TiTS: The D&D Module!

[Some Kind of Wizard]

Hi everyone,

I'm a writer on some adult game projects (SJT http://fenoxo.com/forum/index.php?/topic/97-server-jacked-transformations/ ) and some e visual novels (http://lupiesoft.com/menagerie/)

But at heart, I'm a DM. It's something I've done for a good long time, and I never get tired of D&D and various TRPGs. I don't think there are enough space ones out there that run smoothly from D&D fifth or Pathfinder (There's D20 future, but Wotc are jerks, and the D20 series isn't supported anymore). So I'm looking into building a proper module to support Trials in Tainted Space in Pathfinder or D&D 5th. With lust mechanics, ship combat, and much much more. Mostly I'd like to see how many would be interested in this on a larger scale. Although I was only planning on a one-shot to DM for a bunch of the writers, like Sav & co, I realised that if this was a thing people wanted enough, I'd make a proper go of it, and give others the resources to run their own adventures in the universe.

The one-shot's still being written up alongside the system tweaks to be done some time next month when it's possible to gather them together, and the plan is to turn the adventure in to a story to submit for TiTS's codex.

This will feature the adventures of the Jugger-Knot, a ship owned by a Professional Ausar Bounty-Hunter (Or so they call themselves). A mysterious commission from someone known as J will have the mismatched crew in deeper shit than expected.

 

[Savin]

Hi everyone,

I'm a writer on some adult game projects (SJT http://fenoxo.com/forum/index.php?/topic/97-server-jacked-transformations/ ) and some e visual novels (http://lupiesoft.com/menagerie/)

But at heart, I'm a DM. It's something I've done for a good long time, and I never get tired of D&D and various TRPGs. I don't think there are enough space ones out there that run smoothly from D&D fifth or Pathfinder (There's D20 future, but Wotc are jerks, and the D20 series isn't supported anymore). So I'm looking into building a proper module to support Trials in Tainted Space in Pathfinder or D&D 5th. With lust mechanics, ship combat, and much much more.

Heyya!

I've been working on the TiTS TTRPG on and off for a while now -- you can see the first playtest session here, actually! I'd mostly used the GSL from 4th Edition for that version (you can see why here), though I've since more or less settled on D&D being a poor fit for a game I envision being less about murder-hobos in space. I've been flitting between various other systems, though you might want to check out WoTC's (out of print, naturally) Star Wars RPGs for space opera D&D -- they're not particularly good, but a lot of the groundwork's done. Something like the Serenity/Firefly RPG, or the other two Star Wars RPGs (West End Games and Fantasy Flight's versions) might interest you. 

If you want to see the work I did on the D&D-esque TiTS RPG, you're free to check out the docs:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qOdXRPUb3ltT4TAWK_2xxkGXi-1T00FpknEDx5W5-lc/edit#heading=h.7yhm45bsd7nx (This one's super early -- I think I was working on this one before Mhen'ga launched!)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AGXpYiwEsjWVrr0Dw-7XYsSwMWaXVKnsbWa_g9OiHFA/edit (I think this one's the most recent playtested version. Players seemed to like it!)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pNXH1VzEW2YM-MWSji00k6JpOWXghKmQjj8p_io99j0/edit (I think this is the last version I did with D&D-like mechanics)

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

Ooh~ These are pretty promising. Makes me think I could do a dungeonworld adaptation to pull it away from combat specifically. It would make the adventure very story-centric. Honestly I feel like the main issue with a lot of D&D adjustments is numbers.

Numbers are the fucking devil, and had I a long time to balance everything, maybe I could make it work. I've been playing a Star Wars Saga Edition campaign recently, and although it would be an easy re-model, I don't feel like there's enough out there to make an epic quest out of combat instead of adventure.

So I've sort of decided on Dungeonworld; instead equipment and classes can dictate how a character is able to deal with a situation, as opposed to raw stats. You essentially have your charming talker/sneaker, your professional nerd/thinker, and your bruiser/straightguy. Going from there, giving the classes "Actions" and augmenting that with loot or companions, may just work out a lot neater. Heck, the system itself is open-license. If it were fleshed out properly it might even be a reasonable pay-what-you-want game.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for letting people role-play instead of their sheet deciding what happens.

 

[Savin]

Ooh~ These are pretty promising. Makes me think I could do a dungeonworld adaptation to pull it away from combat specifically. It would make the adventure very story-centric. Honestly I feel like the main issue with a lot of D&D adjustments is numbers.

