Infinity The Roleplaying Game

[Hero of Man]

Well then, might want to earn some cred/favors with the state/mega-corps.

[Mistake Not]

Yes, the Powers That Be control the Resurrection process. I'll make sure my players are important enough to be considered. Or they could just be Nomads. Bakunin don't need no ALEPH assistence!


Think of the delicious transhuman horror!
Are you you? Are you just a copy? Is there any relevant difference?

Is this the only this one you out there? Can you ever be sure?

[Errhile]

Well, Cubes are quantronic. Quantum computers.
I really don't know anything about quantum physics - but I think I've read somewhere that the nature of things would prevent that.

Then again, there are backups that can be held outside of a Cube (See Dire Foes: Flee or Die)...

Sure, Gutier should be asked for a final word on that, but I'd say that while having a Cube (in Nomad, Yu Jing or PanO society) should be pretty affordable, actual resurrection should be damn difficult to get. This would keep the players from getting into trouble carelessly with "if they kill us, we'll just get resleeved, no big deal".

Besides, if it would be too easy, it would be an unfair advantage over players who choose low-tech (i.e. Cube-less) characters. Difficult to counterbalance without a massive point-buy advantage / disadvantage system...

[Scorch]

I might be able to run a Takeshi Kovacs game finally...

Now we're talking!

[Mistake Not]

Meh, those who specifically choose to stay behind the tech curve deserve what they get.

Also Prowlers don't have Cubes because they make backups before ever fight, since their casualty rates are so high.. do they back up just to be left to simmer as data in the nets, or does Bakunin just shove them in new bioroids? I'm thinking the latter, because why not? Also, getting killed does mean mission failure which brings with it its own set of problems.


As for Takeshi games.. I'd say go with Eclipse Phase. It's so much close to Kovacs' reality (as you've said, Resurrection is rare in Infinity despite it being possible) than the Infinity RPG is probably going to be. And it's creative commons licence so just download it and play, that's all legal. Although having a badass NPC named Takeshi might be fun, see if the players recognise the dude. He could even be an antagonist on Neoterra, going around murdering religious folk.. that might be a challenge.

[Hero of Man]

I'd rather just have him be an Envoy for 0-12 or ALEPH(or Nomad Ex-Aleph) sent after the Combined Army on Paradiso. I was actually trying to make a Sylvie's Slipins mercenary company before.

I am pretty shocked at the Takeshi Kovacs love in here; I'm like the only one of my friends to have read it, save for someone who finally caved and borrowed them all from me.

[Scorch]

I am pretty shocked at the Takeshi Kovacs love in here; I'm like the only one of my friends to have read it, save for someone who finally caved and borrowed them all from me.

You forget it is considered a big Cyberpunk classic already, and most of us here LOVE a game that's totally cyberpunk! I've only read Altered Carbon, and was hooked instantly. It was actually AFTER Altered Carbon that I start reading Neuromancer. I fell in love with the cover of the book, as it was the most Blade Runner thing I'd seen in years.


Anyhow.. I think Altered Carbon and Neuromancer are, together with the Matrix and Deus Ex, some of the most successful depictions of cyberpunk known to the general public.

[Mistake Not]

Sylvie.. oh my, talk about a crazy person. I love her so much. Woken Furies is my favourite from the series, Altered Carbon itself takes second place. It took me several reads through the second novel to get all of its implications though, it's still great but not as amazing as the other two.

Neuromancer (and the rest of the Sprawl trilogy) defined so much in the cyberpunk world, but Altered Carbon and its sequels made it truly manic; even Molly/Sally couldn't equal Takeshi for sheer brutality.

Blade Runner made me cry with just it's opening shot it was so incredibly beautiful. And it's not the only time I cried during that movie.. the book is also very good if nothing at all like the film. Mood machines! Mechanical sheep! Goat-killing androids and religious manifestations and other such reality fuckery.. Philip K. Dick really wrote a lot of amazing cyberpunk when you get right down it.

More recommendations would be Snow Crash and the Diamond Age, not as fancy as the above but still neat.

[Hero of Man]

Woken Furies is outstanding, but the Make It Personal scene from Altered Carbon is probably one of my favorite written combat scenes of all time.

"The gun was in my hand like a decision taken."

Broken Angels was okay; I actually read it last by some weird twist of fate, and liked Woken Furies more when they treated Sanction 4 like Innenin; something that happened long ago, but still haunting Takeshi's every step and dealing.

I was a huge fan of Snow Crash as well, and really enjoyed Neuromancer... but we're getting off topic. Perhaps its time for a Cyberpunk Lit thread?

