2015-05-05: Party Balance

Follow the adventures of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Fran and Naga in this all-new humorous entry to the growing Poeverse.
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Nosy Neighbordroid
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2015-05-05: Party Balance

Post by Nosy Neighbordroid »

Discussion thread for Party Balance
lyze
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Re: 2015-05-05: Party Balance

Post by lyze »

I have not played pathfinder, is it that caster centric? Or caster friendly/favored?
smilingface
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Re: 2015-05-05: Party Balance

Post by smilingface »

Hehe :lol:
Nice one. Also DnD 5 solved a bunch of problems in a way that most buff spells are redundant and not stackable.
I'm currently playing a level five gnome eldritch knight. (Side note: Is the Necrognomicon the g is silent a thing?) So I currently have no real kick ass spells but seeing how my alchemist deals ass spanking in pathfinder tells me that a lot stuff got nerfed.

It maybe just playable and balanced. Next step should be taking away all the redundant spells though.

CoC I never played actually but the thing about not getting to fond of ones charakter I heard before. I played Arkham Horror a bunch of times now and if spellcasting in CoC drives you insane like in Arkham Horror it's a neat way to balance the game.

Another well balanced game concerning the magic system is Shadowrun 5. Casting to strong spells in this system can get your character to black out. During a shoot-out thats a reeealy bad thing ;)


PS: Yes, I realised just now how nerdy my ramblings are :geek:
lyze
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Re: 2015-05-05: Party Balance

Post by lyze »

CoC I have played, in D20, the original chaosium and in gurps. CoC done properly (not the d20 version) is brutal. Not only are even the weakest mythos ruthlessly difficult to fight much less kill, your character is pretty much guarunteed to be pathetic in any combat situation. Concentrate on shooting for example and you've got someone that can hit a man sized target at 50 yards that isn't moving in good lighting about 50% of the time. And that's assuming you take time to aim. Mythos creatures rarely if ever hold still, appear in good lighting or give you time to aim.
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dark_lord_zagato
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Re: 2015-05-05: Party Balance

Post by dark_lord_zagato »

As someone who has read all the stuff H.P. Lovecraft published it doesn't surprise me that CoC is nearly impossible. His stories are less about how the protagonist saves the world and more about how the protagonist meets his doom, watches someone else meet his doom, or becomes emotionally scarred after the adventure. His is not a nice world to live in.

I remember liking the concept of sanity points when i read the CoC D20 book. That could have been a lot of fun if i had anyone to tabletop with.
jy3
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Re: 2015-05-05: Party Balance

Post by jy3 »

"Dibs on former cultist!"
"Stoned old man looking for 'he wee men'!"
"Did I say 'Call of Cthulhu'? I meant 'FATAL'."
"Yay!"
"Dammit Naga, I'm trying to punish the group!"
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Michael Poe
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Re: 2015-05-05: Party Balance

Post by Michael Poe »

dark_lord_zagato wrote:As someone who has read all the stuff H.P. Lovecraft published it doesn't surprise me that CoC is nearly impossible. His stories are less about how the protagonist saves the world and more about how the protagonist meets his doom, watches someone else meet his doom, or becomes emotionally scarred after the adventure. His is not a nice world to live in.
It's a shame Cthulhutech's rule system was nigh unplayable because, the setting and concept was really fun. Basically Lovecraft combined with bits of Macross, Evangelion, and Guyver. The idea being that even when humanity has advanced to the point it had giant robots, biotech power armor, and energy weapons, about all it really does is just let us know how truly screwed we are when the shit hits the fan. And at best it might let humanity get one slightly painful nut punch in on an elder god before it wipes out all life.

But the actual rules were horrible and there was no way to play a mixed game of the various archetypes even though the writers of the book seemed to think there was.
lyze
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Re: 2015-05-05: Party Balance

Post by lyze »

Michael Poe wrote: It's a shame Cthulhutech's rule system was nigh unplayable because, the setting and concept was really fun. Basically Lovecraft combined with bits of Macross, Evangelion, and Guyver. The idea being that even when humanity has advanced to the point it had giant robots, biotech power armor, and energy weapons, about all it really does is just let us know how truly screwed we are when the shit hits the fan. And at best it might let humanity get one slightly painful nut punch in on an elder god before it wipes out all life.

But the actual rules were horrible and there was no way to play a mixed game of the various archetypes even though the writers of the book seemed to think there was.
We've used that game as source material for a D20 future game. It is an interesting if completely broken idea book.
Baeraad
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Re: 2015-05-05: Party Balance

Post by Baeraad »

... I do not think I have played enough Pathfinder to get the joke. The level-one casters I've (briefly) played in that system seemed about as puny as they could be expected to be. I mean, I expect that they turn into superheroes around level eight or so, but that's the same as in D&D, surely?

Call of Cthulhu, on the other hand, might be an excellent fit for problem players. All the things that are game-breaking and making a complete mockery of things in most games (e.g., refusing to go into the haunted house and just putting it on fire instead) is exactly how you're meant to play in CoC. Which is why I love it. There's a place in my heart for any game where you're supposed to act like a dirty coward. :D
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Re: 2015-05-05: Party Balance

Post by BloodHenge »

Baeraad wrote:... I do not think I have played enough Pathfinder to get the joke. The level-one casters I've (briefly) played in that system seemed about as puny as they could be expected to be. I mean, I expect that they turn into superheroes around level eight or so, but that's the same as in D&D, surely?
Basically. Which is unsurprising, considering it's essentially an update to 3.5e. One major improvement is that a lot of the spells got nerfed (especially buffs and instant kills) while noncasters and half-casters got loads of extra class features, so you can honestly be pretty ferocious at high levels no matter what class you pick.
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