The Homestuck tabletop RPG ~ SYLLADEX DECK CREATOR v. 2

[PanchromaticRhythm]

Correct, but it wouldn't let me make a Topic. probably should've said that. do I need to have a certain post count to make a Topic?

[MeleeMage]

Outside of the Cradle (forum-ventures, etc.), you need 12 posts to make a new thread.

[inactiveObserver]

Hey guys, I'm not sure how much you care about character sheets now, but I took Masterweaver's sheet and modified it a bit, so it looks a bit cleaner and provides a few tips. I also removed the color backgrounds from the aggrievement boxes because all the RED hurts my eyes. Here's My Blank Sheet.

Yeah that seems to be the the best way to share character info online, Google docs.

[ShivaShekaria]

BEHOLD! Completed and corrected maps of Alternia direct from the Enchiridion:

AlterniaMap_icons_v002.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/51352233/Map...icons_v002.png
or
http://db.tt/0IklOAz6

AlterniaMap_clean_v001.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/51352233/Map...clean_v001.png
or
http://db.tt/GxfjMTBh


The full-res maps are PNG images 57 MB each.

• Thanks must go to Bellstrom (patchworkObsessor) for his phenomenal work in creating and providing the original map image as well as heavy advising in the process of editing this new edition.
• Claiver (snippetClick) for recommendations on Ocean size and continent positioning
• Rose (tentacleTherapist) for assistance in irony placement
• An unknown canon-handle who noted the issue of proximity in Aradia's and Solluxs' hives
  
• And all of those who lent positive and negative opinions and tested the map out for functionality:
• justLulz
• karkateVantas
• apocalypseArsenic
• completeMadman
• Ergo (empathicRecluse)
• insipidZephyr, when he wasn't trolling around
  
• I'm nameSpewer, and I did the reworking on the image.

"Explore and create, this Universe is Ours and has No Limits, None of Them."

-Troll Dalai Llama

[PanchromaticRhythm]

Thanks MeleeMage, now I gotta find 3 more thanks to comment on. blargh.

EDIT: ShivaShekaria, the Dropbox Link just links to the main site.

[ShivaShekaria]

yes, there is no HTML link to a single account, that's why I posted the login information

[secularZoologist]

Pff, it might just be me but the login isn't working...

/EDIT: twas fixed

[ShivaShekaria]

Jegus, I screwed up the password

Why didn't anyone else notice this?

The last honk has to be ALL CAPS HONK not just Honk, I corrected it on my post

[MeleeMage]

Didn't work for me.

[Iquer Zyzyx]

worked for me

i'll try to upload it to mediafire, dropbox is kinda insecure and people may delete it.

EDIT: WHOA! No can do, they're just too big...

Don't you think it'll be better to just upload them smaller to ImageShack or something like that?

[ShivaShekaria]

The problem is, these Master-maps can be fleshed out on small scale to hold immense amounts of detail, that's why these two are so big; they are literally the largest amount of content the map can contain. I suppose I can upload smaller ones (would have to halve the resolution) but they'd only be useful for seeing Alternia as a whole, and the goal of the pics is to provide a vast sheet of "dough" from which any number of adventures, sub-maps and scenarios can be cut.

Would people appreciate such sample pictures at half-resolution? It's a fucking PLANET; it's a huge picture.

[treyl82]

So I saw a few other people who wanted to play this but other groups are full, maybe we should form one of our own?

[digiexpert]

Panchromatic appears to be starting a new group soon.

[PanchromaticRhythm]

Indeed I am, AND HERE IT IS. Tachiōjōhōmu / DwellingVexed (Introduction, Sign-up, & Discussion)

[digiexpert]

Homestuck: The RPG is a Gamma World Conversion. I recently bought Gamma World, mostly for the maps. But it left me with a bunch of cards. The Alpha Mutations and Omega Tech cards, specifically. What, if anything, should I do with them in a game of Homestuck?

