You see. if i was trying this system, i'd try something dumb like making a character i call "Bulk" who just buys toughness and Con and basically tries to outlast everyone.
@LordSathar Sure! Too bad your saving throws suck. And you have no skills. And your abilities are lower than everybody else's. And you've got no class abilities/feats. And you can't hit anything because you didn't buy up your attack bonus. And it's _really_ too bad that your GM decided to run a political game with little to no violence.
I really like the idea of the Adventuring Pool. Also because it can easily adapted to other pool-systems. I'll try to experiment with this in our Shadowrun group. ^^
I may have put this on the wrong spot at first, but basically my idea to solve the combat drag issue was to import something like a cool description gives a reward mechanic. This could be something like the Drama Dice mechanic from 7th Sea or the Stunt system from Exalted. For my group, cool descriptions really make combats and avoids the drag factor.
Use the powers from 4e! I can not stand DnD at all anymore, but I will admit that 4e combat is actually rather interesting with they you are constantly moving about and doing different things every round.
I did put together a video on how I would make combat more dramatic within the D&D world, based on the Santa Vaca: Murder video. I've now finally posted it as a responce to this video. Let me know what you think.
@CaptainCathode Saw that video and completely agree with you on making skills useful in combat. I'm replying to your post because I agree with what you said, but I also want to mention something as well. Combat can slow down to a crawl when people are busy looking up rules, which happens a lot more with spellcasters. I have a way of dealing with the spellcasters looking up spells, but honestly, I don't like it. I'd like to see of a good way to approach that.
Is there any chance that you'll write Santa Vaca down and put it into a pdf format? I'm not a huge D&D fan but its just fun to watch how this system gets revamped in this manner.
@hathiphnath Just what he says in the video, to modify D&D to be something that suits his group's playing style. I would assume there's a few people out there that like some parts of D&D but not the system. I personally do not at all like the D&D or any level based d20 systems but the system John is presenting is sounding much more playable for me and my tastes in gaming.
@TheMockFrog You didn't get my question. John is a game designer. He really does it for a living. The abilities and spells (and the sheet) aside, he's created whole new system he can't sell because it relies on D&D 3.x books. The appeal of the system to be for those people who already know the core of D&D 3.x, but are frustrated how rigid it is... (to be continued)
@hathiphnath You just asked what the purpose was and I told you. Obviously it's not to make money as a game designer. Even those do things that are just for fun, including people that work at WotC who have helped out lots of people with SWSE after it got discontinued. Not exactly something they earn money from.
@TheMockFrog My best guess is that he plans to take what he wants from 3.5 SRD, strap on his new character creation and dice mechanics... and publish it. However, that would IMO be a mess because... while it may seem that the whole system relies on 3.x mechanics... It actually relies on PEOPLE that are FAMILIAR with 3.x mechanics. Nobody is willing to pick abilities from pages upon pages of options unless they've already familiar with them via a structured interface (D&D 3.x).
@hathiphnath Whether John has any plans on making money off it (if that's even possible from a legal standpoint) that of course has to be up to him to answer. Not much point in me speculating about that.
@TheMockFrog Yeah, I wasn't actually expecting someone other than him answering this =) But sure, it would be legal as long has he includes the Open Gaming Licence. At least from the mechanics standpoint... not sure whether WotC would allow republishing their sheet though.
I love this series of tweaking DnD. May I offer a suggestion for combat? I am not sure if you guys are are still using the whole AC to Hit rules, but in several games I run I've found that combat speeds up if you just have the player character roll against the DM's NPC. If the NPC rolled low, the player hit, they roll damage, armor takes it and degrades, and what is left over hits the health points, or it deflects. May sound more complicated, but it does speed things up.
I really like these updates. I've always been a D&D fan since I first played 2E. I just don't enjoy 3.0 or 3.5 anymore. It was too tactical for my tastes. There were too many things to consider when going into combat. Flat footed, attacks of opportunity, etc. It bogged things down too much IMHO. I was also growing tired of people munchkining their characters into these uber powerful demigods by tweaking loopholes in the rules. I'm glad to see you modifying the system to make it more interesting.
