StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Or maybe just think of a new way to use one you've seen before. Or Hell, just talk about mechanics you really enjoy/enjoyed.

I was thinking about one, primarily centered around MMOs, that was essentially an interface screw. An ability that for X seconds causes your opponents abilities to be placed in random locations on their bar or (for better balance) swapped with certain other ability locations that are "core" to the class. Such as, fighting a Frost Mage, it would only swap around Frostbolt, Glacial Spike, Ice Lance, Flurry, etc: those types of abilities.

The other one was a kind of PvP symbiosis. Symbiosis is a (now removed) ability that a Druid could use to "take" an ability from a party member and they were granted a specific ability. This would work the same way. You might get a copy of a Mage's Ice Block (short term invulnerability and heal) but they get Ice Bound Fortitude (20% damage reduction cooldown). Alternatively, for something like the new Outlaw Rogue and their RNG buff system: you both get something completely random. Maybe you get a port spell and he gets Blind.

The third was an ability that forced your opponent to cast one spell/ability at random on their bar. If it's cast-time, it becomes instant-cast. In the event it's usable, it's automatically used. I just thought it would be funny to make an enemy mount, port, or use some favorite toy that was on their bar. Just to fuck with the PvP meta.

What got me thinking about this was how much I'm starting to miss Dark Simulacrum. It was this cool Death Knight ability. You cast it on a player, and the next time they spend mana on spell, you can cast a duplicate of that spell. Many times in PvP, you get garbage. But every once in a while you get gold, especially if you understand the other class you're fighting and bait them into using what you want. Like stealing a Mage's blink (short range teleport), a Paladin's Bubble (short-term invulnerability). They can be game changers. But the ability really didn't accomplish anything in PvE, aside from some specific exploits, so Blizz cut it.

I would have loved to see what happens if you stole something like Divine Steed from a Paladin. Like... would the game explode?

What a shame. I really considered it an iconic ability that really had it's own niche. More than that though, it was fun.

I'd like to see a modern take on "The Last Starfighter" a multi-player space flight sim where gunner and pilot roles are strictly divided between two player teams.

Aw man, co-op vehicles is always good. Co-op combined with competitive multiplayer is gravy. Loved this in Battlefield. Having two gunners in my Blackhawk while I gave them good arcs to lay down fire. I even liked having spotters to call out my artillery shelling from the ships. Halo vehicles were also big on this, as were some of the ones added into Unreal Tournament. I can't think of any space sims that do this though, but there has to be one.

I really like this with Cho'Gall in Heroes of the Storm. Two players control one hero. One handles movement and certain, mostly physical, abilities. One of those abilities is a ball you can toss. The second player can "detonate" the ball whenever and has a movement speed increasing ability, his damaging abilities are more magical effects than physical. So, I drive and constantly say "bowling" and he knows to detonate when it hits a large pack of mobs or players.

Also of note, some of the co-op missions in Saint's Row. One player will drive and the other will handle shooting or maybe giving some old guy a happy ending in the backseat (not a joke).

Jaepheth wrote:I'd like to see a modern take on "The Last Starfighter" a multi-player space flight sim where gunner and pilot roles are strictly divided between two player teams.

Guns of Icarus does that with airships. It's four player teams not two, but it's all about co-op vehicles and running between weapon stations because there aren't enough people to man all of them and fly the airship and repair damage..

A 2D version is Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime which is pure co-op but otherwise similar.

Combat reconfiguration.

Think the Iron man cartoons from the 90s where he changes armour for the need while in combat. I am thinking this game mechanic mainly for games like Star Trek online with ships, but can work for RPGs with player characters instead of ships.

Basically at the touch of a button you can switch your current configuration into another preset configuration. Advantages are

1. You can access more powers - usually you have several powers but cannot have all of them active at once. So while current powers are on a cooldown you can switch configuration to use those other powers.

2. Use powers more often - since the second configuration will not have the cooldown triggered from the first configuration

3. Adjust modes to work against different opponents - lets say you have to fight a fire monster and an ice monster simultaneously with resistances to fire and ice respectively. Use a configuration with spells to hurt one, and then change to second configuration to fight the other one.


