Roleplaying in the Nippon-Ichi verse

[Koumei]

Well, the racial requirements were put there specifically for the Disgaeagame setting. Basically if you're porting them over to a different flavour of D&D then you should change the racial requirement to something that makes sense for your game - so Flower Queen could be changed to "Type: Any Plant" or whatever.

[icyshadowlord]

Yeah, that's basically what I thought. Also, I noticed that the PDF is basically a compilation of all the classes related to Disgaea, though I'm sure hardly anyone would need another PDF just so they could find out how a Disgaea setting would work. (Basically, I simply assume that most people who wanted this whole thing already KNOW about Disgaea to at least some extent.)

[Koumei]

More or less, yeah, but it's still nice to be able to go "Oh yeah! I remember that (thing), that's awesome! I want to play that!" and just be able to play a Magic Knight or whatever.

Incidentally (for the others, mostly), it contains the Mana Alchemist* and the Gadgeteer in an Appendix. These are updated - with all the extra Gadgets I added (they were already in the Gadgeteer thread in a stealth-update) and the extra new Recipes (which I didn't update the Mana Alchemist thread with).

*Version A, that makes cake and tea and all that. Because that kind of silliness is very Disgaea, and also because it's seriously based right off the Atelier Iris games**, which are made by Atlas, who are in league with N1. Cross Edge even has Atelier ___ alchemists in the same game as Etna. Case closed. So it's just a no-brainer. Also contains a subtle QI reference.

**If it was Atelier Rorona, on the other hand, all the food options would be pies.

[Leress]

The Atelier Series is made by Gust.

[Koumei]

Shit, you're right. I meant Gust. I am very tired from all the work, and also out of it due to pain medication.

[Koumei]

Still need to do work on the other one.

Just throwing some thoughts out, for my own memory:

There needs to be some kind of fancy dungeon set up using Undead Logic Gates for a fancy computer system. Obviously, it's easy to cause hardware damage. Things like "Skeleton 1: if someone steps on that panel, raise your arms. Skeleton 2: if someone steps on THAT panel, raise your arms. Skeleton 3: If both Skeleton 1 and 2 are raising their arms, open the gate. Skeleton 4: If Gate A is open, make sure Gate B is closed." and the like.

Part of this should be a fancy Tenori-on set-up, with a little grid of blocks on bars that you can rotate to ON/OFF. Skeletons stand in a grid watching it, and one row of skeletons basically does a constant mexican wave. Each skeleton has "If (Your column is "waving") And (your block is On) Then (Ring your bell)". Each row has its own tune for the bell, so it does proper tenori-on style music. And another skeleton only opens the gates when the right tune plays. They can look over the blocks for prints or something to find the right combo. Or smash the door down, whatever.

I welcome ideas for other cute little puzzles and stuff, and other "non-combat things that make use of cool stuff in D&D to keep players engaged (and characters held up) for a bit".

[Koumei]

Okay, so here we have it: The remake of the original pdf, now with the Android, a little bit of rebalancing on the races (very little), classes typed out in full (with attribution even though most of it is clearly stated as being open source) and so on.

And yes, yes it IS a pain in the ass to shove stuff across into Open Office, especially tables, and then reformat them.

Which is why you might notice I have not put everything in pretty tables, even all formatted the same way.

[Koumei]

So, this weekend we finally play again. Here are my notes:

They can wake up to discover the castle has been moved (with them in it). Lord Vecnathrax has hired a bunch of harpies to move it, swapping locations because his evil goals require the seaside area. Or he just wants his tower to be on the beach. Whatever.

The new location is pretty terrible - right in the middle of The Skeletron (TM). The complex undead computer system.

