Heroica: Glory Amongst The Stars - General Discussion

[Zepher]

2 hours ago, The Legonater said:

Super happy to see CMP and Zepher back! Excited to quest with you lot again soon.

Great to be back! We'll see how active I can be - will probably be a little more on and off after summer, but want to get back into it!

39 minutes ago, CMP said:

 Rally was my intention once I summon something. But I'll definitely be hanging onto the weapon. 

Great, we can continue to rally each other ad nauseam and never hit anything!

[CMP]

2 minutes ago, Zepher said:

Great, we can continue to rally each other ad nauseam and never hit anything!

But our attack modifiers will be incredibly consistently high!

[Kintobor]

5 minutes ago, CMP said:

But our attack modifiers will be incredibly consistently high!

Now I'm just picturing a Dragon Ball-esque fight, with both sides rallying into one combatant whose screaming at the top of their lungs, and that's the quest.

[Waterbrick Down]

You know this is why we put limits on dice pools. 

[Khorne]

On 7/15/2021 at 11:55 PM, The Legonater said:

Super happy to see CMP and Zepher back! Excited to quest with you lot again soon.

Seconded! Interesting character as well, CMP. Love the flair she brings already .

Very nice fig builds too, WBD and Duvors. Lovely selection and mix of pieces.

EDIT: Just a general fluff/aesthetics question or musing, but how do armies and soldiers look like in GATS? Probably very dependent on species, planet or galactic affiliation, but I have a hard time forming a visual. Does science fantasy mean it's kind of Star Wars-y (probably too science fiction already) or more like Nexo Knights with medieval-like armor? Or something in between?

[Classic_Spaceman]

On 7/17/2021 at 3:24 AM, Khorne said:

Just a general fluff/aesthetics question or musing, but how do armies and soldiers look like in GATS? Probably very dependent on species, planet or galactic affiliation, but I have a hard time forming a visual. Does science fantasy mean it's kind of Star Wars-y (probably too science fiction already) or more like Nexo Knights with medieval-like armor? Or something in between?

There is no set aesthetic for the universe as a whole, but the various factions do have different general appearances (e.g. Blackguard Security uses green-and-black sci-fi/modern-styled military gear, while the O'Kor'uk use more traditional/historical armour designs). Basically anything will fit, as long as it is consistent with the general aesthetics of the group in-question. 
 

[Kintobor]

On 7/17/2021 at 3:24 AM, Khorne said:

EDIT: Just a general fluff/aesthetics question or musing, but how do armies and soldiers look like in GATS? Probably very dependent on species, planet or galactic affiliation, but I have a hard time forming a visual. Does science fantasy mean it's kind of Star Wars-y (probably too science fiction already) or more like Nexo Knights with medieval-like armor? Or something in between?

I imagine it's an in-between look, but more so in that armies are likely comprised on a scale between lightly armoured ranged infantry to heavily armoured melee combatants. Anything between how the Rebel Alliance looks in Star Wars to the aesthetic of Nexo Knights or the Space Marines in Warhammer 40k. It sort of needs to cover a broad aesthetic, seeing as how we're playing a forum game with players who'll want to play a broad variety of characters.

Zaria, as an example, was inspired partially by Warhammer 40k's Howling Banshees, which, for those not in the know, are one of the Eldar's melee specialist units. Warhammer 40k in general is kind of the standard I went to when I thought of how armies might look, as that is a game with armies ranging from generic army soldiers with laser guns, to nuns in battle armour who strap rocket launching-pipe organs to their tanks and carry reliquaries into battle. GATS needs to cover a wide range of looks to allow players to play both heavily armoured front line melee combatants, to back range snipers, and everything else you can think of in terms of archetypes.

I figure this might sound a little bit like rambling, but I hope it made sense.

