Co-Operative play games

I have found as I get older that I much prefer co-operative style roleplaying games over the old style GM vs Players style of games like D&D.

By co-operative games I mean games where the whole group, GM & players have direct input into the game and the story. The GM may have initial input through setting up the sandbox for everyone to play in, by it is a co-operative effort by the whole group who decides how a game moves forward. 
The GM may have to step in to keep the game moving forward if it seems the players are waffling on a bit much and starting to argue about how many angels can fit on the head of a pin, but he/she should act more as a Game "Moderator" rather than a Game "Master".

** rant mode on**
As we all know there are some GMs who take the "Master" bit very seriously. It is their game and players should obey the rules set down by the Master. Some players prefer this style of game because it is an "easy" path to follow. They can concentrate on ubering up their character, knowing the GM has set all the encounters match the encounter level of the group, so if everyone plays their role all should go well. Independent thought is kept to the minimum and player decisions are limited to how they will deal with the next monster. This model for RPGs is very popular, successful, and lets face it, this is the model for the vast majority of computer and online games.
** rant mode off **

Co-operative games come in many styles, depending on the degree of control that players have to influence the story.  For example, in the 6d6 game system the players have direct control over what advantages are suitable for a contest and can overrule a GM decision if they feel it is wrong or unfair. The process is simple and quick with anyone, including the GM, allowed to put a point up for discussion and a simple majority deciding yes or no, with a minimum of discussion.

Mutant Year Zero is also a co-operative game in that most of the time the players decide what, where and what they do 90% of the time. MYZ also includes a meta-plot and special zones which the GM can throw in add to the mix to add that bit of spice to the game. The best of both worlds :)

Blades in the Dark is a very player driven game. The players characters are part of a crew of villains out to eat there way up the criminal food chain. The players decide how, when, what and who they are doing to do to achieve their goals. Once the players decide on an objective, it is the GMs job to set up obstacles, with differing degrees of difficulty and consequences for partial success or failure. The players decide what skills they are going to use and the risks they are prepared to take to overcome these obstacles. Players and the GM can negotiate on risk factors and consequences. It may seem a bit complicated but the rules explain it much better than my ramblings. and really it is a quite simple and elegant system.

Blades in the Dark is a Kickstarter project which has a huge number of extras to come. I don't expect to see the main rule book it early next year, but the quick start guide is out and very playable. If the QS is any guide the full rules should provide a rich and varied backdrop for the game.

The One Ring continued

This is a follow on from my previous posts on a number of RPGs, including The One Ring, and concentrates on what I found I very much liked about The One Ring.

The One Ring is definitely NOT D&D or any of the D&D derivatives out there.
For example, although you may have several encounters during a session you should only expect to have a combat encounter, on average, ONCE every two SESSIONS ;-) Normally you try to avoid combat as much as possible and only fight when you have no other choice.

This is very much in line with the Tolkienese style which can be read in the books and seen in the movies.

When there is no choice up to fight, The One Ring, provides you with an heroic system (basically simple with many options) in which you decide on the strength of your attacks balanced by the vulnerability of your character to counter attacks. Again very Tolkienese, and excellently done.

The game is devised to work on the premise that usually the company will have one Adventure (comprising 4 - 8 episodes) per year followed by a Fellowship Phase. In the Fellowship Phase you get to tell stories, sometimes go home to let the folks a home know you are still alive, undertake special projects and spend those Advancement and Experience Points you have accumulated on your latest adventure.

There are two types of experience points. Advancement Points come form using your Common (non-weapon) skills successfully over the course of your adventure. Experience Points are awarded for attendance, achieving, or at least moving towards, your companies goals and bonus points at the end of an adventure.

Advancement Points are used to improve your Common skills.
Experience Points can be used to increase your Wisdom or Valour (thereby gaining extra talents) or increase your weapon skills.

Another very Tolkienese style feature is Journeys. Traveling between various places tales time and effort. The One Ring makes this interesting and, sometimes exciting. The group plots there route on the player map, the Loremaster calculates the time and distance involved. The players take various roles (Scout, Look Out etc...). The distance, terrain, and locations define how many tests are required and who (what role) is required to make skill rolls. Threats may be encountered, which must be overcome or avoided, again by the various roles. The important thing is that there are no random Encounters on Journeys, you may have Encounters but only if the Loremaster wishes the company to have an Encounter. Threats result from random rolls but Encounters only happen if the Loremaster wants one.

