[Q&A] Brian Fitzpatrick (Tattered Magicks)

7:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: My name is Brian Fitzpatrick or just Fitz and I’m the guy behind Moebius Adventures

7:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: We recently released our new urban fantasy game, Tattered Magicks!

7:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: TM uses the same engine we used for Aliens & Asteroids a few years ago, but adds rules for spells, magick items, and more

7:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: And the faeries are coming! The faeries are coming!

7:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: (Fae invasion incoming — definitely not something on my bingo card for 2020!)

7:34 PM +MoebiusFitz: I think that’s a good start. 🙂
7:34 PM ~Dan: Thanks, MoebiusFitz! The floor is open to questions!
7:35 PM ~Dan: Can you give us an overview of the setting?
7:35 PM +Cortana: May I just say, and please forgive me, I’ve always loved the sound of the name Fitzpatrick 🙂
7:35 PM +MoebiusFitz: Ultimately the setting is… today. 🙂
7:35 PM +MoebiusFitz: Aww. That’s great! Thanks Cortana!
7:36 PM +FreeGamer: How are the fae invading?
7:36 PM +Cortana: now I will retire back to my corner and let the actual gamers ask questions 🙂
7:36 PM +Cortana: but thanks for letting me babble a tiny bit ❤
7:36 PM +MoebiusFitz: But the idea is that magick has always been here. Merlin closed the doors to Underhill, the fae realm, and they’ve been working on a long term plot to get back to get their revenge
7:37 PM +MoebiusFitz: The Tattered are a group who helped Merlin close the gates and they’ve been waiting for their return
7:37 PM +MoebiusFitz: But we have room for all sorts of urban fantasy stories…
7:37 PM +MoebiusFitz: we have vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and other fun critters
7:37 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Ooo vampires! 🦇
7:37 PM +MoebiusFitz: Yes… Blood magick. 🙂
7:37 PM ~Dan: That sucks.
7:37 PM +MoebiusFitz: It’s detailed in the book!
7:38 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Lol
7:38 PM +MoebiusFitz: They do indeed, suck. 🙂
7:38 PM +MoebiusFitz: We’ve been playing for almost a year now to test out the system and explore the world
7:38 PM +MoebiusFitz: they just vanquished a vampire in Plunkett, Wyoming before we finished that chapter…
7:38 PM +MoebiusFitz: now we’re 2 years into the faewar – jumping forward
7:39 PM +MoebiusFitz: and it’s a bit like the French resistance during WWII
7:39 PM +MoebiusFitz: and we moved them from Wyoming to the French Alps for good measure. 🙂
7:39 PM ~Dan: So based upon what I’m hearing, I gather that magic has existed independently from the presence of the fae?
7:39 PM +MoebiusFitz: yes, but when the doors underhill are open there’s a lot more magick
7:40 PM +MoebiusFitz: sort of like The Magicians and the idea of ambient magick
7:40 PM ~Dan: I see. Cool.
7:40 PM +MoebiusFitz: one of the things we haven’t explored yet is the idea that many fae critters were left on our side of the gates
7:40 PM ~Dan: Where is the door to Underhill?
7:40 PM +MoebiusFitz: so Trolls and other critters may still be here
7:41 PM +MoebiusFitz: well, the doors to Underhill are wherever the ley lines cross — or wherever they find an easy place to open a gate
7:41 PM +MoebiusFitz: there are old stone structures called Dolmen that are in Europe, for example — like Stonehenge sort of
7:41 PM +MoebiusFitz: and they make great gateways — old stones the Fae were aware of before they left
7:42 PM +MoebiusFitz: but they opened a door in our first adventure into an old mining town in Wyoming in the basement of an old warehouse…
7:42 PM +MoebiusFitz: so wherever it’s story relevant 🙂
7:42 PM ~Dan: Gotcha.
7:43 PM ~Dan: Is there are there Seelie and Unseelie Courts, and if so, what are their activities like?
7:43 PM +MoebiusFitz: yes and no. I went more like the Dresden Files and chose the idea of Winter and Summer Courts
7:44 PM ~Dan: Aren’t those synonymous?
7:44 PM +MoebiusFitz: the Summer King has been busy consolidating power in Underhill to do this invasion and get his revenge
7:44 PM +MoebiusFitz: Eh. Not in my world. We left it VERY open so folks can use whatever their favorite shorthand for the fae might entail
7:44 PM * ~Dan nods
7:44 PM +MoebiusFitz: The Fall and Spring Courts fell during the wars in underhill
7:44 PM +MoebiusFitz: but Winter is fading there
7:45 PM +MoebiusFitz: Summer Court is kind of like the Germans in WWII right now
7:45 PM +MoebiusFitz: They’re working to solidify power
7:45 PM ~Dan: Is the Summer King Oberon?
7:45 PM +MoebiusFitz: I haven’t named him, but likely yes.
7:45 PM * ~Dan nods
7:45 PM +FreeGamer: There’s an answer for the missing courts! You’d be surprised how many people don’t even think about that. This pleases me greatly.
7:46 PM ~Dan: Is the Winter Court participating in the invasion as well?
