vocations having access to special distinctions. 

 

One of the things they updated with Cortex Prime is that a base skill is a d6. d4 is used to Hinder a skill, because there's a 25% chance to roll a 1 which is a Hitch, and can cause "bad things" depending on which trait sets and rules are in use. Like some systems let you use a skill untrained, I let anyone try a skill at d4. If you're skilled in an area, d6. Then you specialize. As far as "bad things" happening, I like to use the Doom Pool. It really amps up the pressure and challenge by the end of a session.

Doom Pool

The doom pool is a mod that serves as a combination of ambient threat level, GM resource, and pacing mechanic. The doom pool is sometimes called the trouble pool, the danger pool, or some other thematic title.

When the GM has a doom pool:

• They do not have a bank of PP.
• Players earn and spend their PP directly into and out of a central pile.
• The GM spends dice out of the doom pool instead of using their own PP.

At the beginning of each session, the GM starts with a doom pool of at least 2d6. If the session is of global or cosmic scale, the pool may start with 3 or 4 dice. If the session is a major breakpoint in a campaign, the size of these starting dice might be d8 or even d10.

The doom pool replaces difficulty dice for all tests. To set the difficulty, the GM picks up some or all the dice in the doom pool and rolls them, taking two of the dice results and adding them together, as normal. The GM can spend a die not used in the total and add its result to the total; this spent die is removed from the doom pool. The remaining dice, including the two that were added together for the total, remain in the doom pool.

The GM may spend a die from the doom pool to add it to a GMC’s dice pool during a contest, before the dice pool is rolled. This die is removed from the doom pool and doesn’t go back in once the GMC’s roll is resolved.

Doom dice may also be spent like PP, where a d6 from the doom pool is equivalent to a single PP. This usually happens when activating a GMC SFX or avoiding being taken out of a fight. If the doom pool only has larger dice in it, the next highest die must be spent in place of the d6.

The doom pool increases when the GM activates hitches rolled by players. Instead of adding a complication to the table, the GM adds a die of the same size as the one that rolled the hitch to their doom pool. Alternately, the GM can use a smaller die to step up an equal or larger existing die in the doom pool by one step.

The doom pool can be used for additional scene effects, depending on the game. Some of the most common uses are:

• Create a complication, asset, or scene distinction: spend a die from the doom pool and create a Complication or Asset attached to the scene equal in size to the die spent. Or, spend at least a d8 and add a distinction to the scene that may be used by players and GMCs alike.
• Interrupt the action order: Spend a die from the doom pool equal to or greater in size than the largest combat or senses-related trait of the PC whose turn is up next. One of the GM’s own GMCs gets to go instead, and the GM then picks who goes afterward (not necessarily the player who was interrupted).
• Add a new extra: Spend a die from the doom pool and create an extra with a single trait rated at the size of the doom die spent.
• Introduce a minor or major GMC: If a GMC who isn’t present in the scene could conceivably show up, spend a die from the doom pool equal to that GMC’s highest rated trait and drop them into the scene, ready to act when the action order gets to them (which could be right away, if the GM is the one deciding who goes next).
• Split the group: spend a d10 or a d12 from the doom pool and some environmental or narrative event takes place that divides the group into two (minimum one PC in each new group). The PCs have to spend time reuniting their group, which may lead to more problems.
• End the scene immediately: spend 2d12 from the doom pool and cut the scene off right there before it’s resolved, with the GM deciding how it ends. Usually, the scenes should play out until there’s a reasonable ending point, but this way the GM can just smash cut to a new scene with plot threads dangling. Or stage an auto-win by the villains.

[Rob4ix]

The jokes is... Cortex isnt an out-of-the box system... Its basically an SRD, from which you make your own system, it is very modular and and mofularity = harder to get started with, so i watched a simple explanation of how system works.

Anyway, so i think the attributes + traits + aspects is really as narrative as it gets, bcuz all you need to know is to how certain part of a character can get tied to an action you wanna do and then you just pick a handful of dice and do the regular roll, because with skill pyramid it can get confusing because i didnt know how to use it at first, so i like issabellarose's idea of fate aspects sort of thing for characters, because it allows you to formulate the essence of the character, and traits are like the mechanical spices to the character, and attributes is... Well its a must have for s ttrpg i suppose.

