Roleplaying in the Equestrian Wasteland · 10:34pm Aug 11th, 2013
I love roleplaying games. Roleplaying has long be a favorite hobby of mine. 
Just as there are hundreds of authors writing Fallout: Equestria stories, Fallout: Equestria has created a setting that an amazing number of people want to roleplay in. There are at least a dozen separate efforts being made to create Fallout: Equestria roleplaying games. The one I wish to spotlight is by the wonderful bronies at Fallout Equestria Resource. 
For about a year and a half, I have been involved with the designing and playtesting of this Fallout: Equestria tabletop roleplaying game. As one of the designers and playtesters, I have had some input in several parts of the mechanics, but I cannot in any way take credit for this creation -- this system is an ongoing group effort by scores of people. The game design is still in progress, having undergone recent revisions and expansions. We have had dozens of games run in this system (including one that I am currently running locally, and many that are being run each week over the FOE fan community's #FalloutEquestria IRC channel at Canternet) and are constantly improving it. 
If you are interested in roleplaying in the Equestrian Wasteland, I encourage you to check out the game link above. 
If you would like to join us at the #FalloutEquestria IRC channel, you can find an easy guide to getting there at Fallout Equestria Resource. Finally, if you do decide to play, keep abreast of all the most recent additions and improvements, as well as participate in some of the rules discussions, on this FER forum thread. 
Have fun gaming! 
What timing indeed.
Now I have to remember how to use irc.
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How to IRC: http://forum.fallout-equestria.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=602
Well, I just lost half an hour reading through that rulebook.
Time well spent
Erm... Wow, if there was ever a time I hated the lack of free time in the Army, now would be it... When are these weekly games?
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I suspect there is at least one every day of the week now, and some days there are several. Most current games have full occupancy, but that may change when school starts. Or (hopefully) new GMs will join as well as new players, and they'll be interested in starting games of their own.
Wow. How did I not know of this?
I've sketched out my own, as well. And I'd love to see a defictionalization of the Wasteland RPG from Project Horizons...
do you know any groups that are looking for players? or forums that want them?
1278372 Any chance you know of any groups that are willing to work around potentially fucky schedules? Er, and have openings, of course.
Now all you need to do is hire Bethesda to make it a computer game.... or at very least get someone to make it a virtual tabletop.
Great write-up! I have to say, the rules set is really well done, looking forward to playing someday.
Very interesting, pity I'm the only brony I know, let alone the only RPG interested one. I will definitely check this out.
In my own mind, I had an alternate system for the various races using the 'Special' system.
Each pony race would start with different statlines, earth ponies gain significant extra strength, endurance and some agility, and can go beyond the 10 limit, even a weak earth pony would be stronger than strong unicorns and pegasi. Additional perks to improve their raw stats, some earth based magic perks.
Pegasi would start with increased agility and perception, as well as an additional flight skill. Lots of flight perks as well as weather based perk-style attacks.
Unicorns would start with no increased stats, but be forced to chose if they are going to be a 'magic' talent or not. True 'Magic' talents like Twilight Sparkle and ilk would loose access to Melee/Unarmed/Guns/Energy Weapons/Explosives skills, IE, they would be able to use the, but only at like 25skill, and instead get the 5 magic skills from Skyrim. Destruction, Alteration, Conjuration, Illusion and Restoration. Each would function pretty much like other skills and various spells would either be learned via perks or a side system. IE, normal unicorns can learn/advance 1 spell every two levels, Magic talents can learn/advance 2 spells every level, providing they have requisite skills. Managing the power/strain requirements still needs some thought.
This.... This is perfect timing. Thank you for sharing this! Looking forward to playing it!
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Don't know any people? Join the IRC/forum and meet us, perhaps even find/make a game!
As for your system ideas, at least when compared to the 'standard' rules, it strikes me as somewhat restrictive in terms of races, limiting variety in characters, which can make things less interesting. But by no means take my opinion as a reason why you should stop or change, it's just something to consider.
1279098 - What do you mean? I just was trying to expand upon the abilities and nature of each race. As is, Earth, and to a lesser extent Pegasi are significantly less flexible than Unicorns. I figure, some SPECIAL bonuses, and a few unique perks per race can help significantly. Highlight the endurance and resilience of Earth and the mobility of Pegasi.
Never really considered other races including Griffons and Zebras, let alone Alicorns and ghouls.
Plus, I wanted to give unicorns an alternate path to focus on their magic. Granted, there are probably very few magic talents left. It's incredibly powerful though, so I figured the penalty to not being able to use traditional weapons is applicable.