7:46 PM +MoebiusFitz: The Winter Queen was actually kidnapped by Summer centuries ago and her daughter, still a teenager, is ruling in her stead
7:46 PM +MoebiusFitz: Winter will ally with the PCs if they play their cards right
7:46 PM +MoebiusFitz: Winter ultimately wants to rule Underhill, but wants revenge against Summer
7:46 PM +MoebiusFitz: I really don’t know how it will all play out
7:47 PM +MoebiusFitz: FreeGamer, what do you mean about the missing courts? Color me curious. 🙂
7:47 PM ~Dan: To my understanding, the creepier, “evil” fae are normally associated with Winter — the trolls, redcaps, sluagh, hags, etc. And the “nice” fae are associated with the Summer Court — Daoine Sidhe, sprites, brownies, etc.
7:47 PM +MoebiusFitz: I think they’re essentially free agents — some work willingly with Summer and others are spying for Winter
7:47 PM ~Dan: Is this the case in your setting?
7:48 PM +MoebiusFitz: Both sides have good and evil in my world
7:48 PM +MoebiusFitz: I didn’t really want to pigeonhole them
7:48 PM ~Dan: So there are Summer trolls, for example?
7:48 PM +MoebiusFitz: Redcaps are definitely assassins and mostly evil
7:48 PM +MoebiusFitz: Definitely — but I think there would be Winter too
7:48 PM +MoebiusFitz: They are all pretty bullheaded, independent critters
7:49 PM ~Dan: I’ll bet they flocked to the Internet.
7:49 PM +MoebiusFitz: I mean — being called a Troll is hardly a compliment 🙂
7:49 PM +FreeGamer: Dresden Files doesn’t even touch on the fact there are no spring or autumn courts. That. Always summer and winter and nobody ever thinks how there are actually 4 seasons, so what gives.
7:49 PM +MoebiusFitz: Yeah, I always thought that was weird too. 🙂
7:49 PM +MoebiusFitz: Funny… I’m starting a new game in September with my other group and we’re going to cross A&A and Tattered Magicks
7:49 PM +MoebiusFitz: there will be VIRTUAL fae — who opened a doorway into cyberspace in the future
7:50 PM +MoebiusFitz: and they have to contend with avatars of actual people as well as AIs who are hunting them
7:50 PM +MoebiusFitz: it’s going to be fun
7:50 PM ~Dan: Sounds like it!
7:50 PM +FreeGamer: That’s just one super famous example, but it’s a pattern. It doesn’t bother me, mind you. I just notice, and I really like when it’s actually addressed. “Only 2 because reasons.”
7:50 PM +MoebiusFitz: The system is VERY interchangeable — so I look forward to mixing and matching
7:50 PM ~Dan: By default, does gameplay begin before or after the start of the Faewar?
7:51 PM +MoebiusFitz: The adventure in the book is a scouting party about a year prior to the invasion
7:51 PM +MoebiusFitz: But really you could pick it up at any point
7:52 PM +MoebiusFitz: We wanted to see what people thought of the game and setting before we started even pondering what might be the next release
7:52 PM * ~Dan nods
7:52 PM +MoebiusFitz: It’s been doing pretty well. Quickest Moebius product yet to get to Copper Seller status on DTRPG. 🙂
7:53 PM +MoebiusFitz: so apparently folks are interested!
7:53 PM +MoebiusFitz: I think the fae courts will be interesting to detail and work out
7:53 PM ~Dan: Congratulations!
7:53 PM +MoebiusFitz: but the Summer King is not the nicest of folks. 🙂
7:53 PM ~Dan: Doesn’t sound like it.
7:54 PM +MoebiusFitz: he’s rebuilding old Roman coloseums and using them to try and kill off any resistance
7:55 PM ~Dan: What is the tech level of the fae, and are they vulnerable to iron, cold or otherwise?
7:55 PM +MoebiusFitz: yes very vulnerable to iron
7:55 PM +MoebiusFitz: they learned a bit about our tech during their spy run a year before the invasion
7:55 PM +MoebiusFitz: but they’re still working to thwart it
7:55 PM +MoebiusFitz: they used shock and awe
7:55 PM +MoebiusFitz: to eliminate main opposition
7:55 PM ~Dan: So they mostly rely on magic?
7:56 PM +MoebiusFitz: but China and Russia are still being a pain in their backside
7:56 PM +MoebiusFitz: yeah — lots of magick
7:56 PM +MoebiusFitz: and collaborators
7:56 PM +MoebiusFitz: there are a lot of folks just trying to survive and not piss off their magickal overlords
7:57 PM ~Dan: To what degree can magick counter technology?
7:57 PM +MoebiusFitz: depends on the GM I think
7:58 PM +MoebiusFitz: ultimately I think that will be part of the fun
7:58 PM +MoebiusFitz: I want people to come up with unique ways to distract casters
7:58 PM +MoebiusFitz: dust in the eyes… breaking magickal circles… etc
7:58 PM +MoebiusFitz: but the most fun we’ve had is seeing what people have created for their own magickal disciplines
7:59 PM +MoebiusFitz: there are rules for making spells on the fly
7:59 PM +MoebiusFitz: we’ve had crazy stuff like “ooze a good boy” — which is a goop that can be used to transfer HP from one critter TO another
7:59 PM +MoebiusFitz: or… the finger guns of literality – which gives the caster a chance to point fingers and “shoot” opponents with magick
8:00 PM * ~Dan chuckles
8:00 PM +MoebiusFitz: we’ve had some crazy stuff
8:00 PM +MoebiusFitz: one of our new players is using temporary tattoos
8:00 PM ~Dan: (Howdy, Nick_Zachariasen!)
