My House Rules. Please Comment - Page 4

Matthias Wasser · 06-09-2010, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCD

Not sure how this deviated to here, but here's my two cents.

The Shedim stripmines the victim. The best analogy was with cars. No one washes a rental car, so they say. How much less does one treat a stolen vehicle of someone you don't like? (humans) A Shedite victim is likely to find himself waking up in Vegas, having maxed out his credit cards, married to a stripper, and having gotten into a fist fight last night with some local 'made' guys. And for whatever reason, he dumped all this largess onto some nameless person who was the NEXT victim of the Shedim.

A Kyriotate is borrowing the car from DAD. And DAD really really loves his cars!

That doesn't get us any closer to what "DAD" cares about. Which is the original problem!

(I don't think this is a problem problem, mind; the text is full of ambiguities and a good GM won't have any difficulty handing down a consistent answer that works for her campaign. I just made an offhand comment about the textual ambiguity and everyone's trying to resolve it through vague parental metaphors.)

JCD · 06-09-2010, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthias Wasser

That doesn't get us any closer to what "DAD" cares about. Which is the original problem!

(I don't think this is a problem problem, mind; the text is full of ambiguities and a good GM won't have any difficulty handing down a consistent answer that works for her campaign. I just made an offhand comment about the textual ambiguity and everyone's trying to resolve it through vague parental metaphors.)

Shrug. It IS. That's it. It is as arbitrary as any other Dissonance condition. It is only a problem if you think it is.

Matthias Wasser · 06-09-2010, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCD

Shrug. It IS. That's it. It is as arbitrary as any other Dissonance condition. It is only a problem if you think it is.

And I don't, so I don't know what we're talking about.

Azel · 03-05-2011, 09:16 AM

Dodge.

I dislike the lack of fleshing out of the mechanic into the other realms (Ethereal & Celestial). Something about dropping points in Dodge and having it usable in any realm with the appropriate secondary stat (AGI, PRE, PER respectively) just leaves me upset. In essence it's like getting 3 character points per point spent.

So, I have decided to do what core rules invites all GMs to do -- make our own new Resources.

I will keep Dodge for the Corporeal realm, but add two new Dodge-like skills, one for each Ethereal and Celestial realms. The combat mechanics will operate the same -- the new "dodge" skill will work with the realm related secondary statistics for a damage reduction roll. i.e. Creativity + Precision = Target Number to roll for damage reduction of Mind Hits. Further, I will add additional value to each skill in how they may hold relevance during non-combat role play. (The alternate names in parentheses is to bring some clarity to my word definitions. Essentially, use whichever term most quickly makes sense to you and your players.)

Dodge (Reflexes) - This skill evades threats to one's physical being. It also allows the player to respond faster-than-consciously to sudden or familiar physical stimuli. Think about muscle memory and its effect on both emergency and routine situations. Key: How my body reacts to the world.

e.g. A flautist might mess up perceiving conductor direction (or got lost on page notation), thus showing a flub on their Musical Instrument roll. However, after so much practice, muscle memory might take over and cover for the flautists slip up, where its successful CD is how much it compensates for the failed Flute CD.
e.g.2 A waitress on a date accidentally bumps her wine glass. But familiarity with serving food and drinks kicks in her reflex to catch the wine glass just in time before it ruins a perfectly good evening.

Creativity (Imagination) - This skill grounds purely intellectual ideas into a probable expression in a given world context. It also works to reassess already existing stuff for new uses, by understanding the objects parameters in relationship to its situation. Basically it grasps the fundamentals of how stuff is applied and from there expands upon utility and expression. Key: How I choose to react with or manifest objects in the world.

e.g. A dreaming human needs to escape through an air duct from a horror closing upon him. Suddenly he realize his pocket change can help. Grabbing a penny coin, he begin to unscrew the air ducts metal grill and proceed to escape.
e.g.2 An unforeseen sun shower starts to rain upon a lady who recently had her hair permed. Getting her hair wet must be avoided, thus she needs to cover her head and run for shelter. Grabbing her Louis Vitton tote purse containing her little-dog-as-fashion-accessory, she puts this -- dog and all - atop her head as she races for the nearest coffee shop.