There will be an Undead Logic Clock to determine which doors are open when, one door puzzle of the Undead Tenori-on, and a few other key features:

A series of rooms (Room 1 has doors to 2 and 3, 2 has doors to 4 and 5, 3 has doors to 5 and 6, so it's a pyramid set-up). Undead are sent through with the following instructions:
If (you go through a door), Then (close door behind you)
If (both doors in front of you are closed) Then (open both)
If (left door is open) Then (go left) Else (go right)
If (there is a portal) And (you are in the Skeletron) And (you have no captive) Then (go through portal)
If (there is a portal) And (you have a captive) And (you are not in the Skeletron) Then (go through the portal)
If (you are not in the Skeletron) And (you have no captive) Then (get a captive humanoid and find a portal)
If (you are in the Skeletron) And (you have a captive) Then (go to the conveyor)

Each of those rooms end with a portal, so given infinite undead, they will infinitely scatter out to other planes in a pattern of ACDEBDFC and so on. So six planes are getting invaded, at slightly different rates.

There is a conveyor belt, with Ghouls at the start to paralyze people for it, and it's turned by skeletons. They are sorted by a simple pattern:
Foreman:
If (someone goes through door A) Then (raise hands)
If (someone goes through door B) Then (lower hands)
Sorters:
If (arms are up) Then (sort through door B)
If (arms are down) Then (sort through door A)

One conveyor belt leads to a sentient spawning corporeal undead, who sacrifices everyone brought to him, using the retarded BoVD rules. Every X time units he swaps with the one at the end of the other conveyor belt, who grafts things onto his victims (hence the sacrificing: XP and Gold) and then converts them. And then sends them on another conveyor belt for more sorting (send out to grab captives, or form part of the army or anti-virus system).

Anti-virus or bug-sweeping will be in the form of Wight mobs. "Me" "Me" "Me" "Me" "Me too"

Clearly, it is easy to ruin the system by destroying chunks - if the conveyor belt is stopped due to dead move-belt skeletons, then the rest just stand there uselessly, so perhaps there will be sentient undead who do shift work supervising and "repairing" (sending more undead).

In the innermost depths is the Core, which contains an infinitely complex device of unknown origins, bigger than the biggest creatures, with possibly a million AI undead just mindlessly working different patterns so that the overlord (a lich) needn't spend time on unlocking the device.

Naturally, the lich isn't in at the moment. He's in his tower on the beach.

And yes, all of that is just so they can get out of the place and see where they are. After that, it's easy to climb to the top and take issue with the harpies, who are equipped with their deadly aero-garotte weapons (more like piano-wire nooses, it decapitates more than it strangles), the HARPYCORD!

Presumably they'll talk the harpies into swapping things back... or just plonking their castle on top of the existing one. At which point, the lich, Vecnathrax, can get worried and run off to see how badly they ruined his Skeletron (TM).

So they basically get an extension (several basement levels) to their castle, with excessive skull-themed furniture.

[Josh_Kablack]

Isn't the pun better served if you call it a Harpy's Cord..?

[Koumei]

Yeah true. Also, I didn't even notice the fact that Wights as system protection means it has Wight Blood Cells. Which is awesome.

And here is a statline for the Elite Bug Sweepers: 2 Wight Wyverns

+Weakening Arm
Large Undead
HP: 45
Str 25 Dex 14 Con - Int 6 Wis 14 Cha 13
BAB/Grab: +7/+18
Sting +13 melee (1d6+7) and bite +11 melee (2d8+7) and 2 wings +11 melee (1d8+3) and 2 talons +11 melee (2d6+7) and Slam +11 (1d6+7 plus Energy Drain)
2/day: touch attack or slam deals 1d6 Strength damage (Su)

AC: 23 (+12 natural, -1 Size, +2 Dex)
flat 21 touch 11

F +5 R +7 W +7

Energy Drain (1), Create Spawn

[Josh_Kablack]

Again, I'm thinking Wight Corps Pustles is better - especially as it lets you set up Pustule as a rank in the Lich's guard and then later spring the full pun on the PCs.

[Koumei]

So, with the current events done, maybe Lord Vecnathrax could make a return. I figure whatever they decide to do next, some part of it can easily be something that requires senate approval.

So they will walk in and see a room full of Fractional-CR zombies and maybe some other, cooler undead. Who all vote Nay and need to be slaughtered, which should be easy.

It should also be easy to figure out who put them in place there, and his motives. Partly it's just to screw with them, but mainly he's controlling the senate to pass his own bills freely.