8:01 PM +MoebiusFitz: slap a temp tattoo on a target and give it some magickal juice
8:01 PM +Nick_Zachariasen: Howdy!
8:01 PM +MoebiusFitz: Hey Nick!
8:01 PM ~Dan: ( MoebiusFitz, meet Nick_Zachariasen, author of the awesome METAL WORLD, the heavy metal RPG. 🙂 )
8:01 PM +MoebiusFitz: Awesome!
8:01 PM +Cortana: (I hate to sound like I am 12 but “slap a temp tattoo on a target […]” made me giggle)
8:02 PM +Cortana: (sounds like something my CO would’ve said during basic)
8:02 PM +Nick_Zachariasen: Never be afraid to sound like you’re 12.
8:02 PM +MoebiusFitz: it’s hilarious
8:02 PM +MoebiusFitz: we’ve also had some significant emotional trauma
8:03 PM +Cortana: Nick_Zachariasen: well, to be fair, my CO certainly sounded like he was 12 😛
8:03 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Uh oh
8:03 PM +MoebiusFitz: one character dealt with the creatures between universes
8:03 PM +MoebiusFitz: the shadow… think cthulhu
8:03 PM +MoebiusFitz: so we lost a PC (he had to leave us, so went out with a bang)
8:04 PM +MoebiusFitz: and we still talk about him frequently
8:04 PM +Cortana: (also, feel free to ignore me, I’m the equivalent of the court jester :P)
8:04 PM +MoebiusFitz: (great player)
8:04 PM +MoebiusFitz: you’re good!
8:04 PM +MoebiusFitz: the tattoos are fantasitc
8:04 PM +MoebiusFitz: *fantastic
8:04 PM ~Dan: (wb, Dice_Bag_DarcRaven)
8:04 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Sry keep g
8:04 PM +MoebiusFitz: we have some amazing players
8:04 PM +MoebiusFitz: it’s been fun to try and keep up with them
8:05 PM +Cortana: just so that it is know
8:05 PM +Cortana: known*
8:05 PM +MoebiusFitz: originally I didn’t plan on any Lovecraft horror in my game, but the character’s backstory was too good to ignore
8:05 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Getting my tabs closed stupid phone
8:05 PM ~Dan: Can you give us some idea of the upper power level of magick before and after the Underhill gates are open?
8:05 PM +Cortana: I know 0/100 about ttrpg games
8:05 PM +Cortana: I’m just here for the company
8:05 PM +Cortana: and for playing the court jester
8:05 PM +Cortana: :3
8:05 PM +MoebiusFitz: so… it’s one of the things we really haven’t explored
8:05 PM +MoebiusFitz: how that flood of magick changed things
8:05 PM ~Dan: (Cortana is a great guy. A bit hard on himself, but a great guy. 🙂 )
8:05 PM +MoebiusFitz: I suspect it woke up a number of things in deep slumber
8:06 PM +MoebiusFitz: but we really haven’t chatted about the burst
8:06 PM +MoebiusFitz: literally we left the world wide open because we weren’t sure anybody would even notice this game
8:06 PM +MoebiusFitz: we’ve had a BLAST playing — but wondered if it was isolated
8:07 PM +MoebiusFitz: there’s a lot left open to interpretation by the players
8:08 PM +MoebiusFitz: I feel like urban fantasy should change based on the players involved
8:08 PM +MoebiusFitz: there are a LOT of fantastic fiction properties these days exploring it
8:09 PM ~Dan: To what degree does the core rulebook detail the invasion?
8:10 PM +MoebiusFitz: so let me throw this question out… obviously Dresden Files has been mentioned, but what other urban fantasy properties are you guys reading?
8:10 PM +MoebiusFitz: the rulebook barely scratches the surface of the invasion
8:10 PM ~Dan: Me, I’ve just been reading RPG review copies. 🙂
8:10 PM +MoebiusFitz: again — we are just opening the door
8:10 PM +MoebiusFitz: with A&A I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted the story to go
8:11 PM +MoebiusFitz: with TM, it’s been a very organic process
8:11 PM * ~Dan nods
8:11 PM ~Dan: So I take it the war itself will be dealt with in a supplement?
8:12 PM +MoebiusFitz: maybe? I’m curious to see what the world thinks first
8:12 PM +MoebiusFitz: I would love to do more
8:12 PM ~Dan: Makes sense.
8:13 PM +MoebiusFitz: I’m already working in my head on a sword & sorcery version —
8:13 PM +MoebiusFitz: ultimately I want Hicks/Ripley, Dresden, and Conan in an adventuring party
8:13 PM +MoebiusFitz: the whole thing is a multiverse — so anything is possible. 😀
8:13 PM ~Dan: That’s a fine goal. 🙂
8:14 PM ~Dan: As an aside, are you familiar with the RPG “Faeries Wear Boots!”?
8:14 PM +Cortana: NO POWER IN THE VERSE SHALL STOP ME!
8:14 PM +Cortana: </ River Tam>
8:14 PM +Cortana: ;>
8:14 PM +Cortana: (sorry)
8:14 PM +Cortana: (*shushes*)
8:14 PM +MoebiusFitz: she is welcome to join that adventuring party. 🙂
8:14 PM +MoebiusFitz: long ago I played with some Firefly style character classes for A&A
8:16 PM +Cortana: (I’m sorry for interrupting the Q&A, please don’t whip me too hard)
8:16 PM +MoebiusFitz: I’m really excited to see what people come up with
8:16 PM +MoebiusFitz: no whipping necessary
8:16 PM +MoebiusFitz: we included a LOT of magick examples in the book
8:16 PM +MoebiusFitz: but it’s really just the tip of the iceberg
8:16 PM +MoebiusFitz: I could see superheroes or even the Last Airbender played using the system
8:17 PM ~Dan: (Did you see my question, MoebiusFitz?)