[Duvors]

On 7/17/2021 at 3:24 AM, Khorne said:

Just a general fluff/aesthetics question or musing, but how do armies and soldiers look like in GATS? Probably very dependent on species, planet or galactic affiliation, but I have a hard time forming a visual. Does science fantasy mean it's kind of Star Wars-y (probably too science fiction already) or more like Nexo Knights with medieval-like armor? Or something in between?

There is no clear aesthetic at the moment as no-one has had an opportunity to define that so far. Personally I think of the League as having dark blue dress and naval uniforms (including 2nd wave Alpha Team torsos for the latter) and very modern ground/frontline kit, while the Empire can be anything between the 18th century and WW1 (I specifically think of either of these two torsos for the Imperial Guard) mixed with Alien Conquest outfits where appropriate. It's ultimately up to whoever's taking the pictures though.

[Khorne]

Thanks for your answers, all! I know there's no set or clear aesthetic as of yet, but your replies do help me get a better picture of what the Five Years War might've looked like visually or what an army or soldier might look like in GATS.

I personally find it difficult sometimes to know when something is too fantasy or too sci-fi to fit the science fantasy umbrella, so having some visual cues like you all pointed at really helps .

[Duvors]

2 minutes ago, Khorne said:

I personally find it difficult sometimes to know when something is too fantasy or too sci-fi to fit the science fantasy umbrella, so having some visual cues like you all pointed at really helps .

To be honest, I feel one can go very far in either direction and still remain under the umbrella. 

[Waterbrick Down]

On 7/17/2021 at 2:24 AM, Khorne said:

EDIT: Just a general fluff/aesthetics question or musing, but how do armies and soldiers look like in GATS? Probably very dependent on species, planet or galactic affiliation, but I have a hard time forming a visual. Does science fantasy mean it's kind of Star Wars-y (probably too science fiction already) or more like Nexo Knights with medieval-like armor? Or something in between?

As others have said the intention behind the science-fantasy setting was to allow for more build variety amongst mission masters. Thus I'm sure you'll find some tend one way more than another. Personally my aim is somewhat steampunky/nexo-knights.

[Duvors]

Basic disarming concept:

Make a Strength (adjacent only)/ Weapon Prof (do not add Weapon Mod) vs target Strength. Target gains +1 die for every square between them and disarmer.

[Waterbrick Down]

2 hours ago, Duvors said:

Basic disarming concept:

Make a Strength (adjacent only)/ Weapon Prof (do not add Weapon Mod) vs target Strength. Target gains +1 die for every square between them and disarmer.

Would it be a permanent disarm or would it simply knock the weapon into an adjacent square? My thought is the latter.

[Duvors]

1 hour ago, Waterbrick Down said:

Would it be a permanent disarm or would it simply knock the weapon into an adjacent square? My thought is the latter.

I'd agree.

[samurai-turtle]

15 hours ago, Lind Whisperer said:

I wrote a small note at the bottom of the 4 sign-up. "The OCD leaves me pretty flaky - but forgive my presumptuousness, you strike me as the sort without much cash. As one poorer sort to another, I'd help for free- if you don't mind a flake. ~GHOSTER"

Am I the only one confused as to what is going on here? Is Mr. Whisperer joining up or not? 

[Lind Whisperer]

3 hours ago, samurai-turtle said:

Am I the only one confused as to what is going on here? Is Mr. Whisperer joining up or not? 

Yes. I'm making a char.

Lind was greedy, new isn

.t

[Kintobor]

2 minutes ago, Lind Whisperer said:

Yes. I'm making a char.

Lind was greedy, new isn

.t

I think we're all just waiting to see your character.

Welcome back! It's cool seeing a bunch of returning players!

[samurai-turtle]

5 minutes ago, Lind Whisperer said:

Yes. I'm making a char.

Lind was greedy, new isn

.t

Is everything ok? Or are you having trouble with your device? 

[Classic_Spaceman]

On 7/21/2021 at 5:09 PM, Waterbrick Down said:

MM Note: @Kintobor Please supply an action for Yelana/@Classic_Spaceman. 