Numbers are the fucking devil, and had I a long time to balance everything, maybe I could make it work. I've been playing a Star Wars Saga Edition campaign recently, and although it would be an easy re-model, I don't feel like there's enough out there to make an epic quest out of combat instead of adventure.

Numbers are part of it, sure, but I don't think they're the root issue. I mean, let's look at the main reward structure for 3.0+ D&D (Experience Points): what do you get EXP for? Killing monsters. Literally nothing else, though GMs are free to fiat in quest rewards and the like. What are most of the rules space dedicated to? Combat rules. Combat options. Special abilities in combat. What's most of your character sheet dedicated to? Combat numbers.

When everything in your toolbox is a nail, and you get rewarded for hitting nails, well... hammering gets to be your main groove pretty quick.

So I've sort of decided on Dungeonworld, so instead Instead equipment and classes can dictate how a character is able to deal with a situation, as opposed to raw stats. You essentially have your charming talker/sneaker, your professional nerd/thinker, and your bruiser/straightguy. Going from there, giving the classes "Actions" and augmenting that with loot or companions, may just work out a lot neater. Heck, the system itself is open-license. If it were fleshed out properly it might even be a reasonable pay-what-you-want game.

Dungeon World / Powered by the Apocalypse is a damn good choice. I honestly thought about using it myself, but I'm still extremely on the fence about the GM's diceless, more passive role in the game. 

Then again, maybe in a TiTS adventure that'd be a good thing! Who knows!

Speaking of which, one of the guys who makes Dungeon World (Adam Koebel) has a pretty interesting talk on D&D, mechanics, and adapting games like it to other genres: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0Bkf_yA_QQ

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

Here, a little example of how actions would work instead:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3269630/dwdotcom/Dungeon_World_Play_Sheets.pdf

I mis-posted that. Anyway, I feel like having something like Dungeonworld gives you the ability to roll out the results of doing the less combatty things, like seduction, or evasion. As you said, hammers and nails. I feel like classes and worlds like TiTS has should be given the whole bloody toolbox.

I've yet to DM Dungeonworld (Or dworld-alikes, apocolypse world nearly happened at one point) but I'm excited to sit back and improv with a setting I've built in to place.

Also if your sentiments on pathfinder/d&d are that. I heaaaartily recommend the shows "Being Everything Else" and "Hack Attack"

 

[Savin]

Also if your sentiments on pathfinder/d&d are that. I heaaaartily recommend the shows "Being Everything Else" and "Hack Attack"

Haha. That *might* be where I got them >_>'

Or at least, how to put those sentiments into words. 

Spoiler

West Marches: The Roleplaying Game when, dammit?

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

Oh my god I want that so hard. But yes, I'm looking in to the viability of Worlds of Tainted Space, essentially. Build up three classes with sheets, and then races are a modifier that would give them extra skills, and then starting equipment would give one more and alter the effectiveness of some of the abilities.

I want further loot to reward players with options, as opposed to raw stats. So say you get an energy weapon, being able to cock around with the settings for more stuff would be helpful (Set phasers to stun, teasers to please). Getting swoll as a Merc would give you abilities that play well to being in physically good damn shape. Rewards from quests would be reputation as well as money. And then mix that together with the Stars Without Numbers system of having to make enough money to stay in business.

Bam. There you have it, a self-sustaining world that you can actually update alongside the TiTS game, and the players never run out of things to do.

 

[Couch]

The most flexible system I've seen for a more skills-based experience is probably Fate Core.  I don't like it for everything, for instance you aren't going to get tactically interesting combat out of it, but for a game where combat is de-emphasized to being just another skill it should work pretty well.

Another interesting game I've played is one called Dark, which is meant for smugglers and thieves specifically.  It's a playing card-based system with rules that weren't quite intuitive at first, but once you get it there's a lot of neat resource management that's complex but not crunchy.

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

Hmm~ I'll look in to them for ideas and my quickly increasing pile of bookmarks. I may at the very least yoink some of the better bits out of them and see what fits.

However I don't want to just tack a bunch of rules on to, or alter an existing system (particularly it sounds like one with some potentially opaque rules) just to hamfist TiTS in to it. If I can build a Dungeonworld style game from the ground up, I can make a proper job of it, with their system, and probably give it to sav/fen to sell as a P-W-Y-W. If I just go plastering stuff in to systems that don't happen to be playing by the lovely Creative Commons rules that Sage Kobold happen to go by, I'd be risking getting people mired in weird legal-majigs further down the line.