8:17 PM +MoebiusFitz: I got lost. 🙂 Can you ask again?
8:17 PM ~Dan: Sure! 8:14 PM ~Dan: As an aside, are you familiar with the RPG “Faeries Wear Boots!”?
8:17 PM +MoebiusFitz: I am not familiar with that one. Sounds fun!
8:18 PM +MoebiusFitz: what’s it about? 😉
8:18 PM ~Dan: (Link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/303879/Faeries-Wear-Boots-Original)https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/303879/Faeries-Wear-Boots-Original
8:18 PM ~Dan: Well, the core book is about the fae in 1980s England.
8:18 PM ~Dan: The author has created an entire series of games around the concept.
8:18 PM +MoebiusFitz: has to be punk fae then. 🙂
8:18 PM ~Dan: In different eras.
8:19 PM +MoebiusFitz: love it
8:19 PM ~Dan: Conan prehistory, Bronze Age, Vikings, Renaissance, and (coming soon) Post-Apocalypse.
8:19 PM +MoebiusFitz: we don’t have any fae in our party yet.
8:20 PM +MoebiusFitz: but we have a werewolf born before WWI…
8:20 PM ~Dan: Cool!
8:20 PM +MoebiusFitz: we have a ghost hunting alchemist
8:20 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Wow
8:20 PM +MoebiusFitz: we have a child actor turned martial artist (b-movies) who sees ghosts
8:20 PM ~Dan: Anyway, you might check out that game line. I think you’d enjoy it.
8:20 PM +MoebiusFitz: we have a military guy who was kidnapped by witches and escaped
8:20 PM ~Dan: Are the witches in question hag types?
8:21 PM +MoebiusFitz: and we have a tattoo artist who is trying to find a way to bring back her dead child
8:21 PM +MoebiusFitz: those witches were definitely of the nasty variety
8:21 PM ~Dan: Great. I *love* hags!
8:21 PM ~Dan: Well… so to speak.
8:21 PM +MoebiusFitz: but the group encountered a coven established during the wild west era that protected a mining town
8:21 PM +MoebiusFitz: and they were the good guys
8:21 PM +MoebiusFitz: so to speak
8:21 PM +MoebiusFitz: but a fading coven, just like the town they were in
8:22 PM * ~Dan nods
8:22 PM +MoebiusFitz: magick is fun
8:23 PM ~Dan: Indeed so.
8:23 PM ~Dan: So is magic “freeform” in this world? Or is it more correct to say that people create spells during “downtime”?
8:23 PM +MoebiusFitz: but I would love to do a vampire supplement, one on shapechangers, and then explore the world “before” and underhill
8:23 PM +MoebiusFitz: before I dive into the fae war
8:24 PM +MoebiusFitz: one of the vampires my party faced was one of Blackbeard’s wives
8:24 PM +MoebiusFitz: she was a hoot
8:24 PM ~Dan: I’ll bet!
8:24 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: I know a self proclaimed vampire
8:24 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Weird I know
8:24 PM +MoebiusFitz: I know a few wiccans, so not too weird
8:25 PM +MoebiusFitz: the world is a big place. there’s room for all of us
8:25 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Yuppers )O(
8:25 PM +MoebiusFitz: though I prefer to keep my blood to myself. 🙂
8:25 PM ~Dan: Selfish.
8:25 PM +MoebiusFitz: no kidding
8:25 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Sharing is caring
8:26 PM ~Dan: And bleeding is… needing… or something.
8:26 PM +MoebiusFitz: donating to my fellow humans is one thing… vampires? nah. 😀
8:26 PM * ~Dan chuckles
8:27 PM ~Dan: So by default, how long have the Underhill gates been open as play begins?
8:27 PM ~Dan: (And brb. Please continue!)
8:27 PM +MoebiusFitz: I’ve been in love with urban fantasy for a long time though
8:28 PM +MoebiusFitz: the gate in the adventure in the book had not been open too long
8:29 PM +MoebiusFitz: the idea was it was a scouting party
8:29 PM +MoebiusFitz: since the fae have been gone a long time
8:29 PM +MoebiusFitz: 1500 years more or less
8:29 PM +MoebiusFitz: they needed to get the lay of the land
8:29 PM +MoebiusFitz: when my PCs encountered the fae, they used rebar sticking out of old warehouse foundations as part of an entangle spell
8:29 PM +MoebiusFitz: so they bound some goblins 🙂
8:29 PM +MoebiusFitz: but I have let the story grow over time
8:30 PM +MoebiusFitz: the players and I did a couple of brainstorm sessions for the next chapter
8:30 PM +MoebiusFitz: the tattoo artist has a fae-powered motorcycle
8:30 PM ~Dan: (Howdy, Beelzedude! What the heck are you doing up? 🙂 )
8:30 PM +MoebiusFitz: it’s nuts
8:31 PM ~Dan: Oh, did you miss my magick question?
8:31 PM +MoebiusFitz: shoot… what was the question?
8:31 PM +MoebiusFitz: I’m just rambling
8:32 PM ~Dan: 8:23 PM ~Dan: So is magic “freeform” in this world? Or is it more correct to say that people create spells during “downtime”?
8:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: oh yeah… soooo freeform
8:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: and yes and no
8:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: you can create spells on the fly
8:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: it’s just a little harder to succeed
8:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: if you learn it and use a purchase roll to put it into your spellbook, it’s less hard. 🙂
8:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: but we’ve had some spur of the moment casting, which is awesome
8:33 PM ~Dan: Ah, I see. So a bit like Ars Magica.
8:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: funny that. 🙂
8:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: Mage was one of my inspirations
8:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: but the system was unfathomable
8:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: it led me to explore Ars Magica
8:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: and both have been brewing for a long time
8:34 PM ~Dan: Ars Magica is amazing. I never made it through character(s) creation, sadly. 😦
8:34 PM +MoebiusFitz: I love the world behind all of that
8:34 PM ~Dan: Me too!
8:34 PM ~Dan: Especially when they took out the Realm of Reason or whatever they called it.
8:35 PM +MoebiusFitz: I honestly don’t remember enough to fill a post-it
8:35 PM +MoebiusFitz: but I remember loving the way everything was intermingled
8:35 PM +MoebiusFitz: our magick system makes sense
8:35 PM ~Dan: Well, the White Wolf edition added a Realm of Reason in which “logic” caused magic to fade. This was to use Ars Magica as the past history of the World of Darkness.
8:36 PM +MoebiusFitz: I’m still shocked at how well it worked with the A&A system
8:36 PM ~Dan: Speaking of the system, mind if we turn in that direction for a bit?
8:36 PM +MoebiusFitz: sure!
8:36 PM ~Dan: Great!
8:37 PM +MoebiusFitz: A&A and TM use what we call Inverse20
8:37 PM ~Dan: First, can you link us to a character sheet?
8:37 PM +MoebiusFitz: I got tired of rolling 1s and failing in D&D
8:37 PM +MoebiusFitz: hmmm… let me see what the easiest way to do that would be . 🙂
8:37 PM ~Dan: Well, if you have one posted on the Web, posting the URL would be easiest.
8:38 PM ~Dan: Alternately, you can upload one.
8:38 PM +MoebiusFitz: Uploaded file: (Link: https://uploads.kiwiirc.com/files/ce061cfe7c4db5ee7a208f08e65955b9/Tattered-Magicks-CharSheet-FormFillable.pdf)https://uploads.kiwiirc.com/files/ce061cfe7c4db5ee7a208f08e65955b9/Tattered-Magicks-CharSheet-FormFillable.pdf
8:38 PM ~Dan: Thanks! Let’s see here…
8:38 PM +MoebiusFitz: I’ll have to stash one on the website at some point, but upload was easier
8:39 PM +MoebiusFitz: there’s one that comes with the book when you get it at DTRPG
8:39 PM +MoebiusFitz: that’s the same one I uploaded. 🙂
8:39 PM +MoebiusFitz: creating characters is pretty easy
8:40 PM ~Dan: Looking it over here…
8:41 PM ~Dan: Hmm. So it looks like Attributes function as both attributes and skills.
8:41 PM +MoebiusFitz: yeah… everything is attribute based
8:41 PM +MoebiusFitz: and then traits give you advantage (like 5e)
8:41 PM +MoebiusFitz: so… anybody can shoot a gun
8:41 PM +MoebiusFitz: it’s an Accuracy test
8:41 PM +MoebiusFitz: roll a d20… try to match or get under the value
8:42 PM +MoebiusFitz: if you roll a 1 or directly on, it’s a critical success
8:42 PM +MoebiusFitz: if you roll a 20 it’s a crit fail
8:42 PM +MoebiusFitz: otherwise it’s a success or failure
8:42 PM +MoebiusFitz: but if you take the Guns trait… you’re then at an Advantage to do the same thing
8:42 PM +MoebiusFitz: you roll 2d20 and take the better value
8:42 PM ~Dan: What Attribute do you use for a melee attack?
8:42 PM +MoebiusFitz: Athletcis
8:42 PM ~Dan: (Howdy, Akyla!)
8:42 PM +MoebiusFitz: Athletics even. 🙂
8:43 PM ~Dan: That word never looks right, does it? 🙂
8:43 PM +MoebiusFitz: but you can take Melee or H2H to give yourself Advantage
8:43 PM +MoebiusFitz: and then specialize to do better
8:43 PM ~Dan: How does specializing work?
8:44 PM +MoebiusFitz: Melee gives you a general familiarity with things
8:44 PM +MoebiusFitz: but if you take Melee Specialization, you choose a specific weapon
8:44 PM +MoebiusFitz: maybe a sword or a staff
8:45 PM +MoebiusFitz: and I believe you get additional damage with the weapon
8:45 PM +MoebiusFitz: and I believe you get additional damage with the weapon.. +
8:45 PM +MoebiusFitz: +1
8:45 PM +MoebiusFitz: some traits enable you to raise your attributes
8:46 PM +MoebiusFitz: like Back to School (+1 Education)
8:46 PM +MoebiusFitz: or Hitting the Gym (+1 Toughness)
8:46 PM +MoebiusFitz: so you can modify your attribute values through gameplay
8:46 PM +MoebiusFitz: and of course through spells…
8:46 PM ~Dan: Can the game handle Attribute scores in excess of 20?
8:46 PM +MoebiusFitz: not sure I answered the question. 🙂
8:46 PM +MoebiusFitz: nope.
