20- The New Edition

Kyle: [OOC] Did everyone get the new rulebooks? Twelfth Edition yall.
Dane: [GM] I got the ebook versions too so I can have it on my tablet.
Soo: [OOC] Dane is lending me his, mine are still in the mail.
Joe: [OOC] I wish I didn't. The new mechanics are terrible.
Ian: [OOC] They're not terrible, just different. I mean the damage system is a big change and all but I don't think it's necessarily bad.
Dane: [GM] It's supposed to be more cinematic, so the wounds are more abstract. Personally I prefer it because it starts to whittle down effectiveness as you get wounded.
Joe: [OOC] And that's terrible! The only hit point that matters is the last one baby.
Soo: [OOC] Personally I thought you'd be delighted Joe. The more abstract the system, the more room for fudging there is.
Joe: [OOC] Soo you're new to this so I won't expect you to understand, but the fun of why I play hinges on my ability to strangle the game to death with it's own rules. Like beating a judge to death with his own gavel, you know? The further the game goes towards cinematic, the less hard math there is to work with. Anyone can screw around in a system that's basically "let's all pretend together". An artist can screw around in a cold grided world of numbers and facts.
Soo: [OOC] That's surprisingly passionate and logical talk for you Joe.
Kyle: [OOC] I think I now know why Joe gets that weird, predatory look in his eyes when he's using Microsoft Excel.
Dane: [GM] Anyhow, did everyone catch their characters up for the new edition? You got some build points from the last encounter to use too.
Ian: [OOC] I was curious how Mari's wounds would be since the damage system changed. By the math of the new system she'd be dead.
Dane: [GM] Mari passes silently in the night, surrounded by friends and loved ones.
Ian: [OOC] I'm assuming that's a joke.
Dane: [GM] Of course. Just put her at '-5 Gravely Injured' but stable.
Joe: [OOC] Given the group consists of a cowboy, a noble woman you met a couple days ago and a robot, I'm mildly curious which of us constitutes a 'loved one'. Hey Dane, do I get some freebie health, seeing as I was also horrifically injured.
Dane: [GM] No because steam-mechs need to be repaired so I don't think it's logical to just assume you somehow got better. Also Mari didn't get free healing, she's still as shit-beat as before. I just had to change the definition for the sake of the new rules.
Soo: [OOC] Doesn't Joe get some kind of stat redistribution though? I mean most of his body is exploded and we're probably going to be a while before we can repair him.
Dane: [GM] Not exactly. You see you only get to opt for redistribution if your features were destroyed. Actual frame damage doesn't count because it'd be like letting human characters respec for getting boo-boos.
Joe: [OOC] Remember how I said GR-210 was built to troll everyone by being useless unless you bought me parts?
Soo: [OOC] Yeah. It's why you conned me into making a rich character.
Joe: [OOC] Well, you never DID buy me any parts yet. I used all the points I had at creation on learning every language skill in the game to gimp myself without wasting points, remember?
Ian: [OOC] And language chips are located in the head so...
Dane: [GM] Technically Joe hasn't lost a single trait he actually spent points on.
Soo: [OOC] Is it too late to bolt a shoulder strap onto him? We can at least use him as an unwieldy babelfish for a while.
Joe: [OOC] I was actually thinking since Ian isn't using his character much at the moment, we could, you know...
Kyle: [OOC] I don't actually know.
Ian: [OOC] I don't WANT to know.
JOE sends file CYBORGHEADTRANSPLANTDIAGRAM.DOC to DANE
Dane: [GM] That's going to be what I see for the rest of my life whenever I close my eyes.
Soo: [OOC] I hate when you only send a link to one of us. I hate ambiguity.
JOE sends file CYBORGHEADTRANSPLANTDIAGRAM.DOC to SOO
JOE sends file CYBORGHEADTRANSPLANTDIAGRAM.DOC to KYLE
JOE sends file CYBORGHEADTRANSPLANTDIAGRAM.DOC to IAN
Kyle: [OOC] That's actually a really good drawing of a horrific idea.
Joe: [OOC] Minored in art you know.
Soo: [OOC] Ambiguity! Ambiguity! Why have you forsaken me!!
Ian: [OOC] I didn't even ask to see it!