Green Ronin are working on a new AGE game...

[lordmalachdrim]

For me, all it took was one bullet point to make me say no: Vancian magic is back. Cannot stand it. Boring, limiting, and down right stupid in a game system.

Vancian Magic? Ok, I'm interested. Now if they would just bring back THAC0 I'd pre-order it today.

[si1vergecko]

Vanican magic I don't necessarily mind as I acknowledge that I can see the logic behind it in some game systems, especially as an element of balancing as well as giving versatility.

That said in a manner of speaking I also don't mind not using it in a sense that I don't have to worry about it know what I mean?

[Allensh]

Vancian Magic is D&D jut like non-Vancian magic is Dragon Age.

Allen

[Pytorb]

D&D is pretty much synonymous with Vancian magic but that doesn't make it any more playable in my personal opinion. The Sorceror class was one of the great advances in 3.x. But I digress.

Personally I can't wait for a fantasy setting for AGE without the IP restrictions of Dragon Age. The AGE system is very playable, as long as you provide a mechanism to allow players to generate stunt points when they need them to pull off a specific stunt at a specific time that is in the best interest of the story as a whole. So seeing more published material for it will be great.

[Zapp]

Vancian magic is definitely not one of the holy cows of D&D.

Perhaps for old AD&D maybe it is, but not D&D in general (d20, PF, 4E, ...)

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[Heru-ur]

Ah too bad, Mass Effect is an excellent game and the Age engine is an exceptional system.

[Lord Pasty]

Color me bummed. Since its not going to be a licensed world, that means it won't be WFRP 4 either. It'd be great as a generic medieval fantasy game, tho. Kinda hope that's what they do. Not there's anything wrong with it as DA!

[Arimmus]

I think WOTC tried to hard when they made everything pay to pay. To even look at the VTT they created, you have to pay. And not a one time fee , like battlegrounds or some others, but 15 bucks a month. What is up with that. Other things i have issues with as well, but meh, I dont buy their stuff anymore, So I guess I dont care.

[CRKrueger]

D&D is pretty much synonymous with Vancian magic but that doesn't make it any more playable in my personal opinion. The Sorceror class was one of the great advances in 3.x. But I digress.

Personally I can't wait for a fantasy setting for AGE without the IP restrictions of Dragon Age. The AGE system is very playable, as long as you provide a mechanism to allow players to generate stunt points when they need them to pull off a specific stunt at a specific time that is in the best interest of the story as a whole. So seeing more published material for it will be great.

Oh yeah, that's what AGE needs, Storygame mechanics...

[Pytorb]

Well not a full humanity track obviously but any game rules have to work with the story the GM and the players are trying to tell, enabling you to do heroic or tragic actions within the setting, not telling you what you can't do.

Several of the players in our group found the completely random nature of Stunt Points to be crippling in their enjoyment of the game. They found Stunt Points too restrictive as they minimised opportunities for the players to react to the situation the way they wanted unless a double and the dragon dice said they could. The dice never lie so they might fail in what they are trying to do but they resented the rules not giving them the opportunity to try. I could see the Stunt Point system working one level removed to do what they wanted but they wanted the explicit opportunity to fail rather than the "you didn't roll a double so the opportunity never arose" implicit in Stunt Points.

[jameson]

Several of the players in our group found the completely random nature of Stunt Points to be crippling in their enjoyment of the game. They found Stunt Points too restrictive as they minimised opportunities for the players to react to the situation the way they wanted unless a double and the dragon dice said they could. The dice never lie so they might fail in what they are trying to do but they resented the rules not giving them the opportunity to try. I could see the Stunt Point system working one level removed to do what they wanted but they wanted the explicit opportunity to fail rather than the "you didn't roll a double so the opportunity never arose" implicit in Stunt Points.