8:46 PM +MoebiusFitz: 18 is the max
8:47 PM +MoebiusFitz: there always has to be a chance to fail. 🙂
8:47 PM ~Dan: I see… So how do you simulate clearly superhuman creatures?
8:47 PM +MoebiusFitz: through traits
8:47 PM +MoebiusFitz: and spells
8:48 PM +MoebiusFitz: there are a ton of fun creature traits
8:48 PM ~Dan: So to use a silly example, how would you simulate the Toughness of an elephant?
8:48 PM +MoebiusFitz: Tough Hide is a trait, which gives Armor Rating 2
8:48 PM +MoebiusFitz: but there are others that enhance that further
8:48 PM ~Dan: How about the strength of a Giant?
8:49 PM +MoebiusFitz: I’d go with 18, but they’d be able to move larger things which do more damage
8:49 PM +MoebiusFitz: tree trunks as clubs do a ton of damage
8:49 PM ~Dan: (Howdy, Woo77!)
8:50 PM +Woo77: (hi)
8:50 PM +MoebiusFitz: some things like Trolls have regenerating health
8:50 PM +MoebiusFitz: others have regenerating armor
8:51 PM +MoebiusFitz: you can really make it tough for the PCs
8:51 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Kinda like my flail snail it has 5 massive flails that come out of the head. I bet that would do some damage
8:51 PM +MoebiusFitz: ouch. definitely painful
8:51 PM +MoebiusFitz: would leave a mark
8:52 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Lol yup
8:52 PM ~Dan: Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: You really have a thing for flail snails, don’t you? 🙂
8:52 PM +MoebiusFitz: actually with 5 falils… that would leave a LOT of marks
8:52 PM +MoebiusFitz: who uses such a weapon Dice_Bag_DarcRaven?
8:53 PM ~Dan: (Howdy, kiltedfiend!)
8:53 PM +kiltedfiend: (hey)
8:53 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: I made one out of clay lol
8:53 PM ~Dan: MoebiusFitz: The flail snail is a creature for D&D introduced in the original Fiend Folio.
8:53 PM ~Dan: A giant snail with multiple flails for heads.
8:53 PM +Nick_Zachariasen: I either do or do not want to know what inspired it.
8:53 PM +MoebiusFitz: I’ll have to hunt my copy down. I have one somewhere. 🙂
8:54 PM +MoebiusFitz: D&D has some wacky things
8:54 PM ~Dan: How does spellcasting work?
8:54 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Got a pic of one
8:54 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: If I may share?
8:54 PM ~Dan: Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Please do!
8:54 PM +MoebiusFitz: go for it. 🙂
8:55 PM ~Dan: Oh dear. She’s on her phone. If she tabs away, she disconnects.
8:55 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Uploaded file: (Link: https://uploads.kiwiirc.com/files/6da8f3845516c1215bbf7114ec30e26f/inbound3591485788756905345.jpg)https://uploads.kiwiirc.com/files/6da8f3845516c1215bbf7114ec30e26f/inbound3591485788756905345.jpg
8:55 PM +MoebiusFitz: terrifying
8:55 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Their goo is toxic
8:56 PM +MoebiusFitz: I bet!
8:56 PM ~Dan: Not to be confused with its more incompetent relative, the fail snail.
8:56 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: You have to have specific flail snail armor
8:56 PM +MoebiusFitz: is it related to the fail whale?
8:56 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Lol possibly
8:57 PM +MoebiusFitz: getting back to the system, everything works the same way including spells
8:57 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Sorry I digress
8:57 PM +MoebiusFitz: so spell casting traits have associated attributes (or defaults to Presence/willpower)
8:57 PM ~Dan: (There was a big forum thread inspired by the flail snail in which people introduced weapon/beast rhyming pairs. Like the Spear Steer.)
8:57 PM +MoebiusFitz: so you declare what you’re casting and how much power (points from your spell point pool) you want to put into it, and then roll
8:58 PM +MoebiusFitz: but the STYLE of casting… that can be totally different
8:59 PM +MoebiusFitz: our player who left us would quote from fiction and poetry and songs to evoke the image or spell effect
8:59 PM +MoebiusFitz: another used her abilities to look forward or backward in time
9:00 PM +MoebiusFitz: we’ve had fun
9:00 PM +MoebiusFitz: we didn’t get to play last week and I missed it
9:02 PM +MoebiusFitz: but I’m really looking forward to magick in cyberspace 🙂
9:02 PM ~Dan: I’ll bet. 🙂
9:02 PM +MoebiusFitz: virtual spells should be fun. I’m pondering Tron levels of madness
9:03 PM ~Dan: Can you say a bit about the difference between improvised and rote casting?
9:03 PM +MoebiusFitz: every roll comes down to either Disadvantage, No Advantage, or Advantage
9:03 PM +MoebiusFitz: so there’s something we call “Advantage math”
9:04 PM +MoebiusFitz: ultimately nothing gets harder than a Disadvantage
9:04 PM +MoebiusFitz: but if you screw up a spell and just “fail” you lose 1 point out of whatever you put into the spell
9:05 PM +MoebiusFitz: if you critically fail, you lose all the points and could lose Attribute points
9:05 PM +MoebiusFitz: think of it like a backfire
9:05 PM +MoebiusFitz: which makes things harder going forward
9:05 PM +MoebiusFitz: so if you know the spell, it’s better because it doesn’t count against you
9:05 PM +MoebiusFitz: but sometimes you have to roll the dice
9:06 PM +MoebiusFitz: it makes things interesting
9:06 PM +MoebiusFitz: you heal attribute damage like everything else… 1 point per day
9:06 PM +MoebiusFitz: unless you have meditation, which gives you a boost
9:06 PM +MoebiusFitz: or magickal healing, which can help you
9:06 PM ~Dan: So are improvised spells always at Disadvantage?