Hold on. The Magic-User didn't have any dice to climb down a cliff because he's not a physical character, but couldn't he pick up any dice from their Adventuring Pool?
Right, the last bit of the video made me think otherwise, but you actually said that he did infact take dice from the Adventuring Pool. You said that in about 6:35.
But... did he do that kind of thing whenever he had to roll for a test that he didn't have dice for? Because then he effectively has dice available. Which depends on the other characters, or! On his own intelligence rolls in which he banked his wagers. If that's the case, then he doesn't have that weakness anymore.
Dnd is a game about killing, but your version seems to be about so much more. Did you go ahead with the "one roll" for combat to see how it played out? I can see how it would be uncomfortable to change such an integral part of "DnD" but in view of how all the other changes were such a success, I would like to see how it plays in real time...
You see. if i was trying this system, i'd try something dumb like making a character i call "Bulk" who just buys toughness and Con and basically tries to outlast everyone.
LordSathar 10 months ago
@LordSathar Sure! Too bad your saving throws suck. And you have no skills. And your abilities are lower than everybody else's. And you've got no class abilities/feats. And you can't hit anything because you didn't buy up your attack bonus. And it's _really_ too bad that your GM decided to run a political game with little to no violence.
LordStrange 10 months ago
@LordSathar I thought part of playtesting was to test dumb strategies to see how they affect the game.
LordSathar 10 months ago
It seems like Santa Vaca is shaping up into a fantasy roleplaying game I'd be very interested to play and run.
Keep us informed John!
vomitbrown1 11 months ago
I really like the idea of the Adventuring Pool. Also because it can easily adapted to other pool-systems. I'll try to experiment with this in our Shadowrun group. ^^
Raffo42 11 months ago
I may have put this on the wrong spot at first, but basically my idea to solve the combat drag issue was to import something like a cool description gives a reward mechanic. This could be something like the Drama Dice mechanic from 7th Sea or the Stunt system from Exalted. For my group, cool descriptions really make combats and avoids the drag factor.
darthcheshire 11 months ago
do you have any plans to make the santa vaca rules for down load
tarboy69 11 months ago
@tarboy69 We'll see. Still too nebulous.
LordStrange 11 months ago
@LordStrange I hope so i have all you stuff and enjoy it very much
tarboy69 11 months ago
If the Jackofall works, that is a really good indication that the system works.
jacobromu 11 months ago
Either that or take a nod from Dresden Files with those bonus dice.
You got Goblins over here? Make your intimidation check and take your wager dice and actually put them on a card for players to see, as a block.
Do not just put them in a pool, put them on a card with an aspect in combat. So that they know what is going on and how they are contributing.
thadrine 11 months ago
Combat boring?
Use the powers from 4e! I can not stand DnD at all anymore, but I will admit that 4e combat is actually rather interesting with they you are constantly moving about and doing different things every round.
thadrine 11 months ago
I did put together a video on how I would make combat more dramatic within the D&D world, based on the Santa Vaca: Murder video. I've now finally posted it as a responce to this video. Let me know what you think.
CaptainCathode 11 months ago
@CaptainCathode Saw that video and completely agree with you on making skills useful in combat. I'm replying to your post because I agree with what you said, but I also want to mention something as well. Combat can slow down to a crawl when people are busy looking up rules, which happens a lot more with spellcasters. I have a way of dealing with the spellcasters looking up spells, but honestly, I don't like it. I'd like to see of a good way to approach that.
skage 11 months ago
Please hurry with the "More soon" part! ;o)
Is there any chance that you'll write Santa Vaca down and put it into a pdf format? I'm not a huge D&D fan but its just fun to watch how this system gets revamped in this manner.
So thanks for the effort, John.
hoboyho 11 months ago
Later on in the process, do you intend to let other groups playtest Santa Vaca? If so, I'd like to!
GMCiaramella 11 months ago
your group sounds fun can you move to sacramento and game with us
tarboy69 11 months ago
I'm still big time confused what the purpose of this whole experiment is...
hathiphnath 11 months ago
@hathiphnath Just what he says in the video, to modify D&D to be something that suits his group's playing style. I would assume there's a few people out there that like some parts of D&D but not the system. I personally do not at all like the D&D or any level based d20 systems but the system John is presenting is sounding much more playable for me and my tastes in gaming.