You could always implement a Hero/Fate Point mechanic that allows the player to spend it before a roll to have it automatically be a stunt regardless of the dice roll. I say spending it before because it would be easy for a player to sit on them until they roll a 6 on the dragon die and decide to cash in at that point. If their roll would normally be a stunt anyway they get their point back, but otherwise they get the normal stunt points to use on that action. I probably wouldn't hand out many of these in a session, but one or two per session would be very valuable, while also still tempting to use.

[Pytorb]

This is what I went for by way of a houserule.

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=9874#p95347

The hero points idea doesn't get round the lesser issue our group also had with Stunt Points, they are too frequent and hold up game play (which is why my house rules reduce them from a 44% to a 19% chance of occurring). If that's not an issue though, hero points sound like a great way to go.

[shonuff]

I'm stealing something from the Serenity RPG/Cortex system. Each player has Plot Points, which can be used to receive a large bonus if decided to be used before rolling, or a +1 if decided after rolling.

Each player starts with 6, and can have up to 12 at any time before they stop receiving them. At the end of an adventure, any Plot Points over 6 are converted to XP. However, you should be constantly receiving them at GM-discretion (good role-playing, great ideas, etc.).

I intend to convert that to DA. At the start of each adventure, PCs receive 5 Stunt Points to be used as they see fit. They can receive more in their bank at GM discretion (but it will probably be capped at 5... maybe 10). After that, they receive stunt points as usual.

I don't think it completely screws with the game balance, rather if they need a specific stunt at a certain time, PCs can use it.

[Pytorb]

I've not seen Serenity RPG/Cortex so that reminds me of D6 Star Wars, either way its a great idea. Would they have an opportunity to convert Stunt Point into Experience Points? Perhaps 1 Stunt Point over 5 =10 Experience Points x Charcter Level...

[shonuff]

Possibly.... haven't thought of that. lol. It would have to be, IMO, at the end of the adventure, so it would still be a use it or lose it while mid-adventure. That way, I think, it keeps the PCs heroic while not affecting balance too much (hopefully).

[jameson]

This is what I went for by way of a houserule.

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=9874#p95347

Hmm, that's a little mathy for my taste, and still has a fair chance of failure, but to each their own.

I also toyed with the idea of allowing they player a limited number of "dice edits" in order to lower the value of one die by 1 point in order to get doubles, but since its an "after roll" mechanic I decided that the penalty was outweighed by the stunt and also the ability to easily determine if that -1 (from lowing a die) would result in a near-miss.

[Loswaith]

Having gone off on a bit of a tangent, Ill add to that.
Realy all Age lacks is a cohesive actions system where you can add things like knockdowns, disarms or similar kind of thing. Personaly I like the stunt system as ancillary effects, and while some stunts dont realy fit as specific actions (added damage ones for instance) others can do so quite happily which can lead to complications in just letting guarenteed stunts happen.

Back on topic:
For me I am very interested in another line of Age material as it i's more the system I am interested in than the actual Dragon Age setting, which brings along its own baggage as well. If nothing else it may end up being more frequent release of age material without the need to wait on approvals.

[jameson]

Yes, moving back to topic ... I rather like the look of wrathofzombie's Firefly conversion for AGE, and an "AGE Modern" supplement would be a nice setting free supplement.

[Aavarius]

Yes, moving back to topic ... I rather like the look of wrathofzombie's Firefly conversion for AGE, and an "AGE Modern" supplement would be a nice setting free supplement.

I've been seriously considering doing a reinterpretation of wrathofzombie's work for a more generalized space opera setting. It'd be more of an implied setting rather than a specific IP, though there's no point in reinventing the wheel so far as I'm concerned. All the established space operas would be fair game for inspiration. I'm tentatively calling it "Space AGE" in my head, though that's kind of silly. If I had my choice this kind of setting is what I'd want GR to do. Maybe someday my idea will actually get on paper.

