An ugly, but easy, fix on ranked talents like Lethal Blows is to cap it at some level... like no more than say 5 or 6 ranks in any given talent, 5 is a good number, as it is the max ranks of skills, or one could for the characteristic max of 6....
from that point onward that particular ranked talent would just count as a talent you already possess and therefore need not take on the specialisation tree. I think that's an easy fix, perhaps not overly elegant, but not too ugly either. One could also slap on a diminishing return mechanism for those that feel the a cap is too strict. Like From 5 ranks in a given talent, the bonus, whatever it is, is halved round down, and after another 5 ranks, either drop it further to one quarter, or stop at that point...
Donovan was right and I was wrong
I admittedly don't agree with the idea of diminishing returns simply because the number range is so low as-is... a cap on ranked talents makes more sense though and I believe is consistent from my take on what " high level " looks like in a game with low numbers compared to d20... the high-level PCs/NPCs more broadly/overall push the higher end of the number range in their stats.
Edited by ChortlesI think the thing to consider is that every game - be it star wars, HERO, D&D, what have you - will eventually have the players on such an extreme on the XP curve that they out power the game, unless you're throwing a Darth Vader a week at them. All games have shelf lives and some handle it better than others (my group could get a WEG Star Wars game to last 5 years). It'll be interesting to see how the FFG engine handles a half decade of millage under the hood.
The funny thing is that if you look at canon characters' history, you can to an extent see the
how
of them getting so much XP, in the sense of what adventures they went on... and as long as they keep being written (used by licensed writers) they'll keep gaining that experience, in a sense.
I agree. I played a 3-year game of L5R and by the end of it, my character was Rank 7, extremely powerful at swordsmanship and dueling. But she still hit a karmic strike with the BBEG in the endgame iaijutsu duel, which led her to strongly question her position of right vs wrong going into the final scenes, given that Heaven had not granted her obvious success. That was a great dramatic moment and appropriate for the tail-end of the game.
Even at that level we were challenged, but the story was ending. We certainly could have kept playing those characters exploring new stories, but their narrative had come to a close and it was more fun writing their "epilogues" which, in classic Japanese tragic narrative, none of them had a truly happy or stable life after saving the Empire.
I feel like it can be the same way with Edge, or any other game. Sometimes it's more satisfying to end the story as the story dictates even when you're at 2000 XP, than keep going just because you can, in the face of the GM having to figure out appropriate threats.
Edited by KshatriyaI think the thing to consider is that every game - be it star wars, HERO, D&D, what have you - will eventually have the players on such an extreme on the XP curve that they out power the game, unless you're throwing a Darth Vader a week at them. All games have shelf lives and some handle it better than others (my group could get a WEG Star Wars game to last 5 years). It'll be interesting to see how the FFG engine handles a half decade of millage under the hood.
I agree entirely. The campaign I played in was WEG, and it ran for 7 years before my Jedi became so potent that he managed to take on the "first Sith"'s spirit... and win. He was Revan's Padawan, and by the end of the campaign was rolling something like 22D+2 on lightsaber (with powers active, but not counting the penalties to dice pool for HAVING those powers active - also counting bonuses from self-made lightsaber).
I agree. I played a 3-year game of L5R and by the end of it, my character was Rank 7, extremely powerful at swordsmanship and dueling. But she still hit a karmic strike with the BBEG in the endgame iaijutsu duel, which led her to strongly question her position of right vs wrong going into the final scenes, given that Heaven had not granted her obvious success. That was a great dramatic moment and appropriate for the tail-end of the game.
I LOVE L5R, but have never yet found a game to
play
in.
I've got a long-wanted-to-run concept for a character - a heimen child who was adopted by an Akodo samurai of respectable status after he saw in her all of the most desirable qualities in a Lion Samurai-ko. As she grows up, she reveals a powerful talent for tactics and martial traits that earn her respect from her fellow Lion samurai. Her background was inspired heavily by the song "Abraham's Daughter" (one of the themes from the Hunger Games).
Sorry to detract from the topic.
Just love the concept.
I live in Toronto, and there are no more phone booths to be found.
It's all about the crack cocaine, now.
No phone booths but our own pair of Hutts...
So, to be clear, you expect there will be no Jedi action in Rebels?hahaha you referenced the exact trailer I had previously seen and told you was not relevant. Somehow I knew you would! Keepin' it classy as usual. Gotta love you thinking one phrase in a 16-second trailer is the be-all, end-all.
I expect they are going to get killed. Luke being the Last Jedi doesn't bode well them.
Going to enjoy watching Stormtroopers gun them down.
Yeah, having a ton of Jedi running around in the Dark Times completely trivializes Luke's story and how important he is for the continuation of the order. How TFU dealt with remaining Jedi (insane hermits except Rahm Kota) worked well for me. They weren't interested in fixing the order. They were interested in surviving, insane or not.
Yeah, having a ton of Jedi running around in the Dark Times completely trivializes Luke's story and how important he is for the continuation of the order. How TFU dealt with remaining Jedi (insane hermits except Rahm Kota) worked well for me. They weren't interested in fixing the order. They were interested in surviving, insane or not.