Empathy (Understanding) - This skill perceives others (be it persons, places, or things) and attunes strongly to their conditions, developing often overlooked insights. This may also provide trivial precognition, such as anticipating the object's next expected interaction with its environs. This is all about "reading in context" and "anticipating the narrative." Key: How I choose to react with others and their interconnections with the world.

e.g. As a dinner party winds down, the wistful smile on the tired hostess compels the Mercurian to announce they'll collect the dirty plates. When the hostess tries to stop her, the Mercurian dismisses the hostess's protestations, but states she could use help in the kitchen to bring out dessert and coffee.
e.g.2 Due to illegal dumping, a nearby marsh is starting to look sickly. Before letting it attract attention for even worse activity, a neighborhood citizen organizes a volunteer clean up crew, seeking sponsorship from the local bird watchers society.

Jason · 03-05-2011, 10:46 AM

My only concern would be that these skills seem kind of redundant with other skills/characteristics. Reflexes sounds a lot like Acrobatics (at least as defined in the Core Rules as any athletic feat). Creativity overlaps quite a bit with Artistry. Empathy would normally be played by a straight-up Perception roll, I think, though it does seem like it might be worth having a skill for this one in particular (especially in a game with celestials who aren't used to reading human expression as much). I suppose using "Creativity" and "Empathy" to avoid incoming attacks also seems pretty unintuitive to me, and I suspect it would confuse the heck out of my players, but maybe that's another issue.

My house rule for Dodge: There is no Dodge skill. Nobody practices just dodging things. Roll vs. Agility/Precision/Perception to attempt to dodge, and if you choose a Full Dodge, you can get either the standard +2 bonus or the CD of an appropriate skill roll, such as Acrobatics, whichever is higher. This generally results in characters taking more damage. I am okay with that; I like fights to end quickly.

Azel · 03-06-2011, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason

My only concern would be that these skills seem kind of redundant with other skills/characteristics. Reflexes sounds a lot like Acrobatics (at least as defined in the Core Rules as any athletic feat). Creativity overlaps quite a bit with Artistry. Empathy would normally be played by a straight-up Perception roll, I think, though it does seem like it might be worth having a skill for this one in particular (especially in a game with celestials who aren't used to reading human expression as much). I suppose using "Creativity" and "Empathy" to avoid incoming attacks also seems pretty unintuitive to me, and I suspect it would confuse the heck out of my players, but maybe that's another issue.

I see where you are coming from. Perhaps it would be too much for your game. However, let me clarify, just for mutual understanding -- and in case anyone else wants to de-couple Dodge from affecting all three realms simultaneously.

Reflexes is just another name for Dodge, except it adds conceptual functionality outside of combat. Sort of like if I asked someone who is proficient in Large Weapon: Sword to wield an actor's fake sword in a dramatic, but ultimately harmless, way. (Naturally, I would not include CorpF in the TN roll of a non-combat usage.) The additional functionality is how reflexes (dodge) allows people to respond to routine situations (or as in combat, emergency situations) with a response faster than thought. How can one practice that? Well, studies already show that video games do improve reflexes and reaction time, as does routine practice for martial arts (such as shadow boxing). So, yes, 'dodge' is a skill that is consciously improvable (as compared to unconsciously applied). Yes, this would mean GM would have final say as to when your reflexes kick in; a video gamer should do well even button mashing, and might catch a falling wine glass, but the GM can fully disallow its relevance to a fast pass of a basketball.

Reflexes/Dodge however is not what I would interpret as Acrobatics. Acrobatics has a serious, and conscious, expenditure of effort, usually for athletic feats increasing mobility upon the corporeal plane. Remember my mention of muscle memory? Catching a tipping glass is not an acrobatic feat. Climbing a tree, or leaping from picnic table to picnic table would be. However, muscle memory can conceptually overlap in those who practice an acrobatic task routinely. So if you were a gymnast, knowing how to unconsciously drop into a somersault after suffering a fall would make sense.

Same goes with Artistry and Creativity. One is the perception of "contextual correctness" within a given aesthetic narrative, and the other is the precise "expansion of utility" of a given set of tools. It would be the difference on how we normally see just an oil painting and a rubber chicken, and might be artistic enough to (re)create such items so aesthetically nuanced to show shades of meaning beyond their normal contextual reception -- and a Malakim of Creation further seeing their utility in battle. It's literally thinking outside the box.