And I'm an ex-accountant, not an ex-law, so I'd crumble in mere moments

Do you have any links to Dark you'd recommend? Maybe some footage of it in action? Just looking up "Dark" as you'd imagine is not going to be easy.

 

[Couch]

I'll have to find the source later.  It's not exactly a game easily modded, but played straight as is it would probably handle one of Kara's adventures just fine.

Fate is very easily extended or altered due to its lightweight nature, if you're looking to do a custom ruleset it's the best choice.

 

[Savin]

Fate is very easily extended or altered due to its lightweight nature, if you're looking to do a custom ruleset it's the best choice.

Aether Sea is actually really close to what I'd imagine a TiTS FATE looking like. Should check it out if you haven't -- it's a great supplement. 

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

*Tags another in to the bookmark folder* I still have 10k words of fucking to write out with enough breaks to keep from turning this RSI in to something permanent, but I will give it all a worthy lookthrough once I've finished torturing myself for the greater good (of buttstuff).

 

[Magic Ted]

You play Strike! if combat is important to you - or 13th age if you want something even closer to "4E but better" - and FATE otherwise.

clearly you should do a retail magic game, savin

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

I was never a big fan of 4E. It's definitely a firm standard if you want to dungeon-crawl and focus entirely on using abilities. But even the least fighty-character is basically a wizard. If you're a rogue you have a bunch of weird powers that basically make you the wizard of knives.

Ironic, coming from a Wizard, but I'm not in to that.

Also, retail magic just makes me think of a store full of 2015 booster boxes.

 

[Savin]

or 13th age if you want something even closer to "4E but better"

Eeehhhh.  It's definitely a very different game, in my mind.

I was never a big fan of 4E. It's definitely a firm standard if you want to dungeon-crawl and focus entirely on using abilities. But even the least fighty-character is basically a wizard. If you're a rogue you have a bunch of weird powers that basically make you the wizard of knives.

Let's not play Edition War and say we also didn't. :V

 

[Couch]

13th Age has almost the things I'd want from a 4E retread but also not.

Main reason Fate gets such high marks is it's piss-easy to use, though I personally have a lot of trouble with creating Aspects and wish there were more examples to pick from.

Best tabletop system is Pokemon Tabletop United, though.  Does everything I could possibly want out of a Pokemon game.

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

Eeehhhh.  It's definitely a very different game, in my mind.

Let's not play Edition War and say we also didn't. :V

Deal. All fairness; I have different gripes with just about every edition. It still doesn't stop me playing D&D at the end of the day.

 

[Parvana]

never really played a table top version of DnD, played a chatroom text based version with some friends however. was kinda fun.

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

If you know any people, I recommend using roll20.net, you can even apply to join games being DM'd by people. I'm already part of two big campaigns, and running one of my own, but I keep my eyes peeled for more to join. Heck, I'm subbed to them, because it's bloody wonderful.

 

[Parvana]

If you know any people, I recommend using roll20.net, you can even apply to join games being DM'd by people. I'm already part of two big campaigns, and running one of my own, but I keep my eyes peeled for more to join. Heck, I'm subbed to them, because it's bloody wonderful.

looks interesting ill check it out.

 

[Woider]

never really played a table top version of DnD, played a chatroom text based version with some friends however. was kinda fun.

Part of a chatroom DnD/CoC RP at the moment, but the DM is on hiatus due to personal issues.

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

So, as far as design goes. On top of the actual mechanics by which players and DM interact with the world, I made sure there was a basic method through which the world interacts back. Nothing too deep, because I want it to be something other players can alter. Namely that the adventure comes with an upkeep stage. It's referred to in a bunch of different D&Ds, and it was totally inspired by Stars Without Numbers. Just less strict. Essentially, these steps exist:

•  Advance BaseThe players will know that progress is being made on their home location (be it planet base or space base, but they will only see this progress if they're there)
• The GM will know the full details

[*]Advance Computers

• Any task set to a computer or robot is based on how good they are. So every session whatever tasks set (By either npc forces the GM controls, or by players) will process the information and act on it. Think of it like readying an action.
• Players will know that processing has occurred if they're there, via the codex.
• The GM will know the full details