[The Phantom Squee]

I'm not too familiar with the basic Gamma Worlds system, but I think UA based the alchemy system on those. So if they're applicable to anything in this, it would probably be alchemy.

[digiexpert]

Well, they based the Sylladex system on them. But I'm not sure how the Alpha Mutations/Omega Tech would work in a Homestuck game.

[PanchromaticRhythm]

Sooooo I'm looking for a Co-Game Master to help me with DwellingVexed... Trying to write a story for a roleplaying game that involves paradoxes is HARD. if anyones interested heres the main thread: http://www.mspaforums.com/showthread...-Discussion%29

[CurtainsHost]

To everybody who might be on the design team, as well as any Game Masters, there's a couple things about the system that are reaaaaaaaally wonky, for one reason or another. Not sure if they've been edited out of the latest doc or not, so I figure it's worth mentioning:

A) BROKEN: Time is a broken aspect right now. Time Clone doesn't say your clones can't use your encounter powers from your Class. As it is its own creature, I believe the Gamma World ruleset confirms that it has its own tricks. So you can spam Ovverclocked to keep the battlefield stunned, for instance. This is really, really bad for obvious reasons. It should be changed to 'Time Clones may only make Basic Aggrievances or Standard Action At-Will Attacks'. Thief and Witch, with their Off-Standard Attacks, break the action economy to pieces with it.

B) UNBALANCED: Time is also way more powerful than most other aspects because of Time Clone again. Action advantage on Brutal Affronts is kind of insane when combined with A, especially when some small amounts of Team Optimization can make it possible to score Brutal Affronts consistently. It also has one more abuse below.

C) UNBALANCED/WEAK: Thief is a busted class. Its powers just aren't balanced with each other: the proper course of action is to do a Basic Aggrievance turn after turn followed by Scorpion's Strike because Pawful and Pounce de Leon are so bad. Not only is this boring, it doesn't make sense that your bread-and-butter should be a basic attack just because all your main-attack options are gimps. Scorpion's Strike is a fine idea in theory but it plays very nastily with Time Clone, too. Can you say 'three hits a turn'? I do not advocate nerfing Scorpion's Strike even though it tops the DPR chart, but I DO advocate giving it a rework, as well as giving some love to the other Thief abilities. Right now, all the decision points it creates are based around making it sure it goes off and nothing more. EDIT: Fix presented below. Pointing out issues is good, fixing them is best after all.

D) SUGGESTION: Less of an issue than it is a note: Heart is entirely stat independent at the moment. Maybe give it some stat love so it becomes more fun?

E) SUGGESTION: Similarly...Pulchritude as a whole could use a swap with a different set of elements. You're pigeonholed into Hope if you want a Pulchritude Aspect that isn't a buffbot right now. Given its style, Heart feels a lot like an Acumen element anyway, so why not swap its attribute with something else and open up new possiblities for a character?

F) SUGGESTION: Mangrit really could use the opportunity to wield a +3 weapon (a real one). Right now, you're stuck with the terrible, terrible Jabs if you're a Mangrit character who likes hitting, which feels awful. Any reasons why the Bladekinds couldn't be Mgt/Acu/Pul? After all, Kanaya's chainsaws qualify as bladed weapons I think. If the concern is that Dual-Grit Stance would be too powerful, it's balanced by the Blunder chance even with a +1 bonus over its current accuracy. It'll be slightly better than Scorpion's Strike + Basic Aggrievance (or the fixed Scorpion's Strike below), at the cost of being much worse occasionally. Plus, Thieves get a way better Affront (that is infinitely easier to confirm) anyway, so they come out ahead once extra bonuses are factored in. No reason to force characters to play in a specific way just to have maximum accuracy when you can make things more fun with a little leeway.

G) ERRATA: Savant gets 0.5 alchemy points at level 1. This point is unusable because of the way the rules are written, or alternatively jumpstarts alchemy quite a bit (the effect of an alchemical boost shouldn't be underestimated). Either way, it could probably use a little clarification on the rules.

