Thoughtful Thursday #1

My first experience with RPGs was hearing about a D&D group in my middle school (I was in sixth grade). John Smedley (@j_smedley) was running a D&D game. I tried to get in,  but it was full. I tried to play a freeform RPG but it broke down when the player decided they had an invulnerable umbrella.

My mom got me Basic D&D. She is so cool, she got it for me twice. The first time she got the version that didn't have dice (it had chits you could punch out). The second version had cheap plastic dice that needed crayons! I did some solo play and then went to work designing my own Sci fi RPG. My game wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either.

Parts of D&D was amazing (I could play a wizard!). But vast swaths of the game made no sense to me. In fact, if you didn't play D&D in a very specific way, game balance had no meaning. All of my designs since have been shaped by these and other memorable gaming experiences. I strive to capture what was fun and avoid what was not fun.

A little explanation

I am changing how I do this blog.
Up until know I haved been intermittenlty updating it as an unoffical design journal. Unfortunatley, I had not been getting a lot of feedback, so I had been letting it fall to the wayside.
Since it is changing, I thought a little explanation is in order. I am going to be releasing it weekly on Thursdays and it will be a combination of stories from my past gaming experiences as well as observations I have made playing other games.
The goal is threefold, to open conversations about games, explain my attitudes towards gaming and maybe convince people that my designs might be worth playing.
If you have visited this blog before, I want to thank you for patience and hope that this w direction will prove more entertaining. If you are new, welcome and enjoy the ride!

I am on DTRPG!

Steampunk Crescendo is available as a digital download at DriveThru RPG:
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/119778/Steampunk-Crescendo
I am so excited!

Steampunk Crescendo is live!

It is finally, officially available on the internet.
Here is the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Steampunk-Crescendo-Hardcover-Dave-M/dp/110543172X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374003460&sr=8-1&keywords=steampunk+crescendo

Here is the Lulu link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dindenver

I plan to release it on IPR, DTRPG and more! But I wanted to let everyone know it was available now.

New Talent Rules

Action Type Replacement

Instead of rolling using one of the listed Aspects, you will roll using the Talent. These Talents should be specialized versions of existing skills (fencing for instance). Finally, the Talent roll should be modified based on the following table:

Talent Scope Modifier
Specialized (Talent can only be used in limited situations)	Roll and add Talent Level to Ambition or Caution (decide after you roll)
Broad (Talent is limited, but could still be worked into many situations)	Roll and add Talent Level to Ambition or Caution (decide before you roll)
General (Talent can be used in almost any situation)	Roll and add Talent Level to Ambition or Caution (decide when you get this Talent)

Note: Consider the scope of the Talent from the perspective of the character’s profession. For instance, Fencing might be specialized for a Librarian and General for a Mercenary.

Example: Fencing – This Talent comes into play any time a character is wielding a sword in combat. For most characters, this would be considered Broad. So the character would roll two dice, add their Fencing Talent to either Ambition or Caution (decide before we roll).

Re-Rolls

The level of your Talent will allow a specific number of re-rolls to an existing skill over a specific amount of time. Typically this type of Talent allows one re-roll per level of Talent. Base the way the re-rolls are handled from the following table

Talent Scope Modifier
Specialized (Talent can only be used in limited situations)	Character can use whichever roll (old or new) that is more beneficial
Broad (Talent is limited, but could still be worked into many situations)	Character must take the new roll, even if it is worse
General (Talent can be used in almost any situation)	Character must take the new roll, even if it is worse.

Note: Consider the scope of the Talent from the perspective of the character’s profession. For instance, Pottery would be General for an Artisan and Specialized for a Librarian.

Example: Disarm – Characters use this Talent to overcome traps. Since this is so specialized, characters can re-roll any attempt to detect or disarm traps and take whichever roll is more beneficial a number of times per day equal to their Disarm Talent.

Non-Aspect Bonuses

A Talent might affect things that cannot be influenced by Aspects (Friends for example). Use the table below to see what values can be affected by which Talents:

Talent Scope Modifier
Specialized (Talent can only be used in limited situations)	Can be used in any roll and includes a (+2 ambition/-2 Caution and -2 Ambition/+2 Caution Action Types)
Broad (Talent is limited, but could still be worked into many situations)	Can be used for any roll.
General (Talent can be used in almost any situation)	Can be used to modify any non-conflict roll

Note: Consider the scope of the Talent from the perspective of the character’s profession. For instance, Dueling would be General for a Gladiator and Specialized for a Librarian.

Example: Dueling – This Talent allows the character to add their Talent to their Reputation when facing an opponent one on one.

Luck Replacement

A Talent might act like luck point in regard to an existing skill. Use the table below to determine how these pseudo-luck points can be used.

Talent Scope Modifier
Specialized (Talent can only be used in limited situations)	Character can declare how much luck is being spent before or after the dice are rolled. Each point spent turns a failure to a success or adds a number of points to the roll equal to the level of the Talent
Broad (Talent is limited, but could still be worked into many situations)	Character can declare how much luck is being spent before or after the dice are rolled
General (Talent can be used in almost any situation)	Character must declare how much luck is being spent before the dice are rolled

Note: Consider the scope of the Talent from the perspective of the character’s profession. For instance, Pilot would be General for a Sailor and Specialized for a Librarian.

Example: Diplomacy – This Talent allows the character to use their Talent level as Luck points on all Persuasion rolls. This Talent is Broad, the character can decide before or after the dice are rolled.

Build and Spend

Build Action Types for this Talent and then by them with your Talent Levels (similar to how Magic works).