newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Apr 7, 2018 22:56:21 GMT -8
I subscribe and listen to over 20 RPG podcasts through iTunes for many years. They are all the talk show type, not actual play, and most are not weekly shows. Happy Jacks is in my opinion the best general RPG podcast and the best overall RPG podcast (the ENnies are wrong!). The show is not married to one system, and it has large number of rotating hosts with different favorite systems giving Happy Jacks a unique resource strongly suited to covering a variety of gaming topics. All the hosts come across as doing the show for the love of gaming.
Most other shows focus on one system, which is fine for shows and listeners that want to do deep dives into a particular rule system.
Some other shows come across as vehicles to sell product which weakens their show, and some other shows come across as elitists in their opinions and talk down to their audience. Happy Jacks does none of this, and the hosts often disagree with each other. Those discussions are usually the most informative.
Happy Jacks has just about the most consistent technical quality.
Out of all the RPG podcasts that I download Happy Jacks is one of three that when I see the download, I convince myself that is a good time to listen to a podcast. By the way, the other shows are "Gaming and BS" and "The Order 66 Podcast". One is a weekly general show, and one is a system specific monthly show.
I keep hearing that D&D sales are booming with big help from Matt Mercer and his crew. While Matt's show could draw actual play listeners from Happy Jacks actual play, I cannot offer any reason for drops in Happy Jacks' main show. Maybe there is always a waxing and waning in any show audience, and it could be that Happy Jacks is not getting the new listeners due to competition from shows with brand recognition?
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Apr 9, 2017 7:30:30 GMT -8
A new Savage Rifts group is looking for players in the New York area. At this time the game locations are most likely the Bronx and Queens. The game time is most likely Saturday afternoons and evenings due to work and family schedules. Knowledge of Rifts or Savage Worlds is not critical, just an interest in RPG fun.
If you are interested, please reply.
Thanks NYJoe
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Sept 26, 2016 17:57:06 GMT -8
It was originally created for D&D 4e which is map heavy. Over the years it expanded to integrate most systems. It has tools for dice, handouts, logs, and character sheets the price is good (free mostly). Not as good as face to face at a real table, but excellent for remote play.
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on May 7, 2016 12:48:51 GMT -8
Mark Twain once wrote "The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane." With that said, Happy Jack's is the best RPG podcast, and according to the best RPG podcast, those us that enjoy playing RIFTS are playing the game wrong. RIFTS is not intended to be balanced. Before playing RIFTS, 90% of my RPG experience was D&D. The other 10% was Star Frontiers and Call of Chtulhu. Theses are all balanced games, and they are all fun. The first time I read the RIFTS rules and tried to create a character, I thought I was getting it wrong. A Glitterboy starts the game with a massive armored suite and a cannon that can blow apart Godzilla while a Rogue Scholar starts with a pencil or something like that. In D&D a first level spell caster can cast a little magic missile. In RIFTS a first level spell caster can call a meteor shower. The more I cam to understand the game the more I liked it. I play RPGs to find a safe alternative to the rules and balance of everyday life. I like Star Wars over Annie Hall, but the Academy of Motion Pictures says I am wrong. I like Yes over Bob Dylan, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame says I am wrong. Balance or the lack of balance in RIFTS campaigns may be stay more stable over longer campaigns compared to other systems. A first level Glitterboy and a 9th level Glitterboy are both very much Glitterboys. A first level Rogue Scholar and a 9th level Rogue Scholar are still scholars. The same holds true for casters like the Ley Line Walker. All the characters are standouts according to their class. The levels just compares them within their class. Other systems look to keep balance between classes at each level. In D&D a 9th level wizard may kick the butte of a first level fighter in hand to hand combat. To me the flaw in RIFTS and the Palladium system is not the imbalance. It is the number of holes in rules, such as direct game mechanics linking attributes to skills. Over time one learns to fill these holes with house rules. That is not much of a knock, because every GM I know house rules the system he loves. Original Savage Worlds is based on balance, and its rules are great for pulp action like Indiana Jones or swashbuckling pirates. Savage Worlds tries to provide a simple rule set without holes. I cannot wait to see the blend of these two very different systems. By the way, the creators of Savage RIFTS had the lead role or were part of design team of other acclaimed games: - Savage Worlds Shaintar by Sean Patrick Fannon
- Rogue Trader by Ross Watson
- the Fantasy Flight Star Wars development team included both Sean and Ross plus Savage Worlds creator Shane Hensley
The Savage RIFTS design team naturally includes Shane Hensley and original RIFTS creator Kevin Siembieda. It also included the creator of the Legend of the 5 Rings and 7th Sea RPGs, John Wick. For a preview of the game follow this link. Interview with Sean Patrick Fannon the Savage Rifts creator
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Jan 3, 2016 9:49:13 GMT -8
I was just wondering if the original poster ever selected a new system?
