random stuff...

Hey everycreature! Today I give a small update before I move on to something new (just below) with a lengthy review/critique of a MLP rpg. Chapter 2 of Whoops! is about 1/2 done (3/4? 2/3?) and an unedited, unproof read version of it can be found; password is "Go Fish" if you are impatient.

I am doing this because stress of finding people willing to give me work has left me an insomniac for the day/night. I think it has been a full decade since my last all nighter. Some of you might be in good cheer for that news as it might mean me settling down and working on my fic. Tough news as I am working on three fics at once (that said the file size for chapter 2 has increased by nearly 90% and stands at roughly 1,500 words at this moment; which is sad because coming back this post is reaching 2k words) plus the thoughts of the RPG below.

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Fun fact; I am actually using this RPG as a backbone for one of the fics. This means that instead of writing a mary sue self insert that gains powers as plot demands she will be properly grounded with established limits. Though I did intend to self insert I seem to have lost myself along the way and my muse carried me further with a few brain waves. Though I have gone temporarily insane with insomnia so one could argue that I still achieved self insertion with my insane horse; at least until I get some sleep.

Though I am not actually tired... moving on;

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. (Tired of how the HR is snug up against the text; think periods to lengthen the break is a good idea?)

Roleplay is Magic (link at the bottom) is a fan made RPG that lasts for four seasons. This review/critic will deal with season 3 (though 4 is more polished) as it is the crunchier system despite being made with the same design philosophy.

It is a 2d6 system (which generates a bell curve) that has three attributes. This system suffers from a number of problems and today I am going to be going over two and I will do the first with Twilight and the second with Shining Armor; the god of magic. *wink*

So let's meet Twilight Sparkle shall we? Personality will be filed off as we know Twilight to some degree or another. This 'sheet' would rarely pass Game Master approval but suits our purposes and is game ready even if it technically has the personality of a cardboard cutout.

Name: Twilight Sparkle**
Tribe: Unicorn, Experience: youth (0/5), Age: [X]
Element: magic
Talents: egghead

Mind: 4, Body: 1, Heart: 1
Fortitude: 10/10, Willpower: 25/25
Virtue: 1

**Abilities**
- Special purpose; (Cutiemark is [X])
- Telekinesis
- Friendship is Magic (2 points, Target [individual, group], Range [contact, seen], Duration [immediate, sustained], Function [standard], Effect [any five], Subject [any five -effect choices])

**Edges;**
- pony prodigy (mind skills +1 if skill is 1 or better)

**Skills;**
- Mind (+1): detective (investigate 1), profession (administration 1), scholar (literature 1), scientist (astronomy 1)
- Body:
- Heart:

So here is Twilight Sparkle as she most likely appeared during her entrance exam. Quite literally bare bones but her one talent was well picked to my estimate. Her spellcasting is the focus of her ability points (apparently a unicorn cannot do magic at all without understanding friendship) and left 'great and powerful' and 'talented' abilities empty. (I would like to go on record now of how I hate that they are described as natural abilities that do not represent training; fluff text could use some work.)

Skills are tricky to figure for Twilight but easy to understand as a gameplay element. Seperated by attribute and then further segregated by broad categories it is actually pretty simple. Max ranks are ten and with Twilight being a prodigy she only needs nine ranks but has no bonus without at least one rank in a skill. Most of you might notice that I gave her no ranks in spellcasting (which is it's own skill) and that is because I assume her parents did their best to give her a more rounded education. I gave her a point in administration to represent the checklist mentality though I am uncertain who drilled it into her. I even made a brand new branch in the scientist category.

You are probably waiting for the critique. All in good time. I must first set the stage;

The book comes with three pre-written adventures and we will be going through the one made for fillies. It is literally Lune Eclipsed 'plus changes'. Spoilers ahead. Also let us meet Applejack and Pinkie Pie (with a similar setup above but iron pony [+3 body] and showstopper [+3 heart] respectively).

We begin in the main square with all the attractions Applejewel (no relation to our filly Applejack, *wink*) is maning. Which is spider tossing, (that Luna animates in the show) pumkin chunk'in, (by catapult if I remember right) and apple bobbing.

First up is Spider Toss! The recommended difficulty check for "CMC" level checks is a wopping 10 (represented here afterwards as 10+ in typical Mongoose Traveller fashion). Good luck, for two of you need it!

So each one of you rolls a throwing check [body] to hit. For an unmodified roll you have a 16.7% chance to succeed on a 2d6. Twilight and Pinkie have 1 in body which improves the odds to 27.8%. Applejack has it best at 72.2% and I feel none are justified in having this particular combat skill.

Part of me thinks it is a real design problem that (if Talents are distributed evenly) over half the colts and fillies in Equestria will fail a task meant for their capability. It gets worse.

Next is the Pumkins where we use artillery skill [also body] where Applejack is unfazed and Pinkie Pie improves to 41.7% due to 'party canon' skill. (Admittedly the Crusaders seem fond of catapults so even if they are the extreme the number of fillies with artillery at all should be a sizable minority.)