[Ceberskie]

50 minutes ago, IsabellaRose said:

One of the things they updated with Cortex Prime is that a base skill is a d6. d4 is used to Hinder a skill, because there's a 25% chance to roll a 1 which is a Hitch, and can cause "bad things" depending on which trait sets and rules are in use. Like some systems let you use a skill untrained, I let anyone try a skill at d4. If you're skilled in an area, d6. Then you specialize. As far as "bad things" happening, I like to use the Doom Pool. It really amps up the pressure and challenge by the end of a session.

Doom Pool

The doom pool is a mod that serves as a combination of ambient threat level, GM resource, and pacing mechanic. The doom pool is sometimes called the trouble pool, the danger pool, or some other thematic title.

When the GM has a doom pool:

• They do not have a bank of PP.
• Players earn and spend their PP directly into and out of a central pile.
• The GM spends dice out of the doom pool instead of using their own PP.

At the beginning of each session, the GM starts with a doom pool of at least 2d6. If the session is of global or cosmic scale, the pool may start with 3 or 4 dice. If the session is a major breakpoint in a campaign, the size of these starting dice might be d8 or even d10.

The doom pool replaces difficulty dice for all tests. To set the difficulty, the GM picks up some or all the dice in the doom pool and rolls them, taking two of the dice results and adding them together, as normal. The GM can spend a die not used in the total and add its result to the total; this spent die is removed from the doom pool. The remaining dice, including the two that were added together for the total, remain in the doom pool.

The GM may spend a die from the doom pool to add it to a GMC’s dice pool during a contest, before the dice pool is rolled. This die is removed from the doom pool and doesn’t go back in once the GMC’s roll is resolved.

Doom dice may also be spent like PP, where a d6 from the doom pool is equivalent to a single PP. This usually happens when activating a GMC SFX or avoiding being taken out of a fight. If the doom pool only has larger dice in it, the next highest die must be spent in place of the d6.

The doom pool increases when the GM activates hitches rolled by players. Instead of adding a complication to the table, the GM adds a die of the same size as the one that rolled the hitch to their doom pool. Alternately, the GM can use a smaller die to step up an equal or larger existing die in the doom pool by one step.

The doom pool can be used for additional scene effects, depending on the game. Some of the most common uses are:

• Create a complication, asset, or scene distinction: spend a die from the doom pool and create a Complication or Asset attached to the scene equal in size to the die spent. Or, spend at least a d8 and add a distinction to the scene that may be used by players and GMCs alike.
• Interrupt the action order: Spend a die from the doom pool equal to or greater in size than the largest combat or senses-related trait of the PC whose turn is up next. One of the GM’s own GMCs gets to go instead, and the GM then picks who goes afterward (not necessarily the player who was interrupted).
• Add a new extra: Spend a die from the doom pool and create an extra with a single trait rated at the size of the doom die spent.
• Introduce a minor or major GMC: If a GMC who isn’t present in the scene could conceivably show up, spend a die from the doom pool equal to that GMC’s highest rated trait and drop them into the scene, ready to act when the action order gets to them (which could be right away, if the GM is the one deciding who goes next).
• Split the group: spend a d10 or a d12 from the doom pool and some environmental or narrative event takes place that divides the group into two (minimum one PC in each new group). The PCs have to spend time reuniting their group, which may lead to more problems.
• End the scene immediately: spend 2d12 from the doom pool and cut the scene off right there before it’s resolved, with the GM deciding how it ends. Usually, the scenes should play out until there’s a reasonable ending point, but this way the GM can just smash cut to a new scene with plot threads dangling. Or stage an auto-win by the villains.

I saw that and definitely wanted to keep that one in the toolbox for when we got to more intense encounters and locations.

And that's certainly doable I'll keep fleshing out the traits list and we'll see if it can make builds as I intend it to. Thanks again for the input.