I'm feeling tired at the moment so I'll just leave it there, almost as a reminder for later. Though ideas are welcome in the meantime, along with "hey, this undead would be really cool" suggestions.

[Josh_Kablack]

Well, Lord 'thrax has some idea that the PCs aren't really threatened by basic zombies. And while really big zombies are useful as large piles of HP, they are still limited by partial actions only and problematic to fit in Dark Assembly chairs. However, basic zombies are cheap and expendable, so they are great to use a mobile land mines - so maybe Lord V gives each of the basic zombies a jewelry box containing a Blast Glyph or has them coated in contact poisons or something.

If you are looking for higher CR undead to hide amongst the zombies,

• The Mohrg is core and looks a lot like a medium-sized skeleton.
  
  MM2 has
• the might-actually-challenge your 12th level PCs CR 17 Deathbringer (which is Large, but a competent straight-up meleer)
• and the probably-about-accurate CR 17 Effigy - which could make a decent puzzle monster if toned down several HD - it has a neat possession mechanic that lets it turn one PC against the others for a round or two, but an incorporeal real form vulnerable to the Samurai. For dark assembly purposes, it could show up possessing an effreet or something.
  
  The Fiend Folio has
• Abysall Ghoul, which is about a fair CR 10 that comes with disease and wisdom drain - both ways to impair PCs during potential follow-up encounters
• The Bhut - which is not only a vehicle for a bunch of bad puns but possesses corpses and looks just like a zombie while doing so

[Prak]

Well, Lord 'thrax has some idea that the PCs aren't really threatened by basic zombies. And while really big zombies are useful as large piles of HP, they are still limited by partial actions only and problematic to fit in Dark Assembly chairs. However, basic zombies are cheap and expendable, so they are great to use a mobile land mines - so maybe Lord V gives each of the basic zombies a jewelry box containing a Blast Glyph or has them coated in contact poisons or something.

• Corpsecrafter
  • Destruction Retribution
• Animate however many skeletons, and a bunch of frogs
• Stuff human skeleton ribcages with frogs
• Explosive Runes + Stick satchel charges on Skeletons' skulls.

If you are looking for higher CR undead to hide amongst the zombies,

• The Mohrg is core and looks a lot like a medium-sized skeleton.

also has the benefit of being a skeleton capable of performing tentacle rape.

[Josh_Kablack]

Alternately, while not fitting the current undead in the senate scene, here's a potential future antagonist build

In further exploring breaking your Disagea game rules, you can have a 10th level empusa Monk2/Blue Mage4/Stormblade1/White Mage1/True Succubus 2 with an full attack something like
bastard sword +16/+11 melee and shortsword +16 melee/+11 melee and slam +7 melee and tail thrust +11 melee plus one of those again as a swift action (and presumably at the better primary bonus)
damage:
bastard sword 1d10+16 slash & 1d6+6 cold
short sword 1d6+14 slash & 1d6+6 cold
slam 1d8+10 blud & 1d6+6 cold
tail thrust 1d6+14 & 1d6+6 cold
With the colored expressions being vampiric damage that heals her an half or an equal amount to that dealt. And that's just assuming BoG scaling magic swords, with BoG with scaling attribute boosters it gets to the point that she doesn't even need to hit with everything in the full attack to outheal her total HP.

Edit: for the defensive build, the next two levels are White Mage, giving Protective Ward and access to Shield for +9 AC and +5 to saves as well as inner fire to cast self-heals while KO'ed. For the offensive, build you argue to let Storm Blade's Tea Ceremony (and weren't your friends making fun of magic tea parties?) count for the Cure prereq of True Succubus in order to cut out the White Mage level for a better BAB and to get the double-full attack ability of Storm Cutter as soon as possible.

[Koumei]

So, it will turn out the various senators have all been dealt with one way or another:
[*]Senator Puff-Puff (Empusa) was given a free beach holiday
[*]Senator Ramsbutton (Dragon) was Gated to -Plane to roll taquitos
[*]Senators Crispy, Charles, Hadworth and Kamarazoff are now loyal Undead.
[*]Senator Jovial (Efreeti) has been convinced to pursue his dream career of Light Heavyweight Champion in boxing.

