Song of Swords: The Will of the Boss

He puts things in perspective.

We're closer than before. A big part of magic for SOS was how it would integrate into the combat system. BotLW solves this problem handily, as seen with Void Magic.

So once the integration is complete, things will get a whole lot easier developing magic for SoS.

This is now a Shark thread

It's never going to come out, just like magic is never going to come out

...

>Shark
>Perspective

what

>He puts things in perspective.

youtube.com/watch?v=UruXWui1EG8

Welcome to California, fucko.

>Space Nazi HEMA thread
>Jimmy Buffet
I literally cannot

>Not being a pirate
>Not being 500 years too late

youtube.com/watch?v=LL9O0B0gzZE

>They say you are a snow queen
>But I don't think that's true
>So why don't we get drunk and screw

Why do you like death so much?

So do you have any lore to divulge, or am I going to have to go hunt some mako for its delicious blood.

So, does anyone in Vosca know what happens to the Din who die, or the Humans who die and don't go the the Ziggurat or Ascend? Does Boccy do anything special for her audience beyond the Guard? I cannot recall.

...

While Dio is in fact moe, this doesn't answer my queries.

So Jimmy, about those caster rules you mentioned...

Jimmy when will SoS be done you lazy fuck

I wonder how that guy fits into his scuba suit, what with those giant balls he has.

Sharks actually love tummy rubs. They're very friendly to humans, because we don't look like seals at all.

So, while you and us normalfolk here waited for the others in the team to progress on their part of the game you made Ballad for shits n giggles and actually improved initiative and built a magic system that could be portet to sos?

Neato.

So void magic is what we can expect in SoS?

He said may 5th but he lied
He lied

Don't know, but I think we might see the mechanics behind the magic system of ballad, but not exactly void magic, like not the flavour behind it. I think.

Does anyone else think that the PCP skill category for Ballad is better than the SoS one?

The flavor is probably going to be really different, yeah. I'm mainly curious how the mechanics will differ between the three big magic types.

so, hows progress on melee combat versus more than 2 fighters? or 3:1 or 7:4.

in deference to the sharky nature of the thread, how do the combat mechanics work when submersed in water?

>namefags

Do you mean more than two fighters in a Bout, or more than two fighters in a larger combat?

first one then the other?

if the system can get this worked out then it's goes well with my homegrew setting which features tag-team monster hunters

>3:1
The 1 is very likely to lose even if he is very skilled and the 3 are poor-to-average.
>7:4.
Way too big, don't do it in SoS.

Current rules for multibouts are pretty shit. Supposedly Jimmy's adapting the Friday Night Firefight initiative system to SoS, but Jimmy says a lot of things.

It's already adapted. It's in Ballad now, and it works fine. It's just a matter of copy/pasting that into the core book.

No it isn't. Explain how it'd work in SoS. You do Charge maneuvers every phase to enter melee? That'd be awful.

No? You make a regular movement or through some measure enter within two meters of an opponent (likely modified by range of the weapon though it doesn't specifically say), and elect to initiate combat, just like in Ballad. You can charge if you want, but it isn't mandatory.

Anyone have any recommendations for books on Polish history?

Ballad's rules are great, they work better than SoS.

But it has fewer polearms, so it's not as good of a game.

>[Templar] [Passive]: Both of these abilities apply against Blind Fire. If you have a melee weapon
drawn, both abilities of Love is Hate increase Base Defense by 2 per 3 points, instead of 1.

Does a bayonet count as a melee weapon?

I'd presume so.

Yes.

>The 1 is very likely to lose even if he is very skilled and the 3 are poor-to-average.
I'm asking cause I got a homebrewed setting where werewolf(and other monsters) hunting is best executed by 2 and 3-man teams

Who in Song of Swords has the most ridiculous uniform? Purple Guard doesn't count, since in order to be a uniform, the outfits have to be actually uniform.

Probably Krajina, the military there is deep in bed with the various tailor's guilds.

For reference.

In general, it's a bit too early period for uniforms.

Well back in 1.7.X or 1.8.X We had two 12/14 characters go against a 22/26 character if memory serves. They cut him up badly.

neat, any chance that was the dice just deciding to FUCK the solo guy brutally?

It can help, but the fact he has to split his dice and rely on voids really sucks to fight with.

Nope. The two low guys had 11 and 8 respectively iirc, with the higher armoured guy having the 8. The solo guy had pretty much, if not completely, full armour and about 18-20 CP. He just couldn't keep up with both of them attacking him.

now the trick I'd have to work out for the 'Brew

how do I make the monsters so that a single man can, if he's lucky AND good AND prepared, kill them. but still a challenge for a 2 man team?

ew...not too good for me an my brew...

