Last Time, on Song of Swords:
Vicious Vicious Snek
Centipede Knight
In-Fiction Fiction
Basque Grrls
Handshake Sword Grips
Song of Swords is a realistic fantasy tabletop RPG that draws inspiration from historical fechtbuchs, weapons and armor. Its combat system is fast and it can be used for both fantasy and historical/mundane settings.
Call of the Void is a pulpy sci-fi tabletop RPG about fighting space-nazis and hunting giant whales with harpoons made out of the moon. Its combat system is more modern, based in the early 20th century, but can probably handle combat up to the present day.
Here's a .rar archive with the newest version of the rules as well as all related current working documents. At this time the latest version is v1.9.9:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/12xqm1p2q69m392/Song_of_Swords.rar
Here's Ballad of the Laser Whales' latest version: [Redacted-see next post]
Here's a wiki detailing SoS's fantasy setting, getting filled up bit by bit as Jimmy reveals more details:
http://tattered-realms.wikia.com/wiki/Tattered_Realms_Wiki
There's also a roll20 room where new players are encouraged to try the rules, test new rules, and find game breaking issues: https://app.roll20.net/join/346755/hRKd4w
The room might be empty, but the people who teach the game still browse the thread frequently. If you're looking to learn, post here in the thread. We also play Guy Windsor's card game Audatia in the room.
The Legend is Dead, but the Second Coming is Nigh
>>46190534
Does anyone know how much it costs to make a miniatures line these days? You'd think with modern 3d printing tech it'd be pretty easy.
For funsies I statted out Sarah Gizka in the Lord of the Rings battle game. We joked about it a few threads ago, and I was playing our Malazan conversion of the game with the boys yesterday, so I figured I'd whip something up. She may look slightly overpriced, but her abilities combined with the ability to ride a horse are very, very strong.
>>46191310
Pain and terror.
Jimmy can you tell us what you used as the 'base' weapon for each weapon category?
>>46194755
You mean the weapon from which all others spring from, stat wise?
I'm betting the longsword for 2H swords, arming sword for 1H sword, regular spear for spear, and poleaxe or halberd for polearms. Not sure about blunt or daggers.
>>46195745
Yeah. I remember Jimmy mentioning they had one weapon as a base template.
Mein Fuhrer calls.
Has the Ausfailian finished yet
>>46191310
That's a ridiculous hero.
>>46197308
Jimmy said the Australian finished the editing months ago, and the hold up has been miscommunications within Opaque meaning some stuff hasn't been sorted, that he had assumed was.
>>46191310
Aragorn would lose to her two out of three times, I'd guess.
>>46191310
>Fight: 7
>Attack: 4
>Fate: 5
Jesus.
>>46197738
I'm not sure what these numbers mean exactly, but Fate really should be much, much higher.
>>46198422
Attacks, how many dice you roll in a fight.
Fight, highest value wins draws.
Fate, spend for a 4+ save on a wound.
>>46191310
Do you just rule a pistol as a throwing weapon?
Remember lads
Even tarantulas aren't safe from an ambush
>>46199386
What?
>>46198850
What are the averages?
>>46195745
Which arming sword?
She did surprisingly well despite her abysmal level.
Try fucking harder next time Jimmy and stop quitting half way through.
>>46198859
That's what I would do.
So I just cautiously watched the first episode of Spartacus on Netflix. Does it get better?
>>46204496
There's a lot of homoeroticism and violence, but the plot doesn't get better.
Though,a note: The second season, which is basically a prequel, is actually pretty good. But the actual story of Sparticus is pretty bland, unless you like murder.
>>46204496
Absolutely. The first few episodes are notoriously rough, they were all over the place in terms of overall stylisation. Things get progressively better from then on and the second half of the season is top notch. Season 2 just owns all the bones.
>>46204533
I take it the whole presentation stays the same, too? It's a little over the top for me.
>>46204576
Nah, that part in particular gets dialed down. There'll still be a lot of slowmo, but much less of the thing where they superimpose blood splashes or do the echoing shout thing three times in a row.
>>46204609
Alright, guess I'll keep watching.
Come to think of it, is it possible to stat a retiarius in SoS yet? The net, in particular?
>>46202818
Boromir has like 1.
Aragorn has 3.
the Ringwraiths have 7.
>>46202818
An average Warrior of Gondor is well equipped with heavy armour but very average in all other respects.
Fight 3/4+ (The 4+ is to hit with a ranged weapon)
Strength 3
Defence 5
Attacks 1
Wounds 1
Courage 3
A captain of Gondor will look like this.
Fight 4/4+
Strength 4
Defence 6
Attacks 2
Wounds 2
Courage 4
Might 2
Will 1
Fate 1
An equivalent point hero, would be Gandalf, the White at 220. He is not such a potent fighter but he has access to great magics
Fight 5/-
Strength 4
Defence 5
Attacks 2
Wounds 3
Courage 7
Might 3
Will 6
Fate 3
>>46205111
Is summery Gizka is a fucking murderer that will cleave straight though almost any other model in base-contacther "always counts as trapped" ability is actually the scariest thing about herbut doesn't really add much to the force she's in beyond that raw killing power.
>>46205320
>She's on a horse
Don't even try to run, just hope there are enough pikes in Isengard to slow her down while you pack your shit.