So... unless you meta game at character creation the typical DCs a filly is expected to pass will result in failure more often than not.

(Apple bobbing is an auto success. There is also a dance contest I will not cover here)

Danger! A crack of thunder by none other than Shadowbolt Dash! Roll discipline 12+ [mind]. That's right fillies! The designers, in their wisdom, made this check harder! Unless you put skill points in discipline (or is named Twilight Sparkle) you have 8.3% chance. Twilight does not get +1 for prodigy as she lacks the skill but natural intelligence puts her at a respectable 41.7%.

Chances are in favor of them all losing 1d6 willpower. (Poor Applejack; this represents 10-60% of her total mental fortitude.)

Unless the players are dark souls fans the fun might be halved at this point.

Assuming no one rests we move directly on to our 'combat' encounter; a ghostly manticore (sort of). It roars; roll discipline 13+ or lose 3d6 willpower (save negates half). At 13 it is impossible for the dice to show it but each character naturally has one point of mind reducing the DC to 12; the dice must show two sixes (2.8%) and poor Twilight is now down to 27.8%.

The party must last three rounds. Assuming her willpower is topped off each time Applejack is one hit K.O.ed over half the rounds unless she makes her save. Now for Twilight; *rolls real dice in the background*. Failed every save but due to poor damage rolls will remain in action with 7 willpower remaining. Unless she had cast a spell before combat and never healed.

Assuming they regroup up 'here' after talking with the adults and are now searching for the illusionist responsible for scaring foals and stealing candy. This is the part where the skill system shines; teamwork. Unlike Dungeons and Dragons where niche protection means most sit around while the spotlight is moved around this game pushes everypony to support each other if a check doesn't call for each player rolling separately.

So it is a standard DC 10+ and Twilight has a chance of 72.2% BUT she is not alone. If both Applejack and Pinkie Pie decide to help she gets an extra +1 from each helper. Now we are talking 91.7% (4+] for, perhaps, the most narratively critical roll of the adventure.

In short I find the checks system to be a super hard mess.

I told you earlier it gets worse and let's meet adult (30xp) Twilight! The Twilight just before being sent to Ponyville. Her new talent pick is 'student athlete' [+2 mind, +1 body] as the show demonstrates she is plenty able to keep up with our heavies. Celestia and family will be pushing her to make friends (smart cookie talent, +1 heart instead) but she resists in my mind and "excels" in sports. Need heavy duty air quotes for that.

(Though actual pick is largely academic)

So her attributes look like;
Mind: 6, Body: 2, Heart: 1

And challenges in the context of adulthood is DC 15+... meaning she has no hope of passing body or heart checks untrained and unskilled mind is 27.8% and she is still regularly failing filly level checks without any skill or one set of helping hooves. (Though untrained mind checks are now at 91.7% so there is improvement.)

The system is designed to keep you behind the curve unless you stay glued together at the hip.

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Now for magic!

Meet Shinning Armor! (Sheet not included)

He needs to cast a shield spell on all of Canterlot to protect his wedding (You might of heard of it) and this spell has a DC of 60 and a cost of 60 (they are synced by default)

So! Let's make him max level with all the talents that improve mind taken (mind 10) which gives +10. Let us now max out spellcasting skill (+10), max out 'talented' ability (gives +6) and six helpers (+6, not technically allowed to help casting but as Game Master I am feeling merciful). All of that gets us +42 and protecting ponies is his special talent/Cutiemark so an extra +2 for 44.

He can now roll between 46-56.

We literally made him a god of magic, likely eclipsing Celestia in power, and he is still incapable of doing it. We even cheated with a quick'n'dirty houserule. He has enough charge he might be able to cast it twice in succession but just can't get his check up that high to succeed.

The problem is several spell parameters double (or quadruple in total for this specific spell) the cost and DC.

The fix? Divorce DC from cost and the multiplier does not affect the skill check as it does. I have no problem with the cost; it is a shield over an entire population center. I would expect its cost to drop the average unicorn. The base DC is now 15 with a cost of 60. Still kinda low DC (which represents average spell work) but if we add instead of multiply the total cost multiplier we get 19 (a far more respectible difficulty number)

Now we have mythical spells the players can actually use.

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The designers easily fixed both of these when they went into 'technical' (set in rules) vs 'dramatic' (whatever the GM wants! task solving philosophy in chapter 7 pg 106 [114] (my pdf viewer counts the first 8 unnumbered pages; table of contents is reliably off by 8) with a clear focus on dramatic. Meaning they put the entire yoke of the problem on the GM's shoulders and said 'figure it out' after giving a less than functional and forgiving technical set. An experienced GM, who intimately understands the 2d6 odds, can roll with it (with houserules) but for a new GM this might as well be another bar of entry. One more hurdle they have to master before they might prep material beforehand that holds up at the table.

https://roleplayingismagic.github.io/rules/index.html

I know it didn't sound like it but this is a "glowing endorsement" of the system. I just wanted to talk and make you aware of pitfalls... 4e is better but too "theater of the mind" for me.