H) UNBALANCED/WEAK: Hardened Edge is excessively powerful if you are at 1d8 damage or lower or 2d6 damage or higher and much worse otherwise, because the 2d6 bump is forced and worth absolutely nothing compared to every single other bump (except 2d4, of course). Is this due to a balance concern? If so, it might be a good idea to look for a more elegant solution, as it makes for a very ugly progression.

I) UNBALANCED/BROKEN: Why should you get rewarded for picking up the best Alchemizations consistently? Upgrade/Duplicate makes no sense. Of course you're going to want the biggest Elemental Infusion you can get if you're an Heir or Thief for example, and Entropic or Firecracker whenever you can get your paws on them. Why should proper optimization generate an extra edge? It's one thing to pick smartly and get rewarded for it. It's another to pick Savant, pick Unbalanced + Elemental Infusion (assuming Savant works at 1 to provide an exaggerated example: replace with a bigger boost if we use level 2 as our starting point), pick Upgrade/Duplicate+Unbalanced up at level 2, get a second level Elemental Infusion, and a gigantic power boost out of it.

J) WEAK: Rage's Aggrievement is really crappy. Building Anger is pretty much never worth using. Why? Because it is always, ALWAYS better to kill an enemy now rather than later. There's ways to make Power Charges (borrowing the Shin Megami Tensei term for this type of mechanics here) work, but you can't make it unreliable and you definitely can't make it a tradeoff that might have no benefit. A potential solution might be adding twice your level in damage to your next attack, plus all damage you have taken, and setting Resistance at 5 (but making sure it doesn't stack with anything else). This means you're guaranteed something out of your action and can potentially do more if you play your cards right. If that value is too good, just set it to one and a half times level, or simply level to damage.

---

EDIT: After looking at the list of potential issues, I realized that I might as well post suggestions while I'm pointing out problems. Here's a fix for Scorpion's Strike that keeps the fluff of using it as a followup for your main attack, while avoiding the brokenness of Time Clone combos completely. Since it is now contingent on a hit roll, Scorpion's Strike has a bunch of buffs tacked on to it so that it more or less retains its original damage values. This is based on five-in-the-morning napkin math, but it looks about right to me, and even if it's wrong it can be tweaked easily enough. The important thing is making sure that the minor action goes away or is fixed, anyway.

Scorpion's Strike
Standard action – At-will Melee- or Ranged-kind
Target: One creature
Attack: Acu + your level + weapon precision vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Acu modifier + your level damage. Make a secondary attack against the target.
Secondary Attack: Acu + your level + weapon precision vs. Reflex
Hit: 1[W] + Acu modifier.

There we go. Scorpion's Strike is still a followup, only now it legitimately alters the way you build your character, not to mention it lets the Heir keep a niche as a beefier strikery character too. To use an example from another 4th Edition based system, it's the Dual Weapon Attack of the Scout to the Twin Strike of the Ranger: it hits harder, but you need to hit consecutively to get that extra damage. This could also be a neat opportunity to retool the thief's tricks, too: he doesn't need a second massive damage power, but you could change, say...Pounce de Leon back into a Minor Action, nerf its damage considerably (or remove it outright), and make it about gaining CA and repositioning. If That's Just Pawful!! were to be changed into doing 1d10 or 1d12 damage, it would also become far more palatable: ranged characters can use it to get away safely and melee characters can use it in turns where they have to be careful without feeling like they're sacrificing oodles of damage.

[digiexpert]

I got an answer to my Alpha Mutations/Omega Tech thing: Neither one should be used, Alpha Mutations are the Sylladex system and Omega Tech is the Alchemy system. However, I plan to try replacing the Sylladex cards with the Alpha Mutations cards and see how this affects my game.

