Random RPG Stuff I've been Working On For My Gaming Group · 7:45pm Jul 20th, 2013
I run RPGs over Skype in my free time, and one of the things I like doing is adapting mechanics for odd and unusual things. I am currently working on a kind of space opera, massive titan sized war machine mecha combat Pacific Rim sort of setting that crosses over with MLP utilizing a trick fucked version of the Deadlands: Hell On Earth mechanics.
Ponies have a lot of innate advantages and I'm trying to keep the number of players who make pony pilots to a minimum, so I made a random background draw chart that has a pretty good chance of fucking you hard core. This has the weird effect (in my group) of making people flock to it... but oh well.
Here's the chart that Pegasi Pilots draw on. The number or letter refers to the card you just drew from a normal deck of cards, IE 2-10 + J,Q,K,A plus the two jokers.
Hell on Earth is very tongue in cheek and this is intended to be something of an innately ridiculous setting, so the chart tends to reflect this.
2: Get Me Out of This Thing. Your pegasus pilot has a common phobia among pegasi, a fear of tight spaces. This counts as the Loco: Claustrophobia, hinderance. In addition, any time the pilots compartment takes a critical hit, you must pass an Incredible (11) Guts Check or suffer a -4 to all actions until you are removed from the now no longer "comfy" compartment.
3: Wing Dings. For whatever reason, you never really got a handle on the common technical language used by the IDF. Normally this isn't a problem, AR contacts are common place and translation spell matrices are literally a dime a dozen. However, in a cockpit, nothing that can cause destructive interferential resonance is allowed, and translation spell matrices count, as WELL as changing all the instrumentation to pony font. Consequently, it takes you about a half a second to translate anything on AR displays to something you can comprehend. You suffer a -2 to all Quickness rolls. This penalty can be mitigated if your copilot is willing to pony up the bounty points to learn your whack ass writing system. Better be nice to 'em.
4: Ewwww Shavers. For whatever reason, maybe a monkey stole your ice cream cone as a foal, you don't like them humans very much. You character has Intolerant: Humans -2 (-2 for how often you run into the damn dirty apes, but severity of the prejudice is managable).
5: You Wanna Fight About It?! Ponies are cute. Ponies are small. Ponies inspire d'aww in pretty much everyone they meet. And you HATE that. You are a warrior, and they WILL treat you with respect. Consequently, you have the Big Britches or Big Mouth flaw, your choice. Unfortunately, you're still cute, and you're even cuter when you're mad. You also suffer a -2 to all Overawe checks. D'awww.
6: All... Uh... Hooves. Being a pilot requires a certain manual dexterity. Unfortunately, the mental structure necessary to be a pilot is so rare, they'll take you no matter HOW bad you are with your marshmellow clubs. You have the ALL Thumbs hinderance. In addition, AR socks never really felt... right. Any Cognition checks made while in a cockpit suffer a -2 penalty as you fiddle with the damn sensor controls like a man trying to play tetris with two corndogs.
7: It's Full Of Stars. Being a part of a reflex engine is nearly a religious experience. It isn't mind to mind contact, but it's damn close. Something about resonating so much in synch with another being has a tendency to lull you into a hypnotic state as you contemplate the vastness of another beings Inner Space. At the start of any piloting session, roll a Challenging (9) Spirit check. Failure on this roll imposes a stunned condition until you can pass this Spirit check as you drool all over yourself.
8: Love and Tolerate... Me. You're just plain hard to get along with. You aren't exactly the kind of pony that ponykind wants setting an example for them, and you KNOW it. Have known it most of your life. Your mental structure makes you valuable, but nothing can remove the sting of being That Mare/Stallion. You have the Mean As a Rattler hinderance. To balance this out, if someone ever managed to get close to you (you don't know why they would) they might find you quite a steadfast (though dickish) companion. The Loyal Hinderance is worth one extra point for you.
9: Do You Want To Making Buck Berserker?! Ponies are not an innately violent species and are not, as a rule, prone to violence. However, ancient herd instincts mean that when they go fight or flight, and flight ain't an option, they sometimes snap into a "red haze" state. Any time your mecha suffers a critical result, you must make a challenging (9) Spirit roll or go into a berzerk state. You can just BARELY differentiate between friend or foe, but self preservation goes out the window. So do any kind of tactics or ranged weaponry. While in this enraged state, you no longer gain any defensive bonus from melee weapons or your Fightin' Aptitude. On the plus side, your Mecha gains one strength die type due to your sudden surge of reflex energy, and you count as having Sand +2 for the purposes of determining Stun due to damage feedback.