TheMockFrog 11 months ago
@TheMockFrog You didn't get my question. John is a game designer. He really does it for a living. The abilities and spells (and the sheet) aside, he's created whole new system he can't sell because it relies on D&D 3.x books. The appeal of the system to be for those people who already know the core of D&D 3.x, but are frustrated how rigid it is... (to be continued)
hathiphnath 11 months ago
@hathiphnath You just asked what the purpose was and I told you. Obviously it's not to make money as a game designer. Even those do things that are just for fun, including people that work at WotC who have helped out lots of people with SWSE after it got discontinued. Not exactly something they earn money from.
TheMockFrog 11 months ago
@TheMockFrog My best guess is that he plans to take what he wants from 3.5 SRD, strap on his new character creation and dice mechanics... and publish it. However, that would IMO be a mess because... while it may seem that the whole system relies on 3.x mechanics... It actually relies on PEOPLE that are FAMILIAR with 3.x mechanics. Nobody is willing to pick abilities from pages upon pages of options unless they've already familiar with them via a structured interface (D&D 3.x).
hathiphnath 11 months ago
@hathiphnath Whether John has any plans on making money off it (if that's even possible from a legal standpoint) that of course has to be up to him to answer. Not much point in me speculating about that.
TheMockFrog 11 months ago
@TheMockFrog Yeah, I wasn't actually expecting someone other than him answering this =) But sure, it would be legal as long has he includes the Open Gaming Licence. At least from the mechanics standpoint... not sure whether WotC would allow republishing their sheet though.
hathiphnath 11 months ago
I love this series of tweaking DnD. May I offer a suggestion for combat? I am not sure if you guys are are still using the whole AC to Hit rules, but in several games I run I've found that combat speeds up if you just have the player character roll against the DM's NPC. If the NPC rolled low, the player hit, they roll damage, armor takes it and degrades, and what is left over hits the health points, or it deflects. May sound more complicated, but it does speed things up.
FleetwolfLupinoss 11 months ago
I really like these updates. I've always been a D&D fan since I first played 2E. I just don't enjoy 3.0 or 3.5 anymore. It was too tactical for my tastes. There were too many things to consider when going into combat. Flat footed, attacks of opportunity, etc. It bogged things down too much IMHO. I was also growing tired of people munchkining their characters into these uber powerful demigods by tweaking loopholes in the rules. I'm glad to see you modifying the system to make it more interesting.
highpriestrsw2 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
The party dice pool reminds me of the Karma pool from the old Marvel Superheroes Game.
dracowayfarer 11 months ago
Comment removed
dracowayfarer 11 months ago
Hold on. The Magic-User didn't have any dice to climb down a cliff because he's not a physical character, but couldn't he pick up any dice from their Adventuring Pool?
allluckyseven 11 months ago
@allluckyseven No, he *did* use dice from the Adventuring Pool. :)
LordStrange 11 months ago
Comment removed
allluckyseven 11 months ago
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@LordStrange
Right, the last bit of the video made me think otherwise, but you actually said that he did infact take dice from the Adventuring Pool. You said that in about 6:35.
But... did he do that kind of thing whenever he had to roll for a test that he didn't have dice for? Because then he effectively has dice available. Which depends on the other characters, or! On his own intelligence rolls in which he banked his wagers. If that's the case, then he doesn't have that weakness anymore.
allluckyseven 11 months ago
@LordStrange
What's the first thing Elric would do on any adventure?
Perform some rote tasks with his Intelligence or Wisdom, in case his Constitution became a problem later on.
PanzerDivisionBOM 11 months ago
Dnd is a game about killing, but your version seems to be about so much more. Did you go ahead with the "one roll" for combat to see how it played out? I can see how it would be uncomfortable to change such an integral part of "DnD" but in view of how all the other changes were such a success, I would like to see how it plays in real time...
BenitoIncognito 11 months ago