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Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:47 am
by Koumei
When I say "done well", I don't mean well written or thought out. I mean, "it's like competent people in the Imperium sat down and tried to get something going with thought put in as to how to make it work well for people".
Because to start with, it's automatic public education for all orphans - and yes, your parents are allowed to legally disown you so you are an "orphan" and get the free education.
It's free room, food etc. Of course it's shit, but remember that most people in the Imperium are eating either shit or each other. So it's no big deal.
The quality of education is... well, there's mandatory religious studies, because this is the Imperium. That's unfortunate, but they also teach literacy (rare in the Imperium), and really useful skills. Your career options upon graduating are literally:
[*]Ecclesiarchy (easy life - and wealthy, with political power to boot)
[*]Scholar (easy life - and wealthy)
[*]Medic (better than being a guardsman)
[*]Imperial Storm Trooper (better survival than a guardsman)
[*]COMMISSAR, FUCK YEAH
[*]Adepta Sororitas
[*]Inquisitor (hidden option - Inquisitors often drop by and recruit from the Schola)
So basically, Any kid has the ability to go into this, and while it's probably a Hellish existence, it's better than starving on the street or being scooped into the Imperial Guard, and afterwards, you have a much better life.
Compare this to every other aspect of how the Imperium runs things.
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 8:08 am
by Mask_De_H
Koumei wrote:
If/when it's complete I might still make it into a proper .pdf and share with /tg/, but they're not really interested in things that aren't:
A. Quest threads
B. Warhammer 40k (and what with 6E and the new Chaos release, they're pretty obsessed with that atm)
C. Alignment arguments
(There used to be Edition Wars, but given 4th is dead and 5th is a joke... yeah, they just don't really discuss it at all, occasionally there's a PF thing)
So maybe not.
You forgot
D. Xenophilia (when the mods don't put the boots to it)
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 12:58 pm
by icyshadowlord
If the lack of interest is going to fuck up the arrival of a PDF, then everyone on this forum who didn't give a fuck should go hang themselves, preferably upside down so they die a slow and awkward death.
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:16 am
by Koumei
I'll do a pdf, it's just a matter of how pretty it will be, and whether it includes mango pages and coloured art for the front cover and all that.
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 9:20 pm
by Korwin
First read was awesome! Need to reread soon.
Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 5:28 am
by Korwin
So I know its not finished, still why not try to make an Sample-Char. and look what questions turn up.
Character Creation Steps:
Step 1: Select House and make any power/ability choices involved
Step 2: Select Elective Subjects and assign Grades (D, C, C, B, B, B, A, A)
Step 3: Select Club Activity
Step 4: Select Traits (up to +5 and -5)
Step 5: Make a description and backstory, as well as deciding on your Enemy/Rival, Best Friend/BFF and Idol/Sempai/Beloved
1: House Nobility
- Subjugation
- Domination or Sub Powers (since the Sub Powers are missing we take Domination)
- Automatic Status (faux nobility)
- Grade Boost to Language Studies
2:
Code: Select all
Gym B- 3d6-1
Health B+ 3d6+1
History B 3d6
Home Ec D 1d6
Language Studies C --> B 3d6+?
Science A- 4d6-1
Debate A+ 4d6+1
Computing C 2d6
Book Club
- Excuses to go searching for secret tomes - adventures and rewards!
- Automatically treats you as having a good grade for essay writing and studying, and gives a bonus to your Language Studies
- Is seen as a class for nerds or good students, rarely in trouble
- Can potentially learn magical spells
- Has a rivalry with the Occult Club, which may be friendly or... not.
- Influence: Read or Die
Does the Book Club give an double bonus to essay writing and studying (since thats in Language Studies)? How does the Club interact with House Nobility?
4:
Negative Traits
Pervert 1
Eerie 3
Positive Traits
Lucky 2
Graceful 2
Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 2:24 am
by Koumei
Korwin wrote:So Language Studies, House Nobility boost it from C to B, right?
That's right, it boosts it a full letter. I'm thinking that any "S" or "F" should apply
after all such things - if you want to be Inept at ___ then you can't get around it using your House, you're just incredibly shit at it, moreso for all your peers being good. Likewise if you want to be The Bestest at ___, you need to actually buy that trait.
Does the Book Club give an double bonus to essay writing and studying (since thats in Language Studies)? How does the Club interact with House Nobility?
I'll add clarification later, that it gives you a partial grade boost (add + to a straight letter, remove a -, too bad if you already had a +) to Language Studies, with essay writing and studying gaining a further +1 to the roll.
As for how they interact, the Book Club likes having Nobles there, as they add an element of class and dignity - the image of people sitting quietly in chairs reading ancient poetry and stuff.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 9:36 pm
by Whipstitch
That's right, it boosts it a full letter. I'm thinking that any "S" or "F" should apply after all such things - if you want to be Inept at ___ then you can't get around it using your House, you're just incredibly shit at it, moreso for all your peers being good. Likewise if you want to be The Bestest at ___, you need to actually buy that trait.
This is probably an editing artifact then, but you'll likely want to amend the House Magical Girl "Treat a grade as an S" to just awarding a Genius trait like the Nobles can get with Language Studies. Otherwise you just know that some House Magical Girl players will want to apply that "Treat as an S" to what would otherwise be a D-. Zero to hero is a fun storyline, but I wouldn't want promote an entire house going that way by default; people are already enamored with dump stats as it is in TTRPGs.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:20 pm
by Koumei
Thanks, yeah I'll do that.
And currently adding a bit more to the Clubs, so that they have Favoured Houses (doesn't mean much mechanically) and to add concrete benefits.
