And now a passage from an RPG

Odradek · 2016-12-17 16:17:25

NEUTRAL
First of all, there is no such thing as an absolute or true neutral. All
people tend toward good, evil or self-gratification. An absolute true
neutral could not make a decision, go on an adventure, kill, or take
any action of any kind without leaning toward good, evil or self-gratification.
It is humanly impossible and is, therefore, eliminated in the
context of this game. (I realize that some of the philosophers out there
may disagree with this, but that's a topic for philosophical debate and
not a factor of this game. Sorry, no neutrals).

glennmagusharvey · 2016-12-17 16:48:51

Odradek said:
NEUTRAL
First of all, there is no such thing as an absolute or true neutral. All
people tend toward good, evil or self-gratification. An absolute true
neutral could not make a decision, go on an adventure, kill, or take
any action of any kind without leaning toward good, evil or self-gratification.
It is humanly impossible and is, therefore, eliminated in the
context of this game. (I realize that some of the philosophers out there
may disagree with this, but that's a topic for philosophical debate and
not a factor of this game. Sorry, no neutrals).

This sounds a lot like those people who argue against a neutral option on Steam reviews.

Calica · 2016-12-20 07:00:01

Odradek · 2016-12-21 15:07:09

Another way to think of it is in terms of a video game. Picture one of the older video games, whether it's an old arcade game or computer type. In most of the old games, you, the player, can only fire so many bullets or blasts per so many seconds. Once you've fired those handful of blasts it takes a few seconds for the weapon to recycle and in those few seconds you cannot fire the weapon. How many times have you wished you could fire in those two or three seconds? And how many times have you died because you could not shoot during those two seconds?

Now think about the super-fast video games available today. Many have unlimited ammunition and can shoot as quickly as you can pull the trigger (depress the fire button) or, better yet, continually shoot as long as the trigger/fire button is depressed. These games with the continual shooting element are fast paced and give the player a distinct advantage over his enemies. The level of shooting expertise is replaced by the speed of a continuously rapid-firing weapon. This is the same rudimentary principle behind semiautomatic and automatic weapons.

Klinotaxis · 2016-12-21 18:09:14

Wha

Bee · 2016-12-21 18:38:40

The funniest part is that's the exact opposite of how weapon mechanics have changed over the years.

Odradek · 2016-12-22 02:50:54

Klinotaxis said:
Wha

These are both from Rifts, an RPG in which the lead writer, Kevin Siembieda likes to go on long bizarre tangents about how things work, and also how all the ideas in sections written by other people were his

Klinotaxis · 2016-12-22 03:43:20

lol a trpg writer is blathering about doom that's awesome

Imipolex G · 2016-12-22 03:44:25

d00d has obviously never played doom, or he would know that the chaingun goes through ammo like it's going out of style

Odradek · 2016-12-22 04:06:29

I honestly don't know of an FPS where more than like, one or two gimmick weapons have unlimited ammo

glennmagusharvey · 2016-12-22 04:06:59

Imipolex G said:
d00d has obviously never played doom, or he would know that the chaingun goes through ammo like it's going out of style

d00m

lee4hmz · 2016-12-22 04:19:40

who even bothers with the chaingun in doom? shotgun, rocket launcher, or bust

Calica · 2016-12-22 04:21:51

Odradek said:
I honestly don't know of an FPS where more than like, one or two gimmick weapons have unlimited ammo

doesn't the basic pistol in Doom have unlimited ammo so you're not completely screwed over if you run out of everything

Bee · 2016-12-22 04:25:57

A few games do that, but even then it usually needs to reload, specifically for the added timing strategy.

Conversely, I can't think of a lot of old stuff that makes you reload at all, even if it does have limited ammo. I mean, I'm thinking of SNES top-down stuff here.

And I don't know what the context for this guy bitching about reloading in FPSes is, but if you want to translate it into a TRPG it's most reasonably a swift action and probably shouldn't even provoke AOO unless it's a large rifle or something. A skilled marksman (as a PC is assumed to be) can change mags in less than a second, and the main bottleneck for going faster is how quickly the old one drops out.

I'd call it swift enough that even if it had strict rules written, I'd house rule that it's not even worth tracking your mag contents every round.

Odradek · 2016-12-22 04:30:28

One or two I said

Imipolex G · 2016-12-22 04:36:55

lee4hmz said:
who even bothers with the chaingun in doom? shotgun, rocket launcher, or bust

I use almost all of the weapons, personally. Plasma gun is the best, along with bust.

Odradek · 2016-12-22 17:02:22

Question: Why would anybody ever want to use an S.D.C. weapon when they can have a mega-damage weapon?

Answer: I am a bit surprised at how often this question arises. It's sort of like asking, why go duck hunting with a rifle when you can use a grenade launcher? The answer: maybe because you want more of the duck than a cluster of feathers. In many instances, mega-damage weapons are overkill! They are necessary in the world of Rifts because of the incredibly powerful supernatural, magic, alien, and high-tech monsters and villains that exist. However, these weapons are inappropriate when someone does not wish to completely obliterate an S.D.C. structure or kill an S.D.C. creature; most animals, D-Bees and humans are such puny creatures.