>>46205320
What does being trapped mean? Is it like a sweeping advance in 40k where you just autokill the people who can't escape?
>>46205469
In CC the model role dice equal to their Attack value highest wins with draw being broken by fight value, the loser is forced back 2" and the winner gets to roll a number of to-wound rolls, once again equal to their attack value.
However if a model it trapped it stays right where it is and the winner roll twice their attack value in to-would rolls, if you lose a fight against Gizka, with eight 3+'s you lose almost all change of a a recovery for next round you just fucking die.
>>46205553
Thanks guy with cell phone.
So because opponents always count as Trapped, she attacks... Eight times. And she always wounds on a 3+, meaning that she's probably going to inflict 5-6 wounds if she gets to hit at all, which she will because she has Fight 7, which is over double that of a regular guy. I assume it works the same was as Weapon Skill from 40k.
Sounds pretty solid. Almost costs as much as Gandalf, though, and she probably can't kill people with her mind. Is that really expensive for a character?
>>46205648
Aragorn is like 175, but he gets a thing where he can spend one might every turn for free, so he's really strong.
Gizka would occupy a meta-role where she's ridiculously strong as long as she can fight other heroes and gain unlimited Might. Since Good armies tend to revolve around Heroes in the game (you can literally get the entire Fellowship of the Ring for example) this would be really strong against one kind of army, but against, say, her points worth of Wood Elf Archers without any heroes, she'd probably just be shot to pieces. But then she has a horse, so she could close distance really quickly, and once she's actually in base contact it doesn't matter how many of you there are, 4 attacks at Fight 7.
>>46191310
>Evil Heroes
Would there even be another category in Lord of the Dickstabs?
>>46205863
I think you'd just break it up by sates with rules or allies and free agents.
>>46205863
Sulla's a nice guy. The redhead knight girl also seems like she'd be good. Poland is by default the good guy, so Jerzy must also be good. I can't imagine what he'd look like in this game.
King should just copy Sauron's statline.
>>46205863
Sure, there's quite a few good or neutral people like Homostein and Smough, the Silver Guard who we killed while Roman, Victor Slate. The Centipede and Escher may also be neutral. Eskarne is Lawful Good. That Burdinadin scientist is probably chaotic with Nuetral or Evil leanings. There's some honestly good people around, only problem is that they tend to wind up in gutters with a steel rib and no purse.
>>46208186
The Centipede screams Conan villain at the top of his lungs, and Eskarne runs around murdering innocent people without warning. The others seem mostly fine, though I think Biggie and Smalls are too assholish and coked out respectively to be considered good.
>>46208786
But Biggie and Smalls aren't actively malicious, just ardent defenders of their own. And Eskarne isn't murdering innocents, she's getting revenge. "Sins of the Father" and all that. As to the Centipede, it's just some guy in a tower who introduced an invasive species to his region because he likes wolfsong (which shows be has good taste). I hope he keeps an aviary full of crows though, because crows are best bird.
>>46206026
>can't imagine what he'd look like in this game.
Too old and happy...
>>46209415
Too young and cossack...
>>46209442
Too crazy and too bad companions...
>>46209476
What is he even doing here? Next!
>>46209512
Too tall, and too virgin...
>>46209573
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtMU8nvZzOs
>>46209605
The one, and last, and only correct answer...
>>46208186
>Esakrne "I kill and eat children because my pet goldfish died 300 years ago" The Oathkeeper
>Lawful Good
>>46210419
Well in that light she's just eating minnoes.
>>46210716
Ohanedin are pretty casually evil. They're basically orcs that speak Spanish.
>>46211904
Please. They speak Basque.
>>46211974
disgusting
>>46211904
>Comparing apex predators to pig men
There are no orcs left in Vosca because the Ohanedin fucking ate them all.
>>46210419
Sins of the Father. The children are still guilty.
>>46212078
>The children are still guilty.
That's some retarded logic
>>46212277
Depends where you're from. Blood guilt is a very old concept.
>>46212277
That's the point. It makes Eskarne a sad and pathetic creature whose sole purpose in life is vengeance for an increasingly forgotten and irrelevant reason.
>>46212277
That's how big G rolls.
>>46212048
Semi-Canonical.
>>46216907
Elaborate.
>>46217379
>>46216907
Please elaborate. I need to know how something can be semi-canonical
>>46218478
Maybe Ohanedin only ate a half of each orc?
>>46208186
Escher is 100% Neutral Evil. Eskarne is Lawful Evil or Lawful Neutral.
>>46218478
>>46219094
Ohanedin killed and ate a bunch of orcs or orc standins, forcing them from good, fertile lands and causing them to die a slow death being picked off and raided by neighbouring peoples.
Maybe.
>>46219458
I'd say they're both 100% nothing of those, because DnD alignments is a garbage system.
>>46219662
>DnD alignments is a garbage system
Alignment system might be good if players and GMs are willing to stick to defined roles in fantasy and fairytales and avoid all moral complexities, controversial themes and grey areas. Unfortunately, most players would rather bend DnD to absurd or pick retro clone than look for new system.
>>46219662
I'd say only about 75% garbage.
>Some promo pictures for that Wonder Woman movie drop
>Triggers my autism something fierce.