9 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

MM Note: @Kintobor if you wouldn't mind putting down an action for Yelana/@Classic_Spaceman, that would be appreciated.

I apologise for missing the past two rounds - I have just been having an extremely difficult week! 😬
I am feeling better now, though, so I should be able to participate fully going forward. 
 

[Duvors]

@Lind Whisperer Glad to see you back and that you feel capable of participating! If you need any help with character creation or anything else feel free to ask.

[Zepher]

Very cool build for Ronin! 

[Yzalirk]

2 hours ago, Zepher said:

Very cool build for Ronin! 

Thank you, glad you like him! I cannot wait to quest with him and evolve his character.

[Waterbrick Down]

1 hour ago, KotZ said:

Varne looks for an off switch. "Uh, should we just shoot a control panel? Can we unplug him?"

Sorry I couldn't help but think of this 

[KotZ]

12 hours ago, Waterbrick Down said:

Sorry I couldn't help but think of this 

[Duvors]

Vague Vehicle Stuff

So, with the quest I was on now completed, I think I can devote some time to discussing some ideas for vehicle combat that have been rattling around my head. First things first, these ideas are primarily intended for single-pilot fighters, with each vehicle occupying a single square, and several elements may require fairly large grids if implemented.

Momentum, Turning, and Braking

The biggest departure from character scale combat, and the source of potential grid size requirements, are the changes to movement. Momentum is fairly simple; if you don't move in a round, then at the end of the round you move in the same direction as your last move for the same amount of squares. To clarify slightly, if you move four squares in a straight line, then your momentum will carry you four squares in that same direction. But if you move three squares in a straight line and then one square in a diagonal then your momentum will carry you one square along that diagonal. Turning on the other hand would be a stat the vehicle has that determines its turning angle, with 45 degrees being as low as it goes so that even vehicles with 1 move can still turn. You cannot move to squares outside your turning angle but you can still affect them with other actions. Finally, Braking is a Special Action that just stops the vehicle in place, negating all momentum and allowing your next move to ignore turning angles, however you cannot use the Move action on the same turn (tough an equivalent of Dash would still be possible).

Stats and Items

As you may guess, vehicles would have different stats to characters. Aside from Turning, the ones I have in mind are:

• Structure (basic health stat)
• Speed (how fast you go)
• Capacity (How much equipment you can have)

As you can see from that last one, equipment also works differently here. The first are attachments, which attach to your vehicle in a modular manner. These are the weapons/armor/tools of the vehicle, with the alteration that you can equip more than one of each and gain an extra slot with each +1 Capacity. There would also be an inventory and Consumable equivalents you could use directly from it (with torpedoes/missiles as Grenade equivalents). Capacity itself would increase like a proficiency rather than an attribute for balance reasons.

Other Ideas (Additional Complexity Ahoy!)

• An additional stat called 'Crew', determines how many players can pilot a vehicle. +1 for every +2 Capacity, (Perhaps the only way of increasing it?). Every player piloting a vehicle can take all actions available to that vehicle, as forcing people into 'roles' that limit what actions they can take is un-fun and I don't want to make up a bunch of actions for each role.
• Making Capacity increase the number of squares the vehicle takes up at certain thresholds?
• Vehicle types. This would mostly effect how movement works and where the vehicles can operate. Some ideas include:
  Fighters - Can Fly. In atmosphere cannot brake and can only attack in line of momentum.
  Antigrav/Heli - Can Fly. Cannot operate outside of gravity well.
  Wheeled - Groundbound. Braking does not effect turning restrictions.
  Tracked/Hovercraft - Groundbound. Ignores rough terrain, cannot dash and brake on same turn.
  Mechs -???
  Notably, being groundbound means that your momentum is halved (per turn) due to additional resistance.

The main issue I have with all this is that I cannot figure out how to tie it to the Piloting proficiency.

@Waterbrick Down

Edited August 3, 2021 by Duvors