Although the rules on Journeys are detailed, they are usually, in real time, completed quite quickly, although they may take up quiet a bit of "game" time and distance.

I could easily write many more paragraphs on The One Ring but the above is what stands out for me and makes the game stand out from the pack of standard fantasy RPGs.

Bash! Fantasy Kickstarter

If you are interested in supporting the Bash! Fantasy Kickstarter then just go here
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1632750816/bash-fantasy-legends-of-steel/description

It is quite cheap ;-)

IMHO Bash! Fantasy is much better than the Barbarians of Lemuria, a game with a similar, but I think inferior, system.

Just a Short Note

I have decided, unless something new really pops out at me, to not put up any new game reviews in the short term. Instead I will be posting more details on things that impress or interest me most in the current 15 games already on the block. These won't be full details of whole games, rather interesting snippets that jump out at me :)

The first up with be "The One Ring" but that won't be till next week ........

What to make of the first lot of games ?

OK I have put forward a few games that have taken my fancy (15) and one game system (Bash! Fantasy). We will ignore Bash! Fantasy for the moment as it is really the system I am looking at, although the new addition does come with its own setting.

So the 15 games all are of interest to me and I would be happy to play any of them, but I think I should put my money where my blog is and list them in the order, at the present moment, I think I would prefer. Really, there is very little between any of the games but here it is in reverse order .....

15. Mutant Epoch: A good game with plenty of options, maybe to many. Lots and lots of support material.

14. Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition:  Another good game, but it will probably be a couple of years before all the promised books see the light of day. So that was a major factor in its ranking.

13. Vow of Honor: Difficult to rank, but may not appeal to the group ??

12. Broken Rooms: This one is hard to classify, but an excellent game none the less.

11. Hunt the Wicked: A better fit for the group, I think, than Vow of Honor.

10. Better Angels: Really good game just not sure my group could get the being good while doing evil vibe ?

9. Shadow of the Demon Lord: A very good old style fantasy game, mixing various fantasy rules system. I could easily run it and be happy to do so.

8. Clockwork Dominion: This would be my goto game for Steampunk adventures. Like the cards instead of dice. like the setting setup.

7. Hellas: Worlds of Blood and Stone: If the group wanted a SF game this is probably the one I would push for.

6. Atlantis: The Second Age: If it wasn't for The One Ring and Fate of the Norns, this would be my pick as a fantasy game. A more traditional style game than the other two and there is nothing wrong with that.

5. Metamorphosis Alpha: Certainly the easiest of the post-apocalypse games. An oldie but a goodie setting and you can play a mutant plant.

There is really nothing to choose between the top four, all are really excellent games. Honestly there is not much to choose between any of the games .....grrrr.....ahhhh.

4. Corporia: Just a great cyperpunk/shadowrun style setting, with a strong, but uncomplicated, set of rules. Plus the King Arthur twist in the tail/tale.

3. Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok: Only ranked three because there are still a couple of books to come. Could easily be played now with the material currently available.

2. The One Ring: The fantasy game of, my, choice. Clean system, great background, a whole campaign ready to roll.

1. Mutant Year Zero: I like the rules, the "enclosed" nature of the initial setup and just the whole atmosphere of the game.


So that's that from me for the time being, there are new games on the way and many slightly older games to look at, but for the moment I will take a few days off ;-)

FATE OF THE NORNS: RAGNAROK

Reviews
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/15/15901.phtml
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16323.phtml
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcrmD69CrEA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjhsQqsFmQ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfNXQlhQB78
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrudUmrLXXk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfXPEUsI0sw
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC4C1wV2J2M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNlaiu8SQkw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A6ouWJRl9k
 

OK, this is my last game for my first tranche of possible future RPGs and I have left one of the best for last :)

Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok is easily the most beautiful RPG book (really series of books) ever produced and one of the most innovative and flexible rule systems (using rune stones instead of dice) to appear in a long time. The rune system may seem different, because it is, at first but is fully explained with lots of examples. Once you master it, it is fast, flexible and fun, and you will wonder why you ever needed dice ;-)

The game is backed up by superb background material so you can fully immerse yourself, and your character, in this mighty saga of Gods, Giants, Men and Monsters. The game is written by Andrew Valkauskas a Nordic scholar and roleplayer, who has been working on the game for 25 years. This edition is actually the fourth edition of the game and the first to use the rune system.

As you can see above, apart from the reviews, is a series of youtube reviews and tutorials which will give you a much better handle on the system than I could write here.

Character creation is straight forward, but leads to a wide variety of character. Enough to satisfy even the most picky player.

