Tabletop RPG Catch All

Oh, and a couple of other impressions from kickstarters also recently delivered the PDFs:

Torchbearer reads like a really cool take on old school D&D. I think it will sit very nicely next to Dungeon World and Lamentations of the Flame Princess, each of which emphasizes a different thing (and not in a way that would make any of them seem extraneous). Torchbearer is all about the terror of exploring dark caverns filled with monsters and very limited supplies. I'm looking forward to playing, but not sure when that will be possible (my regular game is in the middle of a long-running The One Ring story*).

Numenera has some really cool setting-stuff in it, tied to a simple system. Character generation involves picking a type, descriptor, and thing you do. Types are glaive (fighter), nano (techno-sorcerer), and jack (generalist) but they're not really classes so much as your focus. The descriptions each have a few extra abilities or add to your stats. But finally, the special things you can do are just great. Making up a character, I picked "rides the lightning" which at first level gives you a bonus zap attack, but later on allows you to zap yourself across a room and stuff. Others are just as crazy, and they all seem to take the super-tech future setting and give you something cool from it. Another neat bit is 'cyphers': these are found or salvaged one-shot tech devices, so they are kind of like highly random potions or scrolls with a tech flavour.

* Except last session we left them pretty much lost in the middle of Mirkwood (the Mountains of Mirkwood, to be precise). I'm not sure if they'll make it out. They've disturbed the lair of something very dangerous indeed.

mudbunny wrote:

For those of us with no idea what you are talking about, could you explain?

Initial post: The pattern is a very dangerous thing. Critically failing a GURPS roll is bad. Unless someone comes up with something brilliant, or rolls a crit save, any PC who crit fails a roll on the pattern is dead, build a new character dead.

Stupid PC trick: The pattern is also immensely powerful. It gives shape and meaning to everything in all universes. All universes are but shadows of it or this other thing, the Logrus. These two creation defining powers hate each other, and the books from which this is coming are written about their conflicts. 'Bob' (not his real name) tried to walk the pattern in Amber Diceless RPG. Read above for how dangerous that is. But ARPG has no dice so you cannot critically fail, unless the player does something ineffably stupid. Like summoning the antithetical power for strength while physically walking a power. Sort of like smoking by the propane storage cylinder, only instead of smoking you're setting off test-nukes, and the propane storage container is infinity pounds of weapons grade uranium. In reaction to this stupid action was posted polar bear face palm.

I have never played Amber or read any of the fiction, despite always having had Amber players around. It's like my one big hole in my gaming knowledge and I kind of treasure it, actually

MikeSands wrote:

Oh, and a couple of other impressions from kickstarters also recently delivered the PDFs:

Torchbearer reads like a really cool take on old school D&D. I think it will sit very nicely next to Dungeon World and Lamentations of the Flame Princess, each of which emphasizes a different thing (and not in a way that would make any of them seem extraneous). Torchbearer is all about the terror of exploring dark caverns filled with monsters and very limited supplies. I'm looking forward to playing, but not sure when that will be possible (my regular game is in the middle of a long-running The One Ring story*).

Numenera has some really cool setting-stuff in it, tied to a simple system. Character generation involves picking a type, descriptor, and thing you do. Types are glaive (fighter), nano (techno-sorcerer), and jack (generalist) but they're not really classes so much as your focus. The descriptions each have a few extra abilities or add to your stats. But finally, the special things you can do are just great. Making up a character, I picked "rides the lightning" which at first level gives you a bonus zap attack, but later on allows you to zap yourself across a room and stuff. Others are just as crazy, and they all seem to take the super-tech future setting and give you something cool from it. Another neat bit is 'cyphers': these are found or salvaged one-shot tech devices, so they are kind of like highly random potions or scrolls with a tech flavour.

* Except last session we left them pretty much lost in the middle of Mirkwood (the Mountains of Mirkwood, to be precise). I'm not sure if they'll make it out. They've disturbed the lair of something very dangerous indeed.

Received my Numenera Core books in PDF this week. Haven't received my hardbacks yet. Setting is very interesting and unique. Interested to see how the new Torment PC RPG pulls off the setting. Hoping this Monte Cook effort catches hold, I like the concept.

I've been noodling on using Second Life to create a home with a table, some dice, and running some TTRPGs through that interface. Has anyone ever had any experience doing so?

TheHipGamer wrote:

I've been noodling on using Second Life to create a home with a table, some dice, and running some TTRPGs through that interface. Has anyone ever had any experience doing so?

Seems like one layer of abstraction too many to me, but could be an interesting experiment. =)

aspect wrote:
TheHipGamer wrote:

I've been noodling on using Second Life to create a home with a table, some dice, and running some TTRPGs through that interface. Has anyone ever had any experience doing so?

