Non-Computer Games...
Played more of our revamped-into-Dresden-Files game last night. Mostly enjoyable, though having one character who tends to go off and get into trouble alone leaves the rest of us idle or playing catch-up. Aspects are still taking some getting used to, but we ran a combat session and learned a bit more about the use of them there.
If you want to take out an enemy, that usually requires a big hit, which can take tagging a lot of Aspects to build up to. The question is whether it's worthwhile to use "normal" attacks to build up to it - if you do more damage than their stress track, they end up gaining Consequences, which are taggable Aspects - or whether it's better to use Manuevers to try to apply Aspects directly. The former is more conventional and (in my mind) satisfying, but the latter is probably easier against more powerful opponents. In any case, having Fate points is a big plus, as free tags go fast.
There's still some concern that we're not seeing enough Compels against PCs. My thought there is that it requires a serious change in thinging for our gaming group if they're going to become a bigger part of the game. We're sort of accustomed to being "adventurer" types, where the character go with the flow into danger as a matter of course. So it doesn't really require a Compel for us to traipse off into dangerous territory after our only lead - we're doing that anyway. And we players are not used to directing the flow of plot (and I'm not sure I want to, as I want to see where things have been going already). Eh... it's a form of roleplaying culture shock, I suppose.
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On another topic (that came up after the game), why hasn't anyone made apps for handling the grunt work of RPG combat? How slick would it be (especially for a manuever-heavy game like Exalted or D&D4) for players and GM to be able to network devices and get menu-driven selections for combat actions and electronic rolling? Sure, it's a lot of coding, but can you imagine how that would cut down on the time combat takes in a tabletop session dealing with all the interactions of abilities and whatnot? RPG companies have been lagging in the electronic field, with character generators usually being made by interested gamers rather than the companies, but maybe they should get off their duffs and be progressive. Something like that for an RPG I was playing it... yeah, I'd probably pay for that, and it might get me to invest in an iPad or something...
If you want to take out an enemy, that usually requires a big hit, which can take tagging a lot of Aspects to build up to. The question is whether it's worthwhile to use "normal" attacks to build up to it - if you do more damage than their stress track, they end up gaining Consequences, which are taggable Aspects - or whether it's better to use Manuevers to try to apply Aspects directly. The former is more conventional and (in my mind) satisfying, but the latter is probably easier against more powerful opponents. In any case, having Fate points is a big plus, as free tags go fast.
There's still some concern that we're not seeing enough Compels against PCs. My thought there is that it requires a serious change in thinging for our gaming group if they're going to become a bigger part of the game. We're sort of accustomed to being "adventurer" types, where the character go with the flow into danger as a matter of course. So it doesn't really require a Compel for us to traipse off into dangerous territory after our only lead - we're doing that anyway. And we players are not used to directing the flow of plot (and I'm not sure I want to, as I want to see where things have been going already). Eh... it's a form of roleplaying culture shock, I suppose.
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On another topic (that came up after the game), why hasn't anyone made apps for handling the grunt work of RPG combat? How slick would it be (especially for a manuever-heavy game like Exalted or D&D4) for players and GM to be able to network devices and get menu-driven selections for combat actions and electronic rolling? Sure, it's a lot of coding, but can you imagine how that would cut down on the time combat takes in a tabletop session dealing with all the interactions of abilities and whatnot? RPG companies have been lagging in the electronic field, with character generators usually being made by interested gamers rather than the companies, but maybe they should get off their duffs and be progressive. Something like that for an RPG I was playing it... yeah, I'd probably pay for that, and it might get me to invest in an iPad or something...
You know, that would be pretty awesome. I saw a Shadowrun dice roller at one point, and a spell organizer for Pathfinder, but... yeah, for Exalted? That would be cool.
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