It's the difference between traditional art school training and avant garde exploration. Artistry is the skill of knowing how to make something that will be perceived by others in a relatively consistent way so as to evoke a feeling/thought through a shared aesthetic understanding. Creativity is the skill of thinking beyond a shared understanding and discovering new, uncharted territories, and in turn making them a new reality -- broadening the scope of potential, if you will. A bit heavy there, but useful for role playing. One can be creative, but not have the formal understanding of an artistry: i.e. a person may discover a new manner of instrument, or even an entire new musical sound, but have no formal understanding of Music as an Art. This has happened perpetually in the world of art, by the way.

This is for people who want to keep the 'dodge' skill, but end the 3 points per character point advantage. It also expands new skill resources that can enliven non-combat role play. Since I run a game where mortal and celestial society keeps endless slug matches from happening out in the open, I haven't a big issue with retaining dodge. But then, I do house rule my ranged weapons a lot more damage, and humans get routine actions on point blank gunfire... ;)

Jason · 03-06-2011, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azel

But then, I do house rule my ranged weapons a lot more damage, and humans get routine actions on point blank gunfire... ;)

Ooh, I hope you don't mind me going on a tangent, but can I ask more about your house rules for these? I'm kind of disappointed by the gun damage compared to melee weapon damage (now that some of my players have enough corporeal forces and skill to push melee target numbers over 12...).

And I think I get your point about Dodge, but yeah, probably this would work better in some groups than others. Mine is already a little overwhelmed by the number of things I put on a character sheet (which shocks me a little, since most of them play D&D 4e). Actually, what bothers my players more than Fighting and Dodge counting for three realms is that some skills seem to be usable in multiple ways, as described in the core rules, while others seem pretty narrow in their use. Driving is just driving. Move Silently is sneaking, AND tailing someone in a crowd (much to the dismay of those who have never had cause to use the Tracking skill). Singing is a performance availability, AND a limited version of the Vassal of War attunement (much to the surprise of those who didn't read the full description of Singing in the book). They also feel like there should be more skills, but I think this is because a lot of the standard skills you'd see in other RPGs are pretty well covered by Knowledge variants in In Nomine. I give my own PCs at least one random Knowledge skill just to flesh them out ("Celestial Politics" for the Seraph of the Sword under Etiquette, or "Architecture" for the Kyriotate of Stone who spends a lot of time clutching to gothic buildings), which doesn't really occur to my min-maxing D&D players...

Azel · 03-07-2011, 05:14 AM

We were hammering it out here in this forum. Link:

http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread...hlight=bullets

Im summary, take semi-automatic weapons and use 3-round bursts. And instead of using the weapon power in parentheses for bursts, just use the power per 1 bullet and multiply it by the bullets used in a 3-round burst.

i.e. Assault Rifle: Pow +4 (+8). Ignore (+8) from now on. Just use the +4, add CD, and multiply the result by 3 for amount of bullet damage in the burst. (CD + 4) x 3 = Damage. So, CD determines whether the attack will be between 15 and 30 points of damage for an Assault Rifle. (And if using auto success, roll excess TN points into Pow; heaven help your enemies.)

(note: Be sure to carry left over damage into disturbance! Take max damage and subtract damage dealt to defender: the remainder is the collateral damage the celestial inflicted upon the symphony. Noisy weapons!)

Also, I personally ditch Armor making you harder-to-hit. I switch to Armor has HP and Protection value. Armor's protection kicks in first, then Armor HP absorbs rest -- after that, you're exposed. ;)

I further use Routine Actions for humans using guns at point blank. And -- this may be unfair -- I let humans use Surprise & Rear Attack modifiers on Routine Action point blank shots roll over into the power of the attack. Remember, Surprise & Rear attacks cannot be dodged! e.g. Bob the human takes an angel by surprise point blank and pops a .44 into the back of its head. Bob automatically succeeds because I rule Routine Action, just roll for a CD. The .44 has power of +3, and I roll over his +1 for Surprise, and his other +1 for Rear attack, into his power. CD turns up 4, add +5 for power, total damage for one shot is 9 damage, no dodge allowed. If target angel has 36 or less HP, they are now stunned and ready for more injections of lead poisoning...