Come share my pain.
>>46222239
It looks so cheap and bland, I'm impressed.
>>46222656
Oh my god, I just found a quote from the director on this:
>“To me, they shouldn’t be dressed in armor like men,” director Patty Jenkins says of their armor. “It should be different. It should be authentic and real—and appealing to women.”
I mean, I get it's a comic book move so some stylisation is to be expected, but damn. Boobplate I could deal with because amazons and all, but then you get the high heels and unprotected upper chest and eugh.
>>46219471
>>46219094
>>46218478
Who do you think chased the goblins underground and ate all the big and meaty ones, leaving only the scrawny manlets to scrounge for survival in the dark?
>>46222856
>>46222239
I know at this point I shouldn't be disappointed, but I still am.
>>46222239
Why does everyone look bored? Why is everyone wearing brown leather like it's the 70's? How can you create a fucking superhero movie that's this bland?
>>46226628
>Why is everyone wearing brown leather
Napoleonic drams are the only ones that get something resembling accurate costumes, beyond that costume designers don't make "fantasy" or "historical" stuff out of anything else.
>>46226791
It's gets worse.
>>46226628
Step 1: Be a DC movie after the new Batman trilogy happened. Shit's gotta be all serious and subdued now.
So are we losing the whole red/yellow/blue thing in SoS? That's a pity.
>>46226855
Not necessarily. The main changes in Weltraumwal deal with how things are handled in what SoS calls the Bystander round. Melee combat still principally works like it does now, except only one round at a time. So classic initiative calling could still stay a thing.
>>46226791
>>46226817
Yeah I saw a TV show about Götz von Berlichingen a while ago that had him wearing a fucking leather jacket. I mean, really?
>>46209287
Smough is debateably evil. He engaged in cannibalism for fun and ate anyone who got sent to his chopping block (probably why he's so fat).
Ornstein was probably burned that everyone liked Artorias more, but yeah, he's got nothing really throwing him into the 'evil' category. At worst he's Asshole Neutral.
>>46226817
This one captures how fucking baggy some of it is.
>>46227033
No ya goof he means the Abuslavs
>>46226817
>>46226628
So apart from too much brown leather and not enough bright colors how did the show do with capturing the feel and authenticity of the culture/era?
>>46209287
Nobody called the fucking Centipede can be trusted.
>>46222239
So, the basic fantasy garb as always. Boobplate, high heels, as much as possible exposed skin in all the sexy areas...
Nothing new here, move along.
>>46226628
Mandatory videos by fechting hearthrob Matt Easton.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sskjAib2vfo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZQxEYXaGQg
>>46226975
Well that's good at least.
>>46227033
Ornstein and Smough are not literally transplanted from Lordran to Tenja. They are homages, or reflections of the original distorted through Jimmy's madness.
![AI1095_centipedes_2[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/4nFVV08.jpg "AI1095_centipedes_2[1].jpg")
>>46228366
But it's so kyute. How can you not wanna take this home?
Can someone explain group combat? I dont really understand how 3vs1 or 4vs2 should work.
>>46231033
Wait, who's the centipede?
>>46231768
SEARING ENIGMA TUESDAY (16 Mar 2016)
In Osterbija, there is a lord, Mochan Adut, who is the Duke of the Eastern Partition, the border province of Osterbija that includes Tenja.
Often called The Centipede by foreigners, he is known as a savage political animal, a warrior of terrifying strength, and the only man to command the obedience of the Abuslav Clan, who have spurned even the King--but never the Centipede.
But the dark secrets of The Tower, the golden fortress of Duke Mochan, go deeper than mere intimidation. Karthacki Sorcerers, even the universally feared Zoph Escher, have visited that terrible fortress in the mountains, and emerged humbled, and awestruck.
Something is happening in the The Tower, some magical enterprise that Lord Adut does not deny, but equally refuses to elaborate upon. Great shipmets of velvet have been sent to the tower on the lord's order, and many hundreds of young girls have been hired from across the country and beyond as maids in its endless gilded halls. At night, the howl of wolves can be heard in great choruses from the fortress, though the beasts are not native to the high rocky hills where the fortress was built.
None know what Lord Adut seeks, but it must be something big. After decades of nimble navigation through the courts of Osterbija, one thing is certain: The man is a predator.
>>46231627
Roll for initiative, declare actions in right order.
>>46232047
Did Adut end up on the Wiki?
>>46232047
>Making Osterbija Great Again
>>46232866
No text has been added to the wiki this year. It's dead as fuck.
>>46233199
That's a 10/10 image. Couple questions. Who're the three girls up top, and why does trump have Enuma Elish?
>>46233344
Goddamit. I'll add master Adut once I finish this session.
>>46233344
Probably because there was only ever like one dude who did wiki stuff regularly, and he's disappeared.
>>46233355
People have been calling him the God Emperor, and Gilgamesh was a God Emperor. I think the artist is Chinese or something.
The three girls are States, probably the three who were up for nomination whenever this thing came out.
A fun detail is that Ted Cruz down there has a coloring book of himself, which as it turns out is actually real. "Ted Cruz Saves America" is a real children's coloring book, which includes images of him riding an eagle holding a shotgun, and wrestling a hydra.
>>46233472
Now I want this colouring book. Or at least scans of it.