[Hordshyrd]

The topic seems to have shifted from the point buy/character creation system, but I just wanted to make a comment about it.

I will agree with the general consensus that classes restricting the skills you can take and the things you can do is a bad idea. There's no reason why someone who starts out their career as a hacker can't become a combat badass, it's really more the GM's job to make sure that players don't do something that breaks the setting, not the game's designer.

That being said I think it would be good to see a good set of classes as pre-built starters for people to build their characters from. It can be hard coming into a point buy system and having everything just open. Not always sure you're taking things that work well together, often forget something important, and so on.

In particular I would love to see a set of class options and a sort of "Nationality" system overlayed on it, once again not a mandatory thing, but it would be a great way to make a few quick characters: pick a class to get your basic skills and gear in order, add a nationality that modifies the class (ie PanO gains added weapon training but drops a bit of willpower, Yu Jing gives a bit of a meelee boost, nomads gives some low level hacking skills, etc...) then make a few choices about specialization and customize to test and boom, quick character. The Nationality system could also work well for anyone who wanted to make a custom character but really wanted to get a certain faction flavour, start with the nationality modifiers to keep the flavour of your faction then custom buy your custom class.

Just a little thought I wanted to share.

[Errhile]

Hordshyrd, I'm afraid you're looking at the Infinity RPG too much thorough the Infirnity the wargame...

I remain a proponent of skill packages - big blocks of skill levels attributed to various things you have done in your life.

One of the things you could've done was, naturally, serving in the armed forces - which would correspond to your weapons training (and other combat-applicable skills, too).
But you start with your origins - your upbringing, your childchood.

Let me borrow an exmaple from Blue Planet v2, a game that has one of the nicest character creation systems I've seen. The game is set on a water colony world that, not unlike Ariadna, was settled, left to fend for itself, then rediscovered.

First, you choose one Origin package - where your character was raised? Available (for human characters) options are:
Colonial (Pioneer), Colonial (Urban), Earth Orbit, Free Zone (Enclave), Free Zone (Wasteland), GEO (think O-12), Corporation, Moon Colony, Mars Colony (each with a different culture.. and skillset), Colonial Native and Earth Urban.

Then, you choose two (different) Background packages - what your character did before he started his fully mature, professional life? The choices are Colonial, GEO, Corporation, Native, Independent, Space, Street, Rural and University.

Once you're thorough that, it is time for the professional stuff - 3-5 (depending on GM's decision on campaign power level - everyday characters get 3, larger-than-life ones get 5) levels of professional packages.
Most packages get 3 levels - Novice, Specialist and Expert (often in a few specialized variants on the last one). If you take an Expert, it counts as 3 packages, and incorporates the relevant Novice and Specialist levels.

Some choices:
Administration,
Arts & Entertainment (with Expert levels available: Dancer, Musician, Fine Artist),
Athletics,
Colonization,
Commerce (Expert: Executive, Trader, Commercial Pilot)
Crime (Expert: Burglar, Con Artist, Gangster, Thug)
Diplomacy
Espionage (Expert: Analyst, Operative)
Humanities
Law Enforcement (Expert: Detective, Special Operations, Undercover Officer)
Medicine
Military (Expert: Infantry, Marines, Aerospace, Navy)
Science
Space
Survival
...and, IIRC, a few more in the expansion books.

Now, the rules suggest several professions - with relevant skill package combinations. Say, I wanted to create a character, a local private detective with native roots.

So, I take:
Origin: Native (he's a local)
Background: Independent (due to family tragedy he spent quite a while mostly caring for himself) and Street (that's where he was raised)
Professional: Specialist Law Enforcement (been a patrol cop for a time, before he got kicked out) and Specialist Espionage (his experience as a gumshoe). would add Novice Crime (he's really ood on the streets) if the GM allows for that power level.

Which gives out my skills and their levels. Add a handful Custom Skill Points to make my character more unique.


Now, in 2d20, we have one more schtick that can be manipulated - not only skill's level, but also it's Focus rating.

[Mistake Not]

A literature thread might a good idea, I just keep finding more stories to recommend.

Thinking about the Cube and its implications for the transhuman horror I do so love, would the fact that Cubes are quantronic even affect anything? While I can see the internal workings of the tool using quantum mechanics, it seems very improbable that Cubes would maintain an entangled link with the external world, how would the link be maintained after all? Decay is inevitable, so unless Cubes have a time limit ('Get your Cube refilled in time!') they're probably fully stand-alone.