Monsters can use multiple "weapons", parrying each attack with those weapons. So big werewolf guy can rely on parries with his claws and not voids. They can also rely on maneuvers that may or may not be finished in the core game to maneuver and keep only one or two enemies against them at any given time. Apart from that, the way monsters take damage makes them really tough compared to a human, who can be reduced to almost death in one hit. This makes them way tougher, but doesn't preclude a guy with a bardiche from ambushing and beheading him with the half CP surprise penalty, or shooting the fucker.

Give them bonuses to Thread the Needle or equivalent. Make him hit like a fucking truck with some ablative AV at the start of the fight.

Lucky and prepared pretty much means an ambush, so make the monsters rely on maneuvers for defense and not armor and toughness.

Just noticed the falcon eating the eel. Seems like a really ominous symbol to emblazon just above your own dick.

Is anyone else getting really weird redirects when they open threads.

It is the state symbol. Patriotism protects his dick.

The monster hunting rules Jimmy showed off have a bit of that to them. It's not implausible that a guy with a ton of CP and a good weapon could scale one and fuck its shit up by himself.

For smaller monsters, I'd emphasize that once you've penetrated their defenses they can be wounded like anything else. So a guy with a silver sword can fuck a werewolf up even though it's much stronger than him, as long as he gets a good hit in.

>that helmet
Exquisite!

The Krajina is literally the most nightmarish society imaginable. It's the British Empire where the upper class... Are Slavs. God help us all.

>CHEEKI BREEKI guv'na

May god have mercy on their souls.

Are there any more pictures from Vosca?

Just looking over the rules for the game and I feel like I'm missing something.

What's stopping you from putting all your dice into the first move you do? If the enemy doesn't counter big he's fucked and if he does then he's out too.

This question is asked so often Jimmy should probably put the answer into the rulebook.

The short answer, IIRC, is stealing initiative trumps alpha strike.

Well, if he has a better block/parry/void than you have attack dice, or he has more dice, you're fucked. Or if he has a friend. Or he could Steal Initiative, and then ream your unpuckered asshole with an attack you can't avoid because you thought you'd be smart and go all in

But wouldn't he have to put almost all of his dice into void etc to have a good chance of negating the attack?

So stealing initiative is really the only counter?

All that talk about monster hunting and shit reminded me, that I'd like to run a Witcher game in SoS once the next version arrives.
HYPE
Y
P
E

Probably need to reread the books and more background lore until then though.

Total Block can help, weapons like the Main Gauche are better at parrying than most melee weapons are at attacking and combined with Riposte are very scary, longer weapons mean more of your dicepool goes to range penalties, and there's the fact that you generally don't know your opponents CP total.

My favourite thing to do is Weapon Throw with Steal the Initiative to negate any range issues though riposte at superior TNs is nice if you can; Steal then Beat can make people just fall over which is never not funny.

Jimbo it's Tuesday. Please give us what we're due.

Someone made a homebrew Witcher race. It's on the wiki.

Oh that's nice. Seems to be quite well done, as far as I can tell by glancing over it.
As a book fag my only qualm is, that 5 minutes seems to less for blizzard, since potions are used to prepare for a battle, not to adapt mid battle.

>But wouldn't he have to put almost all of his dice into void etc to have a good chance of negating the attack?
That's why said
> if he has a better block/parry/void than you

Going all-in is asking for your opponent to steal the initiative from you and stop you with a grapple or Beat. SoS makes it hard to steal initiative, though. Builder makes it a lot easier to steal initiative and counter an all-in.

Isn't lack of information about opp CP total just unnecessary randomness?

Keeps players cautious, and there is the fact that it only takes about a round of combat to figure out an opponent's CP (unless they are holding back), it's good to keep it hidden.

If you're playing D&D, does the DM give out all the info on monsters that you are facing? You don't know that bandit chief's will saves or AC until you fire a spell at him or try to hit him.

I personally enjoy holding back my total pool if I can afford it. People come to assume my pool is x when it is really y. When they boast that their pool is higher I stay silent, and then randomly increase it to deck tougher opponents. It works out well and causes less experienced players to get hyper paranoid about your character's true power level. Once had a guy who assumed that my 16cp was in the upper twenties.

It adds a lot to mindgames in the system.

Does anyone have a clue how Bolas would work in SoS? Something like this?

Thrown | Range 10 | MTN: 7 | -1b | Hook | 4/10 | Wt: 0 | 3 cp

He's passed out drunk in a ditch somewhere

Try again later

Yeah, that sounds about right. I guess? It's a sort of unusual weapon.

