LostKnightsRPG.org

I discovered that I really enjoy the board game aspect of gaming. I like the pen and paper stuff. The research, character creation, and rules. I enjoyed the OKC game because he had plenty of that, plus good interactions. the summer game, for me, is mostly miserable. I endeavor to play the stats of my character. I am by no means the best (or even a good) role-player. Big problem for me is the late hours. I lose all cleverness and charm after a certain point. No amount of chemicals bring those back. But I digress...

The summer game is not much about the paper. Many couldn't tell you their stats and some outright ignore them. Not criticizing at this point, cause I no longer care. If they have fun that way, then super. But I have trouble operating in that environment. As Durden, I would pass up opportunities presented for advancement, power, etc b/c Durden isn't too bright. I was often criticized for this. Same with Hiroshi. His perception was low, so he missed things. I really try not to metagame. Kills the fun for me. Plus, it didn't occur to me till the end that to get things, you just had to claim them. Suddenly, Durden owned the clan and the streets of The City. Had I stayed in the game, he would have become even more powerful (might still play online in some capacity if it takes off).

So it might just be a conflict in styles or expectations. I just needed to adapt. Now my DA game might be good. I'll need everyone's help making it work exclusively online, but it is the type of game I am into - great setting, fun rules, all pen and paper. Plus, we can take longer to construct the type of response our character might give. I hope this experiment works out. We might even keep it going after the summer (every summer or maybe ongoing). Be fun to do spinoffs in the Middle East, Africa, or other settings, working the characters forward to modern nights. Good stuff.

Many have heard me mention, or perhaps 'expound upon the virtues of' is the better term, Exalted. I have thought long and hard about an Exalted game, and what I'd want to do with it. Ultimately my own lack of broad-scale creativity bites me in the ass.

Here are some of the virtues of the game as I see it:
1) Exalted is new, but familiar. Exalted is, ultimately, a White Wolf game. Though the second edition, esspecially, changes a lot of the rules, its system is still fundamentally similar to a mishmash of various other White Wolf games (including, to some extent, new WoD). The timing mechanic is actually almost identical to Feng Shui's, though standard actions are 5-6 ticks, rather than 3 ticks.

B) Exalted is EPIC. Fucking epic. Like more fucking epic than anything else I've ever read. Take Gilgamesh, Beowulf, Conan, Journey to the West, the Tale of Genji, Fival Goes West, mix in some steampunk, magitech, horror, and chaos, sprinkle ANYTHING YOU FUCKING WANT on top and the end result will vaguely resemble Creation and the characters that cavort through it. My first, and favorite, Exalted character was a magic fighting blacksmith.

III) I am very familiar with Exalted, both rules-wise and world-wise. This makes it an appealing game to run, because I know what's going on, and I have a pretty good idea of what most of the NPC movers and shakers are doing. The other bonus of this is that, since most of the rest of you are not overly familiar with the game or it's setting, it wouldn't matter too much if I fudge things here or there.

4) Exalted is a Power Gamer's Power Game. I'll freely admit that I'm a powergamer at heart. I love having a character that can parry meteors or cast a spell in under 20 seconds that creates a 500 yard radius, 5-mile-tall column of green, glowing, 50-lethal-per-round-for-5-rounds damage. Despite there being characters that can do this -stupid- crazy things, they somehow manage to not be overpowered because all of their enemies can do that too. Or counter it. Or block it. Or send it back. Or completely negate it. Or SOMETHING.

In the end, if I were to run a game like Exalted though, I'd need at least one player in the party who had something they wanted to -do-. That would help greatly in giving the game some direction and to help me improvise some sort of plot (which I'm terrible at). Characters having some sort of plot-hooky-type-things in their backstory would help too. I think between that, and vaguely copying some of the suggested adventures in the supplements, I could probably make it work.

In closing, Exalted is awesome, and pure win.

Well I will blame this post on the purchase and general research resulting from said purchase of Arkham Horror....

(long lengthy post deleted to get to the point... which after a reveleation changed midway through writing the post and made it irrelevant)

I think I might actually try running a game on here... was going to mention Call of Cthulhu in hopes someone would pick it up and go since I could not create that kind of atmosphere in person... but I might be able to muddle through if I could write it out instead. will have a forum made when it looks like I have something solid to work with...

steven:
cool you should run!

thael:
cool you should run!

Cheyne:
cool you should run!

Avilister wrote: III) I am very familiar with Exalted, both rules-wise and world-wise.
The other bonus of this is that, since most of the rest of you are not overly familiar with the game or it's setting, it wouldn't matter too much if I fudge things here or there.

I DO understand that! Alas, I have no such system. Although I am fiddeling with an idea that should be ready by the end of summer.

Avilister wrote: In the end, if I were to run a game like Exalted though, I'd need at least one player in the party who had something they wanted to -do-. That would help greatly in giving the game some direction and to help me improvise some sort of plot (which I'm terrible at). Characters having some sort of plot-hooky-type-things in their backstory would help too. I think between that, and vaguely copying some of the suggested adventures in the supplements, I could probably make it work.

I am seeing one of those Animes or Conan type quest movies here, in which: the main character is "on a mission to ..." and everyone else gets sucked in for the ride; whether it's because it will eventually get them where they're going, the main character/party member aided them in some way & now they are in debted to them, they support the main goal(and/or)principals of the party, or perhaps they just had nothing better to do.

If you are wanting to use that as a hook & build a plot aroung it, perhaps you should decide or ask fo volunteers for that part, (obviously someone who won't be missing games) Have them make a character & work with them on their back story. That will give you another persons ideas as well, and give you a point to start building off of. You might find it easier to keep expanding the concept (to that epic point you want) if you already know that, no matter what, I still have to end(or at least resolve) here.

Whether you want to use that to resolve the story line, or just as a tool to make your characters realize that the have shratched the surface of something bigger, is up to you. It might give you a better jumping off piont than you had before though.

hey, anyone know how I can get rid of that little failed image box to the left of my sig line?

Sephone wrote: I am seeing one of those Animes or Conan type quest movies here, in which: the main character is "on a mission to ..." and everyone else gets sucked in for the ride; whether it's because it will eventually get them where they're going, the main character/party member aided them in some way & now they are in debted to them, they support the main goal(and/or)principals of the party, or perhaps they just had nothing better to do.

Really, Exalted shines for these sorts of stories. And really that 'main character' can be everyone at once. If everyone has a different goal then the party as a whole can basically rock-paper-scissors for what to do first, or even try to do them all at once. If a few characters don't really have some sort of over-riding goal, they can still participate via the inherently epic scope of the game.

That's the main point of Exalted, in my opinion. It is -fucking- epic. You are not neonate vampire with little or no power and a looming glass ceiling that prevents you from ever advancing. You are a demigod burning with the power of your patron whose every action shakes the very foundations of the world you live in. You are one of only one hundred of your kind in a world that is larger than the earth is. There are a few other types of Exalted, but only the least powerful of them have more than 300 total members (and the Lunars are the only type that have 300 members, and most of them live out on the edge of the world).

Exalted is there to tell epic, world-striding, Creation-shattering stories that are so crammed full of coolness and awesome that in the end everyone sits back and goes, "Damn, that was fucking rad." I mean, shit, the mechanical system of the game rewards you for describing what your character is doing in a more awesome fashion.

Hmmm... I begin to notice an ongoing Epic GODlike theme here. I could be mistaken though.