9:07 PM +MoebiusFitz: if you’re human, yes
9:07 PM +MoebiusFitz: fae are creatures of magick so don’t automatically start at a disadvantage
9:07 PM +MoebiusFitz: so it could just be one die roll
9:07 PM ~Dan: Speaking of which, what sorts of nonhuman creatures can be played as PCs?
9:08 PM +MoebiusFitz: or if you are human, have a casting trait, and a supplemental trait (maybe martial arts or dance or something for a movement cast, for instance)
9:08 PM +MoebiusFitz: it can cancel things out a bit
9:08 PM +MoebiusFitz: so there are rules in the book for playing…
9:08 PM +MoebiusFitz: Elves, Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Ogres
9:09 PM +MoebiusFitz: oh, and the wee winged
9:09 PM +MoebiusFitz: think of the wee winged like Tinkerbell
9:09 PM +MoebiusFitz: or the fae that Dresden gives pizza to (Toot Toot I think was one of them)
9:09 PM +MoebiusFitz: so they are definitely playable
9:09 PM +MoebiusFitz: and they have some additional backgrounds and origins
9:09 PM ~Dan: Can you say a bit about what these creatures are like in your setting?
9:09 PM ~Dan: (wb, Dice_Bag_DarcRaven!)
9:11 PM +MoebiusFitz: well, Goblins in my world are pretty much silent and speak with hand signals (sign language)
9:11 PM +MoebiusFitz: Hobgoblins speak and are translators between the Goblins and the other races
9:11 PM +MoebiusFitz: Elves are sort of the ruling class
9:11 PM +MoebiusFitz: Ogres are almost always shock troops
9:12 PM +MoebiusFitz: and wee winged are spritely things that are used quite a bit for surveillance
9:12 PM +MoebiusFitz: but I don’t want to pigeonhole anybody
9:12 PM * ~Dan nods
9:12 PM +MoebiusFitz: there’s also the idea of Glamour
9:13 PM +MoebiusFitz: at one point there were three ogres and they were all Glamoured to look like human football players
9:14 PM ~Dan: Heh. 🙂
9:14 PM +MoebiusFitz: so there’s a possibility that any human you meet could secretly be a fae
9:14 PM +MoebiusFitz: though there are ways to see through it of course
9:14 PM ~Dan: Do you have any plans to make non-fae monsters like vampires and werewolves playable?
9:14 PM +MoebiusFitz: one of the cool things we did for character creation is that each character has an “entanglement” that notes when they first met the hidden world
9:15 PM +MoebiusFitz: werewolves are playable already — rules are in the book
9:15 PM +MoebiusFitz: vampires… they’re mostly evil in my world, but considering that their type of magick is described in the book I suspect that you could repurpose them pretty easily
9:15 PM +MoebiusFitz: and we describe how a person goes from victim to vampire
9:16 PM +MoebiusFitz: so it could be done. 🙂
9:16 PM +MoebiusFitz: but we have a werewolf in our current campaign
9:16 PM +MoebiusFitz: he’s been around since before WWI
9:16 PM +MoebiusFitz: they age much much slower than normal people
9:17 PM ~Dan: Ah, right, so you said.
9:17 PM +MoebiusFitz: heh. no worries. I’ve rambled on in a number of chunks of this chat. 🙂
9:17 PM ~Dan: 🙂
9:17 PM ~Dan: Okay, danhunsaker! If you’re paying attention, you’re up! 🙂
9:18 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: 🌝
9:18 PM +kiltedfiend: That’s what its alla bout
9:18 PM +MoebiusFitz: rambling? I should hope so. that’s 90% of gaming at my table. 😀
9:18 PM ~Dan: No? Okay, I’ll do the honors. Here is Danhunsaker’s Favorite Question(TM)…
9:18 PM ~Dan: What is your *least* favorite aspect of Tattered Magicks?
9:18 PM +MoebiusFitz: heh.
9:19 PM +MoebiusFitz: my least favorite aspect is the adventure in the book and how little there is about the faewar, but it was a conscious decision
9:19 PM +MoebiusFitz: we wanted to really leave it open to the players
9:19 PM +MoebiusFitz: and I’ll be curious to see if it bites us in the butt
9:20 PM * ~Dan nods
9:20 PM ~Dan: A fair answer!
9:20 PM +MoebiusFitz: but other than that — I am super proud of it
9:20 PM +kiltedfiend: Can always release it as a supplement
9:20 PM +MoebiusFitz: first book I did all the layout on
9:20 PM +MoebiusFitz: in a long time
9:20 PM ~Dan: Good for you! I wish you great success with it. 🙂
9:20 PM +Nick_Zachariasen: What did you do the layout in, by the way?
9:20 PM +MoebiusFitz: InDesign
9:21 PM +MoebiusFitz: my first book was done in Adobe Framemaker back in the mid 1990s
9:21 PM +Nick_Zachariasen: I remember FM but never worked in it.
