Timewaster's Guide Archive

d20 is actually a fairly simplistic system, and a little too numbers-oriented to be my first choice. Nevertheless, the sheer number of minds who are familiar with it make it an attractive choice simply because we could get some really great input with that many people to bounce ideas off of.

Still working on other ideas. Still working, so not much time. :-/

Why do you assume I'm going complicated? Just because an aspect could be handled by charts, dice or a cool description doesn't mean I've assumed which one works best.

I have access to a writer/system designer who has done work for Spirit of the Century, The Dresden Files RPG, and FATE in general. FATE would work marvelously, but the generic rules for the latest edition aren't completely public yet. Well, not unless you purchase Spirit of the Century and edit out a few tidbits.

Public version of FATE is due out soonish.

Roleplaying as I mean it is of the pen and paper variety. As in, roleplaying games. You generally don't play a setting's main characters, so I'm not worried about copyrights and such. Fanfic does however regularly involve primary personalities so that's something I really stay away from. I dislike lawyers.

I'm familiar with a good number of systems but, while I'm interested in this topic, I'm playing in two games and running another. Full time job + hour commute + RPG commitments =  not much time for total conversions. I'll try to come up with a list of possible systems this weekend though.

Requirements:

• Gritty combat is essential, but...
  
• It also needs to be capable of handling the more outrageous effects.
  
• Non-physical combat, such as a mechanical system of persuasion, is almost a necessity due to the existence of emotional Allomancy.
  
• No matter what system is used, Steelpushing and Ironpulling are going to be an utter pain. Unless a system already handles telekinetic combat, that is.

More as I think of it. I really think that we're going to need all three books in order to properly design or choose a system. Allomancy will break most any system, and without knowing about the higher order metals I don't know if we currently have enough information.

Are you talking about here, on Earth, with a lighter? In a star's core? By an allomancer?

As a former astrophysics major:

Y'know, stars start out by burning hydrogen. That's nice and clean. Eventually, they start to burn other things. Metals. Yes, stars burn metals.

I wonder. Hmm...

Can post details on effects of metal on main sequence stars, and the order in which we believe stars burn those metals. In fact, here. Effects you can google on your own but this is a nice list of what stars do in nucleosynthesis.

Hydrogen starts it off. After that it can synthesize Helium, Carbon, Oxygen, Neon, Magnesium, Silicon, Sulfur, Argon, Calcium, Titanium, Chromium, and Iron.

A star the size of ours can hit carbon. Heavier stars are required to heat, compress and thus synthesize the heavier elements.

Iron is not compressible. When a star's core runs out everything but iron, there's no more fusion. No more energy pushing outwards and countering gravity. Gravity takes over, and either wins (singularity) or gets 'splodied by the star's matter expanding outwards like it was all part of some gigantic, insanely tight spring (supernova).

Even heavier elements, like gold, are made when stars go boom. The force of the 'splody-ing can create all sorts of atoms.

</astro-tangent>

So. Wonder if the condition of the sun is linked to allomancy and/or the rise of the Lord Ruler?

When Vin is forced to burn an unknown substance by an Inquisitor and it eliminates her metal reserves.

What is it? Doesn't seem to be any of the mental four or physical four, and it doesn't match Vin's speculations on the temporal four. Thoughts?