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Feb 25, 2015 20:00:40 GMT -8
I see or hear people ask about the best games to introduce RPGs to kids. Most of them seem to be parents that are out of the hobby for years, but now want to introduce their children to RPGs. I went through that, and here are my recommendations considering my own starting experience and my family experience with kids of about 10 years old. Except for D&D at #1 there is no meaning to the order. - D&D - any starter set from old 0e Basic through new 5e. This is the game that got vast majority of kids started for over 30 years. The various starter sets include everything a beginner needs. While the 5e Starter Set does not include rules for making custom player characters, WotC offers those rules as a free download. Interestingly a neighbor kid recently asked my family "Did you hear of a game called D&D? I hear there is a new version."
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness - The official TMNT licensed titles are out of print. The latest version is "After the Bomb", and it still published, see the After the Bomb Web page. In my discussions with other gamers, this is the second most common introductory game for kid players over the years. The other day, I told my son that we could play an RPG like Guardians of the Galaxy. He wanted a character like Rocket Raccoon, except as a bear with an Uzi. Palladium Books has this covered with several titles: After the Bomb, Heroes Unlimited, and Rifts. While we opted for to make the character in Rifts, After the Bomb or Heroes Unlimited, another Palladium title, can handle it with a somewhat simpler rule set and more balance when compared to Rifts. Also, consider the Robotech RPG for a pure science fiction RPG with a TV show for reference. The Palladium system superficially looks like the d20 system, but after playing it you realize it is not d20.
- Dragon Age - Set 1 or the starter set is available as a PDF from the publisher, Green Ronin. No knowledge of the popular computer RPG needed. The game was released between D&D 4e and 5e. It seemed to go for that old school D&D feel. Like most starter sets, it includes everything for beginners. I played this with my family. It uses the d6 AGE system, not d20, but the feel is very similar to old school D&D, and the set 1 books provide simple guidance for new gamers. However, it looks like Green Ronin diverted development resources to other titles after WotC released D&D 5e with its very similar starter set. Dragon Age is available at DriveThruRPG
- Star Frontiers - The second RPG I played as kid. TSR released it in the post Star Wars movie error before there was an official Star Wars RPG. The original set was a typical beginners box. The rules are simple using its own d00 system that is similar to d20. Legally free downloads of the complete Star Frontiers line are available at starfrontiers.com.
- Star Wars Beginner Game by Fantasy Flight - Every kid knows the setting. While any of the three beginner games should work well, I have Edge of the Empire. It includes everything to play with pregenerated characters. I found that the beginner game explains the dice rules much more clearly than the 450 page full rule book. The big book is needed to make your own characters, and that process is actually fast and easy following the step by step rules. I recently bought the game and admit that I have yet to play it with the exception of character creation, so I am not sure about its dice pool building with kids. The core dice rules are similar to the Fantasy Flight X-Wing dice system which my family loves, and the RPG adds extra bonuses and penalties that add some complexity to process, but it is probably a bigger problem for adults that may over think the system.
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Sept 29, 2014 18:01:27 GMT -8
I made a number of updates to the original attachment, including the addition of Fading Suns. I did not add Alternity, because I cannot find a legal way for a person to get the books other than a rare second hand copy. This is too bad, because Alternity may have a lot to offer. I did a strike-through on Starblazers Adventures, because it is also not available. However, I learned that after I put it on the list.
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Sept 21, 2014 15:23:33 GMT -8
I use Tapatalk to access the forum from mobile devices. I find it works fine, and it is free from the Apple App Store. I am recently discussing the use of this with another forum. Someone advised against this app, because they claim it costs the forum money and requires the forum system manager to be busy dealing with constant updates. Since your forum works with this, do you find these comments to be remotely true?