So the four undead will be taken care of just by dint of being part of that initial battle. The rest... convincing them to return could help restore order, and mean fewer bills need to be passed by force.

In the case of Ramsbutton, this will pretty much involve going there, under the harsh effects of the Dark Sun, where Undead and Negative Outsiders may need to be fought. Which should be all too easy. Once there, they just need to use a [Compulsion] on him, get him to fail the save (he will elect to do so) and then beat Vecnathrax in an opposed Charisma check. Note that his Charisma is decent, but not rocking out with its stocking out.

Or just killing him (a willing target, Wyvern)/waiting for the negative energy to do that, dragging the corpse back and resurrecting him, whatever.

The Negative Energy Plane is quite painful: every minute, it Inflicts 1 damage Every half hour, a Fort Save (DC 16, +2 each additional half hour) can be made to reduce it to 1 per 2 minutes, which Mettle totally works on. Yes, it's nearly flavour damage. Worse still is the actual Dark Sun there, which spits out random pain-in-the-ass effects each round of combat:

d6 roll:	Description:	Effect:
1	Darkness is shed across the lands, shrouding sight	Darkness
2	Rays of dark pierce everyone, which hurts very much	Inflict Moderate Wounds on everyone
3	The Dark Sun briefly hurls itself down, smashing (random enemy) into oblivion!	Remove an enemy instantly
4	The Withering emanations of the Dark Sun take their toll.	All take 4 Strength damage
5	The harsh anti-light of the Dark Sun peels magic away	Wide-area Dispel
6	People start to feel the effects of the Dark Sun...	2 Con damage to all

I know, I'm a terrible person. This fight will be against a pile of trash (so, 1 round), and a Nightwing (Drain Magic is never permanent, we'll call it "one day after leaving the plane").

For the record, the taquitos are really quite good!

Jovial can eventually be tracked down, seen punching a prinny out. Not the most exciting task. They can either beat him into submission or talk at him to make him go back - or rig his fight against current champion, a Giant Frog, so he can win the title and return.

His statline, should they fight him, is that of a regular Efreeti.

Puff-Puff, on the other hand, is really enjoying her holiday - at their beach. She has already claimed part of it as hers, made use of the hot springs at the crazy "Hot Chick Discount", and is considering owning that quaint little castle with the tower underneath it.

This will require a lot of talking if they don't want to convince her with fists - or finding a suitable bribe/gift, or tricking her into thinking there's something actually important at the location.

I'll stat her in a bit, just want to get this post saved in case the laptop goes "LOL TIME TO RESTART BECAUSE WINDOWS INSTALLED USELESS UPDATES WITHOUT ASKING" while I go get my sister from work.

[Chamomile]

I'm not sure if this thread should make me want to play a TTRPG run by Koumei or just play a game of Disgaea.

[Koumei]

Hahaha. Please do get a game of it going. That would make a total of 4 that I know of, thus exceeding 4th Edition D&D (dohoho). And stroking my ego.

[Koumei]

Senator Puff-Puff (CR 12)
Empusa Monk 2 Blue Mage 4 Stormblade 1 White Mage 3 True Succubus 2

Str 18 (22) Dex 16 Con 17 (21) Int 12 Wis 14 Cha 24 (28)

HP: 124/124
Speed: 30' Fly 60' (Average)
Init: +6

AC: 26 (+3 Dex +5 Special Armour +2 Shield +4 Deflect +2 Dodge) Fighting Style (30)
(can go up to 35 via Immediate, no Style next turn)
Flat: 23 (27)
Touch: 24 (28)