Example number one: Your character is out in the wilderness. His food supply exhausted, he goes hunting for food. A jack rabbit leaps out from hiding and the character blasts it with his energy pistol inflicting a mere one (1) point of mega-damage. All that remains of the rabbit is a smear of blood. Suddenly, a deer, startled by the noise, makes a dash through open ground! The character whirls around and blasts it with his mega-damage handgun, inflicting two (2) M.D.! The animal is torn in half by the blast and the medium size tree behind it is also split in half and falls over toward the character (it barely misses him). Behind the tree is a volleyball size swath cut through the bushes, some 50 yards long. At least the character has enough of the deer left to provide food for several days. However, he has made so much noise that every creature within a mile (1.6 km) radius knows he's there. The deer's skin/fur is useless unless he wants to make a scarf or cap, and he narrowly averted being pinned or killed by the falling tree. Furthermore, what if the underbrush had been dry? He could have started a forest fire

Example number two: You and your team are hunting down a suspected criminal. You've been hired to bring him in alive for questioning (after all, he may be innocent). The trail ends at a ramshackle saloon in a shanty town. Inside the saloon is a host of rough and tumble rogues; among them, your suspect. None are wearing M.D.C. armor, but a few are armed with M.D. weapons. The moment he sees you the suspect pulls out a weapon. It is a mega-damage laser. He shoots and hits. You return fire with a mega-damage assault rifle and strike, inflicting 8 M.D.! The suspect's entire upper torso is vaporized. The shocked tavern patrons flee in terror and you may have just killed an innocent man in the blink of an eye. The repercussions of this incident may lead to the player character who shot the man being charged for murder, and his teammates as accomplices to that murder. Although a more likely scenario, in this wilderness setting, is the victim's gang buddies come looking for revenge.

What if this battle continued? A headhunter dives behind the bar and fires his mega-damage rifle wildly at the attackers. Each shot misses, but punches basketball size holes through the walls and into the street where a fleeing patron is blasted in half. If our heroes(?) return fire they will only inflict more damage and possibly kill innocent people. Even the headhunter behind the bar (who they can kill by blasting through the S.D.C. bar) may be a good guy! All he knows is that a wild group of madmen came in and started blasting with mega-damage weapons. While our heroes are trying to figure out their next move, another saloon patron jumps one of the player characters. He's attacked the most vulnerable looking target, an unarmed, robed fellow. The robed character is a metamorphed dragon. The dragon does not want to kill this guy, so he tries to slap him and knock him out. Unfortunately, in the excitement he strikes him too hard (first roll to strike and then roll to pull punch; a failed pull punch means he strikes with full force). He hits him in the head inflicting four (4) M.D. points or the equivalent of 400 S.D.C. points! The man's head is torn from the shoulder and bounces off the wall across the room or is splattered like a melon. Note: I know these descriptions are fairly graphic and quite disgusting, but this is what would happen when military weapons designed to destroy heavily armored tanks and giant robots are used against ordinary people and S.D.C. structures.

The unrestrained use of mega-damage weapons can result in all sorts of problems. Caution should be exercised. When it is not, the GM should take the situation in hand and respond to it. This next example really happened in one of our play-tests (as did the three day old dragon literally knocking a villain's head off by accident. "Oh!!!" he gasped in surprise. "These humans are so fragile!! They're nothing like dragons!").

Example number three: The group has come to the rescue of a small town that it obviously under siege by some sort of hideous supernatural creature or creatures. Bodies lay everywhere and buildings are on fire. They hear a child scream and dart into the building for the rescue

Their opponent is a strange demonic creature from a rift (generated via the Quick Roll Monsters tables in Rifts). The child is on the roof. Two characters fly up to the roof, two others go inside the building. The creature can shadow meld and strikes first. It is a tough villain and our heroes must retreat for a moment and regroup. A moment later, the creature is gone, but they hear the floor boards overhead creak under the heavy weight of their seven foot opponent. They fire energy assault weapons into the ceiling at the source of the creaking (they know the building to be empty). The mega-damage blasts miss the creature (they are shooting blind) and punch big holes into the ceiling/floor above them and through the next floor to the roof! One stray blast hits one of then-own teammates, who was, fortunately, the dragon.

Another floor board creaks and they blast again! All shots miss, but the floor/ceiling is so weakened by the blasts that the floor gives way and the creature falls right in the middle of them, along with half the floor and hundreds of pounds of debris. Meanwhile, an enemy gang of high-tech bandits they fought earlier hears the commotion and enters the building to attack our heroes as an act of revenge.

In the ensuing battle, large chunks of this three story, wood frame building are being blown to bits. At one point an entire wall is blasted away. Finally, there is this loud creaking noise. Somebody gasps, "More of the monsters?" Ha! "No," the GM replies, "The creaking is much louder and is now accompanied by loud cracking and crashing sounds." You guessed it, the entire building is collapsing. I mean, sheesh, a building can only withstand so much structural damage before it is destroyed. Another play-test group wondered how Coalition SAMAS attackers could have found them in the woods, forgetting in an earlier battle, not far away, they had blasted a score of trees, knocking them down, during the melee.

Players and Game Masters alike must think about the devastating power of their weapons and armor. It is this power that makes petty dictators possible, especially in the wildernesses. One or two mercenaries garbed in M.D.C. armor and armed with mega- damage weapons can walk into a village and declare themselves the rulers. Who can stop them unless the villagers have a champion or protector with superior mega-damage capabilities or magic. They must succumb or flee or assassinate the dictator(s) when he is not wearing his M.D.C. armor at some later period. Remember, the average character in simple M.D.C. body armor and M.D. blaster is the equivalent of a 20th Century tank! Power armor or a robot vehicle may be equivalent to a division of 20th Century tanks. And, as good as a tank is, it is not always the weapon for the job.

And now a passage from an RPG

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