>>46228366
Would you trust her, Anon?
>>46233524
I would, forever and a day.
This thread just keeping getting worse
>>46233859
How so?
>>46233902
It's just american political memes now
song of swords is a lost memory
>>46234007
Do you want to bring something better for discussion?
>>46234007
I mean, it's setting-related. Jimmy made a pretty obscure political joke in a searing enigma (maybe) and someone needed an explanation.
>>46233495
It is amazing.
>dat disclaimer
>>46233199
There is silence in the training hall as Ratko Abuslav practices his forms with a blunted poleaxe. It twirls effortlessly in his hands as he twists and whips through the hall, practicing the well-drilled forms exactly as he has every day since he could lift a pole.
"ABUSLAV," a voice booms through the open door. The Count jumps, dropping his weapon in surprise.
"Fuck," he whispers through the breaths drilled in the orichalcum muzzle of his tiger-head helmet. The Duke. Why is it always when he's training?
"ABUSLAV, where are you, where's that brother of yours you dummy," the blonde nobleman storms into the room, holding his red visored helm under one arm.
"Sir, I'm here. Tychus is out catching some infiltrators. You should have sent a messenger, there was no need for you-"
"Look, Ratko--listen. We... Need to build a wall."
"A wall, sir?"
"We need to build a wall. A big wall, to keep the Marju out."
"Sir, we... We have a wall. Tenja is the largest wall in the world."
"Hold in dummy. We need to build a BIGGER wall. Twice as big. They're killing us on the border, okay, we need to build the wall."
"Sir, they're killing us on the wall because we're fighting a WAR with them. We're winning even, because of the wall-"
"Right. Winning is good. But we're not winning enough. So we need to build another one. We're going to make them pay for it."
"What!?"
"I'll make a deal. I know Ghengis Khan. Swell guy. He really likes me, he wears the same cufflinks as me--you see these cufflinks? Osterbijan, a lot of people think they're Dacian but they're actually mine, I made them, great deal."
"Focus sir."
"No time Ratko, call the masons. We're gonna build this thing... It's gonna be huge, it's gonna be powerful, it's gonna look great. We're going to win again, Ratko."
"Yes sir... I'll, uh, call the masons."
"Thata boy!"
>>46222856
>It should be real
So... she's saying they shouldn't be warriors?
>>46235296
Lord, give me the strength to ignore bait.
>>46235246
I'd definitely run the Get Around the Osterbijan's Big Stupid Wall campaign.
>>46235178
That disclaimer is fantastic.
>>46235644
The ultimate conclusion would be getting through the defenses, and then finding that the fucker has built a second fortress identical to the first right behind it, with a whole new set of security measures.
It'd be like MGS3 where you do the Virtuous Mission first and then run through an identical facility the second time, "for real."
SoS has brought up some concerns to me. So I'm looking at armor and weapons, and I'm pretty sure that, barring some fancy joint thrust stuff, it's pretty much impossible for a regular person to injure another regular person in armor with most weapons. Chain, plate and other hard armors in particular are pretty much invincible.
How were wars fought given the protective qualities of all this armor? Even with spears, your odds of actually killing a guy who is defending himself through armor are close to nil. Two armored men could quite plausibly poke at each other with spears for an hour without actually hurting each other. Is there something I'm missing?
>>46237995
Yeah. Most people didn't wear a full coverage kit. It simply wasn't financially practical. Secondly, for the few tin cans who did walk into war covered in good steel, there were thirty guys with knives to wrestle him into the mud and stick a knife through his visor.
>>46237995
That's sort of the point. If you want to take down fully armored men, you do it by joint-thrusting or with a halberd or something.
>>46238072
>>46238211
So does that mean that in a combat in SoS, the two sides in an army let's say would just be poking at each other with spears for a long time before people started dropping off, or getting into thicker melees and all wrestling around on the ground stabbing each other in the eyes?
It sounds realistic, but you never see stuff like that in movies. Sounds cool. How long did medieval battles last, does anyone know? Also, how do the Ohanedin get anyhting done at all when they can't wear armor?
>>46238375
The Ohanedin get shit done by living in their forests and not fighting wars. Whenever anyone ventures into the forest they hunt them down and eat them. They fight like the viet cong, crossed with the predator from the first movie.
>>46237995
Generally, the only people fully armored were people you didn't want to kill anyway, because you could capture them and ransom them back.
>>46238375
The Ohanedin have a sport, that Jimmy mentioned, which they consider the only acceptable way to use a bow in war.
They find an enemy army, and then wait until the night. Then they start shouting out physical descriptions of the soldiers they saw during the daytime, getting more and more specific until someone gets scared because he realizes they're talking about him. Then they can "see" that person, because he's feeling fear. Then they shoot him.
They're basically guerrillas who can smell fear. How do you fight a war against such people? They're also apparently really sick horsemen and can throw javelins super hard. So they're sort of like the Spanish, if the Spanish were all immortal killing machines.
>>46238375
Battles generally last all day, but that isn't all fighting. There are lulls as people rest and get water, and other men cycle into the combat. Medieval battles also generally had remarkably lower casualties than later wars despite people getting right up in there and beating the shit out of each other. You have outliers like Towton, of course.