BAB/Grab: +9/+15
Attacks:
Katana +19/+14 (1d10+17 + 1d6+9 Cold) (heal 1/2 Cold) 19-20
Short Sword +19/+14 (1d6+17 + 1d6+9 Cold) (heal 1/2 Cold) 19-20
Hip Attack +21 (1d6+19 + 1d6+9 Cold) (heal all) 5-10'
Slam +21 (1d8+15 + 1d6+9 Cold) (heal 1/2 of all damage)
Optional: Swift Hip Attack +21 (1d6+19 + 1d6+9 Cold) (heal all) 5-10'
Optional: make sword attacks non-lethal, heal half of all

Fort: +22
Ref: +22
Will: +21

Feats:
Two Weapon Fighting (use both weapons just fine, +2 Dodge, more AoOs)
Great Fortitude (+3 Fort, +12 HP, Die at -20)
Combat School: Peach Press (natural weapons, +2/+2 and Fort vs Daze 1, DC 20)
Danger Sense (always Searching, Uncanny Dodge, +3 Init)
Elusive Target (+2 Dodge to AC, no Flanking/High Ground/Power Attack)

Skills:
Perform: Poetry +23
And a bunch of others, w/e
But no ranks in Sense Motive

Special:
Charm Person 3/day (DC 25)
Telepathy 60'
Tiresome
Armoured In Life
Willow Step
Fatal Strike
Fighting Style: Enlightened Hummingbird Dance: +4 Dodge, Concealment
Cold Immunity
Encumber (Ref 1/2, DC 25)
Skate
Ice Skating
Frost's Bite
Create Ice Object
Pall of Frost 1d6+9
Coldfire 4d6+9
Frozen Heart
Brittling 1d6+9
Magic Hands 1d6+3
Brilliance (Healing: Uncapped, Reach, Chain)
Planar Immunity
Equilibrium
Turn Undead
Instant Ward (Immediate: +5 AC)
Inner Fire!
Advanced Learning: Shield
Hip Attack
Life Theft
Silver Flash +9
Poetry

Spells:
Cantrips: 6/day DC 13
cure minor wounds, dancing lights, detect magic, disrupt undead, flare, light, mending, purify food and drink, resistance, virtue
1st Level: 8/day DC 14 (1 cast - Shield of Faith)
avoid planar effects, bless water, cure light wounds, deathwatch, delay disease, endure elements, faerie fire, greater dispel magic, lesser vigor, produce flame, protection from chaos/evil/good/law, remove fear, shield of faith, +shield

Equipment:
Cosmic Muscle (Lesser, +4 Con, Water-Breathing)
Sexy Panties (Moderate, +4 Cha, Adjacent Attacker: Will vs Daze 1, DC 25)
Imperial Katana (Moderate, +4 Enhancement, Vile, Fort vs Stagger 1, DC 25)
Silver Shortsword (Lesser, +4 Enhancement, Will vs Slow 5, DC 25)
Monster Belt (Lesser, +4 Str, Endure Basic Elements)
Devil Ring (Lesser, +4 Resistance, Sustenance)

[Username17]

Rolling a d8 every ten minutes for every character is a pain in the ass. Probably better to have it inflict one damage per minute and let people make a save once per hour to halve the DoT rate.

-Username17

[Josh_Kablack]

All of Monk slam is vampiric.

Life Theft (Su): at second level, .... Additionally, any time she deals damage with a Spell-like or Supernatural ability, even non-lethal damage, she regains half that amount as healing.

Fatal Strike (Su): A Monk has a natural weapon Slam in addition to whatever else he is capable of doing.

Alternately, everything is vampiric if it's non-lethal, <insert S&M joke> because:

Rain of Flowers (Su): Any time a 2nd level Monk inflicts lethal damage, he may elect to inflict non-lethal damage instead. Any time a Monk inflicts non-lethal damage, he may elect to inflict lethal damage instead.

[Koumei]

Fucking awesome, Josh. MAXIMUM HEALING!

Good point, Frank. I'll do that. Is the "during combat" effect too much of a pain in the ass (keeping in mind the trash will take "under a round" and the "higher CR than their level by 2 points" monster will take "the rest of the round, and maybe the next one too!"?

[Koumei]

For the record, this is the easiest group to run for ever, and also the hardest, I suppose: on the one hand, they'll follow any old plot or scenario I throw their way, and on the other hand, they don't tend to have their own great plans to follow so I actually need to throw any old plot or scenario their way.