10: I Just Don't Know What Went Wrong! It isn't a question of skill, or ability. You aren't incompetent. But unfortunately when things go wrong, and in this kind of intense fighting environment, they will, whenever your little hoovsies are mixed up in it, it tends to go REALLY wrong. You have the Unlucky Hinderance, AND while they're in the cockpit with you, so does your Copilot. Weeeee!
J: Scarred by the Experience. The Centaur Project is relatively new, and the Pegasus class is the most recent addition to the ranks of them. Consequently, there have been some bugs to work out of the system, and the test pilots have paid the price in blood. You immediately lose one die type of Spirit or Vigor, your choice. If you choose Spirit, you also gain the Night Terrors hinderance. Vigor, you gain Ugly as Sin -1. You are, however, something of an oddity amongst the Equestrian Pilot Core; a veteran pilot with little to no combat experience. You gain the Background: Soldier Mecha Pilot Edge for free, and with NO background draw for the Edge.
Q: Bucking Piece of Junk! Wings don't WORK like- ARGH! The Pegasus class wartitans are marvels of arcanotech engineering, capable of manuevering like a humming bird. A big freakin', sky scraper sized humming bird that could wipe out a tank division by landing wrong. Unfortunately, some Pegasi seem to have difficulty getting the hang of the vectored thrust, variable geometry wings the mecha utilize. For the purposes of manuevering your centaur class acts as though its Nimbleness were 2 die types lower for the purposes of calculating Flyin' pace, and you make all Flyin': Mecha Aptitude checks at a -2. You're probably pretty touchy about it too. The bright side is, constant effort, sweat, and tears just getting to the point where you're even THIS good have paid off in the form of a phenomenal synch ratio with your machine of choice. You may utilize the Weather Shaping and Cloud Walking abilities innate to all pegasi WHILE IN A MECHA. No, we aren't sure how that works, either.
K: Scion Of A Noble Tradition. You can trace your lineage back to one of the ancient Pegasi clans of yore. Martial prowess is in your blood, bone, and sinew, and you've probably got some baggage where that's concerned. Your pony pilot has BOTH the My Kung Fu Is Superior -2 Hinderance AND your choice of either Sifu! Sifu! -2 OR School Rivalry hinderances. Note that the My Kung Fu Is Superior hinderance relates to ALL martial tests of your abilities, not just those directly involving your martial art. Additionally, you may be called upon by your clan to perform certain duties upon occasion. On the positive side, your character gains the Martial Arts Training for free, and may buy the Arcane Background: Enlightened Edge at a discounted rate of 2 points instead of 3.
A: The Blue Max. You love being a mecha pilot, and you are SCARY good at it. Unfortunately, this tends to color your perceptions a bit. You have the Bloodthirsty hinderance, and must make a Challenging (9) Spirit check to break off from a target after you scent "blood in the water" (have done at least one durability step of damage). Positively speaking, on the other hoof, you start each round with at least one hole card even if you have no actions for the round. If this card is used to Vamoose you gain +4 on the resulting Drivin': Mecha aptitude test.
Red Joker: Element of Badassery. The Harmonization Effect is still only partially understood by IDF Arcanotech Scientists on either side of the Alliance, but for whatever reason, the force is particularly strong with this one. You not only magnify your own reflex synch in the cockpit, but your partners as well. While in a cockpit, both you AND your copilot's Nimbleness, Deftness, and Spirit die types increase by TWO steps. Additionally you may swap action cards with your copilot at the cost of one white fate chip per card. Two bodies. One mind. The side effect of this is that your bond with your copilot is extremely strong. If for some reason he or she is suffering from a wound penalty, while synched with him or her, you ALSO gain this wound penalty, and vice versa.
Black Joker: She's Not Dead... Yet. Pilot resonance training accidents have left you a shell of your former self, but you can still pilot, and the IDF CAN'T afford to throw away warm bodies. You have the Ailin' -5 hinderance. In addition to the normal effects of this hinderance, every session the Marshal draws a card secretly. If he draws a Black Joker, then it's adios, lil' Pony the next time you Synch. Think baby in a blender.
I know this missing ALOT of background info, but I had fun making this chart, and I thought I'd share.
1222849
It's not a moose?
1222849>>1222849
I think the problem is, it's not Quantum Castaways.
Some of those are deliciously evil, I do have to say.