Ohanedin favor their own homelands, and fight in guerrilla warfare whenever its threatened. They don't fight pitched battles. They kill your foragers and poison your water. When spotted outside their territory, they generally are part of some elite guard or force that's serving as personal retainers under oath. You don't send your Ohanedin into the pike block. You have him guard you and the banner.
>>46226985
That should be a fucking whipping offence considering the time and place he was born, what the fuck is wrong with people making movies these days
>>46238519
>if the Spanish were all immortal killing machines.
>if
You've clearly never seen a Spaniard get serious. I suppose few have.
>>46239056
The Romans did.
>>46239302
So did Death. The Romans are literally the watermark of all badassitude. If the Romans kicked your ass, you'd put it on your resume.
>>46228289
It's one of those historical shows that manages to fail every historical criterion in some form or another, made by the channel famous for asking important questions like was hitler sent to us by aliens.
Just take it as a fantasy show that wanks in the direction of skyrim.
Mochan Adut is now on the Wiki. Did we get a Mild Temperature Mystery this Tuesday, I cannot recall.
>>46239472
No.
FURIOUS MYSTERY FRIDAY
In Jenoesa, there i >>46239488 we must dispel this illusion that Barack Hussein Obama doesn't know what he's doing, he knows exactly what he's doing, he's
{ERROR 203 PATH NOT FOUND}
>>46239488
calm down nigga.
>>46239488
Wrong thread maybe?
>>46239368
The Romans fought long, bitter campaigns against the guerilla Spaniards.
>>46239520
pasta
>>46239520
Apparently he does this everytime his ban expires. He also posted in >>46234284, so I imagine he hits as many threads as possible. I wonder if it's the ghost ofvirt
>>46239512
What's this about Jenoesa? And Jimmy, the threads are dying on the vine baby. Honey, we need to do something about this, and the way I see it, there's three demographics in here. There's the lore-nuts, long of teeth and short on pretty much e'rything else. The rules boys. Good up top, and wizards with numbers and about as useful as a frog in Amsterdam on a tuesday when it comes to anything else. And then there's the fecht hounds, who sit lazily at our sides like loyal pups waiting for something to jump and doing not much but snore in the meantime. Now y'need to appease these people sugah, or we're gonna lose even more damned souls to the front page. Bored with nothing happening, and sad as it is to say, we can't help the number crunchers right now. Nothing we do will bring e'nuh results. We need to return to 2013 Jimmah. WE NEED TO GO BACK. Now take me down to the Paradise City, where the grass is green and the lore is plenty. Oh won't you please take me home Jimmy.
>>46239488
I know this pasta
It's old and stale.
>>46239429
>>46228289
yeah, i dropped the show when they were like, Scandinavians didnt know that Britannia existed, bloody idiots, WHY THE FUCK? heard it's pretty good as tales go though but they straight of the bat throw any idea of historical accuracy straight out the window almost directly
>>46239429
>>46240125
So decent show, decent tail, shit historical.
Might still give it a watch.
Did they get anything right though?
>>46240829
Was the guisarme a common weapon among men at arms throughout the 15th century?
>>46242058
What is all that stuff even used for?
>>46242138
Cleaning, disassembly, casting new bullets, possibly making gunpowder?
>>46240829
I'm sure if you sat down and watched it all you might eventually find something that they didn't completely mangle. But I woudn't hold my breath.
Viking shows seem to get it particularly bad.
Here is Ubba, antagonist from the "Last Kingdom" adaptation by the BBC. You have your standard fantasy fur and small metal plates artistically arranged on leather pretending it is armour.
But his axe is historical you say. Yes, it is a viking axe of the right period and known to archaeologists as a Wheeler type 2.
Except it is a carpenters axe. Our big scary viking is menacing people with a tool used to build boats and make wood carvings. This is pretty much the most specialised early medieval axe you could think of that was NOT for killing people.
So close, at yet so far.
>>46242185
The shield wall in that show was fucking horrific after the relatively accurate depiction in the books.
>>46245322
It's pretty bloody dire.
I bet you never knew that the secret of the Danish invasions lay in their mastery of forming up into a Testudo and sitting there while the enemy watches gormlessly. No wonder that the Saxons didn't know how to use a shieldwall if that is what the term means in this universe. Once the Saxons get the hang of the idea they add such improvements as holding your (square?) shields upside down, and that is how Alfred beat the Vikings.
The pivotal battle of the first episode is a stroke of genuis. I particularly loved the bit where the Danish ambushers charge the rear of the Saxon mob and then stopped to form another Testudo.
I am honestly impressed by just how badly they manage to misinterpret what you would think was a blindly obvious concept.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPtEm-sARNM
How do we fix goblins?
>>46190534
So, what do you think of pikemen, and what do you think of pikemen with shields
>>46247216
I think spear and shield is an ideal situation in massed combat.
I worry that pikes would be too cumbersome to fight with one-handed at their length, even with a shield prop, and that they would lose their capacity to counter a horse if not braced.
>>46247242
it might be hard to tell but the solider in the woodcut has a shield strapped to his forearm and uses the pike with both hands
>>46247609
I think the Macedonians at least used a strap around the neck as well.
>>46247148
That's a good question. What's the best late medieval method of castration? Reducing their ability to breed might stabilize their population levels, though their super OP regeneration might negate this tactic.