"Incidentally, before we wrap up, any ideas about things you want to go do next session?"

"Nah, not really. Whatever comes our way."

"...so I can just make it up and claim you wanted to do it and forgot?"

"Pretty much."

So I guess I'll think up some random thing within the next week.

[Koumei]

So, last session they all went shopping, which is grand. It was an official RozenQueen store, so they filled the form in.

"Are you interested in the Dark World? [X] Yes [ ] No"

So I figure they can journey to the Dark World, where they get several levels of bizarre lay-out - I will actually make some maps up with the grids, showing the floating platforms and all. Should be a bit of fun. And they will encounter various spooky monsters, some there to be evil, others sent there to work in the Blood War.

However all Overlords (there will be a few on the final level) are already very dead, completely deliberately murdered to death until they died from it, with a little note placed on the corpses: OH, NO YOU DON'T! -OV

It appears Lord Vecnathrax is at it again! Damn that fiend! He murdered the first to become Overlord Vecnathrax, and the rest to ensure that nobody else can use that part of the Dark World to become an Overlord. Swindled!

One level should definitely have a big seal (Fiendish Sea Tiger of Legend). If it is slain, then [The Seal Has Been Broken]. This can be relevant for later (the release of Overlord Priere into the regular Netherworlds).

Floor 1: just an introduction to how mental the place is
Floor 2: 4 Dire Prinnies (Vrocks, dood!) want to dance...
Floor 3: Workers are very miserable there, being worked to the bone by a Rakshasa*
Floor 4: someone is going to try to convince them to turn back. It is the Dark Adonis, Vyers! Midboss!
Warp Tunnel carved through 5-7
Floor 8: The Seal! Also some annoying little imps and lemures
Floor 9: 2 Hezrou and 2 Hamatula (hate each other at least as much as they hate the party) are in the vague area, and immediately hostile
Floor 10: dead Overlords, exit

Rakshasa Spells:
0—detect magic, light, mage hand, message, read magic, caltrops, touch of fatigue;
1st—wall of smoke, mage armor, grease, ray of enfeeblement, silent image;
2nd—summon swarm, baleful transposition, web;
3rd—stinking cloud, shadowspray.

Fiendish Sea Tiger of Legend:
Huge Magical Beast
125 HP
[*]Bite +14 6d6+9 plus Poison (DC 27 1d6 Str/1d6 Str) and 2 Claws +12 2d6+4
[*]Grapple +24
AC 27 (touch 12 flat 23)
Fort +15 Ref +11 Will +6
Move 20' Swim 50' Space 15' Reach 10'
Swap Run for Improved Natural Attack (Bite)
Special Attacks: Poison, Smite Not-Me 1/day +10 damage
Special Qualities: Greater Damage, Enhanced Attributes Resist Fire/Cold 10, DR 5/magic

[Koumei]

So, before I go into thoughts on next session, a little pause:

Turns out there's a small convention in a month-ish that needs more games. So I thought I might run a Disgaeagame one-off there, because:
A. there will be more 3E games (1) than 4E games (0)
B. it will get Disgaeagame/Tome a bit of advertising as such
C. people want a light-hearted game they can play and forget about, at cons.

So I will call it New Game Plus, and the basic set-up (all that's needed for the Blurb) is that they killed the final boss and achieved victory, then activated the time machine to run through again and unlock the secrets... but something went wrong.

The story has not truly started again. Things are... different. The world is a different place, the final boss is still dead, and nothing is as it should be. Perhaps these heroes should find out what went wrong, and whether they have doomed their Netherworld through their actions.

---

Yes, this means every group is just another cycle in the same game, as every session can end with [____ End] -> New Game+

Anyway, what level region should it be? (I'm thinking 5-10 so that things are a bit on the stupid side, and they have options, but it isn't completely all over the place and there shouldn't be too much option paralysis - I'll even only bother listing actual abilities relevant to the character, sort of dumbing the sheets down because it's a con).

And what would an awesome 4-member team be?