Tynam

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In The Beginning Was The d20. Daniel is a long-time computing geek who spends his days spreading this good word. Interests include painting, medieval swordsmanship, and every conceivable form of game design.

	5,848 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	2 years, 6 months
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17h	comment	How effective would a mech be in a city environment? This says everything. If the objective is to capture the city, there's an interesting and deep tactical discussion (edit the question if that's what you want). If the objective is to destroy the city, there's no need even to enter it, and the mech / artillery combination is unbeatable.
1d	comment	Is making a skill check in place of another check still considered the original skill? Hello, Ephiral, welcome to the site, and +1 for a solid initial answer. It would be improved slightly if you edited in the relevant text from the talent and Star Wars FAQ. (On which subject, our FAQ is here if you'd like to check it out.)
May 5	comment	Incentivizing Player Betrayal? I wish I had a second +1 for link Press and Dyson anyway; that paper is one of those revelatory "why did I never think to do that?" moments in mathematics.
Apr 18	comment	Running a game of Microscope that isn't totally insane? +1 for as usual, Brian beats me to it by 10 mins. Especially the theme. Theme is everything when setting the tone. (I've run a game that ended with a slave rebellion by intelligent sheep ninja wielding doomsday weapons... but the tone stayed serious because it was played completely straight. Because the game had started out with simple, serious bronze age politics and exploration, and we'd hung on to that as the end approached.) Pick a theme that encourages serious - Dune, not Star Wars. Global Frequency, not Justice League.
Apr 17	comment	Should long Aspects be split? +1 Strong answer. A High Concept should sum up the whole character; it's OK for it to imply a lot of things. Other aspects that don't seem to work should usually be rephrased rather than split; instead of describing the character (So in this case, the High Concept would be "Gnome Illusionist On The Make" or "Lord Of Illusion (In Training)". If it's not a high concept aspect, try rephrasing away from skills entirely - leave the illusion in stunts and take aspects like "I Can Do Great Things" or "My Teacher Said I Would Be The Best".)
Apr 8	comment	Character generation for the dresden files “case file” adventures +1 for that last paragraph. Fill in a couple of aspects each, then leave the others blank and let them emerge during play.
Apr 1	comment	How can I replace a player character with an impostor without alerting the group? Completely correct. Oddly, The less opportunity you create specially for the master spy, the more plausible the switch will be. (The last time a group PC became a traitor was in my Star Wars game, and the group were going through customs at the time. All I did was roleplay mini-incidents for two other PCs in the group, thereby establishing that stuff happened without drawing any attention to the switch.)
Apr 1	comment	How can I include Dresden-Files-style vampires in my Pathfinder game? I'd recommend adding NPC levels. The powers of older Dresden vampires are depicted as being quite variable and individual... The Red King's an evil priest, Mavra's a wizard, Lara's a warrior / noble, and most tellingly, Ortega's a warrior but his wife's a wizard.
Mar 26	comment	What makes up the core FATE? @wraith808 is completely correct; I shouldn't answer when I've just taken medication. Edited.
Mar 12	comment	What are the main factors to consider when a PC gains a major airport in V:tM? @Bob. Wow. Talk about debts that come back to bite you... the day he becomes unconvinced that it was worth it should be interesting. (This is the same problem that makes RL airport security mostly useless. Cost to player of preventing Obf/Dom attacks on complex: huge, lasting, possibly terminal. Cost to attacker of using different plan involving Celerity/Obtenebration/Thaumaturgy/Presence: probably not noticeable. Heck, I can think of two entirely off-site Dominate plans offhand.)
Mar 11	comment	What are the main factors to consider when a PC gains a major airport in V:tM? @JamesBroyles: Your comment suggests an additional issue immediately: during a Blood Hunt, your PC is responsible for making sure the target cannot escape by air. That should give them a whole heap of extra security problems. (Given no more than the usual TSA and a couple of ghouls in strategic places, how do you secure an airport against someone with Obfuscate or Dominate?)
Mar 9	comment	What happens to rez points when you merge (alpha) forks? +1 for good grief, how did I not ask this already? An interesting and important mechanical question.
Mar 6	comment	In the Dresden Files RPG, does an Evocation shield have a reactive utility to it? Welcome to the site, Elly. +1 as I agree with you. The question isn't "is there any place in the books where Harry shields against a surprise attack". You can still win initiative when surprised. The question is "does Harry ever fail to shield because he's surprised", and the answer is yes, that happens a lot. What's more, when he's going to suddenly shield against melee charge, he's always depicted as shaking out his shield bracelet, holding his arm out and getting his will ready - in game terms, readying the block.
Mar 3	comment	Responding to players paying exclusively with gold coins @Drew: It's worth bearing in mind that "tax collector" could mean something very different historically. In late-14th-century England, for example, property taxes were generally paid by entire villages, leaving it to local officials to sort out with the tax collectors who paid how much of the total assessment. There's plenty of room for fun with corruption here too.
Feb 28	comment	What's a good mechanic for rewarding players for keeping their characters happy? This is a brilliant question; I'm looking forward to the answers. (Ever noticed that adventurers that own entire kingdoms still eat standard packed trail rations?)
Feb 22	comment	What is a good mechanic for a test of will power? @DerekTomes: What you say is completely true, but there's a difference between favouring skill and favouring natural ability. LARP fighting favours those who train, but anyone can practice and get better, and you stand a small chance even against a stronger opponent. Beware of contests which don't have that much variation, because then in a match between the same two players the same one will always win - which is probably not the game design you wanted.
Feb 22	comment	How do I help my players get past an obstacle I didn't intend? @leokhorn is completely right. Make sure there's some other limit on the power of the well, and let the players know it! Once they realise they can get one NPC to wish, they'll realise they can get one hundred NPCs to wish...
Feb 19	comment	What is a good mechanic for a test of will power? @DerekTomes: ...as an asthmatic who prefers to play wizards, I don't. A physical contest system needs to take into account that some people are inherently unable to compete on even terms. (Tests requiring colour-recognition have the same problem - a small percentage of your players just can't do it.) Of course, if you have a small group it may be that it's not a problem for any of your players. In which case go right ahead.
Feb 18	comment	Crime Investigation in a fantasy world +1 This is a very good point; fantasy world have very different forensic capabilities. (It's worth remembering that Necromancy didn't originally mean "magic for affecting the dead". It meant magic for gathering information from the dead. "-mancy" implies divination... and if your fantasy world allows people to speak with the dead in any way, the judicial system will have someone who can.)
Feb 12	comment	Should I read the Dresden Files fiction before I get the RPG? @thatgirldm: Oh, sure, if you're going to read the whole series, you should go back and fill in Storm Front. But if the aim is to start with a book or two to get the feel of the character and universe, it's not quite a representative start, and it's definitely not the best novel. Fool Moon and Grave Peril give a much better picture. And even later on, the "how I learned Fuego" short story introduces that big-spoiler-plot-arc much better than Storm Front does.