And I'm sure that even quantum computers can be fooled by bigger better (badder) quantum computers.

So what I'm trying to say is that I look forward to the explanation of Cubes that'll definitely (yes?!) be in the RPG book.

[Modiphius]

The topic seems to have shifted from the point buy/character creation system, but I just wanted to make a comment about it.

I will agree with the general consensus that classes restricting the skills you can take and the things you can do is a bad idea. There's no reason why someone who starts out their career as a hacker can't become a combat badass, it's really more the GM's job to make sure that players don't do something that breaks the setting, not the game's designer.

That being said I think it would be good to see a good set of classes as pre-built starters for people to build their characters from. It can be hard coming into a point buy system and having everything just open. Not always sure you're taking things that work well together, often forget something important, and so on.

In particular I would love to see a set of class options and a sort of "Nationality" system overlayed on it, once again not a mandatory thing, but it would be a great way to make a few quick characters: pick a class to get your basic skills and gear in order, add a nationality that modifies the class (ie PanO gains added weapon training but drops a bit of willpower, Yu Jing gives a bit of a meelee boost, nomads gives some low level hacking skills, etc...) then make a few choices about specialization and customize to test and boom, quick character. The Nationality system could also work well for anyone who wanted to make a custom character but really wanted to get a certain faction flavour, start with the nationality modifiers to keep the flavour of your faction then custom buy your custom class.

Just a little thought I wanted to share.

With the current 2d20 lifepath you can move from a technician to a soldier to a media star. There's always reasons (the soldier got famous in that last battle on the vids). The faction books will give more flavoured lifepaths for people from the different factions which will tailor more what you can and cant be. We will have pregens and some simpler ways of getting in to the action much quicker for new players too.

[Modiphius]

Hordshyrd, I'm afraid you're looking at the Infinity RPG too much thorough the Infirnity the wargame...

I remain a proponent of skill packages - big blocks of skill levels attributed to various things you have done in your life.

One of the things you could've done was, naturally, serving in the armed forces - which would correspond to your weapons training (and other combat-applicable skills, too).
But you start with your origins - your upbringing, your childchood.

Let me borrow an exmaple from Blue Planet v2, a game that has one of the nicest character creation systems I've seen. The game is set on a water colony world that, not unlike Ariadna, was settled, left to fend for itself, then rediscovered.

First, you choose one Origin package - where your character was raised? Available (for human characters) options are:
Colonial (Pioneer), Colonial (Urban), Earth Orbit, Free Zone (Enclave), Free Zone (Wasteland), GEO (think O-12), Corporation, Moon Colony, Mars Colony (each with a different culture.. and skillset), Colonial Native and Earth Urban.

Then, you choose two (different) Background packages - what your character did before he started his fully mature, professional life? The choices are Colonial, GEO, Corporation, Native, Independent, Space, Street, Rural and University.

Once you're thorough that, it is time for the professional stuff - 3-5 (depending on GM's decision on campaign power level - everyday characters get 3, larger-than-life ones get 5) levels of professional packages.
Most packages get 3 levels - Novice, Specialist and Expert (often in a few specialized variants on the last one). If you take an Expert, it counts as 3 packages, and incorporates the relevant Novice and Specialist levels.

Some choices:
Administration,
Arts & Entertainment (with Expert levels available: Dancer, Musician, Fine Artist),
Athletics,
Colonization,
Commerce (Expert: Executive, Trader, Commercial Pilot)
Crime (Expert: Burglar, Con Artist, Gangster, Thug)
Diplomacy
Espionage (Expert: Analyst, Operative)
Humanities
Law Enforcement (Expert: Detective, Special Operations, Undercover Officer)
Medicine
Military (Expert: Infantry, Marines, Aerospace, Navy)
Science
Space
Survival
...and, IIRC, a few more in the expansion books.

Now, the rules suggest several professions - with relevant skill package combinations. Say, I wanted to create a character, a local private detective with native roots.

So, I take:
Origin: Native (he's a local)
Background: Independent (due to family tragedy he spent quite a while mostly caring for himself) and Street (that's where he was raised)
Professional: Specialist Law Enforcement (been a patrol cop for a time, before he got kicked out) and Specialist Espionage (his experience as a gumshoe). would add Novice Crime (he's really ood on the streets) if the GM allows for that power level.

Which gives out my skills and their levels. Add a handful Custom Skill Points to make my character more unique.


Now, in 2d20, we have one more schtick that can be manipulated - not only skill's level, but also it's Focus rating.

