Out Of Game

New thread for conversations that don't directly impact the storyline (Or rules stuff which has been covered in the Getting Started or character threads)...

MrBrownstone75 wrote:Chris, I've been following your story too. I've really been enjoying your great writing and pics! I think Rob is gonna have a sci-fi novel on his hands when we're done.

I'm much enjoying it too! The characters are intriguing and have potential. The tension is rising... I'm hoping Matt will chime in soon, but I'm equally content to roll with two characters for however long.

Novel? That would certainly be cool. How about a third party RPG supplement? This is adventure is kind of a playtest afterall. A third party cyberpunk/cthulhutech setting for D&D 5e would rock! Covered legally by the OGL, or the Basic rules.

This thread can be for conversations that don't directly impact the storylines. I'd like to keep the actual story threads as clean as possible.

Rules questions and changes has been covered in the Getting Started or individual character threads.

MrBrownstone75 wrote:Chris, I've been following your story too. I've really been enjoying your great writing and pics! I think Rob is gonna have a sci-fi novel on his hands when we're done.

I'm much enjoying it too! The characters are intriguing and have potential. The tension is rising... I'm hoping Matt will chime in soon, but I'm equally content to roll with two characters for however long.

A novel would certainly be cool. But how about a third party RPG supplement?  This whole adventure is kind of a playtest afterall. We are all smart and productive folk. An RPG book can itself be a fun compilation of art, fiction, mechanics, and graphic design. They are usually a collaborative work. Personally, I think a third party cyberpunk/cthulhutech setting for D&D 5e would rock! Legalities would be covered by the OGL, or the Basic rules.

But I'm not trying to get ahead of myself. IF the setting and characters actually works, THEN after a time, we should more seriously consider publishing it.

ok, question about how the GM sees cyberspace - are you picturing this more like the Matrix movie or more like William Gibson's Neuromancer, which was the direct influence for cyberpunk\shadowrun style "net"?

More like the Matrix. I haven't read Neuromancer. Played some Shadowrun and Cyberpunk back in the day.

People can "jack in" to be avatars, or they can just sit back and look at code on a screen. Being jacked in gives certain advantages, but makes your physical body Incapacitated.

The VR world of the matrix exists on the ethereal plane. Mankind discovered this separate dimension and decided to use as a storehouse of information. This technology is known as Etherscope. Inside etherspace, there are several gigantic etherscope cities floating around.


There are also mysterious monsters in the ether.


It IS possible to visit etherspace in one's physical form, but they would be subjected to very harsh conditions. Generally robots go about maintaining and building new complexes, but humans prefer to go around in VR form. Much less dangerous!

ok, good to know.

does death in the Matrix = death in the real world?

I was assuming the data card Don Mufasa gave Nico was 'black ice' which was used in Neuromancer\shadowrun\cyberpunk - it was a program that killed both the avatar and the decker by sending back an electrical\neural overload to the user's brain

Chris wrote:ok, good to know.  

does death in the Matrix = death in the real world?

I was assuming the data card Don Mufasa gave Nico was 'black ice' which was used in Neuromancer\shadowrun\cyberpunk - it was a program that killed both the avatar and the decker by sending back an electrical\neural overload to the user's brain

Precisely. Normally death in the Matrix just "dumps" your consciousness back into your physical. Black Ice (I like that) is a way to kill both. The poison that Mufasa gave Nico has to be administered orally to Catwalk's avatar.

just to say it... I think running cyberspace more like the Matrix than SR\Cyberpunk is a really good idea. It makes life SOOOO much easier. the other games needed a complete 2nd set of rules and everything worked differently, at different speeds, etc. I hated running the net in SR\CP for that reason.

I think this will make it very fluid and keeps it simple. Well done, Rob.

I hope it works. This version is kind of an amalgam of both systems, plus ideas from Etherscope.

As I recall, in the Matrix movie, characters could be murdered whenever they were unplugged and their minds were still inside the Matrix. I won't be so harsh.. . except, being Incapacitated makes you very susceptible to coup de grace!

Robyo wrote:Hell yeah! Nico acutely determines the direction of action. Thanks to the free VR app included in his anti-grav boots, he makes good distance. The assassin does a double-dash down the floor, across the wall, up a pillar, over the railing, and landing in space FF-4. He can see some of the patrons fleeing, but doesn't yet see the center of action.

Were you just being eloquent or is there really a "double-dash"?

I read the rules on Dash (finally, now that I had to use it) and it sounds like the same thing as just taking a double move in PF.  You get 1 move + 1 action.  If you take the Dash action, you double your movement speed, which is essentially the same as a double move.  

I read Cunning Action to mean that a Rogue can Dash (or disengage or hide) for free.  So I could Dash for 30x2 and attack in any given turn.  Or Attack, Disengage and move 30 w\o AoO.

It sounds like you are suggesting that I could move a total of 90 in a turn.  Move 30, Dash action +30, bonus Dash +30.  

Is that correct?

I will allow Cunning Action to move 90' if you're not also taking an attack action or disengaging.