Be warned that to get the most out of FOTN you do really need to read the background material. This is about 65 pages, but before you throw your hands up in horror, pull out your hair, beat your chest and cry out your lamentations, it is more like reading a graphic novel than masses of text. It is filled with evocative art to help you out ;-)

Honestly it is, IMHO, pointless creating a character or even playing the game without a good understanding of the setting.


This is an A+++ game :)

Hellas: Worlds of Sun and Stone

Reviews
https://andyslack.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/review-hellasworlds-of-sun-and-stone/
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/15/15191.phtml
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC7fvm9JtF8

Hellas: Worlds of Sun & Stone is published by Khepera Punblishing, the same company that publishes Atlantis: The Second Age, and uses the same Omni system that Atlantis uses.

Basically it is Greeks in S-P-A-C-E but it is very, very well done, with the same Lifepath character creation system used in Atlantis, which provides many hooks for future character initiated storylines. As with Atlantis, the players are the movers and shakers in the game and can have real and permanet effects of the story.

What is different from Atlantis (which is more open ended) is that Hellas has a metaplot (similar to a Savage World plot point campaign) incorporated in it, covering a period of 100 years (well more like 4 x 25 years). Seeing it covers such a time period, characters will die or be uplifted by the Gods, gloriously you hope, so a replacement character needs to be created to carry on. Hellas does this by not just providing the standard character advancement rules, but also including rules from Player advancement. So when your current character leaves the stage, when you design your new character he/she gains bonuses form your Player Level. Really neat and works really well ;-)

If you like a sci-fi game with a solid character creation system, great background, really awesome spacecraft, with an interesting and well thought out. ancient Greek, twist, then Hellas: Worlds of Blood & Stone is really worth a look.

Atlantis: The Second Age

Reviews
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16104.phtml
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16229.phtml
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16112.phtml
 
Atlantis: The Second Age is the be all and end of all of Sword and Sorcery RPGs.
It has a great balance between setting and rules, both being flavoursome and detailed, whilst not being overbearing or cumbersome. The presentation is absolutely superb portraying the vibe of the RPG with clarity and focus.

PCs created with the system through the life path system feel a part of the setting with their own stories filled with hooks for the GM to write compelling stories for with ease. The magic and religion is flexible yet intriguing; powerful yet dangerous.


GAME SYSTEM INFORMATION
Atlantis: The Second Age is a rich setting that uses the Omega System but can easily be adapted to most popular fantasy role-playing games. In this game, players and gamemasters will find everything they need to run a campaign in the legendary antediluvian age, including the magic of Atlantis, an atlas of Antediluvian Earth, regional guidebooks, a compendium of creatures, unique playable races, and pantheons.

What is the Omega System? The game uses a straightforward rule set that utilizes a single D20 roll to resolve actions. The following section explains how to apply the rules to combat and non-combat situations.

THE RESULTS TABLE All actions in the game are resolved by the following procedure:
1. Determine the Degree of Difficulty (DoD). The DoD represents the relative ease or difficulty of an action. A positive DoD represents an easy action while a negative DoD represents a difficult action. 2. Add the character’s Skill or Attribute Rating to the DoD.
3. Take the result (a positive number, a negative number, or zero) and add it to a D20 roll.
4. Consult the Results Table for the result.

That’s all you really need to know. All the rules in this book are just variations of the above procedure. Players contribute by describing the Intent of their characters’ actions to the GM. Then it is the GM’s job to interpret the outcome of the Results Table and how it affects the particular scene the player characters are involved in. Guidelines and tips for interpreting these rolls are covered later.

 

As you can see Atlantis The Second Age uses a single d20 resolution system, but as you can also see it is much different from the classic d20 (D&D style) system. Now I am usually not keen of a single d20 system (as you will see from my comments on "The Shadow of the Demon Lord") but I think the Omega system works quite well as is. It could be converted to using 3d6 with some minor tweaking of the results table, but I'm don't think it is really necessary ?

Character creation is fun and interesting and the world is highly detailed. The rulebook, supplements and maps are works of art. As always the reviews above give you a more detailed breakdown of the game.

A most complete and awesome package :)

Broken Rooms

Reviews
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/15/15984.phtml
http://wildmusings.wildmusegames.com/review-of-broken-rooms/

“you could call Broken Rooms a modern-day post-apocalyptic science fiction conspiracy horror roleplaying game of parallel worlds. “ 
 
This is not one of my longer "reviews" as the reviews above give you a pretty good run down on the game so I won't bother going into the nitty gritty details here ;-)

OK Broken Rooms is not new, it came out in 2012, but I just recently picked it up. It is a very impressive volume of work.

