Downloaded Stars Without Number and your further explication and name-checking Altered Carbon has got me looking at Eclipse Phase again. Will wait to hear the Traveller5 reviews, which should be soon it sounds like.
Eclipse Phase is Creative Commons for all of their books in electronic format, so no real loss if you want to read it all over. All downloads are here. One of the reasons I bought everything. I support what they're doing, even if I;ll never get to use the system 
lostlobster wrote:EDIT: Just read that Eclipse Phase is horror. Eh. Not my thing, really.
While there are a lot of horrific elements in the setting I wouldn't actually call it a horror game. Actually, "horrific" might be a better term.
The standard setting is pretty grim. It's set 10 years after an apocalyptic event that killed 95% of the human race and rendered the Earth uninhabitable so there are a lot of Really Bad Things (TM) going on. But the horror is mostly of the "what will humans do to each other given the opportunity" variety, not the "unspeakable horror rises from the crypt" variety.
Here's an example. Everyone in the setting (well, almost everyone) has what is known as a "Cortical Stack" (borrowed from the novel Altered Carbon if you are interested) which "backs up" their mind constantly. That way, if they are killed, their stack can be recovered from their body and "sleeved" into a new body. If their stack can't be recovered then they can get a backup copy of their mind off of a server and use it. Effective immortality.
Except what if someone gets a copy of your backup, makes a thousand copies of it and puts them into the bodies of indentured workers working in a hellhole mine somewhere. Or as an enslaved sex worker who's clients like to play with knives. You get the idea.
You can ignore the horror elements if you want. There is nothing in the system that requires you to explore the darker side of things. But the setting does pretty much explore what happens when humanity at its worst gets hold of this kind of technology.
+1 to this whole post. I didn't mean to play up the horror of the setting. There is so much more to it that the horror is only one part of it.
athros wrote:lostlobster wrote:Downloaded Stars Without Number and your further explication and name-checking Altered Carbon has got me looking at Eclipse Phase again. Will wait to hear the Traveller5 reviews, which should be soon it sounds like.
Eclipse Phase is Creative Commons for all of their books in electronic format, so no real loss if you want to read it all over. All downloads are here.
Also Roleplaying Public Radio has a series of Eclipse Phase actual play podcasts which is at 22 episodes so far. It's a lot of listening, but it can give you a good idea of how an extended EP campaign would work. First episode can be found here.
Thanks for all the links, folks. I've got tons of reading to do. Already downloaded all the Eclipse Phase books onto my iPad. (I'll purchase them of course if I decide to use them.)
lostlobster wrote:Thanks for all the links, folks. I've got tons of reading to do. Already downloaded all the Eclipse Phase books onto my iPad. (I'll purchase them of course if I decide to use them.)
The first few pages of the main book are a short story called Lack. Reading it will give you a great feel for the setting.
Makes you wonder...
how many times did they attempt that before succeeding?
Thanks for all the links, folks. I've got tons of reading to do. Already downloaded all the Eclipse Phase books onto my iPad. (I'll purchase them of course if I decide to use them.)
The first few pages of the main book are a short story called Lack. Reading it will give you a great feel for the setting.
Also Roleplaying Public Radio has a series of Eclipse Phase actual play podcasts which is at 22 episodes so far. It's a lot of listening, but it can give you a good idea of how an extended EP campaign would work. First episode can be found here.
The Know Evil campaign is brilliant too.
Durance is a story telling Sci-Fi RPG from the folks what brought you Fiasco. Haven't played it yet, just reading the book now. It's VERY much a creative story telling experience. Very few dice rolls and fairly rules light.
Durance is a story telling Sci-Fi RPG from the folks what brought you Fiasco. Haven't played it yet, just reading the book now. It's VERY much a creative story telling experience. Very few dice rolls and fairly rules light.
I got my copy from the Kickstarter. Might be worth running as a Google + hangout game at some point, since Fiasco's worked so well.
As to what kind of SF? Well, I just finished the most recent Culture novel by Banks and would love to game in that world. So, thinking along the line of far-future hard SF, I guess. Not cyberpunk.