To stop this mechanic being abused, there should be a high cooldown on the change configuration mechanic.

I've DM'd (off and on) Classic D&D since high-school (that's red/blue/green/black box), and I'm a compulsive fiddler. Hell, it can be someone else's game, and I'll still try and fiddle with it (anyone want some 4th edition Gurps rules for Super strength, so you can make a competitively-priced Hulk, without having to use those stupid extra-effort rules?)

Anyway, I had made a "few" modifications to the D&D rules over time. I wont list them all.

Inititiative
Rolled 1 to 10, with the roll representing when in the 10 second round the person's action resolves.
Three initiative types - Fast (roll 1d10 twice, pick the best), Normal (1d10), Slow (1d6+4).
Most spells are Slow (Power-words are fast, but if the game had got to a level to use them, I may have adjusted the power-level of the spells to balance); most weapons are normal, but 2H weapons and missile weapons are Slow and daggers (and fists) are Fast.

Weapons
All weapons got a complete make-over, to try and give them all a reason to exist and be used.
Bludgeoning weapons got 'Constant + Small Dice' damage
Slashing weapons got 'Multiple Small Dice' damage
Impaling weapons got 'One Big Dice' damage - in fact, impaling weapons, from arrow to pike, all rolled the exact same dice for damage, the difference was in their other powers.
Changed the way deflection worked, of course, from a simple save to a contested hit roll (you had to hit a better AC than the attacker to deflect)

Social
Brought in Social Levels. You marked off a regular sum of money each month as upkeep, and your character was assumed to be living and acting in a manner befitting a certain rank, from Beggar to King. Most common amongst adventurers was the rank "Yeoman" or "Noble/Hero", of course.
This was all-encompassing, including where you stayed, money given to charity, what you ate and drank, your clothes, and so on. This had more than cosmetic effect, because it would affect your actions in-game, for instance if you were facing down some young nobleman, you would have very little chance if you looked like a commoner. Social rank was very important in the game world (one I created myself, of course).
It was also a great way to suck money out of player characters.

Mechanics
No XP for treasure. I felt it forced me to give out treasure, and in forced amounts. Instead, I increased the XP for monsters killed, and gave "Mission Complete" XP
No XP bonus for having a high Prime Statistic. Instead, I gave a bonus for a low one. In game, the logic was that someone not naturally gifted has to work and train harder to make up for it, and the XP gain reflects that extra work. Out of game, I thought it was cruel to punish someone willing to role-play a character who wasn't suited to a career and was therefore already going to have difficulty. There was no XP penalty for having a high stat, though.
Thief - Dex would affect his thieving rolls. The thief could concentrate more on some areas than others, to learn how to do some things better than others.
Mage - Mana system, no spell memorisation, but they could only keep a limited amount of spells in their head governed by Int and Level, they choose which ones from their spell book they have 'Fresh'. Amount of mana was also affected by Int.
Clerics - Each spell is a roll to ask the gods for favour, the roll affected by level, wisdom, and how often they've already asked that day. Failure means no more spells for the day.

Self-made software
Random NPC maker, including character traits, skills, and motivation
Random potion generator, including description of bottle and method of "potion" application (drink it, spread it, breathe it in?)
Random horse generator, including cost and social value
DM's Assistant - keep track of weather, date, roll wandering encounters...

Ummm, yeah. That's some of it.
If anyone plays classic and is interested in some of my stuff, mention it and I can email it to you.

Im enjoying gming and playing risus at the moment, which is so rules lught and elegant fiddlibg feels a bit dirty.

I did try imposing a beserk mechanisim on myself. After calling on my beserk skill, i wouldnt use anything else till i took damage or ran out of targets. The gm liked it enough to give me a +2 attack bonus.

Ive fiddled the rules for healing to prevent a tpk, allowing the cleric to heal 2 damage in one go in return for a juicy dezcription of the spell.


I'm wuite proud of sone of my swarning mechanics, but that is more boardgame than anything else.