The basic premise is that on October 15, 2002, the world diverged form Earth Prime (our world) into 12 very different parallel worlds for a total of 13 worlds. Your character has the power and importantly, the need to visit these other Earths. Only those people that have a particular brain anomaly and suffer a trauma (mental, physical or financial) on a October 15 have this anomaly activated, you are one of them.

After 13* years the divergent worlds disappear, well nearly all of them ;-) It has been discovered that this divergence of worlds occurs on a regular basis and that some extraordinary individuals can survive the 12 parallel worlds disappearance and return at the next divergence.

All in all and excellent game with a simple but robust game system and a huge number of alternate "settings" in the one package :)

 * Note for this reason, if we ever played this game, the game year would have to be set back from the real time year. Otherwise, at time of writing, there would be only two days remaining in real time before ......

BASH! Fantasy

Reviews
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12584.phtml
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/13/13085.phtml

I am running this game system up the flagpole because, as I get older, I like systems that are basically simple, but not boringly simple. Also a new Edition of BASH! Fantasy is currently on Kickstarter which should improve the game. Not that there is anything wrong with original rules that a bit of decent formatting would not fix !

Introduction: A Heroic RPG For Basically Anyone!
The BASH! System was a product of my attempt to invent a role-playing game that would appeal to kids. What I found, however, was that it really worked well as a super heroes RPG for gamers of all ages. I also found that the rules could be applied to genres other than super heroes. The rules are light and simple, yet expansive and precise. BASH gives a complete list of powers (both magic and mundane) without requiring the players to learn complicated formulas or memorize charts. In short, you will spend less time creating your hero, and more time playing your hero.

The way that the system works is that the players roll 2 standard six-sided dice, and multiply the result by their stat or power to indicate the result relative to their opponent’s or the difficulty of an unopposed task. If the roll is “doubles”, roll another die and add it (repeat if it matches) before you multiply. The higher number is victorious. Simple, eh?

There is a nice table that allows you to cross reference your roll with your stat to calculate your final score and degree of success, for those of us mathematically challenged :)

Character creation is straight forward, while at the same time allowing for plenty of choices and individuality between characters.

One of reason I like the Bash! Fantasy system is I am always looking for a good (non-D&D system) to run one of the great d20 fantasy mega-campaigns (Monte Cook's Ptolus or the War of the Burning Sky). Bash! Fantasy ticks most of the boxes for me.

The first review (above) gives a pretty good idea of what you can expect and if you are interested in BASH! Fantasy I urge you to read it.

If you are interested in the new BASH! Fantasy kickstarter you can check it out here
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1632750816/bash-fantasy-legends-of-steel

The One Ring

If you like Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in book and/or movie format then you should consider this game. Of course, if you don't, this probably won't interest you ;-)
I do so I will carry on......


Reviews
http://www.geeknative.com/50023/one-review-rule-review-one-ring/
http://ringen.squarespace.com/loremasters-journal/2014/12/7/the-one-ring-rpg-review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRP5hT0nXyA

The One Ring is a translation of what was originally an Italian RPG and it far and away the most Tolkieness attempt at a Middle Earth RPG ever. Actually the title is a bit of a misnomer as the One Ring is really not a part of this game, but I suppose you had to call it something Middle Earthish and most of the more appropriate titles have already been taken ;-)

TOR is set 5 years after the events in The Hobbit (book or movie) concluded and is set in the same area of Middle Earth explored in The Hobbit. This is a good choice IMHO as it gives you background while at the same time limiting, to some extent, the Middle Earth to a manageable chunk of real estate.

Characters are chosen from the "good" people that live in this area namely, Bardings, Beornings, Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain, Elves of Mirkwood, Hobbits of The Shire, and Woodsmen of Wilderland.

The system used is, basically, roll a number of d6 equal to your skill and add d12 Feat die, add then all together and if you beat the TN, usually 14, your test or task is a success. Any sixes rolled on the skill dice, determine the level of success. If you roll a 12 on the d12 (The Rune of Gandalf) the roll is an automatic success no matter what else was rolled. If you roll an 11 on the d12 (The Eye of Sauron) the d12 counts as a roll of 0. You can use a Hope Point to add the value of the controlling attribute, of the skill, to the die roll after you roll the dice to turn a failure into a success, obviously only if the attribute value is high enough to make the difference ;-)

A character also gets Feats, like in Fate, but these more powerful. If you have a Feat you think applies in a situation, and one one at the table objects, you can just say that you are using the Feat, skip the die roll altogether, and just declare a success, albeit an basic success.