Hm, in that case, my recommendations: some form of Traveller (I quite like the Mongoose edition, or the original little black books), Shock:Human Contact (that's the most Culture-like setting I've come across, but not tactical in play), or Stars Without Number. I strongly suspect Diaspora fits on the list too, going by what I've read about it.
It just warms my cockles from all the love that Eclipse Phase has gotten in the last two pages. I've been raving about the setting since I've heard about it back in 2010 (and page 1 of this thread) and what they were trying to do with Creative Commons.
Yeah, that part about the horror aspects of the setting seem to throw many off. But it's more existential horror; things that creep up that makes you question what you know about things around you, the people you know and even yourself.
On top of that it's technological existential horror, with amazing advanced tech that opens to so many posibilities, but also so many ways that it can be abused by governments, groups with agenda's and even your neighbour.
I think I would love Eclipse Phase, but I just can't bring myself to read that much to get to it. Some sort of "here's what you actually need to know to get started" would be neat. Compare to Dungeon World, which I was running within one day of buying the game.
Actually, RPGs in general would benefit from a way to gradually introduce you to all the concepts and rules. Maybe you could put together playsets with very few things to learn in the beginning, opening it up like a movie or a TV show might, over a number of episodes.
Actually, RPGs in general would benefit from a way to gradually introduce you to all the concepts and rules. Maybe you could put together playsets with very few things to learn in the beginning, opening it up like a movie or a TV show might, over a number of episodes.
I'm a big fan of the Apocalypse World style: include just enough evocative stuff to get people excited, then ask them to invent the rest themselves.
I think I would love Eclipse Phase, but I just can't bring myself to read that much to get to it. Some sort of "here's what you actually need to know to get started" would be neat. Compare to Dungeon World, which I was running within one day of buying the game.
Eclipse Phase: Quick Start Rules
Read them and the short story that introduces the main rulebook to get the feel of the setting and you're probably good to go. A huge part of the main rulebook is background.
Actually, RPGs in general would benefit from a way to gradually introduce you to all the concepts and rules. Maybe you could put together playsets with very few things to learn in the beginning, opening it up like a movie or a TV show might, over a number of episodes.
That's how I ran my first Eclipse Phase scenario (linked up-thread somewhere).
We had a paint party with eight people yesterday, followed by our regular D&D 4E campaign. We've been talking about getting everyone their own miniatures instead of whatever I have lying around at my place, and five games into the second season we finally placed the order with Reaper.
Most of our guys had not painted miniatures ever before. I expected it to be difficult and frustrating for some, but it went really well. I did do the pre-painting cleanup with another experienced minis guy, and we helped one guy who wanted some customization to his miniature (new sword and hand, removal of items his character doesn't have), but otherwise everyone did everything on their own.
We'll need to continue the next time to finish them, but having your own, self-painted miniature on the table in a game where you use miniatures every night, man - so good. If I'm ever going to run another game with minis, we are definitely doing this at the start of the campaign.
I played D&D 3.5 for a few years but have been out of it since 2011 or so. I was taught by a lot of "old guard" gamers that had been playing since the 80's and were really up on 3.5 and wanted nothing to do with v4. I was just along for the ride, so it's all good.
More recently, I had a few other friends that expressed interest in D&D-ish gaming, so I picked up the Pathfinder beginner box as well as the core rule book. I'm a big fan of the "3.75 rule set", and I have to give major kudos to the Beginner Box. It was money absolutely well spent for five players who had never played any tabletop RPG before and me, a player with some experience but none as the DM. The pre-made character sheets were a godsend as far as getting them into the game and not bogging them down with too much detail. We just finished our first session this afternoon.
Did I mention I'm the DM? It's my first time running a game and I think it went really, really well. I'm very excited to get back into it and get into Pathfinder. I had my trusty 3.5 PHB, DMG, and MM next to me, and it all translates very well. A++, would recommend.
Cross posting from the PAX East thread.
Going to PAX East? Want to play in a game run by Phillipe-Antoine "The Chatty DM" Menard?
Ran the Camp Death playset of Fiasco last week and had a blast. Then yesterday ran Mythender and had another blast. Just debating now what to play next.
I'm very excited to get back into it and get into Pathfinder. I had my trusty 3.5 PHB, DMG, and MM next to me, and it all translates very well. A++, would recommend.