[*]Depreciate Ship

• It costs credits to stay space-worthy, if you want to deduct a cost, feel free to, but a more reasonable thing (assuming you're not playing people surviving on scraps, or your team has nobody with mechanical skill) is to spend time keeping the ship going, just deduct it as time spent, progress the calendar as it were. Also it gives people a chance to interact in a non-active environment.
• Holding off on this just makes you worse at things you do

[*]Depreciate Resources

• Stay fed, keep up your meds, maybe you've got some itches that need a constant scratching. Having this cost credits will give your players a goal to meet on top of any missions/work/adventures
• The GM can apply these rules to companies or groups

[*]Advance/Depreciate Reputation

• Maybe some of the jobs you've done recently haven't been strictly legal, maybe you've been less subtle, maybe someone important got fucked in public by one of you. Who knows?! galaxy-wide news is a thing. Have fun with this.

Can anyone else think of something upkeep-y that doesn't make the start of a session too front-heavy?

I should modify depreciate resources to also track how a player's state changes. Things like pregnancy or ongoing transformations.

 

[Couch]

I've always hated upkeep mechanics like that in a tabletop.  Just eyeball it if you insist on base-building, don't throw stats at it.  The capabilities of the home base should be whatever best serves the adventure.

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

Understandable. Though I think calling it a mechanic was too far a stretch. More like bulletpoints you probably want to hit. The thing I like about TiTS, and the system of Stars Without Numbers, is that the world continues to grow and age. I try and model the same thing in D&D games I run, I'm just toying with a way built in-system to make it easier to track, be it optionally or not.

There are different ways to do it, because time will probably be some kind of measurable unit (when you've got things like various alien pregnancies they'll all be variable too).

As an example, your upkeep is given five (insert time units) what happens in those? Your ship get fucked up? It's three time units of repair for half your crew.

At least, it's a possible way of looking at things. The inverse is; "The world progresses in these ways every session, keep an eye on that." And I'm not saying that's wrong, or that it's right, it's just a different way to manage it. I personally prefer leaving it to RP's sake, but a lot of people who approach these games really appreciate a stable table, or the idea that someone's balanced a situation out so that they don't have to work too hard inventing the minutia.

If I can make Upkeep a simple process and make it quantifiable and make it something you can improvise, I absolutely will. But chances are I'll either have to write different ways to do it (Which is an option) Or I'll have to ditch one, preferably not the simplicity aspect, I don't want a book that looks like part one of seven pathfinder table books.

Although I'm not hung up on time units being a thing, it'd be a nice neat little bow if I could include them, say as the GM "This poison is going to last a couple of days, if you spend a day working on it straight though, you'll be able to work it out of your system." and know that the balance or math has already been done somewhere.

I've always hated upkeep mechanics like that in a tabletop.  Just eyeball it if you insist on base-building, don't throw stats at it.  The capabilities of the home base should be whatever best service the adventure.

As for base building, that's just a filler term. It could be "How does your home planet age" or "How does the group that gets you work age" or "How does the mission board age" etcetc. I've always liked the idea of West Marches and "Frelka's Tavern" and its surrounding village. Adventurers meet there looking for work, and going off to do adventurer shit. And say you have a little more money on the side to spend, give it to the apothecary, so they can produce better goods. In order for that to happen, the place has to age, and it's better to age on a scale/calendar than it is to eyeball it with "You've been gone a week, they probably built some pig pens"

I try to think in terms of this being as much a resource for Players as it is a resource for GMs to change a world. By the time it's written and done, sure the game has lust mechanics, sex, abilities, TiTS-specific races/classes, but you should be able to transplant it in to any sci-fi world you invent. If a group is able to roll-play the journey of Steele, and with those same resources create the gothica-space galaxy of Fucksivel XIV and it's seamless, my work is done, and it's a product I'd be happy to let people pay for. And I say let people, because again, PWYW is the best way to do things in this industry.

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

Thursday is a non-office day, I'll be writing some of my own project (SJT) and putting together the first draft of "Worlds of Tainted Space".

I envision a Rulebook front cover that's the classic as hell sci fi, alien clung to leg of the blaster-shooting hero. I may have to commission that when all is said and done. Because 80's sci fi is bloody slick.

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

It's been ages since I've written here! This isn't a dead project, honest. I'm just so fucking busy it hurts. Have a sneak peaky teaser.