It's not far off where we are with the 2d20 lifepath with packages of attributes (only in early stages and one career), Talents, Skills, resources (sometimes) being awarded at each stage of the lifepath, random events giving small bonuses or problems, optional 'traits' which are like roleplaying weaknesses. We'll aim to get a draft one done for Infinity close to the Alpha testing kicking off

[Hordshyrd]

Ah, well that sounds rather good, I suppose what I really wanted to express was a desire to see what you start with not being dependant on class alone, and particularly to have each of our traditional factions to be represented as a set of unifying something to help players to create characters with a certain similarity based on similar background and also to make it easier to convert things from the table game.

based on the description given above I very much like the idea of a sort of life path determining starting stats, the selection from what I assume will be a branching sort of life path allows for the building of certain character archetypes while still maintaining individual variety between them. The part about some of them being random is particularly interesting, I'm sure it's something that will see a lot of table variation, as some people very much like to control their character creation where as others appreciate a little luck and chance.

[Modiphius]

Ah, well that sounds rather good, I suppose what I really wanted to express was a desire to see what you start with not being dependant on class alone, and particularly to have each of our traditional factions to be represented as a set of unifying something to help players to create characters with a certain similarity based on similar background and also to make it easier to convert things from the table game.

based on the description given above I very much like the idea of a sort of life path determining starting stats, the selection from what I assume will be a branching sort of life path allows for the building of certain character archetypes while still maintaining individual variety between them. The part about some of them being random is particularly interesting, I'm sure it's something that will see a lot of table variation, as some people very much like to control their character creation where as others appreciate a little luck and chance.

Well yes you can just spend a full points package to get exactly what you want (in which case all players have to do so), or roll completely at random, or spend your small pool of points to guide the lifepath and nudge things in the direction you prefer. So it's quite open really.

[Errhile]

That's good news

[mouzerius]

where can i download the beta rules for infinity rpg guys. it sounds like a super idea this.

[Errhile]

AFAIK, you can't - as for now, such beta doesn't exist. Yet.
We've been given access to Mutant Chronicles beta - Infinity will be based on similar (though appropriately adapted) mechanics.

[Modiphius]

where can i download the beta rules for infinity rpg guys. it sounds like a super idea this.

Sign up over at http://www.modiphius.com/infinity and we'll including you on the beta testing when we come to it (end of this month hopefully). You can find the Mutant Chronicles beta intro on RPGNow :
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/126929/Mutant-Chronicles-3rd-Edition-FREE-Open-Beta
- this is a somewhat out of date version of the rules (we're at v10.0 and this was v5.0) released during the Mutant Chronicles kickstarter so it's come some way to improving a lot of things but will give you a feel for the system.

Essentially you're rolling 2d20 vs a target (Attribute+Skill) to get as many successes (Momentum) as you can, which you then spend to do cool stuff - either from a fixed list or by making it up. Skill Focus increases critical success range (allowing from 0-4 successes with a 2d20 roll), Skill Expertise increases Target Number so you have dilemma of where to improve your character.

Another system allows you to 'buy' extra d20 dice - usually up to a cap of 5 (which could get you up to 10 successes on a very good day) - though this comes at a cost, this pays in to a GM pool, which the GM uses to spend to do cool stuff. Squads of minions usually have 1d20 each, big bads are like usual characters, I've run scenes with three squads of guards battling a group of players very easily and we moved on to another action scene. The idea is that the GM shouldn't be apprehensive about having BIG action scenes with you as the stars. It's super easy to manage and control. The pool he has helps govern the action - so you can crash land in front of a 1000 enemies and the GM isn't going to be groaning.

[mouzerius]

ooh ok thanks i will sing up

[Modiphius]

The Kickstarter is live!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mo ... aying-game

[schoon]

All the Books pledge level just hit!

Wow - I'm going to be broke for a while... So worth it...

Update 7

[H1ghlander]

For those who've played the Alpha and Beta, what's the combat system and character gen like? I'm really interested in backing for the core rulebook, but I'm a little hesitant to shell out my precious Canadian dollars for a product I can't thumb through first. For the record, I have their Mutant Chronicles beta rulebook if you want to reference that.

[schoon]

Character Gen has not been part of the Beta thus far, but I can speak to the system.

They've taken the 2d20 system you've seen in MC and further refined it to apply seamlessly across three realms: Physical combat, hacking, and social conflict. They all use the same base, so it's very intuitive, and it also makes it so characters can contribute in any realm without disrupting the flow of the game.

It's pretty slick, and I suspect you'll like it.

[H1ghlander]

Thanks very much.