9:21 PM +MoebiusFitz: used Microsoft Publisher in the mid 2000s for the Moebius Adventures Core Rules book
9:21 PM +Dice_Bag_DarcRaven: Indesign is a fantastic program
9:21 PM +MoebiusFitz: that was a nightmare
9:21 PM ~Dan: How does combat work in Tattered Magicks?
9:21 PM +Nick_Zachariasen: Publisher! Gods above and below.
9:21 PM +MoebiusFitz: and shifted back to Indesign about 2009
9:22 PM +MoebiusFitz: well, there’s the idea of Dread points that I hardly ever use to change initiative, but other than that it typically just goes PCs then “the other side” in combat
9:22 PM +MoebiusFitz: Dread is an interesting mechanic
9:22 PM +MoebiusFitz: essentially in A&A we had a Dread rating for each adventure
9:23 PM +MoebiusFitz: the Referee and the Players each get a pool of that number of points
9:23 PM +MoebiusFitz: and the points can be spent to do various things like jump intiative or discard die rolls, etc
9:23 PM +MoebiusFitz: and on critical failures, the other side gets a dread point back in the pool
9:23 PM +MoebiusFitz: so it regenerates
9:23 PM +MoebiusFitz: like I said, I hardly use it
9:24 PM +MoebiusFitz: it becomes a bit like an us vs. them competition between players and referee
9:24 PM +MoebiusFitz: instead I just ignore initiative and have the PCs go first, then the other side, and back and forth until one side or the other leaves the combat (dead or alive)
9:25 PM +MoebiusFitz: there’s a Morale check mechanic as well so sometimes PCs and NPCs will run away if they get spooked
9:25 PM +MoebiusFitz: I really dig the system we came up with actually
9:25 PM +MoebiusFitz: a little bit of Call of Cthulhu in there
9:25 PM +MoebiusFitz: get stuck in fight or flight mode
9:26 PM +MoebiusFitz: combat goes pretty quickly though
9:26 PM +MoebiusFitz: spells can slow it down a little
9:26 PM ~Dan: How is damaged determined, and how does armor function?
9:26 PM +MoebiusFitz: weapons do d6 damage (shoot a gun, does d6, stab someone, does d6)
9:26 PM +MoebiusFitz: but it goes up depending on the PC or the weapon
9:26 PM +MoebiusFitz: and each PC has hit points at least
9:27 PM +MoebiusFitz: HP starts at their Toughness score
9:27 PM +MoebiusFitz: get to zero and you die. get to negative Toughness, it’s pretty much permadeath
9:27 PM +MoebiusFitz: if you wear armor, it has an armor rating (AR) and Armor Points (AP)
9:27 PM +MoebiusFitz: AR pretty much takes some of the damage off the top
9:27 PM +MoebiusFitz: for example, the Elephant with AR2 skin
9:28 PM +MoebiusFitz: if you shoot it with a d6, anything 2 points or less just bounces off
9:28 PM +MoebiusFitz: if the armor has AP and you get through the AR, it goes to the AR
9:28 PM +MoebiusFitz: AR are like temporary HP in D&D
9:28 PM +MoebiusFitz: and if you get a critical success on a hit, your damage goes straight to HP, ignoring the armor
9:29 PM +MoebiusFitz: sometimes you get the lucky shot
9:29 PM * ~Dan nods
9:29 PM +MoebiusFitz: but HP doesn’t go up unless you improve your Toughness
9:29 PM ~Dan: In the time remaining, is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to bring up?
9:30 PM +MoebiusFitz: hmmm
9:30 PM +MoebiusFitz: we have covered pretty much everything I wanted to cover
9:30 PM +MoebiusFitz: the game is a blast — there’s an entire appendix with some ideas on other worlds to explore
9:30 PM +MoebiusFitz: so you don’t even have to use our setting. 😉
9:30 PM +MoebiusFitz: but it’s fun, easy to pick up, and we love it
9:31 PM +MoebiusFitz: hopefully you will too if you pick up a copy. 🙂
9:31 PM +MoebiusFitz: I’m waiting for some PC to find a way to get creature traits
9:31 PM +MoebiusFitz: some way to get AR or double their HP
9:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: but until then, they can always create magickal armor
9:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: speaking of which
9:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: we have this armor called “Hungry leather armor”
9:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: the ogres had it
9:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: if you feed it protein, it regenerates itself.
9:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: it’s become a bit of a running gag
9:32 PM ~Dan: Heh. 🙂
9:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: at one point they bought deli meat and fed their armor
9:32 PM +MoebiusFitz: so it smelled like deli ham and turkey
9:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: it’s been pretty funny
9:33 PM ~Dan: That armor sounds like a lot of baloney.
9:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: smells like it too!
9:33 PM * ~Dan chuckles
9:33 PM ~Dan: Thanks very much for joining us, MoebiusFitz!
9:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: thanks for having me back!
9:33 PM ~Dan: Please know that you’re always welcome to hang out with us here!
9:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: I appreciate getting to chat with you and the gang. 🙂
9:33 PM +MoebiusFitz: and I will definitely do that more often!
9:34 PM ~Dan: Excellent!
9:34 PM ~Dan: Usual reminder: If you’ve enjoyed this Q&A and would like to treat me to a coffee or two, you can do so at (Link: https://www.ko-fi.com/gmshoe)https://www.ko-fi.com/gmshoe . Anything’s appreciated! 🙂
9:34 PM ~Dan: Now, if you’ll give me just a minute, I’ll get the log posted and link you!