[IsabellaRose]

1 hour ago, Rob4ix said:

The jokes is... Cortex isnt an out-of-the box system... Its basically an SRD, from which you make your own system, it is very modular and and mofularity = harder to get started with, so i watched a simple explanation of how system works.

Anyway, so i think the attributes + traits + aspects is really as narrative as it gets, bcuz all you need to know is to how certain part of a character can get tied to an action you wanna do and then you just pick a handful of dice and do the regular roll, because with skill pyramid it can get confusing because i didnt know how to use it at first, so i like issabellarose's idea of fate aspects sort of thing for characters, because it allows you to formulate the essence of the character, and traits are like the mechanical spices to the character, and attributes is... Well its a must have for s ttrpg i suppose.

Yeah, it's absolutely just a toolbox. I know what I like from the system depending on the feel I'm going for. I prefer the dramatic games lately, but the action traits are fun, too. What helped me figure it out was reading a few of the older games, seeing how the various trait sets were implemented, and then reading the Cortex Hacker's Guide which really explained a lot. I use it for pretty much every game now because the basics are easy and I have my go-to builds for certain game flavors.

I tend to use open-ended traits a lot - using Distinctions like Fate Aspects. It's gives players the freedom to do whatever they want with their character, then sort of shoehorns them into interacting with the world using Attributes and Skills. 

But Attributes aren't a must-have. Smallville uses Values, Relationships and Distinctions with no attributes at all. I don't have a strength score, instead I role based on my relationships to others, my personal values, and the distinctions relevant to the task I'm performing. In an action implementation I might use Roles with Specialized Skills, Values, and Distinctions - you don't need Attributes, it's just what most of us are used to from starting with D&D. I actually find the dramatic version so much more fun to play than a generic class/level system. It gets me much more in touch with the core of my character instead of just their stats and numbers. 

 

[Rob4ix]

So what yall like most in ttrpgs?

I personally like combat and other mechanics-heavy sides parts of ttrpgs, like fate's stunts or Basically entirety of index card rpg, because its slightly more like playing a board game than just making up a story and roll dice

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

I'm more story focused, the mechanical additions just make things interesting and helps keep things a bit less predictable.

[Ceberskie]

So...I am conflicted, I'm trying to find a way to incorporate values as a way to inform how a character interacts with the broader setting and the NPCs in it. But I want to associate them as something you get either from certain distinctions, or from traits. Or maybe both? Thoughts?

[AsBloodTurnsEverCold]

I'm no expert at all and I'm still not 100% sure I get it but the reading I've been doing
it could be a certain number being related to your distinctions as chosen by the player but the others are more common to the game as it relates to the setting so its mostly shared but allows a little more distinct flavor?

Edited August 13 by AsBloodTurnsEverCold

[Ceberskie]

I like the idea of having specific distinctions that are very broad and allow for a very custom experience but also more archetypical that may include mechanics in order to create challenges.  For instance a werewolf might have something like this.

(you can change into a were creature of your choice. If you roll a 1 on any ome die while in beast form you may reroll it once if there is still a one in the pool after that you must either do nothing or let the beast take your action for you. If the beast wins 3 times in a row become a warg.)

(Wargs make all rolls with a beast die. 3 consecutive successes raise the beast dies value and every 3 lowers it (only applies to physical checks) Can take 3 die for all physical skill pools however The beast die must always be included as one of the chosen dice. If you roll a 1 on the beast die the beast takes over. If you succeed on 3 mental checks in a row revert to a werefolk…There is no escaping the beast within.)

Edited August 13 by Ceberskie

[Ceberskie]

Or another example of a more mechanical distinction.

Wealthy Socialite: This character embodies wealth and privilege as a member of their cities Elite. (Can only take 4 total skills up to d8 with one d12 skill, however gets access to the social skill pyramid.)

Social skills are area specific and allow a character to interact and overcome challenges through social and political connections, investments, bribery, friendship, seduction, and just good old fashion white collar skullduggery. 