We still were hammering out Full Auto damage and Suppressing Fire. But so far these tweaks seem useful.

Let me make another post to comment on your other topic, which I find quite important (and I can't believe I forgot about Fighting being relevant outside Corporeal Realm as well! Ugh!).

Azel · 03-07-2011, 06:25 AM

Yeah, I've noticed AD&D gamers having difficulty with this game as well. I know it cannot be a math thing, because I've seen many of them play FASA, Games Workshop, and Palladium games, and those are supremely dice roll heavy and or math crunchy. I think it's a function of 3 layers of reality and utter role playing potentiality that freezes them up. Notice how often an AD&D game without a direct rail to the Big Baddy or a Dungeon Crawl Loot Run leaves them piddling away at the tavern, barely engaging town NPCs until they are spoon fed the next aggro adventure seed? I think something else is going on, personally.

K, first order of business: dividing Fighting into the three realms as well -- in my games.

Fighting will be for Corporeal.
Tactics (god, I love this) will be for Ethereal.
Domination will be for Celestial.

Tactics needs love first off. I tend to let it allow players time to think before declaring their action. Roll Tactics, CD equals real-time rounds player may think; CD x 5 real world seconds = seconds to think. CD of 6 buys you 30 seconds to metagame. Don't have the skill, sorry, no metagaming during battle; you have to declare your action before the tactician.

(I should also state that during battle I run normal human speech taking place in step 1 of combat, where supernatural powers go (just easier for me to keep track of). So people can say stuff at the beginning of the round. However, trying to change your action after declaration (as in hearing a new command from the tactician), I either don't allow, or allow with severe TN penalties. Pretty much only Ofanites and high agility PCs can declare, receive new orders, and switch mid-round without much worries. But this is all just me.)

But Ethereally it also works because Dream fighting is often about using your immediate dream environs to assault your opponent. I personally dig it.

Domination is straight up invented on the fly. Besides celestial combat, it would also work into bullying people into obeying a command, CD equals allowable command complexity (or difficulty, whatever the GM lets the PC negotiate for). Hey, if the game can have Seduction, and Lying and Fast-Talk parsed, then Domination (Intimidation, whatever) can work as well. Don't know how to balance it yet, but I'm thinking making it erode Reaction Rolls per use might be a good method. A point of 'love lost,' if you will, sounds decent. Could also let CD command severity erode Reaction Roll; CD 6, you can command something as horrible up to 6, but lose an equivalent of Reaction. Also makes good Reaction Rolls, and maintaining them, precious.

Done. Whew... now to enjoy myself.

Azel · 03-07-2011, 06:38 AM

Y'know, I do see nebulous utility as an issue. However, IN is far more fluid and squishy than other systems. Looking at some new RPG theory, IN seems like a precursor to current indie RPGs: more Narrativist. It's heavier on the role playing, lighter on the realism and defined mechanical components. In other words, the game seems designed to 'leak' into things, with the GM hurriedly mopping up any messes along the way.

However, as another GM, let me bring your attention to things I think might make you see things in a different light:

Driving, as per IN core, says "any domestic vehicle, such as car, truck, or motorcycle." And if you "drive a specific vehicle routinely, you get +1 to TN." I might reword that to "specific type of vehicle," be it car, truck, whatever. And might even invent +1 for "specific vehicle," such as Ford F-150. (And even another +1 for your own favorite 1999 Ford F-150 that you've been driving for years.)

Further, Driving works on two separate things: dealing with driving emergencies (road hazards, car problems, etc.), and time efficiency. Naturally Area Knowledge can help get from point A to point B. But really knowing how to maximize such knowledge upon the roads needs experience with driving. So you see, it too is multifunctional.

But this gets back to how IN leaves a lot to GM (and PC) creativity and judgment. Resources in the core were pretty bare bones, to the point that Artifact and Song creation left people shrugging until the Liber series of books arrived. You could make anything, yes, but is making anything ol' thing worthwhile or unbalancing to the game? Which returns back to the basic premise that it should all be fine if the GM can handle it. This in turn leaves paralysis in a lot of people. What can I make? Anything. How do I make it? In any way. ... So I guess I'll make nothing.

There's a strain in humanity that really prefers structure, I guess.