[PanchromaticRhythm]

I'm still looking for Trolls for my Game, DwellingVexed. It's a Japanese / Orient themed Homestuck RP, and the Trolls are based on the Japanese Zodiac. Currently only the Tiger, Rooster, and Monkey are currently taken. Heres a link to the Thread: http://www.mspaforums.com/showthread...-Discussion%29

[Iquer Zyzyx]

show spoiler

hide spoiler

To everybody who might be on the design team, as well as any Game Masters, there's a couple things about the system that are reaaaaaaaally wonky, for one reason or another. Not sure if they've been edited out of the latest doc or not, so I figure it's worth mentioning:

A) BROKEN: Time is a broken aspect right now. Time Clone doesn't say your clones can't use your encounter powers from your Class. As it is its own creature, I believe the Gamma World ruleset confirms that it has its own tricks. So you can spam Ovverclocked to keep the battlefield stunned, for instance. This is really, really bad for obvious reasons. It should be changed to 'Time Clones may only make Basic Aggrievances or Standard Action At-Will Attacks'. Thief and Witch, with their Off-Standard Attacks, break the action economy to pieces with it.

B) UNBALANCE Time is also way more powerful than most other aspects because of Time Clone again. Action advantage on Brutal Affronts is kind of insane when combined with A, especially when some small amounts of Team Optimization can make it possible to score Brutal Affronts consistently. It also has one more abuse below.

C) UNBALANCED/WEAK: Thief is a busted class. Its powers just aren't balanced with each other: the proper course of action is to do a Basic Aggrievance turn after turn followed by Scorpion's Strike because Pawful and Pounce de Leon are so bad. Not only is this boring, it doesn't make sense that your bread-and-butter should be a basic attack just because all your main-attack options are gimps. Scorpion's Strike is a fine idea in theory but it plays very nastily with Time Clone, too. Can you say 'three hits a turn'? I do not advocate nerfing Scorpion's Strike even though it tops the DPR chart, but I DO advocate giving it a rework, as well as giving some love to the other Thief abilities. Right now, all the decision points it creates are based around making it sure it goes off and nothing more. EDIT: Fix presented below. Pointing out issues is good, fixing them is best after all.

D) SUGGESTION: Less of an issue than it is a note: Heart is entirely stat independent at the moment. Maybe give it some stat love so it becomes more fun?

E) SUGGESTION: Similarly...Pulchritude as a whole could use a swap with a different set of elements. You're pigeonholed into Hope if you want a Pulchritude Aspect that isn't a buffbot right now. Given its style, Heart feels a lot like an Acumen element anyway, so why not swap its attribute with something else and open up new possiblities for a character?

F) SUGGESTION: Mangrit really could use the opportunity to wield a +3 weapon (a real one). Right now, you're stuck with the terrible, terrible Jabs if you're a Mangrit character who likes hitting, which feels awful. Any reasons why the Bladekinds couldn't be Mgt/Acu/Pul? After all, Kanaya's chainsaws qualify as bladed weapons I think. If the concern is that Dual-Grit Stance would be too powerful, it's balanced by the Blunder chance even with a +1 bonus over its current accuracy. It'll be slightly better than Scorpion's Strike + Basic Aggrievance (or the fixed Scorpion's Strike below), at the cost of being much worse occasionally. Plus, Thieves get a way better Affront (that is infinitely easier to confirm) anyway, so they come out ahead once extra bonuses are factored in. No reason to force characters to play in a specific way just to have maximum accuracy when you can make things more fun with a little leeway.

G) ERRATA: Savant gets 0.5 alchemy points at level 1. This point is unusable because of the way the rules are written, or alternatively jumpstarts alchemy quite a bit (the effect of an alchemical boost shouldn't be underestimated). Either way, it could probably use a little clarification on the rules.

