baldyr
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 23
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Post by baldyr on Dec 20, 2014 12:27:14 GMT -8
Welcome to the boards, Svavelvinter is one of the coolest RPG names ever, whats the setting like? The name comes from a boxed adventure module from the mid '80s. Three adventures and a setting book describing the island Empire of Tracoria (Trakorien in Swedish) followed, making up probably the most prominent published campaigns in Swedish RPG history. In the 21st century this campaign has been adapted into a series of novels by it's author Erik Granström. A few years ago a brand new - and fairly "modern" in the hippie sense - RPG with the name of Svavelvinter was published by a new publisher. The initial print run was sold out and the game dubbed The game of the year. A second edition has been released in two volumes: rules and setting. The new and much awaited setting book just arrived from the printer this last week. The city module Lojalisternas tid (The Time of the Lojalists) describes the shadowy side of the imperial capital of Tricilve also deserves mention. It was penned by the author of the original campaign books and the later novels and is, in my humble opinion, one of the best RPG products ever published. (Even if I hardly qualify to make such a statement.) Well, the setting is inspired by old Mesopotamia (gods and religions), the Republic of Rome and the Renaissance - particularly in Italy, to name a few. The dominant power on the Tracorian isles is the mercantile Tracorian Empire, who's state religion basically equates to Might is Right. For the Goddess of Gold and Commerce loves him who loves himself. Other, older, civilizations are scattered over the isles but, for the moment, dominated by the economic prowess of the arrogant Tracorians. The metaplot of the original campaign and the novels is pervasive, but the idea of the RPG is to tell these events based on the players' own characters. The whole game is of course tailored to tell this main story, or some variant of this tale, but not necessarily limited to adventures directly linked to the struggle over the coming "Conflux" - which is a place in time and space where the future of the world Tiamatia is to be decided. The metaphysics of the setting are very well defined and also mirrored in the rules of the game. One thing that would seem striking is the fact that the world is human based, or mostly anyway. While there are giants and other humanoid races (like sea-living insectoids) most races are defined as more or less "human". The human form is instead more adaptable to the environment and acquired characteristics are also inherited by the offspring. This is why races like the Wolfpeople (civilized Gnolls, I guess) and the ampfibian Swamp Peoples are considered "human", albeit "bestial half-folk" in the eyes of the Tracorians. No elves, dwarves or orcs, then - not even their equivalents. There is however magic, which is well defined and described - but free-form and volatile, and monsters. Dragons play an important part in creation, even if they are very rare. Even more rare demonic entities called Kaklunes are instead responsible for the creation of the life that currently inhabit the world. The Gods are very real but only interfere through their messengers. The idea is that creation is flawed and has run amok. The above mentioned Confluxes are events that allow the Gods of Creation bring the world closer to the original plans laid out by the Nominator, or the primary Narrator who once initiated Creation. In the RPG itself the players make up Gods who have gathered around a game of Smickelboard - an epic board game also mirrored in the setting itself. The GM is called the Narrator but all players are actually Storytellers in their own right, since it's a "collaborative story game". In campaign play each player will control two marionettes within the micro-setting (or any subset of the main setting); A powerful being of some sort - and a regular (human, more or less) player character. Each character is tied to another player's Power. Parallel to the regular character game the players also engage in The Game of Shadows, which is basically a board game with arbitrary fields and units. The point of this exercise is to provide story elements to the character game. Each player also gets to give Commands to the character (of another player) which is connected to his or her Power, this is in turn tied to the character advancement system. Combined with other game mechanisms it should be possible to run the game without any predefined adventures, and only minimal preparations - except for the initial setup of the selected micro-setting. Ideally this has been defined and described collaboratively by all players - in part during game-play.
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Post by Probie Tim on Feb 4, 2015 12:29:34 GMT -8
So, I suppose it's time I gave myself a formal introduction, here. I'm Tim. I co-hosted on episode 14-08 and I'm signed up to co-host a few more episodes in the coming months. I started gaming in the e-a-r-l-y 80s with the Moldvay B/X D&D boxed sets. I ran a small-press PDF game company for a number of years; I specialized in Fudge games, eventually branching out to support Mongoose RuneQuest as well. I also ran a forum-based Vampire: the Masquerade game for a number of years with close to 50 players at its height. Nowadays my gaming tastes revolve around old-school D&D (Swords & Wizardry, specifically), Pathfinder, and D&D 5th Edition (which I really like). I'm currently playing in a bi-monthly HERO game, a pseudo-monthly Pathfinder game, and I'm running a D&D 5 game over Roll20. I try to keep up a gaming blog at gibbering-mouther.blogspot.com but... it's pretty hit and miss. So. There's that.
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Post by archmagezemoc on Feb 10, 2015 11:29:46 GMT -8
Another 5E player, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA Glad to hear some fresh soundwaves on the team!
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nm3art
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 18
Currently Running: Dungen World
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Post by nm3art on Mar 29, 2015 6:07:27 GMT -8
I'm here to paint pictures and play games, and I'm all out of paint.
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sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
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Post by sbloyd on Mar 31, 2015 13:15:33 GMT -8
I'm here to paint pictures and play games, and I'm all out of paint. Oil? Acrylic? Gouache?
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nm3art
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 18
Currently Running: Dungen World
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Post by nm3art on Apr 17, 2015 4:33:12 GMT -8
I'm here to paint pictures and play games, and I'm all out of paint. Oil? Acrylic? Gouache? Oil,Acrylic,pixle
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Post by thehardartist on May 11, 2015 15:43:29 GMT -8
Hello all! I've been listening to the podcast for months now and it's inspired me to get back into gaming. Now to find a group...
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Memnoch
Initiate Douchebag
Liberty!