[Rob4ix]

I think distinctions should be more of a thing that player and GM agree upon, and making distinctions be tied to character's values seems slightly forcing players to think about alignement, plus noe this is a thing that might be confusing for a new player, my idea is just stats (attributes) + key feats (Distinctions) + knick knacks (traits) and these are really simple at its core, but allows players to make both characters that are barrative focused and gameplay focused, so i think values being destinctions and etc should be a choice of a player, in case player doesnt want to tie the character's abilities with what it believes, because it complicates things and soft-limits character creation

[Ceberskie]

Well that would certainly make it easier for me haha. What would you suggest be available in character creation using traits distinctions and skills?

[Rob4ix]

K, So distinctions as aspects in fate, where you describe a key detail about your character, like a dancer being a ex-slave and also a goblin. And aspects could have some some small gameplay benefit, like dancer being able to dodge any sort of attack as @IsabellaRose described some posts ago

Second, traits, as traits i think of something like "Flexible - +d8 to actions related to dodging and movement" aka simple additions to actions with specific conditions.

Attributes - Have Body, Brains, Social, Skill. Body is physical aspect, Brains is mental aspect, Social is... Social aspect, and skill is trained aspect, like dodging, wisdom, or precision.

Skills... Idk, up to you, but maybe keep it a certain list, just so its easier to determine what sort of action the thing player describes is

 

Edited August 13 by Rob4ix

[Rob4ix]

On 08/08/2024 at 17:34, IsabellaRose said:

With Cortex, you always include Distinctions + 2 other trait sets so you will always have 2, often 3 dice to include in a roll.

Distinctions are like Aspects in Fate. I ran a pretty free-form Cortex fantasy game where I just worked with each player on their character concept and their Distinctions ended up being one that sort of stood in for their class, one that worked as their background training, and one that was their cultural upbringing. When they wanted to specialize in something related to their Distinction, we added an SFX to the Distinction.

Example:

Tirananniel the Mystic Elven Archer

• d8 Distinction: Elf of the Lóthimladien Forest
  • Hinder: Gain a PP when you switch out this Distinction's d8 for a d4.
  • Spend a PP to reroll a die when you are one with the forest/nature.
• d8 Distinction: Apprentice of Curinir the Wizard
  • Hinder: Gain a PP when you switch out this Distinction's d8 for a d4.
  • Add a d6 to Trouble to step up your Magic die in a contest.
• d8 Distinction: Elven Archer of the Meithistanómë School
  • Hinder: Gain a PP when you switch out this Distinction's d8 for a d4.
  • Spend a PP to step up your Effect die when you use precision aiming skills with your bow.

So when Tirananniel faced a challenge, you could almost always find a way to include one of her Distinctions. Sometimes one of your Distinctions is a hindrance to your cause (example - in a town that dislikes elves, you would have a hard time if you were an "Elf of the Lóthimladien Forest". In that case you'd use the Hinder move, which would increase your chances of rolling a Hitch (a 1 which the GM can use to trigger something bad) but also earn you a Plot Point. 

Interpret the use your distinctions liberally - if you face a test where you're dealing with the King and you need to use the proper etiquette, you could use your "Elf of the Lóthimladien Forest" distinction assuming the elves are gracious and have their own rules of etiquette, or your "Apprentice of Curinir the Wizard" distinction assuming that you learned proper etiquette while serving the wizard.

 

So in your Barbarian example above, one of the Distinctions would be something like Barbarian of the Rock Clan which they'd include along with their Strength and possibly a relevant Skill or Role, depending on what trait sets are in use.

 

Basically, when building your Cortex build, you just need to make sure that at least 2 of the trait sets can be used in every roll. I generally build so you can usually select 3 traits.

This post if youre curious

[Ceberskie]

Totally missed that post ty! I can get behind this though I do want to impose certain limitations on certain kinds of characters I definitely like the idea of building the distinctions to suit the characters people want to make as opposed to just making a fuck all big list (which is what I was trying to do.) 

