D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Sept 13, 2012 17:34:18 GMT -8
So much sanity point loss (some things should never be read...) Cheeseburgericon.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2012 12:26:20 GMT -8
Abear's(sp?) Request for a game based of the criteria: 1.friendly to low magic 2.more/gritty (some minor healing) 3.non d20 4.social mechanics 5.does not use a Vancian Magic system 6.no point system (build up) 7.does not use complicated rules 8.resistant to power creep 9.bias to classless (players like a class system) I was immediately struck by this questions very objective nature and started drilling down systems as Stu read off the requirements. As I am a very long in the tooth gamer I tend to reach back across the wide Encyclopedia of games. That being said, the first game I thought of was Lace & Steel by The Australian Games Group (TAGG). This game featured a dangerous card-based mechanic for fencing, used a 2D6 skill roll, and had an amazing social mechanic called self image as well as applying the same card-based mechanic to verbal duels which could result in defeating an opponent and having them run away in tears. However, one of the attributed works is Jack Vance and while magic users are rare, player characters must draw the Joker on a tarot deck to get a magic user, the world is steeped in the mystical. It was Donna Barr's Mittlemarch (sp?), set in the Renaissance period with races of centaurs, harpies, and ferries alongside humans vice the typical Tolkien races. This game is also extremely hard to get, having been out of print for more than a decade. Next game to come to mind, was Tribe 8 from Dream Pod 9. This game featured relatively low magic, it was very gritty (i.e. during a demo one character died to a knife in the gut), and uses the silhouette system. In silhouette, a number of D6 dice are rolled equal to a character's skill, the high number is selected to which the appropriate attribute is added. Attributes are zero average, resulting in simple single-digit outcomes. The total is compared to the difficulty set by the game master or to an opposing roll. Not a bell curve, but a simple and effective way to show the effect of skill, higher skill results in consistently better scores, versus potential, attributes push the total up and down. Tribe 8 does not have a social mechanic but does present relevant social skills and characters are encouraged to talk first, based on the deadliness of the game. It does not use a Vancian magic system, rather it features a boosting mechanic called synergy which allows for quick simple effects or buildup for more potentially powerful effects. There are no hit points in the game (and no AC) and no drastic power creep. There are no true classes, but there are tribes with specialties so that Abear's players could have a course to follow. However this game is not true fantasy, it's a destroyed postapocalypse world of alien influence with extremely limited technological resource. The best way I can think of it is Gamma world meets Hellraiser, definitely a game for adults. This came too is no longer in print but is still available from the publisher and various places online. Finally, if fantasy is a requirement as well as a game currently in development, then I suggest The One Ring By Cubicle Seven. It is Tolkien's world where magic is present, but rare and powerful. Combat can be deadly but so is giving up hope for which there is a mechanic. It provides that gritty world. The mechanic is rolling number of D6 equal to skill level adding the results. To that is rolled a special 12 sided die which shows the numbers 1 to 10 as well as the symbols for Gandalf and Sauron, which are treated as automatic success and automatic failure respectively. If the total generated does not meet the required difficulty a player can add the relevant attribute by spending a hope point, if that new total will generated a success. Again there is no set social mechanic but there is a pool of fellowship resources which characters can draw upon to increase their personal hope. There are also appropriate social skills. The game does have classes, referred to as callings, which provide a list of skills but also a weakness for each character. The game is simple without a lot of charts or computation, save adding dice. The books are beautifully illustrated though could use a little organizational work. I propose this game goes a long way to meeting all the requirements provided.
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Post by ericfromnj on Sept 19, 2012 8:04:36 GMT -8
Thinking of the whole Toon/Cthulhu talk, at the local convention we used to have years ago (Lehighcon) we had this crazed college history professor who would run in Toon these Call of Cthulhu adventures where everyone would play characters from the Simpsons. I was fortunate enough to play in one called "Krusty the Kultist" as Homer. All I can remember is the guy playing Ned Flanders was a riot with his Jesus Justice fury against the forces of the Elder Gods.
Later on a South Park started becoming popular people asked for a South Park version. A friend of mine who played in it sat down and when the character choices were presented discovered the players were playing Elder Gods trying not to be driven insane by the denizens of South Park, Colorado...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2012 8:08:23 GMT -8
Thinking of the whole Toon/Cthulhu talk, at the local convention we used to have years ago (Lehighcon) we had this crazed college history professor who would run in Toon these Call of Cthulhu adventures where everyone would play characters from the Simpsons. I was fortunate enough to play in one called "Krusty the Kultist" as Homer. All I can remember is the guy playing Ned Flanders was a riot with his Jesus Justice fury against the forces of the Elder Gods. Later on a South Park started becoming popular people asked for a South Park version. A friend of mine who played in it sat down and when the character choices were presented discovered the players were playing Elder Gods trying not to be driven insane by the denizens of South Park, Colorado... Give that GM a cookie...totally awesome twist!
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