By the way, Move Silently deals with being unnoticed. You may be not noticed in either quiet movement, hidden while still, or forgettable among distractions, but the core is being unnoticed. It will not help you track. So you can tail someone, yes, and Move Silently will help you not be noticed -- and that's it. But if you lose sight of your target even briefly, Move Silently will not help you. And even if you have a non-Djinn/Cherub beacon on them, like Attraction, Affinity, or tech gadgets, it will be Tracking (and area Survival knowledge) that is rolled to make sense of any blinds or other weirdness.

Oh, and Singing is also useful for Celestial Songs in Sotto Voce (and I forget what else) in the Liber Canticorum.

And personally, I find dumping everything into Knowledge gets annoying after a while, in many RPGs. Then INT becomes a prime stat for too much: skill points, feats, spell slots, most skills, etc. But that's another topic entirely. Suffice it to say, I try real hard to keep from the lazy habit of dumping new skill resources into Intelligence.

03-05-2011, 09:16 AM	#34
Azel Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: South of the Town across from the City by the Bay	Re: My House Rules. Please Comment Dodge. I dislike the lack of fleshing out of the mechanic into the other realms (Ethereal & Celestial). Something about dropping points in Dodge and having it usable in any realm with the appropriate secondary stat (AGI, PRE, PER respectively) just leaves me upset. In essence it's like getting 3 character points per point spent. So, I have decided to do what core rules invites all GMs to do -- make our own new Resources. I will keep Dodge for the Corporeal realm, but add two new Dodge-like skills, one for each Ethereal and Celestial realms. The combat mechanics will operate the same -- the new "dodge" skill will work with the realm related secondary statistics for a damage reduction roll. i.e. Creativity + Precision = Target Number to roll for damage reduction of Mind Hits. Further, I will add additional value to each skill in how they may hold relevance during non-combat role play. (The alternate names in parentheses is to bring some clarity to my word definitions. Essentially, use whichever term most quickly makes sense to you and your players.) Dodge (Reflexes) - This skill evades threats to one's physical being. It also allows the player to respond faster-than-consciously to sudden or familiar physical stimuli. Think about muscle memory and its effect on both emergency and routine situations. Key: How my body reacts to the world. e.g. A flautist might mess up perceiving conductor direction (or got lost on page notation), thus showing a flub on their Musical Instrument roll. However, after so much practice, muscle memory might take over and cover for the flautists slip up, where its successful CD is how much it compensates for the failed Flute CD. e.g.2 A waitress on a date accidentally bumps her wine glass. But familiarity with serving food and drinks kicks in her reflex to catch the wine glass just in time before it ruins a perfectly good evening. Creativity (Imagination) - This skill grounds purely intellectual ideas into a probable expression in a given world context. It also works to reassess already existing stuff for new uses, by understanding the objects parameters in relationship to its situation. Basically it grasps the fundamentals of how stuff is applied and from there expands upon utility and expression. Key: How I choose to react with or manifest objects in the world. e.g. A dreaming human needs to escape through an air duct from a horror closing upon him. Suddenly he realize his pocket change can help. Grabbing a penny coin, he begin to unscrew the air ducts metal grill and proceed to escape. e.g.2 An unforeseen sun shower starts to rain upon a lady who recently had her hair permed. Getting her hair wet must be avoided, thus she needs to cover her head and run for shelter. Grabbing her Louis Vitton tote purse containing her little-dog-as-fashion-accessory, she puts this -- dog and all - atop her head as she races for the nearest coffee shop. Empathy (Understanding) - This skill perceives others (be it persons, places, or things) and attunes strongly to their conditions, developing often overlooked insights. This may also provide trivial precognition, such as anticipating the object's next expected interaction with its environs. This is all about "reading in context" and "anticipating the narrative." Key: How I choose to react with others and their interconnections with the world. e.g. As a dinner party winds down, the wistful smile on the tired hostess compels the Mercurian to announce they'll collect the dirty plates. When the hostess tries to stop her, the Mercurian dismisses the hostess's protestations, but states she could use help in the kitchen to bring out dessert and coffee. e.g.2 Due to illegal dumping, a nearby marsh is starting to look sickly. Before letting it attract attention for even worse activity, a neighborhood citizen organizes a volunteer clean up crew, seeking sponsorship from the local bird watchers society. Last edited by Azel; 03-05-2011 at 09:23 AM.