[Rob4ix]

16 hours ago, Ceberskie said:

Totally missed that post ty! I can get behind this though I do want to impose certain limitations on certain kinds of characters I definitely like the idea of building the distinctions to suit the characters people want to make as opposed to just making a fuck all big list (which is what I was trying to do.) 

I mean you can always just tell players to make one negative "aspect" of the character, i actually had and idea, that aspects could work similarly to traits, where you have points to spend to make aspects of certain strength, like either spending all points in 5 d6 aspects or just 2 d12 aspects, and maybe spend 1 point to make a new SFX under the aspect, like dancer character making enemies skip a turn by spending plot point by performing a social check, also what you think of doing 4 attributes instead of 3?

 

 

[Ceberskie]

4 hours ago, Rob4ix said:

I mean you can always just tell players to make one negative "aspect" of the character, i actually had and idea, that aspects could work similarly to traits, where you have points to spend to make aspects of certain strength, like either spending all points in 5 d6 aspects or just 2 d12 aspects, and maybe spend 1 point to make a new SFX under the aspect, like dancer character making enemies skip a turn by spending plot point by performing a social check, also what you think of doing 4 attributes instead of 3?

 

 

I had be experimenting with a trait buy system where you start with 6 points and you can buy traits but you can also take negative Traits that'll give you points back up to a maximum of 6 traits. But balancing that was gonna be nightmarish. 

I'll bite. What 4 attributes did you have in mind?

[Rob4ix]

8 minutes ago, Ceberskie said:

I had be experimenting with a trait buy system where you start with 6 points and you can buy traits but you can also take negative Traits that'll give you points back up to a maximum of 6 traits. But balancing that was gonna be nightmarish. 

I'll bite. What 4 attributes did you have in mind?

Body, Brains, Social, Skill

Basically just split physical into being strong and tanky, and being dexterous and wise, so rogues and fighters wouldnt really be taking same attribute, because rogues are usually known to be squishy. Tho i think some adjustments on what each attribute means would be probably nice.

Body - Physical strength, Constitution, How long you can last in bed

Brains - Academics, Knowledge, Knowing all the spots youre partner might enjoy being touched.

Social - Lying, Charming, Seducing, Making partner fall over heels for you.

Skill - Wisdom, Dexterity, Knowing the safest way to get past a succubus that will drain you to death.

[Ceberskie]

I dig it I had thought something similar though I have 2 concerns. 

1. What is the practical sexual distinction between mental and dex attributes. 

2. Is wisdom a dex thing or a mental thing? I personally think it's mental thing despite the distinction between book/street smarts. A rogue can still lack social cunning even if they have physical finesse. 

[Rob4ix]

1. Is that skill is meant as traning, practice and finesse, so dex is more about what you know, like how well you can finger someone, or how good you make someone feel from your touch. Brains Is more about knowing what certain species has that makes them feel good, or at least how easy and well you can understand things, by observing something you observed simething similar of before, basically investigation, book smarts, and theory

2. Id rather say half one half second, perception, insight and either survival or medicine be skill, animal handling - social, the medicine or survival - mind

[Ceberskie]

Eh that creates uncertainty as to what something is but I'm willing to give it a gander it allows dex and str characters to distinguish themselves which I like.

[Rob4ix]

Yeah, i made up what comes where on the spot, so it might be uncertain, but i guess you got the idea... So for now i guess we have 4 attributes, FATE core's aspects-at-home, and traits that are just spice for characters.

[Ceberskie]

Yep, just gotta get that on paper and in a usable format

 

[Rob4ix]

Brilliant, and i already have a character i would like to play, a kitsune (antrho fox) dancer (think of bard but as martial class and some cool stuff from rogue and monk) thats also a scholar.

[Ceberskie]

Next big question. The format I have in mind is to eventually build out a " adventurers guild" of sorts with a city that acts as a social hub for everyone and the core of the story. This guild will take jobs and send out teams on adventures that'll take a few weeks or more to do. That way people can come and go as they please irl without taking away a huge part of the story with no real ic reason. We can just say they're chilling at the guild house. 

Now that's challenging to do on ecchidreams. So the question is would people be willing to RP on discord?