Just so you know, you can get the Core rulebook and the Bestiary as PDFs from Paizo for $10 apiece. If you want to move past the Beginner Box's limitations (as I understand it, it only goes to level 5-ish or so) and you're okay with eBooks, it's pretty cheap to get into. Their core (setting neutral) eBooks are all $10 - it's the Campaign Setting and other lines where they charge the higher prices.
I picked up the hardcover rule book and really like it. I like the cut of Paizo's jib and feel good about giving them my money. I will probably pick up the Rise of the Runelords collection book.
Savage Worlds - An Introduction 3 hours long.
Anybody care to play Fiasco online tomorrow for Table Top Day? There's nobody nearby doing an actual Table Top Day event, so I'd love to see if I can get a group together.
Fiasco being played by Wesley Crusher
Never heard of it until today, its over my head but looks fun.
I picked up the hardcover rule book and really like it. I like the cut of Paizo's jib and feel good about giving them my money. I will probably pick up the Rise of the Runelords collection book.
My home group is into the second part of that campaign, and it's been an absolute blast so far. Totally worth the money - it will likely occupy you for quite some time. We've been playing bi-weekly since September and are less than a quarter of the way through - and if previous experience proves true, things will slow down as we level up and combats get more complicated.
I picked up Nights Black Agents on a sale a week or so ago and am impatiently waiting for it to show up at home. I started reading the .pdf I got with it, and so far I like the setting, which is basically Jason Bourne/James Bond vs Vampires.
Tentatively in, Rubbed
Edit:
Firmly in, and so is Kittylexy - what time are we shooting for?
Savage Worlds - An Introduction 3 hours long.
I think the last tabletop game I played was a Savage Worlds one-shot at a convention. It's been many, many years.
Today is apparently Tabletop Day. My wife is on me to change my plans and include some gaming. I'll probably end up running it if we choose any role playing title.
Would love to, but signed up for a game of BSG and the last time it took six hours.
--
TAZ
Would love to, but signed up for a game of BSG and the last time it took six hours.
--
TAZ
6 hours for Battlestar? my mind is blown, how is that even possible? we take 2-3 hours at most, even when introducing new people to the game.
Edit - also I really want to play Fiasco but my group are having none of it
Highlights from #TableTopDay for me:
Coming 0-2 in a Warmachine/Hordes tournament
Teach a bunch of people Crokinole
Unexploded Cow
Takenoko
Ground Floor
Oh, any Dungeon World fans who want some sword & planet/science fantasy gaming, take a look at Adventures on Dungeon Planet.
It's a setting add-on, aimed at science fantasy ranging from John Carter to Dune to Star Wars. I ordered it last night and have had a quick skim through the PDF (which is included with the print version, via a link in the thank you email). I am very impressed with it. It starts with some new classes (including Earthling and "Engine of Destruction"... a dangerous robot). Various add ons with rules for rayguns, spaceships, and so on. Finally a bunch of GM advice for running science fantasy games, including new danger types and how to use them, and a bunch of alien monsters (including many from Lovecraft).
I am looking forward to taking it for a spin!
Ran a game of Outbreak Undead on Friday night. My three PCs played themselves, starting with the conceit of them arriving at my home on a Friday evening, and not finding me there. In short: they fled in a car, stole a UHaul truck, got it stuck, and went on foot down a car-crowded main highway, trying for Hanscom airforce base. A short detour into a local pharmacy led to one of them being bitten; he turned a few hours later, biting a second PC, who was dragged into a white cargo van with plumbing equipment in the back by the third PC. A final stand was made, with the third PC abandoning the second to the zombies and running panicked into the sunrise.
My impressions are that the game is neat, but very mechanical. Outdoors, zombies are easy to avoid and outrun; vehicles make for a pretty easy survival strategy, and with sufficient gas (which is plentiful at the start of an outbreak), being on the move is a good strategy. The conclusion was exciting, but much of the game was my rolling Encounter checks for zombie groups, which the players then fled from. Interior combat was more exciting, but the group I was playing with viewed mobility as a superior strategy to engagement, which was somewhat lacking.
Next time around, I'll have a better grasp on the rules, and will unfurl the outbreak more slowly, with either a remote location or more survivors around who could engage them in combat before the walkers become the most serious threat.
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