[Arimmus]

Age system is really versatile for fantasy games in their own right. I mean i have constructed a decent world setting using AGE and my players find they like it. I have also seen a MYSTARA world setting ( for those that don't know MYSTARA is pre-greyhawk D&D) among various others. I think it is really up to the mind to what the possibility of the AGE system is rather than just a setting. AGE is still better than D20. IMHO.

[Siroh]

Yes, moving back to topic ... I rather like the look of wrathofzombie's Firefly conversion for AGE, and an "AGE Modern" supplement would be a nice setting free supplement.

I've been seriously considering doing a reinterpretation of wrathofzombie's work for a more generalized space opera setting. It'd be more of an implied setting rather than a specific IP, though there's no point in reinventing the wheel so far as I'm concerned. All the established space operas would be fair game for inspiration. I'm tentatively calling it "Space AGE" in my head, though that's kind of silly. If I had my choice this kind of setting is what I'd want GR to do. Maybe someday my idea will actually get on paper.

I've also put some thought into what about Generic Space Opera and AGE. It has teeth as an idea, but I think I'm not going to do it. I've already got two subsets of fan projects I could write for years yet without adding this too.

[Aavarius]

I've also put some thought into what about Generic Space Opera and AGE. It has teeth as an idea, but I think I'm not going to do it. I've already got two subsets of fan projects I could write for years yet without adding this too.

Not to drag this thread anymore off topic than I have, but I'd be interested in knowing what ideas you had, even if they're very preleminary.

[Siroh]

I've also put some thought into what about Generic Space Opera and AGE. It has teeth as an idea, but I think I'm not going to do it. I've already got two subsets of fan projects I could write for years yet without adding this too.

Not to drag this thread anymore off topic than I have, but I'd be interested in knowing what ideas you had, even if they're very preleminary.

Well I started more or less with Eternal Shadows, kept Shock but changed the effects to be more a generic stun effect that ends quickly. I was going to go with Expert, Scoundrel, Technician and Warrior classes, with each having some combat abilities in a style that fis their archetype. I was working through Tactics as a mechanic, i.e. the commanding officer/leader makes a Cunning (Tactics) test and can bank the Dragon Die as points they can farm out in teamwork bonuses throughout the fight. Similar mechanic for space battles. Using Extra Effort to convert Health into Stunt Points so characters can be assured they can get the stunt effect they want, at a price. I had begun converting a few Talents, and wrote Psionic Power usage up as Maneuvers that anybody with the correct power could attempt. Basically, if you spent the entire round you could activate a Psi power. As characters got higher level they could unlock a new Psi power (from a list of just 4) by taking the Focus for it. I was also trying to decouple species bonuses from backgrounds much in the way that characters in Eternal Shadows have Development Picks and Career bonuses.

[Disemvowel]

Amazing idea for tactical combat!

Has anyone else aside from Midgard played with Mage not being a background? They have a failed arcanist type, but some of their other backgrounds also list Mage as a class choice, rather than Mage being available via background only. Would the Psionicists in the space opera have a background (Jedi), or could they just be a dude/gal from system X who also happens to be Psi?

[Aavarius]

"Banking" stunt points is something I've seen elsewhere and the more I see it the more I like it as an alternative to DA's problem of random opportunities for stunts. It's something worth giving some more thought.

Has anyone else aside from Midgard played with Mage not being a background? They have a failed arcanist type, but some of their other backgrounds also list Mage as a class choice, rather than Mage being available via background only.

Yes. Technically. I'm tinkering around with a classless system based on work by the work of DracoDruid with a lot of my own fiddly bits stabbed into it. Maybe if I get it into a more coherent form I'll make a thread about it and see if you all think it can stand on its own.

Would the Psionicists in the space opera have a background (Jedi), or could they just be a dude/gal from system X who also happens to be Psi?

I guess we all knew that the magic system would likely get reskinned as a psionic power system, didn't we? If this question were directed at me I'd most assuredly have a story reason for those powers and why certain people had them and others didn't, but I'm not incined to have it mechanically tied to a DA-style Background.