Like what?

Makes feints a bit harder to predict, since the enemy doesn't know exactly what portion of your CP you're using. Deliberately throwing out low attacks to bait the enemy into a false sense of security. Never knowing exactly how threatening a combat is going to be, so always preparing for the worst.

Keeping people from doing all-out attacks.

Except feints, all that sounds like unnecessary random to me. Not trying to be rude rly but I see no point in it. I can understand not giving exact number but nothing? It does not seem realistic to me and and in any serious pvp game I played having incomplete information that is so vital is usually very very frustrating.

I usually give a descriptor. Observation checks while watching someone fight or during a fight can give an idea of how good they are, relative to the player.

So, if a player is watching a guy spar with someone and makes a roll, I can tell him "He's got very good form and moves with a lot of confidence. He seems to be a bit better than you with a sword."

Or if they're fighting some mooks, I can tell them "They're looking at each other nervously and wavering where they stand. They look unsure of what to do, and one guy is holding his spear incorrectly." This gives a good idea without using exact numbers, keeping at least a bit of uncertainty.

Plus, for my group at least, describing everything in game terms really brings them out of the game. Your group may be different. Go ahead and give exact CPs. It won't cause the game to break down completely or anything.

That is great way of handling stuff. Completely agree that describing everything in game terms is cancer. I asked cuz I'm really interested in some design decisions not cuz I got GM problems. So another thing that I'm interested in is why is combat round separated in 2 actions?

So you have a bit of back and forth, and a rationing mechanic. The way the game works in practice, combat pool is like a betting game. You're betting that if you put enough dice down to comfortably protect yourself, you have enough to actually hurt the guy next round. Or, if you go all in, which is a viable strategy, you're betting that they guy can't steal the initiative and ruin your evening. It makes choices in combat about give and take, not always operating at maximum power. You need to budget. This also has the effect of making the game a bit more skill based. You can can killed pretty easily, and it's a bit easier to swallow the idea that you put down too few dice to defend yourself or got outmaneuvered by some tricky action of the enemy. It provides an extra bit of control, apart from just selecting a maneuver.

It also, from what I understand, is an attempt to replicate the tempo of historical swordfighting. Hits can land, but the other guy can power through and hit you. Or you can use the other guy's momentum (him throwing a large amount of his pool and wiffing) and turn it against him in a counterattack.

If you're still reading, be sure to pretty much ignore the wider initiative system outside of individual fights. That version is super out of date, and a much better version that can be converted to SoS very easily is in the Call of the Void document. That's the version of initiative that will be going into the next version of SoS. Alas, we are forced to use two different PDFs until then.

Just to be sure you are talking about 3 phase initiative system from CotV?
Regarding combat poll it seems to me that whole system is a bit too gamist. Player skill carries A LOT of weight and complexity of managing pool optimally, will prolly, as you said it, bring a lot of people out of the game. Also from first glance it looks bloated with "trap" options.

Yeah, that's the one.

That's one way of looking at it. The intention is more simulationist. Get as close to historical fencing as humanly possible in a game. Everything stems from that, from pool management to maneuvers to all the different weapons and talents. It's all made to be able to make any sort of pre-modern fighter possible, using any sort of weapon you can think of. That's where most of the "trap options" come from. No attempt has been made to balance things against each other, only represent how they actually perform. This means that some options, like later forms of arms and armor, will simply be better. What options you have depend on when and where the game is set, and many of those options may not be available.

That may not be for you. It's admittedly a really niche game. I think there's room for a very, very simplified version with generic weapons and only a handful of maneuvers for people that aren't as into this stuff as people like me, but that's another matter.

Actually I think combat is pretty fun. Had around 20 duels with a friend in the past week. It's just that I was very confused about some design decisions after digging a bit deeper. I know that intention is simulationist but rules as they are seem complex enough to interfere with immersion. Maybe I'm just a pleb. When I said trap options I was focused solely on CP as mechanic not whole system. Again I can't be sure, severe lack of exp, but it seems to me that in most cases there is 2-3 optimal ways to spend dice.

>BEAT THE BLADE
>HOOK THE LEG
>BEAT THE BLADE
>HOOK THE LEG

>When I said trap options I was focused solely on CP as mechanic not whole system. Again I can't be sure, severe lack of exp, but it seems to me that in most cases there is 2-3 optimal ways to spend dice.

That's true, most of the time you can go with a simple defense and attack strategy, with the rest of the maneuvers being circumstantial. What maneuvers do you think are traps?

The most bully of maneuverer combinations.