Physicists in RPGs

[Jahydin]

Had a fun thought the other day while watching PBS Spacetime on YouTube...

What if there were fantasy physicists in our RPGs that were making breakthroughs on discovering the "rules" that govern them?

Would be a fun idea for an NPC I think. Like an eccentric D&D Gnome that realizes probability of any outcome is determined in 5% increments.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Had a fun thought the other day while watching PBS Spacetime on YouTube...

What if there were fantasy physicists in our RPGs that were making breakthroughs on discovering the "rules" that govern them?

Would be a fun idea for an NPC I think. Like an eccentric D&D Gnome that realizes probability of any outcome is determined in 5% increments.

I can see the debates: is it just a coincidence that elegant mathematics describes reality so well, or is there some causality we don’t understand?

“We have determined that after a precise number of victories, which varies depending upon which foes have been defeated, the probability of making a successful attack increases by 5%.”

 

[J.Quondam]

Admittedly, though, the "God doesn't play dice" jokes would get old pretty quick.

 

[gamerprinter]

Not exactly what you're requesting, but my last published product was The Planet Builder, a set of tables you use to generate scientifically viable, entire star systems, and a planet point system to adjust your system, create resource stations to grow the technology of your system over time to build a reliable setting for your sci-fi and space fantasy games, and it's stat block. The work was co-written by Carey Dunn, an astrophysicist lab technician, so I could create a generation system with real world physics built into the the rules...

 

[Jahydin]

@gamerprinter
That's pretty cool!

 

[GMMichael]

Would be a fun idea for an NPC I think. Like an eccentric D&D Gnome that realizes probability of any outcome is determined in 5% increments.

Yeah, her character sheet would look like this:

Neelie, level 3
Concept: an expert-level modern gnome who challenges her colleagues, and archetype, by wearing fatigues instead of lab coats. Goal: further investigate this 5% phenomenon, because it seems like just the tip of the iceberg. Flaw: trying to be a rebel causes her to overlook important mainstream ideas.
Hero Points: discovering a meta-universal secret allows her to bend reality just the tiniest bit, like adjusting the path of a bullet that just barely missed, or making the waiter come through the door a split-second earlier, to crash into someone to create a diversion.
Physical: 8
Mental: 15
Metaphysical: 10
Skills: scholarship 5
Perks: specialize (scholarship), 2 skill points
Gear: fatigues, solar calculator, thick eyeglasses, mysterious sundial watch

 

[pemerton]

Had a fun thought the other day while watching PBS Spacetime on YouTube...

What if there were fantasy physicists in our RPGs that were making breakthroughs on discovering the "rules" that govern them?

Over the Edge flirts with this.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Had a fun thought the other day while watching PBS Spacetime on YouTube...

What if there were fantasy physicists in our RPGs that were making breakthroughs on discovering the "rules" that govern them?

Would be a fun idea for an NPC I think. Like an eccentric D&D Gnome that realizes probability of any outcome is determined in 5% increments.

Yeah, her character sheet would look like this:

Neelie, level 3
Concept: an expert-level modern gnome who challenges her colleagues, and archetype, by wearing fatigues instead of lab coats. Goal: further investigate this 5% phenomenon, because it seems like just the tip of the iceberg. Flaw: trying to be a rebel causes her to overlook important mainstream ideas.
Hero Points: discovering a meta-universal secret allows her to bend reality just the tiniest bit, like adjusting the path of a bullet that just barely missed, or making the waiter come through the door a split-second earlier, to crash into someone to create a diversion.
Physical: 8
Mental: 15
Metaphysical: 10
Skills: scholarship 5
Perks: specialize (scholarship), 2 skill points
Gear: fatigues, solar calculator, thick eyeglasses, mysterious sundial watch

In 5e: When you miss any attack, saving throw, or ability check by exactly one, you may re-roll.

 

[niklinna]

Over the Edge flirts with this.

PLEASE run this game and invite me.

 

[Jahydin]

Over the Edge flirts with this.

Never heard of it. Will check it out though, thanks!