Messages

61

Reality Zero / [E]Richmond Comix 24 Hours of Gaming Event

« on: December 16, 2010, 09:17:07 PM »

On New Years Eve to New Years Day, Richmond Comix is hosting a 24-hour game-a-thon. At this event, I will be running a Gamma World "Delve" from 7-11. This is not in lieu of our normal Saturday games (which are still off until my wife is able to drive again).

I hope you come to the game. We'll be starting with fresh characters and running a "straight from the book" game (no reality Zero House Rules).

The game will use both the core rules and Famine In Far-Go which means we'll have 41 origins instead of 20!

We'll be using the Heroscape terrain again and go through a few encounters for 1^st level characters.

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Reality Zero / [D]House Rule (Repealed): Overcharge Bonuses

« on: December 08, 2010, 09:53:42 PM »

You will now gain the full overcharge bonus from both of your origins. Yes, that means that if you're an Empathic, Engineered Human, you have +2 Bio, +2 Dark, and +4 Psi!

This is to help encourage overcharging your mutations.

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Reality Zero / [E]Unable to Run Gamma World for the Next Few Weeks

« on: December 02, 2010, 09:12:26 PM »

I will be unable to run Gamma World for the next few weeks due to a surprise appearance of my son Michael who was born 2 weeks earlier than expected.

Since I need to concentrate my energies toward supporting my wife since she cannot drive or lift things for the next few weeks, I am unable to get out and game at all until she's able to do things on her own.

Look at the bright side, I can put together a good adventure and do more planning so that when we get together again (hopefully in about 3 weeks) it'll be a fun game!

This also means no Encounters or Friday night boardgames either...which sucks. But hopefully that'll change after the next few weeks as well.

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Reality Zero / [D]Pure Strain Humans

« on: November 29, 2010, 08:31:50 AM »

I've been thinking a lot about Pure Strain Humans and why my version just doesn't seem to scream "KILL ALL THE MUTIES!" so I've been doing research into other modern and sci-fi d20 RPGs.

The main problem with the PSH is his lack of Alpha Mutations. If you strip those away from a character, you do not have something that is as versatile as a mutant. How did the PSH survive?

I say they survived through tenacity, genetic engineering, training, and skill. Genetic engineering does not equate to mutations as other characters have come to know them but rather messing with DNA in the womb to breed a faster, stronger, smarter, tougher, and more charismatic human. It's the age-old attempt to breed the perfect human being. In many realities they succeeded.

Those descriptive terms (faster, smarter, stronger, etc) reminded me of d20 Modern and it's line of books. As a matter of fact, I've been tapping d20 Apocalypse for ideas and weapon analogues. So I thought to myself, how could this work?

The premise is that you'll be able to choose a basic hero type (based on ability such as Strength) and then an advanced class (Solider, Gunslinger, Road Warrior, etc). These constitute the PSH's primary and secondary origins. The game is heavily feat-based (like D&D) gives powers and class features, skills, etc. but the biggest hurdle is converting it all to 4th edition D&D mechanics. I'll be using some 3rd Party 4th edition stuff (Amethyst...when I can get a hold of it) that provides a modern or future game mechanic to help make the transition. I'll also be using D&D 4e for inspiration on how to convert d20 Modern stuff (for instance, Power Attack and Cleave are feats in d20 Modern but powers in 4e).

I think that the PSH will be something to watch out for, they may not have mutations and powers, but they've been able to survive based on their training and skills.

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Reality Zero / [E]Nov 27 Session Cancelled

« on: November 27, 2010, 05:07:32 PM »

I am not feeling well at all and cannot make it to run the session today. It also seems that two of the group cannot make it either. We will instead shoot for December 4, 2010.

The encounter for the next session is planned! I hope everyone will enjoy it!

Until next time...

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Reality Zero / [D]House Rule: Auras

« on: November 21, 2010, 11:41:17 PM »

Since we have a Pyrotechnic in the group now, we have to deal with auras.

The text does not state whether or not a PC's aura can be turned off or if it's always on. The text gives the impression that all PC auras are on all the time.

I am going to rule that a PC's aura can be turned on or off with a minor action. Your aura is off unless you activate it by stating you are doing so. Once your aura is on, it affects all targets it's supposed to, in the Pyrotechnic's case, this is all creatures which means Enemies, NPCs, Allies, and other PCs.