03-05-2011, 10:46 AM	#35
Jason Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Boston, MA	Re: My House Rules. Please Comment My only concern would be that these skills seem kind of redundant with other skills/characteristics. Reflexes sounds a lot like Acrobatics (at least as defined in the Core Rules as any athletic feat). Creativity overlaps quite a bit with Artistry. Empathy would normally be played by a straight-up Perception roll, I think, though it does seem like it might be worth having a skill for this one in particular (especially in a game with celestials who aren't used to reading human expression as much). I suppose using "Creativity" and "Empathy" to avoid incoming attacks also seems pretty unintuitive to me, and I suspect it would confuse the heck out of my players, but maybe that's another issue. My house rule for Dodge: There is no Dodge skill. Nobody practices just dodging things. Roll vs. Agility/Precision/Perception to attempt to dodge, and if you choose a Full Dodge, you can get either the standard +2 bonus or the CD of an appropriate skill roll, such as Acrobatics, whichever is higher. This generally results in characters taking more damage. I am okay with that; I like fights to end quickly.

03-07-2011, 05:14 AM	#38
Azel Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: South of the Town across from the City by the Bay	Re: My House Rules. Please Comment We were hammering it out here in this forum. Link: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread...hlight=bullets Im summary, take semi-automatic weapons and use 3-round bursts. And instead of using the weapon power in parentheses for bursts, just use the power per 1 bullet and multiply it by the bullets used in a 3-round burst. i.e. Assault Rifle: Pow +4 (+8). Ignore (+8) from now on. Just use the +4, add CD, and multiply the result by 3 for amount of bullet damage in the burst. (CD + 4) x 3 = Damage. So, CD determines whether the attack will be between 15 and 30 points of damage for an Assault Rifle. (And if using auto success, roll excess TN points into Pow; heaven help your enemies.) (note: Be sure to carry left over damage into disturbance! Take max damage and subtract damage dealt to defender: the remainder is the collateral damage the celestial inflicted upon the symphony. Noisy weapons!) Also, I personally ditch Armor making you harder-to-hit. I switch to Armor has HP and Protection value. Armor's protection kicks in first, then Armor HP absorbs rest -- after that, you're exposed. ;) I further use Routine Actions for humans using guns at point blank. And -- this may be unfair -- I let humans use Surprise & Rear Attack modifiers on Routine Action point blank shots roll over into the power of the attack. Remember, Surprise & Rear attacks cannot be dodged! e.g. Bob the human takes an angel by surprise point blank and pops a .44 into the back of its head. Bob automatically succeeds because I rule Routine Action, just roll for a CD. The .44 has power of +3, and I roll over his +1 for Surprise, and his other +1 for Rear attack, into his power. CD turns up 4, add +5 for power, total damage for one shot is 9 damage, no dodge allowed. If target angel has 36 or less HP, they are now stunned and ready for more injections of lead poisoning... We still were hammering out Full Auto damage and Suppressing Fire. But so far these tweaks seem useful. Let me make another post to comment on your other topic, which I find quite important (and I can't believe I forgot about Fighting being relevant outside Corporeal Realm as well! Ugh!). Last edited by Azel; 03-07-2011 at 06:34 AM.