Seems like one layer of abstraction too many to me, but could be an interesting experiment. =)

I'd always rather play in person, but I like the idea of a virtual space in which to do more than stare at a videochat, while still remaining focused on the game itself and not the tech. Add in the promised Occulus Rift support, and I could see a really neat way to capture the feel of an in-person game, even with far-flung friends.

And worst case? It doesn't fly, no harm done.

MikeSands wrote:

Oh, and a couple of other impressions from kickstarters also recently delivered the PDFs:

Torchbearer reads like a really cool take on old school D&D. I think it will sit very nicely next to Dungeon World and Lamentations of the Flame Princess, each of which emphasizes a different thing (and not in a way that would make any of them seem extraneous). Torchbearer is all about the terror of exploring dark caverns filled with monsters and very limited supplies. I'm looking forward to playing, but not sure when that will be possible (my regular game is in the middle of a long-running The One Ring story*).

Numenera has some really cool setting-stuff in it, tied to a simple system. Character generation involves picking a type, descriptor, and thing you do. Types are glaive (fighter), nano (techno-sorcerer), and jack (generalist) but they're not really classes so much as your focus. The descriptions each have a few extra abilities or add to your stats. But finally, the special things you can do are just great. Making up a character, I picked "rides the lightning" which at first level gives you a bonus zap attack, but later on allows you to zap yourself across a room and stuff. Others are just as crazy, and they all seem to take the super-tech future setting and give you something cool from it. Another neat bit is 'cyphers': these are found or salvaged one-shot tech devices, so they are kind of like highly random potions or scrolls with a tech flavour.

* Except last session we left them pretty much lost in the middle of Mirkwood (the Mountains of Mirkwood, to be precise). I'm not sure if they'll make it out. They've disturbed the lair of something very dangerous indeed.

Now ... tell me where to buy them or else I'll ... do bad things to things you care about ... or something.

BadMojo wrote:

Now ... tell me where to buy them or else I'll ... do bad things to things you care about ... or something.

Physical books for both are currently being printed, so I guess they'll come available as soon as kickstarter backer copies are shipped.

The PDFs for Numenera Kickstarter backers have already been released. They'll be available to the public on the 16th

Numenera looks pretty fun. I really like how light on rules it is for the GM. I've been running 4e for a few years and have been finding that I am tossing more and more of the rules out every session. The important tactical stuff is still in it for encounters, but once we're out of encounters I keep things really light. I don't care about the jumping rules, or skill challenges, or anything that makes me look something up in the book. I'll just grab an appropriate difficulty rating and have the player roll the appropriate skill. Numenera looks like it's right up my alley in terms of keeping things moving. Looking forward to playing it (not running it just yet).

Trachalio wrote:

The PDFs for Numenera Kickstarter backers have already been released. They'll be available to the public on the 16th

I refuse to wait! Stupid laws of physics.

Have I mentioned how pretty they are? Gorgeous artwork, great layout....

Not sure how many folks are in the RTP/Triangle, NC area, but August 23-24 (Friday-Saturday) I'll be running sessions of that game I translated/produced, Tenra Bansho Zero , over at Atomic Empire (probably currently the best gaming store in NC) in Durham.

Here's the schedule links, if folks were interested in checking it out:
http://v1.warhorn.net/atomicon/sched...
http://v1.warhorn.net/atomicon/sched...

(if you're going to GenCon, Tenra will be for sale at the IndiePressRevolution booth)

On the side, I've been doing a lot of Friday night gaming at Straw Valley Cafe in Durham, that place is incredible. If folks are up for TRPGs and the like, let me know by PM and we'll make it a Thing!

-Andy

Diamond Sutra wrote:

Not sure how many folks are in the RTP/Triangle, NC area, but August 23-24 (Friday-Saturday) I'll be running sessions of that game I translated/produced

Wait a hot second - you're a Goodjer? THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!

Wish I would be in the area, I'd totally be down for a game.

Diamond Sutra wrote:

Not sure how many folks are in the RTP/Triangle, NC area, but August 23-24 (Friday-Saturday) I'll be running sessions of that game I translated/produced, Tenra Bansho Zero , over at Atomic Empire (probably currently the best gaming store in NC) in Durham.

Bah, I'll be headed out towards Seattle that weekend.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Diamond Sutra wrote:

Not sure how many folks are in the RTP/Triangle, NC area, but August 23-24 (Friday-Saturday) I'll be running sessions of that game I translated/produced, Tenra Bansho Zero , over at Atomic Empire (probably currently the best gaming store in NC) in Durham.

Bah, I'll be headed out towards Seattle that weekend.

