I want to update the Laundry rules, They're plain old CoC/BRP with some fluff additions and I want it to do more. I have been using the Madness Meter from Nemesis (no isolation track) and was very satisfied with how it handles vulnerable characters.
But Laundry isn't as deadly and the organization compensates for a lot of the usual CoC party enders. In that spirit I don't need a madness system to render complete decay but to illustrate mission strain.
I like the new DG crunch. The kill damage is great. The skill list is comprehensive. And the sanity is just the right mix of mental HP and flavor aid. Not sure what to do with bonds though. Laundry agents don't have failing families. And to just make everyone pick aspects of the job for bonds seems lame.
I like how maxed out hardened notches affect stats and skills in the new UA. Still considering that. Might be overly complex, but it would provide just the kind of mission influencing san damage...
Anyway, also getting into the magic system. Basically all I want PCs to have is computational magic where POW depends on the device and phones only do lvl 1 spells. Now to keep it interesting and in flavor with Stross I was thinking about apps as spells. I don't want to have it like DnD where there is one spell of each functionality, and if you see it you know what it does. Instead I want to give the players OFCUT with gimped lvl1 spells that can then be improved by them or the department issuing the software.
For instance Entropy Manipulation can do a lot of things from invisibility to burn or freeze attacks. But instead of Entropy Manipulation lvl 1 'see book' I'd give them a small darkness field that gets updated to a shimmering mirror next mission, then someone discovers it could also block sound, but not at the same time... So there would eventually be something like 10 different apps for one 'spell', increasing in power and branching in functionality.
Also I'm not sure mission budget is all that great a handle. It's the only thing really limiting support services. But the only bad stuff that can happen is a limited choice of downtime activities and eventually a pay cut, not really something that comes up.
bumping this off the bottom of page 10 while I think about it.
>>46508233
Have you played Laundry?
>>46508631
A few times. And spent more than my fair share of time in the pub with Charlie and Feòrag, usually requiring brain-bleach afterward...
that and my ex is responsible for TEAPOT as a codename.
>>46508689
I remember you. You were in the thread about the safe house a few years ago.
Cheers, mate!
>>46508689
>that and my ex is responsible for TEAPOT as a codename
storytiem?
>>46508839
I remember that thread. And making that post. Funny thing is, all of those details are descriptions of flats I lived in.
melting the handle on the grill was my fault...
I'm trying to think of a way that phone apps could be applied to the magic system, while keeping the right sort of feel to it, and the mechanics of the system. I'd be inclined to suggest some sort of branching tech tree style arrangement where you can unlock more effective ones only within your clearance remit. In a way, I sort of think of the tech tree from Kerbal Space programme, for some reason...
>>46509070
The idea is to eventually have a web page on the wifi router for the players to open with their smartphones to display OFCUT.
>>46509070
>>46503076
mission budgets is something that I've been trying to think about entirely reworking, because I wanted to try to run a laundry game where the players were Cleaners, dispatched to do the clean-up and cover-up after the stereotypical RPG players' adventure has happened, and the dust is beginning to settle.
I think it would make for a really fun game hook, to have the players having to fix the sort of fuckups that players normally do. i.e.
"its sunday evening at 19:36, we have a code Yellow. there's a dead Ectoplasmic ooze on the Northern Line, stopped just between Angel and Old Street. Agent CHINA SHOP fortunately prevented a class III incursion, with only 3 casualties, and one driver who has already been picked up for debriefing.
We have 12 hours to get the line cleared and ready for the Monday commute, here's requisition form B-46, you have a discretionary budget of £250...."
Let me re-read the rules and try to think of what could be done with minimal alteration.
>>46509347
>a laundry game where the players were Cleaners
Genius right there. Consider it stolen.
I played one briefing where another team reported of their misadventures and it was one of the most funny session ever.
You know there will be a bum who has seen too much but just wants to be left alone, a reporter with ambition and a camera, and an overzealous cop who keep getting in the way...
>>46509347
I have just run a long adventure with budget tracked per coin. I did everything to make it easy, with a cross off sheet full of gold ounces and jewels. It was a pain nonetheless. And most incidentals were covered by a big bag of copper coins that went from about 3,000 to about 2,500 without much relevance.
So I really want to use the wealth stat now and roll for purchases or ignore their cost because of the comparatively low cost level. Only then all I can really do is lower their permanent wealth to signify pay cuts.
I don't think it's much of a problem since it will only come up in debriefing, but it should be considered.