Keep this in mind (I will try to do so as well) because it would not be good if you were burning your comrade to death while you were trying to stabilize him...

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Reality Zero / [E]The Arena: Day of the Terrain Flux

« on: November 21, 2010, 01:02:07 AM »

Today our intrepid heroes were confronted with a new form of problem that plagues Gamma Terra: Terrain Flux! Not only do living beings undergo Alpha Flux, but in certain places, the terrain itself also undergoes a type of Alpha Flux. With the collision of realities which brought about Reality Zero, every Earth in every possible alternate reality co-existed at the same time in the same place. This has caused certain parts of the planet to shift from one reality to the next or even an amalgamation of many, many realities at once. This was the arena today...(this is was an awesome way to bring Heroscape terrain into the game, it made it MUCH more fun!)

Our heroes learned the hard way that high ground is good, low ground is bad. The enemy: A Yexil Mauler, a Black Blaash, and 3 Green Darter Arns. We had an untimely death during this arena battle, Daniel has passed on. There was a moment of silence and then Dwight rolled up a Felinoid/Pyrokinetic which was followed by much butt-stomping. Chip went down a few times but was saved by Will and then later stabilized by Shirka.

Two Omega Tech items were found on the battlefield, one used and then lost (a hoverboard); the other has not been revealed.
[REWARD]Each character receives 194 XPs. Tommy and Jeff get 8 Renown. Will gets 10 Renown. Dwight gets 6 Renown (didn't complete the session w/o dying).[/REWARD]

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Reality Zero / [E]The Next Session Is Postponed a Day

« on: November 17, 2010, 10:30:14 PM »

Due to various scheduling conflicts, Gamma World will run Saturday, November 20th @ 6PM.

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Reality Zero / [D]House Rule: Pure Strain Human (Update)

« on: November 13, 2010, 12:36:04 AM »

Due to the change in ammo rules, I have updated the Pure Strain Human origin.

PURE STRAIN HUMAN TRAITS
Mutant Type: Choose any one Ability; No power source; No overcharge bonus; +2 to Omega Charge checks.
Skill Bonus: Gain a +4 bonus to any two different skills.
Tough Survivor: Gain a +1 bonus to either Reflex or Fortitude saves and gain a +2 bonus to Will saves.
Privledged Society: You start the game with an Omega Tech card readied.
Flexible (Level 3 or 7): When you choose a Utility power, you may choose either "You Don't Want to Know" or "One in the Chamber". Instead of choosing your Enhanced Human Utility power, you may instead choose the remaining Pure Strain Human Utility power.
Pure Strain Human Critical (Level 2 or 6): When you score a critical hit, the attack deals 1d10 extra damage, you are able to use one of your Omega Tech cards a second time, and you do not have to make an Omega Charge check at the end of the encounter.

PURE STRAIN HUMAN POWERS

[ATWILL]   SLIPPERY SURVIVOR, PURE STRAIN HUMAN NOVICE[/ATWILL][FLAVOR]   You move around the battlefield, making it difficult for enemies to land an attack.[/FLAVOR]   At-Will [BULL] Physical, Weapon
   Standard Action, Melee or Ranged weapon
   Target: One creature
   Attack: Dexterity + Your level + weapon accuracy vs. Reflex
[FLAVOR]   Hit: 1[W] + weapon accuracy physical damage, and you may shift your Wisdom modifier as a free action.[/FLAVOR]


[ENCOUNTER]   YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW, PURE STRAIN HUMAN UTILITY[/ENCOUNTER][FLAVOR]   Where were you hiding that?[/FLAVOR]   Encounter [BULL] Weapon
   Minor Action, Personal
[FLAVOR]   Effect: You draw a one-handed weapon of your choice that is not Omega Tech. If it is a gun, you have ammunition for it. You need not own the weapon in order to draw and use it.[/FLAVOR]


[ENCOUNTER]   ONE IN THE CHAMBER, PURE STRAIN HUMAN UTILITY[/ENCOUNTER][FLAVOR]   C'mon baby, just one more little charge, please, you can do it...[/FLAVOR]   Encounter
   Move Action, Personal
[FLAVOR]   Effect: A piece of salvaged Omega Tech in your possession becomes functionally Charged again.  At the end of the encounter it's gone - no Omega Charge check, no salvage.[/FLAVOR]