Character Creation
Creating characters, and the galaxy itself is a collaborative job; the GM will spend as much time asking the players what someone or something looks like, as they will saying so themselves.

Bare this in mind when you’re creating a character. Depending on which class you pick, you’ll find the GM asking you quite often for information that class might know. For instance;

GM: “Who’s the Merc in the group?”

Jack: “That’d be me”

GM: “Great, well, you’re now in the Tarkus System. What would you say is the largest Mercenary company in the area?”

Jack: “Uuuh… I don’t know.”

GM: “That’s fair, is it because the System’s not as explored as it could be? Or is there no profit here?”

Jack: “Oh! There’s… A lot of conflict between the groups, so nobody’s got a monopoly”

GM: “Fantastic, just so you know then, the more aggressive Merc outfits are looking to expand, and you’re pretty sure you saw a job from one of them”

Give and take is important; so a well-balanced crew is suggested. The GM should share in the growth of the galaxy as a result.

Step One: Pick a Class

As of right now those classes are Mercenary, Smuggler, and Tech Specialist, feel free to confer with your group as to who you’ll play.

Step Two: Pick a Race

I’m sure you can all figure out this portion; pick the race you want to be. And in a game like WoTS, there are so many ways to change or hybridise your race or appearance, rest assured that if you’re willing to spend the credits, you’re not going to be trapped by your choice.

Step Three: Pick a “You”

There are a bunch of tables (Here) and (Here) that will allow you to pick out appearance standards. They’re also all numbered, for those of you who want to truly RNG your appearance, even gender, it’s heartily encouraged and supported.

Step Four: Pick your Upbringing and Alignment

The flavour between what an upbringing means is entirely down to the player, alignment isn’t a cut-and-dry concept in this game, and will potentially shift as you make decisions in the adventure. Upbringing will give you a little statistic alteration too. These can be rolled, along with a table of Histories (Here), if you’re feeling extra random.

Step Five: Determine Your Stats

Now to find out what you’re good at, you have the available ability scores 16, 15, 13, 12, 9, 8. Assign these to your stats in any order. And be sure to consider the class you’d like. For instance; a Merc that wants to swing a weapon around a lot will probably want the 16 in their Strength stat.

Your Maximum HP is your Class’ base HP combined with your Con Score not the Modifier. Your Maximum WILL is 5 plus your Wis Score not the Modifier.

Step Six: Pick Your Gear

Each class comes with its own choice of three gear packages, and there are tables of special gear (here). The special gear is broken up into sections, so that you can roll from a particular gear type. Or you can roll for the gear type and the gear. Or just straight-up pick, the choice is yours (or the GM’s).

Step Seven: Pick Your Moves

There are plenty of things you can be good at within your class, now that you exist, and are all geared up and ready to go, you can pick ONE of either a Class Move or a General Move to get started.

The modifiers for raw rolls are unlikely to get better, so picking a General Move is a good way to improve yourself. For instance: the Basic Move “Defy Danger”.

Say Jack wants to roll out of the way of a falling boulder; this is a “Defy Danger” roll, and Jack will need to roll with his Dexterity Modfier. If he had the General Move “Acrobatics” instead, it would indicate his character is used to rolling and diving around, although he’s technically Defying Danger, he can make an Acrobatics roll instead, which has an easier threshold for success. But it can only be used with a Dexterity modifier.


Class Moves are specific to the class only, whereas anyone could learn “Acrobatics” only a Merc can learn “Frenzied Assault”. A combination of class skills will help you progress in a certain way. Like a Robot-ist, or the Sniper, or the Sneak-Thief.

 

[Shanic]

Someone really needs to make a character sheet for TiTS and CoC, cause it would make creating a game based on them easier.

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

I do intend to do a character sheet, the book itself is about halfway done, but I've been a disgusting amount of busy and I've had to put an unpaid project like this to the side. My job ends in january and the holidays are upon us and I'm far too poor to make a living


Watch this space, I suppose. I'll try and have some samples out before christmas hits.

 

[MeloDD]

Oh, I love how this is turning out. I'm afraid I can't offer much but my appreciation and interest at this point, but keep it up~

 

[Some Kind of Wizard]

Oh, I love how this is turning out. I'm afraid I can't offer much but my appreciation and interest at this point, but keep it up~

Aw thanks  My current goal is character sheets before Christmas eve by now, real life poverty has very much held me back atm