H) UNBALANCED/WEAK: Hardened Edge is excessively powerful if you are at 1d8 damage or lower or 2d6 damage or higher and much worse otherwise, because the 2d6 bump is forced and worth absolutely nothing compared to every single other bump (except 2d4, of course). Is this due to a balance concern? If so, it might be a good idea to look for a more elegant solution, as it makes for a very ugly progression.

I) UNBALANCED/BROKEN: Why should you get rewarded for picking up the best Alchemizations consistently? Upgrade/Duplicate makes no sense. Of course you're going to want the biggest Elemental Infusion you can get if you're an Heir or Thief for example, and Entropic or Firecracker whenever you can get your paws on them. Why should proper optimization generate an extra edge? It's one thing to pick smartly and get rewarded for it. It's another to pick Savant, pick Unbalanced + Elemental Infusion (assuming Savant works at 1 to provide an exaggerated example: replace with a bigger boost if we use level 2 as our starting point), pick Upgrade/Duplicate+Unbalanced up at level 2, get a second level Elemental Infusion, and a gigantic power boost out of it.

J) WEAK: Rage's Aggrievement is really crappy. Building Anger is pretty much never worth using. Why? Because it is always, ALWAYS better to kill an enemy now rather than later. There's ways to make Power Charges (borrowing the Shin Megami Tensei term for this type of mechanics here) work, but you can't make it unreliable and you definitely can't make it a tradeoff that might have no benefit. A potential solution might be adding twice your level in damage to your next attack, plus all damage you have taken, and setting Resistance at 5 (but making sure it doesn't stack with anything else). This means you're guaranteed something out of your action and can potentially do more if you play your cards right. If that value is too good, just set it to one and a half times level, or simply level to damage.

---

EDIT: After looking at the list of potential issues, I realized that I might as well post suggestions while I'm pointing out problems. Here's a fix for Scorpion's Strike that keeps the fluff of using it as a followup for your main attack, while avoiding the brokenness of Time Clone combos completely. Since it is now contingent on a hit roll, Scorpion's Strike has a bunch of buffs tacked on to it so that it more or less retains its original damage values. This is based on five-in-the-morning napkin math, but it looks about right to me, and even if it's wrong it can be tweaked easily enough. The important thing is making sure that the minor action goes away or is fixed, anyway.

Scorpion's Strike
Standard action – At-will Melee- or Ranged-kind
Target: One creature
Attack: Acu + your level + weapon precision vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Acu modifier + your level damage. Make a secondary attack against the target.
Secondary Attack: Acu + your level + weapon precision vs. Reflex
Hit: 1[W] + Acu modifier.

There we go. Scorpion's Strike is still a followup, only now it legitimately alters the way you build your character, not to mention it lets the Heir keep a niche a beefier strikery character too. To use an example from another 4th Edition based system, it's the Dual Weapon Attack of the Scout to the Twin Strike of the Ranger: it hits harder, but you need to hit consecutively to get that extra damage. This could also be a neat opportunity to retool the thief's tricks, too: he doesn't need a second massive damage power, but you could change, say...Pounce de Leon back into a Minor Action, nerf its damage considerably (or remove it outright), and make it about gaining CA and repositioning. If That's Just Pawful!! were to be changed into doing 1d10 or 1d12 damage, it would also become far more palatable: ranged characters can use it to get away safely and melee characters can use it in turns where they have to be careful without feeling like they're sacrificing oodles of damage.

Gotta study this more carefully.

Awesome post, btw.

[PanchromaticRhythm]

Bumping the thread, still need 6 to 7 Oni for my game: DwellingVexed: Homestuck with a Japanese Twist

[PassiveJuggernaut]

Just wanted you to know, I've already organized a group of five people to play your game. We're all really excited but I hope you can get the stuff out for God Tier really quickly because a lot of my players are looking forward to catching the tiger.

[digiexpert]

There's unnoficial God Tier rules already, but God Tier is meant for Level 10 people, which is 80-100 encounters. Which sounds like a lot more than it is, I'll give you, but still gives them nearly a year if you get through two a meeting.