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jordangreywolfFor whatever reason, lately Digital_Rampage has been goading me into doing something with Savage Worlds online via Fantasy Grounds. This caught me a bit off guard because: a) He's already running an online Pathfinder campaign and nowhere near the point of completion that I can tell. b) He didn't seem to be terribly keen on Savage Worlds, last I checked.
He took the initiative to schedule a time to run a demo server with Savage Worlds / Deadlands loaded up, and I signed in to check out some of the details. I did a little stress-testing, and found some bugs in the new "SWADE" setup exactly where I was afraid I would find bugs, because it's the same sort of glitch that has been plaguing the Pathfinder campaign.
Specifically, the new SWADE setup has some buttons in the lower left-hand corner with some "handy" little auto-modifier buttons you can press if, this round, you're going to be taking multiple actions [hence suffering a multi-action penalty of -2 for each action past the first] and a separate button if, on top of that, you're going to Run [hence suffering a -2 penalty to all actions]. Well, that's all fine and dandy, but what if you have the Stable Platform Edge that reduces that multi-action penalty to -1? I figured I'd try that, because I guessed there were good odds that it wouldn't be implemented, or it would be implemented WRONGLY. It was the latter: Instead of reducing the multi-action penalty to -1, it ADDS a new penalty of -1 to the already-existing -2 penalty for doing something while running ... so, in practice, having this Edge MAKES THINGS WORSE. I haven't figured out where to report the problem, and I'm more than a little steamed that I was able to zero in on a big bug like that so quickly.
Fortunately, Savage Worlds does not have things to worry about such as Damage Reduction and a bazillion different damage types and special cases and exceptions and special rules that do crazy stuff like, "This lets half your damage ignore damage reduction," and other stuff that defies easy coding. However, for automated stuff such as a Wild Die, there's the potential of stumbling if one has a house rule that changes the wild die type ... and for the Adventure Cards, I'm out of luck if I simply want to hand out extra Adventure Cards to the players (rather than going with the core rules and giving each player only ONE card to draw at Novice).
I can work with it, though. It shouldn't be the mess that Fantasy Grounds Pathfinder has been, what with all its level-based advancement and any spellcaster suddenly inheriting a whole library of spells each level that ARE NOT CODED INTO THE SYSTEM (and a goodly number that simply CANNOT be) and therefore require a lot of work to clean up and get ready for showtime.
Or, in other words, I've run Savage Worlds games online just fine before with RPTools and MapTools, which basically DID NOT DO a great many of the things Fantasy Grounds does. If one of those fancy features does not work (such as the "Run" button) then we can simply resolve not to use it. (E.g., instead of clicking the Run button, simply remember to apply a -2 mod to your die roller before rolling ... or, if you have that special edge, a -1.)
Resources:
I've got the core Savage Worlds Deluxe set, and the basic Adventure Card set. That basically means that there are some handy libraries full of all the basic Edges, Gear, Hindrances, Skills, etc., that can be dragged and dropped onto a character sheet, rather than having to look it up in a book and type it in manually. If I wanted to run a Deadlands campaign, I could invest in the various Deadlands packs, but the pricing is comparable to buying a new set of the books (at list price). I could run a customized game such as Ghostbusters, but if I want to add special new equipment, I'm going to have to do some database programming to create libraries so that players can conveniently "drag and drop" any such elements -- and if I want to have special relics that pop up during the game, or custom ghosts, and such, I'm going to have to code those in myself.
What to Run?
Ideas I immediately have for running something:
- Ghostbusters: Would require some work for me to code in all the special equipment, ghosts, etc., but doable. Of course, I'd also have to come up with some adventure and campaign ideas. Could be fun.
- Fearsome Critters: Very similar in tone to Ghostbusters, but instead of busting ghosts, you're animal control specialists in a world where supernatural critters are real and lurk in the shadows. Main "pro" is that I could make use of a written adventure and set of adventure hooks to start things off ("Cake Walk"), and any new material I develop could perhaps be publishable for others to use eventually.
- Wonderland No More: I've done this online before, after a fashion. I'd need to tweak the tone a bit to suit my players. I think I might play it up to be more like "dungeon crawl, but weirder." Lessen the angst a bit. I could recycle some of my maps and other resources from my old campaign. This would require an incredible amount of database coding, however.
