Kickstarter - GURPS Pyramid Scheme

[Dalin]

I wish I were sitting on the fence! Those two teasers would definitely push me over. (But I've got the SJG kool-aid in an IV that I wheel around with me, so I leaped over the fence on day 1...)

[SolemnGolem]

Originally Posted by Kromm

[*]"Tactical Looting": Largely game-mechanical guidance on "speed runs" through dungeons for fun, profit, and not dying when the ceiling collapses. I took the title from the fact that in some situations, you're switching on tactical combat time and leaving it on even when there's no fighting. Now I don't say, "Game out an entire adventure one second at a time on a map, choosing hundreds or thousands of maneuvers." But much of the article's value is in how and why it stops short of that – and what it recommends instead.

:Gloomhaven-PTSD intensifies:

(I kid, I kid! Looking forward to seeing the next generation of Pyramid on my handheld!)

[William]

Originally Posted by Kromm

"Putting Science in Your Fiction": My formal education was as a scientist – a physicist, to be precise. One thing that irritates me in fiction, games, and the popular imagination is how what's called "science" is often engineering that results in gizmos. You could call that "applied science," but then where does that leave theoretical and experimental science? Out in the cold! This article offers a mini-game, not unlike that for inventing, for curiosity-driven research as a goal in itself. It adds in-game value to expensive science skills.

I have played so many characters who were motivated by scientific endeavor (especially if you allow "magical research" and world/planar exploration as scientific endeavors!). I really hope this goal hits.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by William

I have played so many characters who were motivated by scientific endeavor (especially if you allow "magical research" and world/planar exploration as scientific endeavors!). I really hope this goal hits.

Well, we'll see. It's based on real-world experiences working on actual science, but I don't doubt that the non-physicists will be shocked at my assumptions. ;)

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Pulling from my own social media . . .
[*]"Putting Science in Your Fiction": My formal education was as a scientist – a physicist, to be precise. One thing that irritates me in fiction, games, and the popular imagination is how what's called "science" is often engineering that results in gizmos. You could call that "applied science," but then where does that leave theoretical and experimental science? Out in the cold! This article offers a mini-game, not unlike that for inventing, for curiosity-driven research as a goal in itself. It adds in-game value to expensive science skills.[/LIST]Both are limited by (1) being four pages long, and (2) not being playtested. That's business as usual for magazine articles. But I firmly believe that both provide useful seeds that could grow into new forms of adventure – one fast-paced and action-heavy, one slow-paced and cerebral.

Oh, this does sound interesting!
Too many science skills wind up being mostly background fluff for anyone without Gadgeteering and more just simple skill rolls even then.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Oh, this does sound interesting!
Too many science skills wind up being mostly background fluff for anyone without Gadgeteering and more just simple skill rolls even then.

My biggest issue is with associating science with gadgets at all. In general, it's engineers – not scientists (other than mad ones, who aren't really scientists at all!) – who develop technology. My hope is that these rules will point people at quests that have to develop theories, test them, and gain knowledge of the natural world. Yes, that's probably boring to a great many gamers . . . but then, all mini-games tend to bore some percentage of gamers.

[ham2anv]

Originally Posted by Kromm

My biggest issue is with associating science with gadgets at all. In general, it's engineers – not scientists (other than mad ones, who aren't really scientists at all!) – who develop technology. My hope is that these rules will point people at quests that have to develop theories, test them, and gain knowledge of the natural world. Yes, that's probably boring to a great many gamers . . . but then, all mini-games tend to bore some percentage of gamers.

One of the PCs in my current space campaign is a questing biologist, so this article should give me some good hooks for him.

[Tyneras]

Originally Posted by Kromm

My biggest issue is with associating science with gadgets at all. In general, it's engineers – not scientists (other than mad ones, who aren't really scientists at all!) – who develop technology. My hope is that these rules will point people at quests that have to develop theories, test them, and gain knowledge of the natural world. Yes, that's probably boring to a great many gamers . . . but then, all mini-games tend to bore some percentage of gamers.

I look forward to this, since the adventures I've run and played in that involved actual science were the "babysit the science NPCs" type, and I'd like to see how it works with players in that role instead.

[Dalin]

Originally Posted by Kromm

My hope is that these rules will point people at quests that have to develop theories, test them, and gain knowledge of the natural world. Yes, that's probably boring to a great many gamers . . . but then, all mini-games tend to bore some percentage of gamers.

I can imagine this being tons of fun in the right campaign. There's plenty of room for action alongside the scientific developments.

[dcarson]

There is a story The Mercenaries by H. Beam Piper about a mercenary research team. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18814

While not combatants there are times when employers decide to double cross them or the local government falls apart and they have to fight their way out.