The Houses all have their abilities listed, once fixing the Houses and Clubs is all done, I'll get to actually filling those abilities in. I should also cover how combat works, I suppose.
Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 2:46 pm
by Korwin
Would like to see a short description of what the powers should do* (not so genre savy).
Also should there be a Flyer's Club?
* Thinking about converting using the setting to with M&M.
Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 9:47 am
by icyshadowlord
I would like one.
Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 11:02 am
by Koumei
Yeah, I'm working on the power descriptions.
I'm also wondering if one of the mandatory classes should be swapped for Meditation and Philosophy Studies, so as to have a "Will Save" stat. Or just add it, it's not like one more stat will tear things apart. Otherwise it's a matter of calling it a Math thing because STRONG BRAIN.
Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 10:01 pm
by Whipstitch
Yeah, you could easily fluff it as a class with an emphasis on ethics and frank discussions about why you shouldn't bully normal people with your super powers. I'd recommend that you emphasize the pointless menial labor approach to meditation and self-discipline. You know, fun stuff like copying books by hand in absolute silence for no reason. If you were to drop something I'd personally recommend demoting Home Ec since I think it'd be much easier to have characters essentially trade in favors and quests rather than worry much about saving and scrounging money given that buying power doesn't seem to be a design goal.
But with that said, I could totally see a Culinary Club taking up some of the slack if people want a dash of domestic skills but aren't feeling the Duty Club. Here's some possible stuff off of the top of my head:
Refined Palate: Bonus to detecting things by smell or taste
Distracting Hors d'oeuvres: Can produce a fine spread of treats to gain a bonus on social tests in polite company.
Iron Chef: Can fight with kitchen implements. Can handle hot objects and receives a bonus to resist being demoralized.
Global Gourmet: These guys have eaten things you wouldn't believe. Resistant to toxins and nausea.
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 12:34 am
by Koumei
There is already the Racing Club that covers flight, and the Cooking Club already exists. I altered it a little in line with "Home Ec is now an elective" and to add a note about resistances and cooking utensils for weapons.
And yeah, Home Ec is now an elective, replaced by Philosophy and Ethics.
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 2:45 am
by Whipstitch
Hrm. I wonder if I failed to notice the Cooking Club or if I did notice it at one point only to forget about it prior to mysteriously coming up with this great Cooking Club idea. With my brain it could go either way.
Anyway, my favorite thing about Philosophy class as a will save is how the craziest anime characters are prone to ranting about human nature in a way that really makes it sound like they failed Comparative Ethics really badly.
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 2:59 am
by Koumei
So, a lot of clubs give "You have an effective grade of X in Y". Should I instead just actually give Club Activities a grade?
Pros:
[*]It avoids the above - you just say "X actions count as Club Activities for you if you want"
[*]People can be slackers in class but awesome at their hobbies
Cons:
[*]People can suck at their hobbies
[*]It's one more grade people have to track on their sheets
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 3:14 am
by ...You Lost Me
I'd rather not have people suck at their hobbies...
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 4:02 am
by Chamomile
I like the system where being part of a club gives you a grade boost (partial or otherwise) rather than being a grade unto itself.
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 4:08 am
by Koumei
Fair enough, I wasn't particularly married to the idea.
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 4:47 am
by Whipstitch
The possibility of being an inept hobbyist actually hits me as something of a feature rather than a bug, but overall I am against the idea since I suspect pulling from the same pool of letter grades as electives and required courses could be something of a clusterfuck balance wise, particularly since there's frankly already a fair bit of overlap involved. I'm already a pinch skeptical about there being a Music elective and a Music Club and if you're supposed to assign letter grades to both of them from the same pile then that skepticism gets dialed all the way up to 11.
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 12:43 am
by Koumei
Okay, the Combat section is done. I revamped the Status Effects section so that there are six, instead of something like sixteen. You just flavour a status effect with causes and keywords now and move on.
Yes, now to keep doing powers, starting with basic descriptions and then moving onto mechanics. And after that, the system is basically done.
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 4:15 am
by Whipstitch
Regarding Defend: It'd be cool if there was an option to make outgoing attacks from someone within your melee reach less effective as well--e.g., if you could Shadow & Guard a gunman so that when they try to shoot the VIP you can do a Defend and make their shot Hard.
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 4:18 am
by Koumei
Sure, that seems totally reasonable.
Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:17 am
by Whipstitch
So, I was thinking about cheerleaders today* and a couple setting questions came to mind. First off, is there going to be other Hero schools for students to compete against in Hero level death sports/Serious Business wholesome extracurricular activities or is it mostly in-house rivalry? Because if there are other schools to compete against it might be sorta fun if you took the cheerleaders=ninja clan thing you already have hinted at to the next level--Ouendan squads could seriously take it upon themselves to conduct espionage on rival athletic teams or at least act as bodyguards/counter-agents against less honorable schools. I like the idea for two reasons:
1. Evil cheerleader invasions.
2. Bakuhatsu cheerleaders would actually have more motivation to shadow jocks and be cliquey and secretive than in the real world.
Also, this is apropos of nothing, but the cheer squad's top enforcer should be the mysterious school mascot. I recommend a tanuki suit.
*I was playing Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2, so no, showers weren't involved.
Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:31 am
by Koumei
I'm disappointed that you weren't thinking of cheerleaders in the proper way.
Anyway, yeah, the idea is that there are different campuses around the world, although they're basically all owned by Messiah Enterprises. Though inter-campus rivalry is encouraged.
I am overruling the tanuki thing. There will be no massive nut sacks. The mascot thing, maybe. But really, that could just be a case of them being a Beast Master or Monstrosity.