Otherwise, do you mind recommending any other mobile device forum software?
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Aug 25, 2014 17:14:03 GMT -8
Neal Peart of Rush and Jon Anderson of Yes are both huge science fiction and fantasy fans. They both have 30 years of song lyrics that show it.
Artist Roger Dean is the unofficial 6th band member of Yes. His artistic influence can be found throughout the RPG industry.
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Aug 24, 2014 7:43:25 GMT -8
We are probably going off topic and should start a new thread, but regarding Savage Worlds as samy...
I think it comes every roll having the same basic mechanic and bonus. However, this is what the game intends to do. Every game system is a simplified model. The Savage Worlds system is a model focused on pulp action, such as Indiana Jones or Buck Rogers. The pulp genre is usually a lot of action mixed in with a little of something else, maybe magic or horror. Savage Worlds does pulp very well, and as such, it can do science fiction action very well. However, other systems try to capture different concepts.
GURPS - realism HERO - superhero adventure Call of Chthulhu - horror where the party will lose d20 - romantic fantasy adventure novel style (think Tolkien, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock) Battletech - giant robot miniature combat Vampire Story Teller System by White Wolf - interpersonal character struggle FATE - collaborative story telling adventures Gumshoe - sleuth investigation
and the list goes on
All these systems are successful at doing what they do, and tend to drop-off the more you try to push them to do something else.
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Aug 23, 2014 18:51:59 GMT -8
I put together a list of RPG systems and their books needed to capture basic space sci-fi or space opera and posted it in a new thread. Here is the link Space Opera RPGs
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Aug 23, 2014 18:47:45 GMT -8
I made the attached file as a checklist of books needed to capture what I consider to be the essential elements for a space opera campaign in different RPG systems. I do not own all the books listed, so if anyone reading this sees any errors post the suggested correction here. Attachments:RPGSpaceSciFiBooks.pdf (186.34 KB)
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Aug 16, 2014 17:59:08 GMT -8
RetCon is a Long Island, NY annual gaming convention with an open gaming area. RetCon
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Aug 14, 2014 18:36:55 GMT -8
The gaming horror stories on this podcast and similar complaints on others motivated me to draft a strategy to solve the problem. This advice is based on office training that I actually found to work. In short, before coming to blows with a person that does not see things your way take the lead in showing respect for the different personalities of other people and let them be themselves. I hope you find it useful. By the way, if you know all the character references in the document without searching the Web consider yourself a 30th level geek. Attachments:RPGBrainTypes.pdf (70.41 KB)
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newyorkjoe
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 16
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, Palladium, BRP, 0e/1e
Favorite Species of Monkey: undecided
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Post by newyorkjoe on Aug 13, 2014 20:20:17 GMT -8
It may help if the poster can provide a little more information on what he wants. It seems that he is looking for a scifi space opera. Does he want a lot of aliens? Does he want a long campaign or one shot? Does he like a setting like Star Wars, Star Trek, or Firefly? Does he want robots?
We know he ruled out d20, GURPS, Savage Worlds. However, these systems are probably the better options for a long campaign where players expect to see their character develop.
Out of the systems discussed Mongoose Traveller is probably the cheapest. It is already developed for space opera. Its structure is the traditional GM/player party style.
Does he know FATE is a story teller style system, that tones down the GM role and makes the players develop the story? It has several published scifi settings including Diaspora, Bulldogs!, and Star Blazers Adventures.
Ashen Stars uses the Gum Shoe system and focuses on investigating and solving mysteries. It does not focus on combat.
Other systems not mentioned are
Star Wars by Fantasy Flight comes in two flavors, Edge of the Empire and Age of the Rebellion Star Frontiers - an old, non-d20 TSR game, legally available for free Star Hero - Hero done as scifi Basic Role Playing - generic Call of Chulhu rules minus the Chulhu stuff, adaptable to scifi Core Command by Dream Pod 9 Battlestations by Gorilla Games - heavy on map based combat Cosmic Patrol - a story teller system, probably FATE-like, but maybe simpler
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