Guns of Icarus: A Diesel Punk tale ( Rpg proposed rule system)

[Mill Wilkinson]

So, it is -8 GMT, which would mean something like 6AM here. Hmmmmmh, I think I might manage to do it, if my calculations are right.

[Shinkurex]

hmmm actually i think it's GMT -4 for EDT.... could be wrong though

[Mill Wilkinson]

Pffflrt, I can no math.
I am GMT +2 timezone, which means -4 would be six hours behind my time. Why can't Earth be flat?

[N-Sunderland]

Because gravity

[Sgt. Spoon]

Why can't Earth be flat?

Damn you science!

[Mill Wilkinson]

Damn you Shink!

Fixed. :F

[Sgt. Spoon]

Lol

[Lord Dick Tim]

Ok here is the Campaign post in Roll20 https://app.roll20.net/campaigns/details/147457/guns-of-icarus

My steam info is Lord Dick Tim (surprise!)

Contact me if you want in, it'll be wednesday night 10ish (hopefully 10) EDT.  The game does not work fully yet, it's about testing play systems and just trying to break it right now.

[Mill Wilkinson]

Heh heh heh, 5 AM for me. Glorious.
If you want, I'll come, it'd be too fun to miss.

[Lord Dick Tim]

First play test was last night.
It was... Amusing.  People discovered the drawing tool and took creative liberties with it.
Some of the systems have been adjusted, and now there is a list of possible actions and what bonus or negatives apply to that action.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rTQ31O6UnFlgVfIa8L6R1ESVDrHOH4xnySGmCkBPMVc/edit?usp=sharing

None of the changes have been highlighted, just some typo stuff along with Actions and Death and Dying.
I've been building up a list of weapons with various stats as we play as well.  Weapons that we used in the previous game were a Breach Loaded Double barrel shotgun with different kinds of ammos for different effects.
Six shooter pistol
"Dwarven" war hammer.  (We were playing around with melee weapons and stats.)

We also used armor, worked on healing, and adjusted the player health regeneration system using player skills to make sure players don't die instantly.

I will say the game is shaping up to be particularly hard, with monsters being on about the same level as players in some respects.  So picking a fight with 9 people will likely go just as well in real life as it will in game.  Using cover and concealment is key, and ambushing your opponent so they don't have time to shoot back before people start dying.

We will try to have a few more play tests soon. 

[Johny Cyanide]

I hope that I'll be able to join you guys in the next play test I was to busy to join in on that one

[Lord Dick Tim]

I hope so too!

We need to work more on social systems and NPC defense against social systems.  Right now I've been using a stat value of 2 to determine everything an NPC does, along with most of the positive or negative bonus actions. 
In the Attribute system a 2 is considered Average, a 1 below average and a 6 (max value) herculean. 

The largest player obstacle might be in using multiple skills to interact with an NPC and swing their favor more in your direction.  The Game Master sets the Difficulty of any encounter, so a stranger talking to a stranger with no preconceived notions rewards no positive or negative.
But an armed man talking to a lone woman on a dark street in the middle of the night would be considerably harder to interact with do to her automatic defensiveness.   This would be represented in the player losing dice in their total "Dice Pool" that allows for successful actions.

An example of improving the situation would be to wait for the woman to walk into a lit café, now the challenge of talking to her is slightly lower.  So you start with something not very direct.  You use your characters attribute "Poise" along with the skill "Socialize" to make small talk, you discover she's a smoker, and offer her a smoke, which improves the relative difficulty of continuing to talk to her.
Suppose your goal here is to get some kind of information from her, the Game Master informs the player she seems attracted to you, so you use the Attribute "Physical Appearance" with the skill "Coercion" with the promise to buy her coffee as your tool.  This combination choice results in again a slightly less difficult dice challenge.  You succeed, she agrees to sit with you and talk for a bit over coffee.
Your primary goal is to discover information from her, perhaps its the time of day her boss goes for lunch.  You already know a bit about her, so you use "Poise" and "Coercion" to get her talking about things she wouldn't normally talk about.  OR you use "Poise" and "Subterfuge" to lie about details that may convince her to tell you the information you need.

This is in essence how social interactions could work in the GOI: Dieselpunk  game space.

[Mill Wilkinson]

Can another player pitch in in the socializing efforts? I mean, two characters can bring an enemy down, no problem, but can a friend be a wingman for someone trying to use coercion?
There could be a wingman-situation, good cop bad cop -kind of mix of intimidation and persuasion, carousing in a merry company, acting like you don't know the other person but "Oh boy does this man's idea sound reasonable. I'd take it if I were you!"

You know, give the other guy a chance to either actively participate in the social element or at least let him add to the main guy's dice pool due to joint effort.

[Lord Dick Tim]

Players can definitely come together to try and swing a social situation.  Double the pressure will turn over a social interaction more into your favor in some instances, but it could also work against you if one of the players fails in their attempts.
So it wouldn't be wise to have the weird socially awkward wacko in your group thats great with guns be your help during a negotiation.  It might work in a more social atmosphere where you can play the hero card and "rescue" the target from the weirdo, but that might take subterfuge on your part so be prepared to be heavy in the social skill sets.

[Mill Wilkinson]

Or that someone starts bruising up a guy, then be "rescued" by a handsome gentleman. a ruse to get the guy spill the beans on something as thanks.
Opportunities are endless.