- Retro Cyberpunk: My "Network 23" scenario one-shot at Necronomicon was surprisingly well-received. I kind of like the idea of running some sort of a "cyberpunk" campaign, but newer "cyberpunk" campaign settings such as Interface Zero have taken off in crazy-stupid directions wherein the hacker is basically a GOD, and everyone else just tags along (or at the very least is vulnerable to his whims -- and those of ENEMY hackers). At least "retro" cyberpunk managed to achieve a little more balance. I'm not sure what setting I would use, per se, and handling cyber-enhancements could be tricky: I really don't like "lite" Savage Worlds systems that treat cyberware purely as "trappings" for Edge or Power purchases. On the other hand, when cyberware is TOO GOOD, then it can become something of an arms race to replace as much of your "meat" with "metal" as soon as you get the requisite money, and anyone who isn't cybered up gets left behind. I haven't yet found a system that finds a good balance.
My "Network 23" scenario only really worked because I deliberately engineered a scenario in which the characters could be EXTREMELY unbalanced, and yet it didn't matter. One character could be a walking tank and utterly dominate any combat he was in ... but that wouldn't be exciting and would hurt the ratings, so he'd be put in the peculiar situation of basically having to pull his punches, or engineer things to give the "stars" the credit. :) And that was the JOKE ... but it also would get pretty old after a few sessions.
Anyway, Digital_Rampage really wasn't interested in any "retro cyberpunk," so that's probably not going anywhere. - Deadlands-esque: I say "esque," because while it would involve me shelling out for the Deadlands modules, I would be running a Wild West / Weird West setting that is inspired by Deadlands, but not necessarily that actual setting. That is, I am not a fan of the extreme "alternate history" twist to Deadlands where it's past the Civil War, and the US is still split into North and South (but somehow the South still abolishes slavery anyway), ornithopters and zeppelins and weird science gizmos are everywhere, magic is widespread, and bogeymen are frightfully common. IMHO, the Weird West got SO WEIRD that ... well, it's like a D&D game where you think you're going to play some mysterious wizard or heroic paladin and then you discover that wizards and holy heroes are rather a dime-a-dozen, and magic items of all sorts can be shopped for and bought in any sufficiently large city, and once you get to a certain level it's not that big of a deal to go plane-hopping to the various realms of the afterlife or the elements or what-have-you (as long as you have some business there). After a while, it just sort of DRAINS the novelty out of it all.
Anyway, I'd like to run something where the players don't need to brush up on some new alternate-history primer, and can just assume that it's taking place in something more closely resembling the "real" Wild West (or at least as we know it from TV shows and movies) -- it's just that here this ghost story might be true, or maybe there are werewolves or vampires or SOMETHING supernatural in the shadows ... just not EVERYTHING YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE, AT THE SAME TIME.
That doesn't make for an adventure, however, and none of the published Deadlands adventures really take that tack, so I'd still have some writing ahead of me. It would cost me a lot more, but at least it would require a lot less database-coding. - Atomic 66 Cafe: Retro-futuristic post-apocalyptic ... or, in other words, heavily inspired by the Fallout franchise. Digital_Rampage is utterly disinterested in this, however, so it's not going to happen.
I could think up a lot more, but those are the items floating around in my head right now. Digital_Rampage originally was badgering me about doing something with Ghostbusters, but when I presented a list of options, he voiced support for Deadlands instead.
Technical Considerations:
I have no idea WHO would be interested in playing. I'm not even sure WHEN I would be playing -- probably a once-every-other-week format. I presently have every-other-Saturday tied up, and it would be a bit stressful for me to commit EVERY Saturday. I presently have every-other-SUNDAY tied up with Digital_Rampage's online campaign, but this isn't likely to start until that wraps up.
One problem with running on Sundays is that sometimes my work requires me to TRAVEL on Sunday. While I can sometimes borrow Gwendel's laptop (she hardly uses it anymore) and set up shop in a hotel to *play*, the internet connection is usually spotty, and I'm at something of a disadvantage. It would be far crazier for me to expect to GM something under those conditions.
Saturdays, oddly enough, are hardly ever impacted by my work. But that's exactly why our tabletop games are on Saturdays already.