03-07-2011, 06:25 AM	#39
Azel Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: South of the Town across from the City by the Bay	Re: My House Rules. Please Comment Yeah, I've noticed AD&D gamers having difficulty with this game as well. I know it cannot be a math thing, because I've seen many of them play FASA, Games Workshop, and Palladium games, and those are supremely dice roll heavy and or math crunchy. I think it's a function of 3 layers of reality and utter role playing potentiality that freezes them up. Notice how often an AD&D game without a direct rail to the Big Baddy or a Dungeon Crawl Loot Run leaves them piddling away at the tavern, barely engaging town NPCs until they are spoon fed the next aggro adventure seed? I think something else is going on, personally. K, first order of business: dividing Fighting into the three realms as well -- in my games. Fighting will be for Corporeal. Tactics (god, I love this) will be for Ethereal. Domination will be for Celestial. Tactics needs love first off. I tend to let it allow players time to think before declaring their action. Roll Tactics, CD equals real-time rounds player may think; CD x 5 real world seconds = seconds to think. CD of 6 buys you 30 seconds to metagame. Don't have the skill, sorry, no metagaming during battle; you have to declare your action before the tactician. (I should also state that during battle I run normal human speech taking place in step 1 of combat, where supernatural powers go (just easier for me to keep track of). So people can say stuff at the beginning of the round. However, trying to change your action after declaration (as in hearing a new command from the tactician), I either don't allow, or allow with severe TN penalties. Pretty much only Ofanites and high agility PCs can declare, receive new orders, and switch mid-round without much worries. But this is all just me.) But Ethereally it also works because Dream fighting is often about using your immediate dream environs to assault your opponent. I personally dig it. Domination is straight up invented on the fly. Besides celestial combat, it would also work into bullying people into obeying a command, CD equals allowable command complexity (or difficulty, whatever the GM lets the PC negotiate for). Hey, if the game can have Seduction, and Lying and Fast-Talk parsed, then Domination (Intimidation, whatever) can work as well. Don't know how to balance it yet, but I'm thinking making it erode Reaction Rolls per use might be a good method. A point of 'love lost,' if you will, sounds decent. Could also let CD command severity erode Reaction Roll; CD 6, you can command something as horrible up to 6, but lose an equivalent of Reaction. Also makes good Reaction Rolls, and maintaining them, precious. Done. Whew... now to enjoy myself. Last edited by Azel; 03-07-2011 at 06:49 AM. Reason: Splitting up post for ease of reading

03-07-2011, 06:38 AM	#40
Azel Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: South of the Town across from the City by the Bay	Re: My House Rules. Please Comment Y'know, I do see nebulous utility as an issue. However, IN is far more fluid and squishy than other systems. Looking at some new RPG theory, IN seems like a precursor to current indie RPGs: more Narrativist. It's heavier on the role playing, lighter on the realism and defined mechanical components. In other words, the game seems designed to 'leak' into things, with the GM hurriedly mopping up any messes along the way. However, as another GM, let me bring your attention to things I think might make you see things in a different light: Driving, as per IN core, says "any domestic vehicle, such as car, truck, or motorcycle." And if you "drive a specific vehicle routinely, you get +1 to TN." I might reword that to "specific type of vehicle," be it car, truck, whatever. And might even invent +1 for "specific vehicle," such as Ford F-150. (And even another +1 for your own favorite 1999 Ford F-150 that you've been driving for years.) Further, Driving works on two separate things: dealing with driving emergencies (road hazards, car problems, etc.), and time efficiency. Naturally Area Knowledge can help get from point A to point B. But really knowing how to maximize such knowledge upon the roads needs experience with driving. So you see, it too is multifunctional. But this gets back to how IN leaves a lot to GM (and PC) creativity and judgment. Resources in the core were pretty bare bones, to the point that Artifact and Song creation left people shrugging until the Liber series of books arrived. You could make anything, yes, but is making anything ol' thing worthwhile or unbalancing to the game? Which returns back to the basic premise that it should all be fine if the GM can handle it. This in turn leaves paralysis in a lot of people. What can I make? Anything. How do I make it? In any way. ... So I guess I'll make nothing. There's a strain in humanity that really prefers structure, I guess. By the way, Move Silently deals with being unnoticed. You may be not noticed in either quiet movement, hidden while still, or forgettable among distractions, but the core is being unnoticed. It will not help you track. So you can tail someone, yes, and Move Silently will help you not be noticed -- and that's it. But if you lose sight of your target even briefly, Move Silently will not help you. And even if you have a non-Djinn/Cherub beacon on them, like Attraction, Affinity, or tech gadgets, it will be Tracking (and area Survival knowledge) that is rolled to make sense of any blinds or other weirdness. Oh, and Singing is also useful for Celestial Songs in Sotto Voce (and I forget what else) in the Liber Canticorum. And personally, I find dumping everything into Knowledge gets annoying after a while, in many RPGs. Then INT becomes a prime stat for too much: skill points, feats, spell slots, most skills, etc. But that's another topic entirely. Suffice it to say, I try real hard to keep from the lazy habit of dumping new skill resources into Intelligence.