Author Topic: [PoC] Power of Cybernetics General Discussion Thread  (Read 66528 times)

Offline Garryl

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Re: [PoC] Power of Cybernetics General Discussion Thread
« Reply #280 on: June 19, 2020, 09:31:37 PM »
To some extent, I'm looking for a lot of filler and only a couple of really impressive abilities to spread across the 20 exo gladiator levels on top of the existing activating and exograft abilities. I may have gone too far on the filler side of the spectrum with unconventional tactics, though.

Offline Nanshork

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Re: [PoC] Power of Cybernetics General Discussion Thread
« Reply #281 on: June 19, 2020, 10:34:56 PM »
They feel different enough from Dreadnought talents that they feel unique, but the lists are so short that there's going to be a good amount of overlap with how often choices are granted.

Other possible class features:
 - Rend when multiple natural attacks hit
 - Improved Natural Attack for Exograft granted natural weapon(s)
 - Natural Attacks from modules count as X for overcoming DR
 - Secondary natural attacks deal full strength to damage

I feel like the capstone should be Exograft related.

Offline Garryl

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Re: [PoC] Power of Cybernetics General Discussion Thread
« Reply #282 on: July 03, 2020, 01:36:00 AM »
Just went through a big pass of all the modules. It was just supposed to be a polish pass, but I wound up making a few balance changes, a few minor mechanical adjustments, and I added a few extra attachments for modules that were lacking options and to interact with mechanics like radiation that were added much later in the system's development.

Also, vacuums now have rules for how they interact with sonic effects. They generally don't go together very well, as you might expect. All of the sonic modules also got some additional text to specify how they interact with vacuums.

Note to self: If I ever run a sci-fi PoC campaign, when it comes to the inevitable section on a space ship, emergency decompression survival gear is a device of Exploration Kit (potionized so non-activators can use it).
« Last Edit: July 03, 2020, 02:32:56 AM by Garryl »

Offline Nanshork

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Re: [PoC] Power of Cybernetics General Discussion Thread
« Reply #283 on: May 21, 2022, 11:52:56 PM »
Let me know when you're ready for me to look over the Gladiator.

Hey look at that, I guess you're ready!  ;)  (I realized after I typed this up that I gave input on it a couple of years ago, I guess that makes my joke less amusing.)

I'm not going to look at modules right now, I don't have the time. 


This looks like it's using the Energy Warrior chassis so that's what I'll be comparing it to if I think anything looks off.

Can you attach/remove an exograft to/from yourself?

I had a question about exografts but actually reading that section answered it (I had originally skimmed, there are a lot of paragraphs).

It would make me happy if Energized Exograft specifically said what the enhancement bonus was for (aka armor class) since it is also the modules kind of and you know I like being super specific.

For neural override, "Your exograft still allows you to take actions that you would find preferable to taking no action at all." is a little confusing because if you are charmed then you would find taking actions commanded by the charmer to be preferable to taking no action at all.

The Warforged ACF is neat.


Okay, the whole class is nice and I like natural weapons and the concept is cool but I fell like it's missing something.  I have no idea what that something is, maybe it's in the modules.

Offline Garryl

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Re: [PoC] Power of Cybernetics General Discussion Thread
« Reply #284 on: May 22, 2022, 01:09:57 AM »
Let me know when you're ready for me to look over the Gladiator.

Hey look at that, I guess you're ready!  ;)  (I realized after I typed this up that I gave input on it a couple of years ago, I guess that makes my joke less amusing.)

I'm not going to look at modules right now, I don't have the time. 


This looks like it's using the Energy Warrior chassis so that's what I'll be comparing it to if I think anything looks off.

Same chassis, similar concept in being a fighty type. Exo gladiator's more down-to-earth with gritty and brutal fighting compared to the energy warrior's flashier science-fantasy aesthetic.

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Can you attach/remove an exograft to/from yourself?

The intent is that it should be the same as applying a graft in that regard, which means yes. The Cybernetic Grafter feat (and other grafter feats I referenced way back when) specifically says that you can apply grafts to yourself, in addition to others. That said, exografts aren't grafts, so that's another thing that needs to be made explicit.

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I had a question about exografts but actually reading that section answered it (I had originally skimmed, there are a lot of paragraphs).

Yeah. That section kind of got away from me since grafts are rather complicated. While exografts are armor and aren't grafts, they still function a bit like them in enough ways that it felt worth spelling out as much as possible.

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It would make me happy if Energized Exograft specifically said what the enhancement bonus was for (aka armor class) since it is also the modules kind of and you know I like being super specific.

Exografts are armor. The intent is that it's the same as a normal enhancement bonus on a +1 to +5 armor, the same as magic vestment grants. It's also the same wording used for the Power Suit module. It's also similar to the Energy Warrior's 3rd-level Energy Beam upgrade, although there are some nuanced differences.

I'll probably switch it over to the Energy Warrior's ability's wording. "Beginning at 3rd level, while your exograft module is activated, your exograft gains an enhancement bonus equal to the amount of energy allocated to your exograft module. You must have an attached exograft in order to use this ability."

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For neural override, "Your exograft still allows you to take actions that you would find preferable to taking no action at all." is a little confusing because if you are charmed then you would find taking actions commanded by the charmer to be preferable to taking no action at all.

It's not making you act according to how you want to act in the moment under the effect's influence. It's supposed to be emulating your normal mental state for that decision-making. I'll add something like "were you in your normal mental state" to that overriding mind-affecting influence section to make it clear, since otherwise it only mentions that sort of thing in the fluff paragraph.

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The Warforged ACF is neat.

:)

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Okay, the whole class is nice and I like natural weapons and the concept is cool but I fell like it's missing something.  I have no idea what that something is, maybe it's in the modules.

Not surprising, since I've had a similar feeling. It's a bit of that Barbarian/Fighter "hit it hard" syndrome where the class's fantasy is just brute force and its abilities don't touch quite enough on anything beyond that. The wide variety of effects that modules offer will alleviate that somewhat, but the module list and most of the exograft modules are specifically tuned towards that concept.

I might direct you to the Grafted Origin features buried deep in the notes at the end of http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=3381.msg348079#msg348079. I was toying with them to fill some dead levels, add some abilities along a different conceptual axis, and give the class a little more baked-in flavor.

Offline Nanshork

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Re: [PoC] Power of Cybernetics General Discussion Thread
« Reply #285 on: May 22, 2022, 02:57:14 PM »
In its current form Grafted Origin has penalties which to me says it would be better as an ACF.

Another possibility for fleshing things out would be to add some gladiator related stuff (which I recognize is in Grafted Origin so I don't think it would be needed separately if that ends up being used).