I'm a bit concerned that Gwendel's laptop isn't really up to the stress of running the game. When running Fantasy Grounds and having a browser open, that seems at times to really tax the computer. (Once upon a time, I could have a bazillion browser windows open with no trouble, but I think operating system update bloat may be involved.) My only desktop at home is an old clunker that runs Windows VISTA, and really I only keep it around simply because I've got some hard drives full of old work files that I sometimes need to crack into when someone from Pinnacle contacts me with something like, "We're going to make a German-language version of such-and-such book that you did maps for. Can you dig up the old Photoshop files in layers?" And then I have to go digging through the archives and old hard drives. At some point, I suppose I could do with a new computer of my own, but I hate the process of computer-shopping (or, rather, I hate the inevitability of regretting my choices afterward when I find out I could have gotten the same thing cheaper somewhere else, or I really should have put in a little more money for a better CPU, or whatever).
Also, so far, only Digital_Rampage is the one voicing any interest in my running something online, so I really have no idea what sort of player group I can expect, or what their interests will be.
It's at least a thought on the back burner. Maybe something will develop further down the line.
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Date: 2019-03-19 03:20 am (UTC)OR, within the game itself, I pull up a "card" and type in that data into the appropriate fields. I rather wish it were possible for me to do it that way first -- fill in data within the program itself, then "save" my work into the game library, and possibly even export so that someone else could use it later on. Maybe such a tool exists, but it's not part of the package deal I got.
I can do all the text editing with an ordinary text editor such as Wordpad. It shouldn't really be any more involved than back when I'd do lots of custom HTML coding to make up an information support page for running my "Lunar Blues" Mutant Chronicles campaign ... in theory.
The main thing I need to focus on is whatever is "player-facing." That is, one appeal to this is that when it's time to Advance (or "level up") your character, you have the tools ready for you. You have $X ready to spend on new gear? Well, it's up to you to calculate your shopping list and see if you've got enough money, but then once you figure out what all is in your shopping cart, you can drag-and-drop item entries from the Gear Library, and it'll add that to your Inventory, along with the relevant item entry that you can reference. So, if the rule for a flashlight is, let's say, weighs 1 lb and clearly illuminates everything in a 10-square beam, then that's attached as a rule note to the item that you can click on if you need a reminder. Or, if you pick up a Colt semi-auto pistol, it's got the damage, rate of fire, number of shots, weight, etc., already figured in, so you don't have to look it up.
Or, a character gets an Advance, and you want to pick up a new Edge, you can drag-and-drop the appropriate entry from the Edge Library, rather than having to type it all in for yourself. I suppose if you have a copy of the rulebook at hand, you could always look it up, but it's just kind of handy that if someone says, "I have the Elan Edge!" that someone could actually look up "Elan" in game, click on it, and get the description right there.
In that case, I only need to worry about building up the database if I'm introducing a bunch of new items of gear that players can purchase, or Edges they can select when advancing, etc. If I'm running a fantasy game, and players are normally only allowed to buy NORMAL weapons and armor, and only find magical gear through questing, then I could easily -- on the fly -- copy an item card from the Gear Library of a Longsword, and I'd rename it "Longsword of Stabbification," grant it a +2 to damage, but put in a special note that, "On a Critical Failure when using this weapon, you deal damage to yourself as with a normal strike." And then if such a thing ever happens, then I as GM could just roll the damage vs. the player (I don't need to automate something that I HOPE will be fairly rare) and we can resolve it normally.
I don't plan on having LOTS of Longswords of Stabbification in the game, so I don't necessarily have to update the database to have that entry ready to go. I just create a unique item card and give it to one of the players, or put it in the "party loot box" for the players to decide among themselves who's going to drag and drop it into his or her inventory. (And if it doesn't work out, he or she can always put it BACK into the party loot box for someone else to grab instead.)
Wonderland No More could end up being a lot of work since it DOES introduce an awful lot of new Edges, Hindrances, character Races, and Gear that players can freely pick from. For Fallout, I would probably want to populate the database with some fairly common items unique to the Fallout setting, and definitely any setting-specific Edges, but I don't necessarily have to have EVERY SINGLE ITEM OF SPECIAL EQUIPMENT in the Fallout universe right there in the player database libraries. (Some of it might be out there in the wasteland for the heroes to discover ... or maybe when they reach a bigger city -- and I've had more time to code in more stuff -- they'll find a broader selection of bigger guns available for purchase. ;) )