I am severely tempted and in NC for the moment. Not sure I can make it to Durham that weekend, though.

mumford wrote:

Numenera looks pretty fun. I really like how light on rules it is for the GM. I've been running 4e for a few years and have been finding that I am tossing more and more of the rules out every session. The important tactical stuff is still in it for encounters, but once we're out of encounters I keep things really light. I don't care about the jumping rules, or skill challenges, or anything that makes me look something up in the book. I'll just grab an appropriate difficulty rating and have the player roll the appropriate skill. Numenera looks like it's right up my alley in terms of keeping things moving. Looking forward to playing it (not running it just yet).

Very nice piece of work by Monte and his support staff. I kickstarted this shortly after last year's GENCON. Like what he has done.

Over the summer vacation I took a break from my regular D&D and ran a campaign of my most-loved game, Heavy Gear. I wrote a post mortem of what went well and what didn't work out on my blog today.

I need to go back to that world and game some time in the future, too.

At a local minicon today I got to play Tenra Bansho Zero. It was great fun (although set in fantasy historical Japan rather than the TBZ setting). Family drama of various sorts, including some demons in one of the families. I particularly loved the way that everyones' choices naturally led us all to a crazy, epic finale.

Sorry, wrong thread.

For those of us looking for Virtual Tabletop software; check this one out on Kickstarter.

3D Virtual Tabletop: Visually Stunning RPGs on iPad, Android

Here's another cool game: Owl Hoot Trail

It's kind of old school D&D in a western setting. The rules are pretty stripped down, and the western setting stuff is neat. In particular, there's no direct mapping between elves, dwarfs, halflings, orcs and real-world human races. Instead there are just people of all the different species doing their thing. The classes are neat too - a few fighting types (gunslinger, brawler, etc), a few generalists and some magical ones (psychic, preacher, shaman) plus gadgeteer.

A big chunk of the book is devoted to a starting adventure, and it's a big one. A town full of bad stuff happening which looks like it should take a while to work through.

Overall, looks like a lot of fun.

MikeSands wrote:

Here's another cool game: Owl Hoot Trail

It's kind of old school D&D in a western setting. The rules are pretty stripped down, and the western setting stuff is neat. In particular, there's no direct mapping between elves, dwarfs, halflings, orcs and real-world human races. Instead there are just people of all the different species doing their thing. The classes are neat too - a few fighting types (gunslinger, brawler, etc), a few generalists and some magical ones (psychic, preacher, shaman) plus gadgeteer.

A big chunk of the book is devoted to a starting adventure, and it's a big one. A town full of bad stuff happening which looks like it should take a while to work through.

Overall, looks like a lot of fun.

Kevin Kulp is a friend of the podcast and a RabbitCon attendee. Really, really great human being.

No joke: Someone near Pelgrane's GenCon booth overheard someone talking about the "nicest person ever" or somesuch, and the overhearer chimed in with "You mean Kevin?" and was correct.

wordsmythe wrote:

Kevin Kulp is a friend of the podcast and a RabbitCon attendee. Really, really great human being.

No joke: Someone near Pelgrane's GenCon booth overheard someone talking about the "nicest person ever" or somesuch, and the overhearer chimed in with "You mean Kevin?" and was correct.

Cool.

Found another Virtual Table Top software that is on Kickstarter.

Tabletop Connect - 3D Virtual Tabletop by Carl Pinder

TigerBill wrote:

Found another Virtual Table Top software that is on Kickstarter.

Tabletop Connect - 3D Virtual Tabletop by Carl Pinder

Oh that should definitely be kickstarted.

We have done a lot of talking about tabletop gaming, but is anyone interested in giving a regular campaign a go. I have roll20 VT, and I am going to kickstart 3D connect (above) so I'll get the Alpha. Is anyone interested in testing it out with me? We can pick a night and go through a Pathfinder module - I figure something simple like the module that is included in the Starter Kit for Pathfinder. If we can get 3-4 players that should be a good opportunity to test the dynamics. Interested?

SpyNavy wrote:

We have done a lot of talking about tabletop gaming, but is anyone interested in giving a regular campaign a go. I have roll20 VT, and I am going to kickstart 3D connect (above) so I'll get the Alpha. Is anyone interested in testing it out with me? We can pick a night and go through a Pathfinder module - I figure something simple like the module that is included in the Starter Kit for Pathfinder. If we can get 3-4 players that should be a good opportunity to test the dynamics. Interested?

I would be up for something like this, but my schedule isn't very regular.

This is the thread I lurk know about that relates.

Yeah, that group has been going for awhile but is full. I lurk there as well. They have been very consistent. I ran a group one online several years ago now that had karma, Russ Pitts from Polygon and a few others. We played for about two months and then I got deployed. Seeing how far these tools have come I'd like to give it a work again.