Posts: 46
Preferred Game Systems: D&D 3.5 , Star Wars D20 , GURPs
Currently Running: GURPs - The Weird West
Favorite Species of Monkey: Kowakian monkey-lizards
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Post by Memnoch on May 13, 2015 11:21:32 GMT -8
I suppose I might as well go ahead, and introduce myself. I'm Dustin, I am thirty years old, and live in a small town in east Tennessee. I got into table top gaming about 16 years ago at a local game store which is now long gone. I was there almost every day to play CCGs/tournaments ( Mostly MTG ), but got to try my hand at role playing, and war gaming too. After the close of that game store my group of friends began role playing a lot more, until they began to breed...thus began the role playing Dark Age. (When I could not seem to find or get a group together to save my life.) A couple of years ago one of my close friends and I convinced his girl friend ( who had only played one campaign with us prior ) to start a new group and get a game going. She recruited her best friend, and thus began the group I currently play with. Which has been going for about two years now. Together we have played A song of Ice, and Fire game which my friend ran. A Star Wars D20 game which I ran. A D&D game which my friend ran, and A D&D game set in the world of warcraft world which our newest recruit ran for us. ( Yep after playing 3 campaigns he said "I want to run a game" ) I found Happy Jacks a few months ago, after finishing the backlog of another RPG podcast, and while prepping to take back the GMing reins. My group told me they wanted to play a wild west game, and I was able to get them to compromise on a post apocalyptic "Weird West" game, and I decided I would run the game in GURPs (Which I have never played or GMed, but Stu really sold me on the system, and I love it.) This game was suppose to start last Sunday, but got pushed back a week....Grr I hope to get this game off the ground, wish me luck!
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sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
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Post by sbloyd on May 14, 2015 8:50:05 GMT -8
Oh? Whereabouts in TN, Memnoch ...?
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Memnoch
Initiate Douchebag
Liberty!
Posts: 46
Preferred Game Systems: D&D 3.5 , Star Wars D20 , GURPs
Currently Running: GURPs - The Weird West
Favorite Species of Monkey: Kowakian monkey-lizards
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Post by Memnoch on May 14, 2015 10:44:55 GMT -8
A little bit north of Knoxville, in Lafollette.
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bevinflannery
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 109
Currently Playing: Pathfinder, Savage Worlds
Currently Running: Pathfinder/3.5, FATE Core
Favorite Species of Monkey: It's an ape, not a monkey.
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Post by bevinflannery on May 16, 2015 8:04:57 GMT -8
Dude! My parents are in Oak Ridge and my sister and brother-in-law in Lenoir City.
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Memnoch
Initiate Douchebag
Liberty!
Posts: 46
Preferred Game Systems: D&D 3.5 , Star Wars D20 , GURPs
Currently Running: GURPs - The Weird West
Favorite Species of Monkey: Kowakian monkey-lizards
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Post by Memnoch on May 16, 2015 8:33:58 GMT -8
Small world huh Bevin? I work in Clinton, right next to Oak Ridge.
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sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
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Post by sbloyd on May 16, 2015 13:07:14 GMT -8
I'd asked because I'm from TN, but not thereabouts. Pulaski, Giles County. Nowhere near you.
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Post by weaselcreature on May 26, 2015 9:22:30 GMT -8
Hey there! Weaselcreature here. I've been an RPGer since the late 70's/early 80's. I was lucky enough to get a solid core group late high-school into my 20's; we had an epic TORG campaign that lasted close to 10 years.
While my list of playing/running games over there by my avatar seems pretty good, those games are shared between a couple groups, some of them only happening once a month or so. I've got a future gamer, now (4 year old) who takes a lot of attention, as well as other stupid grown up things.
Oddly enough, I now live just down the street from the War House in Long Beach, the game store Stu has mentioned a few times as his FLGS when he lived in the LBC.
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beeronious
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 20
Preferred Game Systems: White Wolf, Shadowrun, Castles & Crusades,Yggdrasill
Currently Playing: Legend of the Five Rings
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Post by beeronious on May 26, 2015 23:38:32 GMT -8
Okay, I have been posting every now and then so it’s time I post an intro since I intend to stay on these boards. I’m Beeronious and I’m way to paranoid for the time being to post my real name on the internet.
I’m 31 and reside in the lovely, overpriced city of Sydney, Australia. I’m happily married for 9 years with no kids, nor do the wife or I ever want any. She is not a gamer, but is very supportive and enthusiastic about the hobby. In fact she really helps nurture the storylines and happily bounces ideas for me whenever I am in the GM seat.
I got into RPG gaming through two gateways, namely, Warhammer 40K and anime. My first RPG was Macross II (a pseudo sequal to Robotech) by Paladium. I ran the first game and due to the clusterfuck that is the Palladium system, we modified it to play more like WH40K. As all teenage games were, the story was terrible but we had a blast. As with all things High School it feel into the wayside and I picked up gaming again while at University. D20 Modern was my jam, the gaming got more sophisticated and I ran my first real successful game using that system, namely, a super fun Prohibition era Mafia game set in New York.
As I moved into true adulthood tabletop gaming fell to the wayside until a couple of years ago when I got bitten by the RPG bug. This time, it has really dug itself in. I have joined a very odd group (a local church RPG club) that has 2 or 3 games running at once. These games tend to switch each term (or half semester if you will). I have run 3 games thus far, all of which have been extremely successful. To pet my own ego, I am considered the best GM of the club. Still, they don’t know it’s thanks to these douchebags on Happy Jacks and all their ideas that have helped up my game.
My endgame at this stage is to nurture the storyteller aspect in my GMing and help nurture the players under me to up their game. The reason being, I have fallen head over heels in love with Changeling: The Lost and am DYING to run a game of it. Although, I feels most of the players in my group/club would not do the game I want to run justice. I must wait, and improve.
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