14 thoughts on “Puppet Master Playtest Version”

  1. First of all, I like this class. Here’s my thoughts about that:

    I don’t like this phrase “You’re skilled in ranged combat, but weak in close quarters.”, ’cause it seems to say something too much definite about the character. Also, it’s untrue, ’cause the class is quite weak in both melee AND ranged combat (no powering up advanced moves, the same chances to hit and the same damage die when you H&S with a rapier, or when you shoot with a crossbow…).

    RANGED STRINGS: ok, you can string the puppet from the distance. It’s unclear if this move let you use your puppets normally from the distance like Reach or Near range – ’cause the base range is Hand Range (written in STRING MARIONETTE move), if I correctly understood the whole thing.

    CROWD CONTROL, you could put “Requires Multitask”, I feel it appropriate.

    STRING TO BONE: of course, I feel this as a “broken” move. So let’s say I rolled 10+, now I can control another PC / NPC indefinitely, and I can make him to move and act as my pleasures… Insta-win. Also, “kill yourself” is so easy to command 😀 I think you should re-think the whole move. Maybe you should impose a roll everytime you issue a command. Maybe with a 7-9 on that roll you gain a debility (still, a little price for a free killing, or a “bring me to the king” etc.), you automatically lose the control and cannot retry on him in the same scene, or you attire attention with the “signs of stress and magical corruption”. Or something better you can come with.

    DISGUISE, I feel this move isn’t very themed with Puppet Master. Maybe you should re-shape the move to allow the puppet master to create a very realistic looking puppet, allowing it to move in disguise and make some covert missions for you.

    TOUGH / Iron-Plated puppet augmentation, how does it work? Maybe he would benefit from a custom move (maybe “When the puppet defend, he get always +1 hold, even when he miss”, maybe “ignore the 1st time the puppet is damaged” or something else).

    Adaptable: what is that “and then some.” ?

    Sturdy: of course a player could ask you “can I make my puppet carry some equip in my place? How much weight could he carry? How much weight could carry with Sturdy augmentation? Maybe some guide line could be useful.

    Sundering Limbs: can the head alone move around, enter a small hole, and doing some spying?

    Extra Limbs / Large: is that d6 d8 a Damage Die? Could be useful to write it down.

    Lifelike: it’s missing part of the description.

    Inscribed Rune: Is the triggering an action? Should the Puppet Master to roll some kind of Defy Danger?

  2. Andrea Parducci 

    Thank you for commenting! I’ll start to make changes right away.

    RANGED STRINGS: I’ll make it Near. I feel like Close or Reach are too small for this class.

    STRING TO BONE: Yeah, I can see how it’s broken. I don’t think it can be fixed much, either. I’ll remove it.

    DISGUISE: There used to be an advanced move called Element of Surprise, which allowed you to create infallible disguises for your puppet. I’ll switch it back.

    TOUGH / IRON-PLATED: I hoped that the DM would remember these augmentations when dealing damage to it. Should I still make it more substantial?

    ADAPTABLE: That was just flavor text, but I probably shouldn’t have anything like that in this kind of move.

    STURDY: Puppets used to have Loads linked to their weight, but giving Loads to objects sounded off to me. Should I add it back in?

    SUNDERING LIMBS: Sure, you can do some spying if you use Mental Link.

    EXTRA LIMBS / LARGE: I’ll make that more clear.

    INSCRIBED RUNE: It’s more of an instantaneous thing. I’ll make that more clear in the description.

  3. String to bone: I’m sure I could come with something good… I have to think about that… 😀

    Element of Surprise: cool!

    Tough/IronPlated/Adaptable/Sturdy etc.: maybe (and I say maybe) it could be better to rethink the whole puppet thing. Maybe could be easier to manage them (while apparently more cruncher) with a “full puppet sheet”, including armor, HPs etc. Something like a slightly more detailed wizard’s summoned monster. With a few added details they can become easier to manage in fiction, ’cause you use the same rules you are using for characters, monsters etc.

  4. String To Bone: I’d love to hear any ideas you have.

    I wouldn’t be happy with a change like that, but I’ve been wrong before. I just don’t think that it would help the class’ appeal to give the puppet Health or Armor Points. In making this, I hoped to make the puppet feel like a weapon or a tool: Something that could be broken, but not in a quantifiable way.

  5. About the health issue: maybe you can use an “hybrid” system. You can find inspiration reading the injury system that Pirate World is introducing for his hirelings.

    In short: you give some boxes (maybe 1 for small puppets, 2 for medium, 3 for large): every time the puppet suffers an “important damage” you check a box (GM states what is an important damage). If you check all the boxes, the puppet is broken.

    Easy to play, just slightly more detailed. So, you could add a box with Tough / Iron Plated (OR you could leave those tags as narrative only, and the GM knows that he need a bigger damage qualifying as “important damage”). 

  7. Also, I had this idea that if you want more Upgrade Points to spend, you can pick from a list of Recurring Defects (Noisy, Frail, Faulty) to get 2 extra Upgrade Points to spend on your puppet. Is that a good idea, or should it be more substantial?

  9. Aaaaand, this is my 1st take on STRING TO BONE. Please, compare it with wizard’s 7th level spell Dominate:

    There are dark faces to this art. When you attempt string to a living being,

    roll+INT. On a 10+, hold 2. On a 7-9, hold 1. Spend one hold to make the target take one of these actions:

    •  Cancel an action he is going to do, making him wasting some time

    •  Give you something they hold

    •  Make an attack on a target of your choice (it uses your base puppet damage; you can borrow his damage OR one of his tags or special ability)

    •  Walk a few paces in a direction of your choice

    You can gain +1 holds (even on a 6- result) if you also choose one of these:

    •  Signs of stress and magical corruption make it obvious that something is wrong.

    •  You’ll never be able to string this target again.

    •  You suffer a debility because of the great exhaustion.

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