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I only mean that you're placing race-specific limits and bonuses on stats that, while not exactly bad, do place some limits on the players. While Earth Ponies are generally thought to be stronger and more durable than the other races, that is not necessarily true, and you're line of thinking would give less space for exceptions to exist. While you certainly don't have to do such, there's currently talk on the forum regarding Earth Ponies and how they seem to be lacking compared to the more dazzling and ostentatious Pegasi and Unicorns. What has been pointed out and generally agreed upon is that they should be given something unique to them, that goes beyond differentiating merely by stat numbers (as Unicorns have magic, Pegasi have flight and tricks, Zebra have shamanism and alchemy etc).
What your idea would just strikes me as restrictive, as people wouldn't be able to as easily create a buff Pegasus, or a shrimpy EP that gets by with guile or stealth. As for the magic, that too seems restrictive as it seems "all or nothing", thereby limiting any variations that would want to incorporate more limited magic in with regular combat skills. Again, it's just my opinion on what you've stated thus far. Have you given the 'standard' rules a read yet? I find they work quite elegantly so far.
Over on /mlp/ we've been steadily building up a number of games and it's all been a blast. We've had the Muny group going since early spring if I remember right but only this past summer we've gotten enough GMs to volunteer for more games and it seems like we're always adding more.
Thanks for making this thing Kkat. It's crazy fun.
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I figured I'd have the unarmed advantage with a large framed earth pony, but then this little unicorn shows up impaling things with her horn for five times as much damage and I'm left shuffling my hooves.
Nah,
I never really feel there's a disadvantage for them. I mostly just divided between the unarmed, small guns, and medicine while the unicorn was a one trick pony. The numbers for shooting guns and bucking in the face are still the same because it all comes down to how much ap you have to spend.
I like that they aren't just given a bonus in strength and health like other pony pnp games, especially since the current racial advantage is more true to the fic, with all that emphasis on earth pony ingenuity. If people are worried about picking earth pony because they thing they'll be outshone by a unicorn then I'd just as soon think they're lacking in imagination.
Those pegasi on the other hand...
I wonder what they're up to this far below cloud level. Why does no one else in the party find that at all suspicious? I'm on to you Enclave scum! You better have a well thought out backstory or I'll judge you!
1279817
Earth Ponies also get some amazing racial perks. For example, get two earth ponies in a party, both with a rank of Raise That Barn, and just watch what they can accomplish!
Woah that's a lot of rules. I'm gonna need a spare hour to read through this.
Alright lets take quick a look at some of these.
Character traits
Ghoul
Ouch!
Lose permanent points of endurance or intelligence at 0 rads? wow that's quite a set penalties you have there.
Jinxed:
What unfortunate soul would want to be jinxed like this.
Random (Earth Pony or Zebra Only):
Cartoonish feats...as opposed to using unicorn magic or flying horses?
This seems like a lucky dip trait, not to mention the name isn't exactly creative.
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Interesting section on Battlesaddles though, I like that.
Woah there's a scary huge amount of perk revisions. But I'm liking some of the new ones like "Celestial aid" and "party pony".
I'm gonna have to skip them though, there's just to darn many to look through.
Oh god, so many rules. Okay I like the stealth section, that's intuitive.
The combat section is also pretty neat. Nicely laid out.
Loving the pegasus tricks part too. As for the spirits, wow they're scary.
And finally the spells list. Are you sure you got all of them? I'm sure there's a spell for adding kitchen sinks that hasn't been considered.
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I love all of the little toys you've got thrown in here, the sheer variety of spells and tricks and different race abilities and perks and and everything is awesome.
It's obvious a great deal of effort went into this but I think it could do with some improvements to how it's displayed.
What you might consider adding is some visual representation of some of the rules this would;
A) cut down on the amount of words the person has to read through
B) quicker to look up
C) easier to remember
Maybe adding a quick run down of a basic combat scenario via diagram/picture.
Use different ways of displaying the data get creative, use spider diagrams/collages/artwork anything.
ANYTHING just for the love of (chosen deity here) reduce the length of the rules.
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The rules aren't complicated in themselves and some of the sections are laid out very well, it's just there's so many hoops to jump through, things to remember before even applying them. Which is why I recommend throwing in some pictures. Hell maybe once it's finished add in a video explaining the basics.
Maybe when using examples add a diagram to illustrate them?
This is my jam.
1282222
My hint to my guess at why it's called that.
: Pinkie Pie, you're so random!
2259176 I stand by what I said nearly a year ago.
2259440 Stubborn as Applejack ain't cha?