>>46247242
>I worry that pikes would be too cumbersome to fight with one-handed
I don't think you can even hold a pike one handed.
>>46247216
>>46247879
Strapped/ slung shields were indeed used by the Macedonians and the Diadochi phalangites.
>>46226817
>woman
>wearing eyeliner
>viking
I shiggy
>>46247879
The Gallians already found a way to control their population. Ohanedin.
>>46246064
I didn't think that they actually formed a wall of shields and I didn't know that the shield wall was created to be mobile.
So I recently returned to SoS to find that it's still alive - droppin' in the thread cause I'm curious as all hell on a few things.
--Is there a shorter, more digestible list for maneuvers anywhere?
--Anyone know what the dev timeline looks like, if there's anythin' concrete for the future?
--Was pondering 2v1 combat. It fair to say that the outnumbered fellow pretty much splits his dice pool up 3 instead of 2 ways? (Assuming he defends twice and attacks once?)
Happy to see this ain't dead. I went through the last rule update and fell in love all over again.
>>46251446
>--Anyone know what the dev timeline looks like, if there's anythin' concrete for the future?
pic related
>--Was pondering 2v1 combat. It fair to say that the outnumbered fellow pretty much splits his dice pool up 3 instead of 2 ways? (Assuming he defends twice and attacks once?)
Unless you have at least twice their CP, then I see your impending death. One of the ways to do well in a 2v1 is to force one to untarget you with mobility maneuvers, and dispatch the other one quickly. Alternatively, try Steal Initiative.
>>46251527
>pic related
I'm terrified because you linked no pic. Is it dead? I swear I saw Jimmy in this thread. Is he a ghost?
>... impending death
Oh, yeah, I imagine so, but I wanted to know for sake of knowing. Thanks, anon!
>>46251446
And another question! Is there something like a list of NPCs, unofficial as it might be?
>>46251857
Yeah.
>>46251914
>>46251619
Perhaps it is fate, then, that I did not post the picture of an anime girl laughing that I wanted to.Deader than something very dead
>>46251857
I don't think so.
>>46251949
>>46251982
>>46251914
Meant stats, anon. Sorry for not being specific - but thanks! The art's still badass.
>>46251958
Guess I'll just go cry in this corner and pretend Blade is closer to SoS than it actually is.
>>46252045
It's not dead, ignore the dumbass
>>46252156
Also
>playing Bovine
>>46252179
>>46251619
Jimmy is alive and well, just like love. Problem is we're still editing. Which means that as of now, we cannot do a damn thing but wait. So things have begun to slow, and slow despite, or perhaps because of, the rise of Soonposting.
>>46252205
>>46252251
>>46252306
>>46252328
>>46252367
>>46252393
>>46252419
>>46252438
That's about it.
>>46252306
Sulla looks so fucking cool.
>>46253409
>>46252438
I don't know who any of these people are.
>>46257968
They're DIS agents from a fecht in Dace Jimmy ran. Wild Dog and Fang didn't appear, but Fox was basically Big Boss who turned evil and had to be put down by Vlatko, his former student. Rack was a torturer who helped Vlatko figure out where Fox was.
Vlatko is Solid Snake, pretty much. Rack isn't named after an animal becaus she isn't actually part of the super sekret spy team, she's a traitor from another faction who helps out sometimes.
>>46258059
I think Rack has a tick on her belt in the final. Heard that from Jimmy once.
Jimmy-han, can you give us lore on Star Vampires? I was promised this on Halloween 2014, and unless you have an almost mediocre reason otherwise; I would like to collect.Has it really been so long?
>>46253905
I used this sword from the moment I got it, through the DLCs, all the way to the end just because of its description.
>>46262545
Have I not given lore on Star Vampires yet? I thought I mentioned them a couple times.
>>46262651
>>46262545
http://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/43363957/#q43414480
That's the longest we have. Give more.
>>46262680
>All of these retards trying to fight guys in clayplate with pistol caliber weapons
>>46262811
So no lore ever again?
>>46263114
I'll do it, just give me a while. It's good friday, I'm totally hammered. We got a lot done today, but I'm so blitzed you could call me Maginot.
![latest[1].png](https://i.imgur.com/QVCJQYW.png "latest[1].png")
>>46262680
>or to die on the end of a sword in every kingdom.
I see that blood truly is the currency of the soul, even in Vosca
![Andre_maginot_loc[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/AWDcT6U.jpg "Andre_maginot_loc[1].jpg")
>>46263154
Keep at it. I expect good things from you Andre.
>>46263154
>It's good friday, I'm totally hammered.
is that even allowed
>>46263154
So, still planning on doing it?
>>46264366
Yeah, that's what's so good about it.
>>46267728
well that would be the next question, what the fuck is up with the english name for the day
around here it's more like grief friday
>>46267815
Irony.
>>46267815
It just confirms what we've always known: English and 'murrcan "christians" are in truth heretic old-school satanists celebrating the death of jesus and denying the resurrection.
>>46266502
We all know Jimmy doesn't wake up until like 6PM following a session of drinking and sodomy.
Has anyone done a full conversion into 40K? I want to play a politicking bastard of a Sardaukar.
