Welcome! These forums will be deactivated by the end of this year. The conversation continues in a new morph over on Discord! Please join us there for a more active conversation and the occasional opportunity to ask developers questions directly! Go to the PS+ Discord Server.

New GM, starting group next week, need advice/aid

4 posts / 0 new
Last post
Fri, 2013-04-26 08:05
#1
Baalbamoth Baalbamoth's picture
New GM, starting group next week, need advice/aid
Hi, bought the core 3rd print hardcover, been reading it through this past week along with free PDFs, my group is tired of 3.5/pathfinder rpg and I'll be proposing EP to them this upcoming tuesday. I'd really like something I could hand out to them that I could photocopy that tells them primarily about the setting/world history, basic factions, tech etc similar to the quick start rules but without the mechanics (and preferably in a black and white friendly format) and possibly cut down to 5-10 pages at most. know of anything? I'm a very good DM/GM, been playing or running RPG's since 1978. but if you have any setting or system specific advice I'd appreciate hearing it, still pretty green with this system and unsure about figuring propper challenge level etc.
—
"what do I want? The usual — hundreds of grandchildren, complete dominion over the known worlds, and the pleasure of hearing that all my enemies have died in highly improbable accidents that cannot be connected to me."
Top
Fri, 2013-04-26 16:29
shark3006 shark3006's picture
First time
I could have sworn there was a scenario summary with the Quickstart Rules (I just checked, and there is). That's probably about as concise as it's going to get. One thing will say is that combat in EP can get very hard to follow, at least for me. Most guns have three firing modes: Semi Auto, Burst Fire and Full Auto. The Semi-auto is supposed to let players/NPCs get two shots per round. I scrapped that rule. It's just too much going on, especially with characters going at Speed 2 or 3 in the same combat round. I would suggest saving yourself the headache and just letting everyone get one attack per round. Also, make sure your players put at least some points into the Fray and Perception skills. They're probably the most important ones in the game. And if you're going to set your game on a ship/space station (or wherever there's microgravity), a bit of Freefall wouldn't hurt either. Don't be afraid to hurt or kill your players' characters. One of the things I love about EP is that bodies are easily fixed. And if they can't be, they can be replaced. Where losing an arm would be a debilitating injury in most games, in Eclipse Phase, it's really just an inconvenience for a little while. Even death is just an annoyance. I also streamlined the hacking process a bit and made it a little more "movie style" and fun for the players. I let them roll it as a regular action instead of a task action. One of my players plays a hacker, and combat isn't her forte. By letting her hack things quickly, she can still contribute, even in combat. That's all I can think of right now, but if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. I've been running the system for a while.
—
So on our heels a fresh perfection treads/ A power more strong in beauty, born of us/ And fated to excel us, as we pass/ In glory that old Darkness: nor are we/ Thereby more conquer'd, than by us the rule/ Of shapeless Chaos.
Top
Fri, 2013-04-26 21:03
Baalbamoth Baalbamoth's picture
cool, thanks for the tips. so
cool, thanks for the tips. so with scrapping the semi-auto rule are you sort of getting rid of the speed rule as well and just converting it more to a "everyone gets one action a round" system?
—
"what do I want? The usual — hundreds of grandchildren, complete dominion over the known worlds, and the pleasure of hearing that all my enemies have died in highly improbable accidents that cannot be connected to me."
Top
Sat, 2013-04-27 14:49
shark3006 shark3006's picture
No, I kept the speed rule. It
No, I kept the speed rule. It's a big benefit for the characters that get a Speed 2 or 3 action. The one problem with it, though, is that characters with Speed 1 get left out of a lot of the combat. In my game, about half my players had Speed 2 and the others were at 1. So when the Speed 2 (and sometimes Speed 3) actions came around, half my players would be doing nothing. So it can be a little unbalanced in that regard. However, it's a relatively cheap upgrade to get Speed 2, so players who want to can easily upgrade their characters.
—
So on our heels a fresh perfection treads/ A power more strong in beauty, born of us/ And fated to excel us, as we pass/ In glory that old Darkness: nor are we/ Thereby more conquer'd, than by us the rule/ Of shapeless Chaos.
Top