[DAILY]   YOU MANIACS!, PURE STRAIN HUMAN EXPERT[/DAILY][FLAVOR]   Your disbelief of the actions of your ancestors and subsequent shout takes your enemies by surprise![/FLAVOR]   Encounter [BULL] Physical, Weapon: Gun
   Standard Action, Close Blast 5
   Target: Each enemy in blast
   Attack: Dexterity + Your level + weapon accuracy vs. Reflex
[FLAVOR]   Hit: 3[W] + weapon accuracy physical damage, and the target is dazed until the end of your next turn.
   Miss: 1/2 damage and the target is not dazed.[/FLAVOR]

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Reality Zero / [D]House Rule: Player Rewards - Renown Points

« on: November 13, 2010, 12:05:46 AM »

Starting with the next session, players will earn Renown Points. Now, these points are only good for my campaigns that I run and right now, that's just Reality Zero. I stole this from another blog but figured this was a good thing to have.

Each session, based on what you do during the game, you will earn a certain number of Renown Points. You can then use the points you've earned to purchase boons. Boons will be represented by poker chips, each one costs a certain amount.

The previous rules have been superseded. Look to the menu on the right for Player Renown Rewards.

[BULL]   Black chips cost 15 points and if you have one, you may turn it in for a +2 bonus on any d20 roll or a +5 bonus on damage.

[BULL]   Green chips cost 20 points and if you have one, you may turn it in to re-roll any single die.

[BULL]   Blue chips cost 25 points and if you have one, you may turn it in to use an Encounter power an additional time.

[BULL]   Red chips cost 30 points and if you have one, you may turn it in to use your Second Wind as a free action.

[BULL]   White chips cost 35 points and if you have one, you may turn it in to automatically make an Omega Charge Check, an Overcharge Check, or stabilize your character if he/she/it is dying.

How do you gain Renown? By accomplishing quests, helping each other, role-playing, etc. I will keep track of your Renown and tell you how much you've earned. This will now be reported along with XP, however, the Renown given out will be different from player to player.

[REWARD]     For the first session, each of you receive 3 Renown Points.[/REWARD]

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Reality Zero / [E]The Next Session Is Planned!

« on: November 12, 2010, 11:00:11 AM »

I have finished planning the encounter for the next session!

In case I hadn't mentioned it yet, the goal is to set it up so that everyone will get to level 3 so we can get used to the Gamma World rules and the house rules for the campaign. We'll see where we go from there, I hope you enjoy the ride!

I have also been building up my collection of miniatures so that we have plenty of heroes, villains, and monsters to work with.

I've been tapped to run an Encounters table on Wednesdays. With any luck, this will help me improve my DMing experience so that I can make the games more fun for everyone.

Also, a new house rule will be coming into play. Don't worry, it's not a change to the Gamma World rules, but something a bit more fun. See it in the next post after I've finished fleshing it out.

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Reality Zero / [D]House Rule Update: Ammo

« on: November 11, 2010, 12:55:40 PM »

Gamma World's current ammo rules states that you either have ammo or you don't. If you have a gun, you have ammo. If you fire your gun once per encounter, you're conserving ammo and at the end of the encounter, you still have it. If you fire your gun more than once per encounter, you are not conserving ammo and will not have it at the end of the encounter. Additionally, ammo is an abstract, generic concept. If you have any sort of ammo, you can fire any gun.

While this rule vastly simplifies the game, it tends to make mundane gunfire a bit less fun. While you can fire your gun wildly during an encounter, you may as well keep firing it every time it's your turn. Not many people will be content with just firing the gun once then putting it away for the next fight.

I also believe that finding a laser pistol, a shotgun, a Colt .45, or an M-16 something that can happen in the game, I don't like the idea that there's one generic ammo pool that covers them all.

I am therefore going to propose the following house rule dealing with gun fire and ammo. The idea is stolen from another blog.