Also any news on kickstarter? I've been out of it for a while.
>>46270962
SoS is fairly gritty, as far as combat goes. I'm not sure what kind of modifications would be necessary to get the kind of epic potential 40k has.
Just playing guards or cultists would settle on par, though, I think.
Really, we need the monster rules.
>>46270962
I actually tried to make one back in the day but I kind of lost steam because things got a bit awkward with all the guns. Though now that Ballad is a thing I should probably give it another go. All you really need is a new set of equipment, some setting-specific boons and banes, and maybe some psyker-style magic if you wanna get fancy.
>>46271066
>>46271105
No mod then? I might try one with your suggestions.
I kind of want to play a gritty game as a high-powered character in the world of 40k. Obviously it'll change some stuff lore-wise too, but the gist'll be -- low power against low power is gritty, and so is high power against high power. Think custodes companion fighting against daemon prince.
>>46271152
Yeah, there's nothing really comprehensive around right now, so your best bet is probably to just do your own thing.
One thing I've found that represents the 40k melee/ranged dynamic pretty organically is to give even pretty basic armour a high relative armour value, but also give it limited coverage with lots of weak spots that can be exploited in melee. The baseline I aimed for was that an archetypical character being shot at with a power-level appropriate common weapon (e.g guardsman in flak shot with a lasgun, spess marine with a bolter, etc.) should not suffer a wound when hit on the armour unless it was an exceptionally good hit (3-4+ BS). So in that context, just shooting a guy might not always be best option, because ranged attacks tend to cluster on the most well-protected bodyparts (particularly if you use Ballad's simplified missile hit tables/mechanics) and big chunk of your hits would just have pretty much no effect. On the other hand, if you were to charge into melee, you'd actually have a relatively better decent chance of hitting a less protected part like the face, elbow, hand, dick, etc.
>>46270962
>Power Weapons ignore armor
Wellp.
>>46272046
Only in the wargame and that might not even be true any more.
>>46272104
I had thought that's what they did in fluff too. They have an energy field which activates on contact to sorta blast open a molecular hole for a weapon to go through. Is there personal armor that protects against it?
>>46270962
>statted an ork and space marine very early on in SoS development
>everyone called me a faggot
>tfw
>>46272378
In the FFG RPGs they have a ton of AP, but power armor is enough to slow it down. Personal force field devices also exist, and those -might- block anything.
>>46272046
>powerweapons ignore armour
>guns don't
Y/N?
>>46252492
Did coffee ever stat any of the comic characters?
>>46272468
N, mostly. We have AP Swing and AP Pierce attributes. "Ignores" is bullshit.
>>46272046
>even the best armor in the galaxy (1+) has 1/6 chance to fail completely against any weapon
>flak armor doesn't protect you when you are sitting in the bunker
>>46272719
The wargame is abstract.
>>46272739
>The wargame is abstract.
Yes.
The wargame is abstract, the books are powerwank, the RPG is third party, and everything that could go wrong must.
Nothing is canon, everything is true.
>>46272739
It's abstract to the point many its mechanics are shit. Wargame doesn't translate very well into fluff or SoS.
>>46272761
>Nothing is canon, everything is true.
Forge your narrative
Star vampire lore never
>>46273628
I'm writing on and off. I'm also preparing things for tomorrow. It's Easter!
>>46273654
>It's Easter!
Yeah, we should all be celebrating the day that Jesus rose from the dead and sailed to America to spread the pieces of his corpse across the country, not shitroasting on an anime imageboard
>>46273654
>Easter
>tomorrow
What kind of heretic are you?
i like anime
>>46273654
So, Star Vampire lore forever when he inevitably passes out drunk and doesn't work on the game.
THE LUDOGRAD INCIDENT
Star Vampire sightings are rare. Generally, when they are seen, they are not recognized for what they are, but are instead dismissed as human, or occasionally Din, with access to some form of magic.
One exception to this rule was the incident at Ludograd, where a Star Vampire was discovered by then-mercenary Arcturus of Kyev. Told he was the son of a Ruvian legionary and his mother, a seamstress, Arcturus never learned that the blood of kings ran in his veins.
It was because of this blood, which has mystic significance in the magical arts, that the young sellsword found himself bushwhacked twice by pallid, empty-eyed men in dark robes, disguised as monks. He slew them narrowly, but became suspicious as to their motives after finding an image of himself sketched in charcoal on one of the dead men in the second ambush.
He gathered some of his fellows together, and sought out the source of these assassins. He found it, finally, in Ludograd, where a Boyar had arranged for the assassinations, because he desired the sellsword's blood for some dark ritual.
Accusing the Boyar of black magic, Arcturus convinced the very superstitious Tzar of Ruscovy to allow him to challenge the Boyar, Vlastomir, to prove his innocence. And so, with a small army of angry citizens and fellow mercenaries, he marched to Ludograd with Imperial authority.
Vlastomir, he discovered, was a decrepit and senile old man who had not come down from his opium high for several years. Who he encountered instead was the power behind the throne--an adviser by the name of Ravenscroft.
What occurred in Ludograd that night, when the black wind rushed through the hall and the torches went out, will never be known. But of the six hundred men Arcturus of Kyev had brought with him to the keep, fewer than half emerged alive--and most of those fled within the first few moments.