That seems to be the modus operandi of all the Jedi survivors of Order 66 and the ensuing purge; keep a low profile until the Force says "the time is right." Most of them were probably caught off-guard when Luke showed up and allegedly took down both Vader and the Emperor (in spite of Luke saying otherwise, most folks just presume he's being modest about him taking down the two top Imperial authority figures). But enough of them remember Anakin Skywalker, and how he wasn't exactly the model of a proper Jedi, and for a while are uncertain about coming out of hiding, particularly when Luke declares he's re-booting the Jedi Order. Having been focused on survival for close to three decades by that point, what few survivors remained likely adopted a "wait and see" approach to determine if the galaxy would accept a New Jedi Order. Going by the NJO timeline, things were pretty shaky, and Luke's training methods had caused it's own share of problems, so again the Jedi survivors stuck to "watch and wait." Going by the Legacy comics, eventually Luke go things going in a satisfactory direction for some of the old-timers to come out of hiding and sign up with his New Jedi Order.
It doesn't help that overtly supporting the Rebellion as Jedi would bring a world of hurt on them. Knocking over supply depots and blowing up comm centers gets the law and Imperial Intelligence after you.
Doing so while packing a glow stick of destiny gets the law and Intelligence after you. Plus Vader, Sith Inquisitors, and Emperor's Hand or three, plus all of their resources. And when that happens you've not just screwed yourself but the entire cell you were working with.
Best to keep your hrad down and do what you can as Joe Average. The risks are way to high.
Eh. Samurai Jack is the way to do wondering swordsman vs. the legions of the Dark Lord.
Oh, totally. But Jack has an entirely different feel. If anything, Luke would be the Jack of Star Wars, he just has a really intricate support network. At least at first. Once Vader proves the force users can't fly, it's more about the Rebels winning the war than Luke. He's still a hero, but not The Hero.
Oh, totally. But Jack has an entirely different feel.
They've said they want Rebels to be a upbeat show, so its probably going to be on the A-Team or Asterix end of being hunted by the Evil Empire stories.
Gandalf and Aragorn resisting Sauron or an Errol Flynn Robin Hood movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXHVDRgAFMk
Or Willow for that matter.
Samurai Jack is also an entirely different genre, and the guy's gotten training the likes of which would make most heroic figures green with envy. Frankly, the only thing keeping Jack from being a Marty Stu is that he's facing a godlike being and his "honor before reason" mindset that often sabotages his attempts to return to the past and undo the future that is Aku.
And Jack could never fly... but he could jump good!
Wasn't the first Clone Wars cartoon basically Samurai Jack/Jedi anyways? Done by the same guy wasn't it?
You'd have to work pretty hard to come up with something more Star Wars than this kind of thing.
Wasn't the first Clone Wars cartoon basically Samurai Jack/Jedi anyways? Done by the same guy wasn't it?
Yep, Genndy Tartoffsky (probably butchered the spelling of his name). And the series was pretty much intended to be as over-the-top as possible, with Mace Windu pretty much being the one-man unstoppable army that Jack was in his own series.
The CGI series that followed, while keeping some of the same look, was deliberately toned down; the Jedi were certainly far above the norm, but they weren't on par with the human fighters from Dragonball Z (aka bush-league gods in weighted kung fu outfits), maybe more like the human fighters towards the end of the original Dragonball series. Goku and Vegeta probably would have wiped out the Separtists in a few days. Particularly Vegeta before the Buu saga, as he'd have no problem blowing up planets to speed up the process after finding out what utter wimps these Sith were in comparison to a Saiyan warrior; the guy was blowing up planets back when his Power Level wasn't in the tens of millions. Hell, he'd probably laugh at the notion that the Empire needs a gigantic space station in order to pull what he can do with an offhand gesture.
Goku and Vegeta probably would have wiped out the Separtists in a few days.
Yeah, but it would have taken 18 episodes of building up power to do so. (:
It works with Lone Wolf and Cub as well.
A Jedi survives Order 66 and takes one of the younglings with him while he cuts bloody path of revenge across the galaxy.
Speaking of which, this Vaders pretty Bad Ass.
This is the life of a wondering Jedi swordsman in the days following the destruction of the order.
Desslok,
Original version, probably. They did do an abridged series called Dragonball Kai that cut out a lot of the filler. How much, you ask?
Let's put it this way. It took DBZKai only half as many episodes to reach the end of the Cell Saga as the original version did. And the biggest time waster (SSJ Goku vs. Frieza) got chopped down significantly, with a nod even given as to why Namek lasted more than "5 minutes. Partly in that the planet was tougher than Frieza thought, and partially because he subconsciously wanted to test his mettle against a "legendary Super Saiyan" to see of all the hype was true.
Though as I've told others, DBZ isn't and never truly was a "fight anime" (in spite of establishing a lot of the tropes used in fight anime series)... it's actually Kabuki theater with a martial arts theme
DBZK was a welcome change. I was shocked by the fact that the original arc was dealt with in about 12ish episodes. Originally, I think it took 26.
Oh, totally. But Jack has an entirely different feel. If anything, Luke would be the Jack of Star Wars, he just has a really intricate support network. At least at first. Once Vader proves the force users can't fly, it's more about the Rebels winning the war than Luke. He's still a hero, but not The Hero.
Food for thought: Episode VI rather neatly separates " the Rebels vs. the Empire " from " the Light Side vs. the Dark Side ", not just in Luke splitting off from the Rebels on the forest moon because of his fear of being an unwilling beacon (along the lines of what you described), but also the fact that Luke, Vader, and Palpatine's narrow focus on their individual contention essentially " puts them out of the fight " as far as the ground and space battles of Endor.
(In the Thrawn Trilogy, the titular Grand Admiral voiced to Pellaeon the possibility that Palpatine had a mental effect on the Imperial forces' effectiveness at Endor only for it to collapse with his death, but EU canon is that Grand Admiral Nial Declann was the one, both in place of and on behalf of the otherwise-occupied Palpatine.)