You may fire your gun as many times as you want during an encounter. However, if you roll a natural 1 on your attack roll with a gun you have 2 choices:

[REWARD]    1. You can accept the 1 and miss or
    2. You can re-roll the result and run out of ammo.[/REWARD]

When it comes to ammo type, I am going to leave it up to the player to associate the ammo found to the gun that uses it. The ammo now only works with that particular gun. This means that I will allow players to carry extra ammo other than the generic type described in the base rules. If you run out of ammo, it is ammo for that specific gun.

What does this mean? It means that if you find a gun that requires energy clips in order to function, then the ammo you record for that gun is considered energy clips. If you find ammo and assign it to a sawed-off shotgun, that ammo is now only available for shotguns.

The above two house rules should make the game slightly more realistic and I think a bit more fun since you can now fire your mundane weapons more than once per encounter and still retain your ammo. That is, of course, if you don't roll a natural 1 and then re-roll your attack...

I will, however, have to modify the Pure Strain Human's powers since the new ammo rules functionally debilitate the origin's utility power.

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Reality Zero / [A]Possible Schedule Change

« on: November 10, 2010, 09:55:00 PM »

I was talking with Tommy tonight and it's looking good for the game to move to Saturdays @ 6PM instead of every-other-Friday @ whenever. So far, the majority of the players are up for it (with scheduling issues of course, which is fine) just waiting on one or two to get back to me.

My wife seems cool with this so let's try it out. I'd rather game every week instead of every-other-week anyway. This also re-opens Fridays for boardgaming which is awesome.

I still plan on doing the game on Friday next week (the 19th) but if everyone's cool with it, we'll move to Saturdays after that.

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Reality Zero / [D]House Rule Update: Alpha Flux

« on: November 09, 2010, 12:33:17 AM »

When an Alpha Flux occurs (due to environment or if you roll a natural 1) you will now be given a choice.

You may:

[BULL] Draw from your Alpha Mutation deck.

[BULL] Draw from your DM's Alpha Mutation deck.

[BULL] Roll on the Alpha Mutations table.

In all cases, the Alpha Flux overrides your permanent mutation(s) until the end of the Encounter or you are affected by another Alpha Flux, whichever comes first. At the end of the Encounter, the Alpha Flux mutation subsides and your permanent mutation regains dominance.

You choose which Alpha Mutation is overridden.

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Reality Zero / [D]House Rule Update: Second Wind

« on: November 09, 2010, 12:10:38 AM »

Second Wind gets an update today by giving Pure-Strain humans a special use. Since they cannot use Alpha Mutations, a Pure-Strain Human may, if he chooses, automatically recharge one of his Omega Techs. But it comes at a cost.


[ENCOUNTER]   SECOND WIND[/ENCOUNTER][FLAVOR]   You dig into your resolve and endurance to find an extra burst of vitality.[/FLAVOR]   Encounter
   Minor Action
[FLAVOR]   Choose one of the following:[/FLAVOR]

[BULL] Regain Hit Points equal to your Bloodied value. In addition, you gain +2 to all defenses until the start of your next turn. If you are unable to take actions, another character can use a standard action to trigger your Second Wind.

[BULL] Refresh an Alpha Mutation. Instead of healing and gaining a defense bonus, you may choose one of your tapped Alpha Mutations and refresh it. You are able to use the power and/or overcharge of that mutation a second time.

[BULL] Force Flux. Instead of healing and gaining a defense bonus, you may choose to force an Alpha Flux. Draw a new mutation from either your deck or the DM's deck as if you had rolled a natural 1 on a d20 roll. The drawn mutation follows the standard Alpha Flux rules (house rules) and your permanent mutation will reassert itself at the end of the encounter.

[BULL] End Flux. Instead of healing and gaining a defense bonus, you may choose to end an Alpha Flux mutation. Discard the mutation and your permanent mutation (which was replaced by the Alpha Flux-generated mutation) reasserts itself and is readied (untapped).

[BULL] Pure-Strain Human: Omega Recharge. You may, instead of healing and gaining a defense bonus, recharge one of your Omega Tech devices by untapping it. You may use this Omega Tech device an additional time this turn. If you do so, you do not get to roll an Omega Charge check at the end of the encounter, you must discard that Omega Tech.


[FLAVOR]   Your Second Wind is available for a single use each encounter. This means that during short or extended rests, your Second Wind is refreshed.[/FLAVOR]