But Arcturus of Kyev emerged last, with the decapitated head of the vampire under his arm.
>>46276956
The plot of the creature--the first to be even partially recovered in decades--was unraveled by members of the Order of the Black Sun, a Kasonic Order faction whose chief focus is the study of magic.
The Vampire had slowly taken control of the Boyar's household, and steered it towards the end of some magical ritual, using hypnosis, suggestion, and at times outright domination of the mind. The weak and intoxicated servants were no resistance, but the Lord himself could only be controlled through the use of drugs.
It was discovered that the ritual had claimed the lives of six bastards of royal descent--Most from the Kaselreich, one from the Krajina, and a few from smaller states. Arcturus deduced from this that he was meant to be the seventh sacrifice, hence the empty-eyed assassins.
After the report to the Tzar, the city of Ludograd was burned to the ground, and all its people were checked by the Kasonic Order for signs of corruption before being released. Many hundreds were suspected of some complicitcy in the plot, and vanished into the black dungeons of the Order, never to be seen again.
What the man called Ravenscroft meant to accomplish by this blasphemous ritual is unknown, but bastards across the continent are still disappearing. Those who suspect themselves to be of royal lineage have begun to seek refuge with holy orders, mostly the Kasonic, who will warn anyone who will listen of the necessity to secure these individuals.
Ravenscroft was not the only Star Vampire out there hunting down King's blood. There are more.
>>46271679
I like that dynamic. It's actually similar to Ballad's.
Though with ballad, high power rifles aren't ancient relics.
>>46276956
So SV's look like Humans or Din? Can you describe their appearances a bit more?
>>46278644
They look humanoid, at least in their disguised forms. They do tend to be pale, and some have unusual pigmentation of the eyes and hair, but otherwise they are difficult to spot.
>>46278701
I'm mostly confused on the matter of ears, given the only commonly seen Din are Zells since Burds live in metal spires Ohanedin live in forests and eat humans and Orredin live in their flying fortress.
>>46278918
Some of the vampires have pointed ears, others don't. Some closely resemble certain Dinnic races, others humans. It was this that at first led people to believe that they were formerly living people made into the undead.
Curiously there has never been a Star Vampire sighted that resembled a dwarf.
>>46276956
Arcturus of Kyev sounds pretty boss, has he done anything else? Sounds like Russian Conan.
>>46279170
He is now known as Arcturus the Crow, and is one of the senior members of the Unkindlies in Albion.
Arcturus is a fairly common name, but it's also the name of every member of the Old Albish royal family since the fall of Albion to the Krajina.
Arcturus fancied that perhaps the royal blood he had was from Albion, but after speaking with Arcturus the Forgotten (who was in fact very excited at the prospect of having another relative) they found that it was almost impossible. No member of the royal family had been anywhere near Kyev in a century.
So he abandoned the idea of reclaiming his heritage, and instead joined the Unkindlies, since he seemed to be good at killing monsters.
He earned the nickname Crow because he was shorter than most of the other accepted initiates (crows are smaller than ravens, and the Unkindlies are predominantly in the 6'2-6'4 range) and also because he never quite fit in in the group, despite being one of the most capable members.
>>46279363
Jimmy why do half the characters you describe sound like they'd fit right in in a woman's erotica novel?
>>46281531
That's because he moonlights as one.
>>46281531
I can't imagine.
>>46281769
Just accept it, and let it happen
>>46281769
I'm not convinced. There's no 12 year old boy involved, so there's nothing for you to identify as.
>>46281769
So, will Star Vamps make it into the Beta? Will Paleo Elves? Or are they too uncertain in the rules still? And possibly most importantly, is there anything you can toss off your plate for the thread to work on?
>>46253905
>>46262606
Wot gaym is that?
Any progress on the game lately?
>>46288247
>progress
>>46288207
Pillars.
>>46288322
Ah, thanks.
Didn't recognize it. It's already on my wishlist. Waiting for a sale.
>>46288363
If you liked Icewind Dale, you'll like it.
>>46289735
It's a shame we don't have a Planescape-a-like yet.
Is Numenara any good?
>>46289963
The game? I don't think the game is out. I read bits of the RPG but it didn't interest me. Supposedly it's just more Monte Cook wizardwant.
>>46290142
Yeah, the vidya. The ttRPG is apparently mediocre, but then so was Planescape.
>>46290201
>but then so was Planescape
You watch your whore tongue boy. There is an universe of difference between Numenera and Planescape. One chief among them is that Planescape is an actual internally consistent setting unlike the vague, nWoD-and-Pathfinder-would-be-jealous sandbox abortion that is Numenera.
>>46290267
Planescape's biggest disservice was being built on 2e D&D as a base. The whole thing worked fine, but it could have done so much better with its own system or even a more radical retooling of D&D. A bunch of the awesome settings for 2e were like that.
>>46290267
Yeah, I know that. My point was that shit setting does not necessarily mean shit writing, or shit vidya.
So I'm teaching some people how to SoS, got them all rolled up and we ended up with:
A 10 STR 2 WIT dwarf with a hankering for a grappling;
A Hothead, Braggart in half-plate;
A dude dressed up like a Volkodov;
And another dwarf who's a timid polyglot with a Ranseur.
What should I do to them?