There are quite a few other Tolkieness touches for each character including Callings, Virtues and Rewards to really individualize your character.

There is a lot of extras published already to support this game, including a multi-year campaign, to keep you busy for a long, long time......

As I said in the beginning, if you are a fan of Tolkien style fantasy (and opposed to D&D style) you can immerse yourself in this game and you don't even have to read the book, just watch the movies :)

As usual, the reviews go deeper into aspects of the game, so if you are interested have a read or watch the video review.

It is near the top of my recommendations, and my top fantasy game.

 

Corporia

Let another Kickstarter I am happy I backed ;-)

Reviews:
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16308.phtml
http://www.strangeassembly.com/2014/review-corporia

Now this is GOOD game if you are looking at a Cyperpunk/Shadowrun genre game. It has King Arthur (well at least the Knights of the Round Table), Cyberware/Bioware, Magic, Mega Corporations, Hacking, Magic +, Monsters, Order vs Chaos, Heroes, Villains and lets not forget, Zombies.

This is all wrapped up in a neat bundle, with a simple system of rolling 2d6, taking the highest dice rolled of the two, add it to your Stat+Skill. If you roll a 6, roll again and add it to the first roll.

 There are archetypes for character creation but these can be modified and combined to your hearts content (well nearly) :-)

You use Flux points to do the really cool stuff.

Similar to Fate, a character has three public traits and one (sometimes two) private trait.
For example you could take traits like Courageous or Good with a Gun or Cautious or Needs Frequent Intellectual Simulation. A private trait is usually negative, but does to need to be really bad, as long as it seems really bad to you :)

The GM may tempt you to undertake an action by mentioning one of your traits, or you could suggest an action that would involve one of your traits. Using traits gains you Flux points (1-6) which is negotiated between the GM and the player, the more dangerous or just embarrassing the trait induced action, the more Flux points. You are never forced to undertake an action that might be indicated by a trait.

Flux points can be used to prevent yourself from doing an action which is pretty obviously tempted by one of your traits.

Now the additional bonus for using your traits, and using them as often as you can, to get Flux points,  is that every time you gain Flux points from undertaking a trait tempted action OR resist a trait tempted action by spending Flux points, you gain 1 Build Point. Build points are used, as the name suggests, to improve your character.

This is why it it advisable to have a variety of traits that can be used in a variety of situations. It gives you more opportunities to gain Flux and Build points.

Corporia is set in "The City" a mega-city which may have a name but is only referred to by its inhabitants as The City. It is well freshed out.

I could tell you more but the review above tell it better so give them a read.

This is a very good game :)

Mutant Year Zero

Of course the world ends. It happens quickly, faster than anyone could predict. The Red Plague hits
a world already on the brink of collapse. Extreme climate change, global economic crisis, increasing
conflict between old and new superpowers. When the pandemic comes, the last thin veneer of stability crumbles.

One billion people die in the first year. Utter panic reigns supreme, solidarity between nations is non-existent. Wars break out over the last, dwindling resources of the world. For the first time since 1945 nuclear weapons are used in armed conflict.

Mushroom clouds rise from east to west. Everyone tries to save themselves. The rich and powerful start monumental projects to escape the surface of the dying Earth: going deep underground, to the bottom of the oceans, into the cold darkness of space. The seats in these final lifeboats for mankind are desperately few. For most of the world’s inhabitants, there is no way out.

Once it’s all over, Earth is still. Nature invades ruined cities. Winds sweep through empty streets
turned into graveyards. Time gnaws the windows off skyscrapers, panes falling to the ground in a slow rain of glass.

Yet life remains. Slivers of humanity survive the Apocalypse. In the Ark, a small settlement at the edge of a dead city, the People live. You are the spawn of humanity, but not quite human. You are twisted funhouse images, mutated freaks. Your bodies and minds have incredible powers, but you are unstable. Fragile. None of the People are over 30 years old.

Except the Elder. Your leader, but not like you. One of the Ancients. For decades he has warned
you: be on your guard, don’t leave the Ark. Stay here, or the Rot will get you. Or something even worse. So far, you have obeyed his commands. Lived off rations from the Old Age. Chased off every stranger who came close to the Ark. Few dared to go out into the Zone. That is what the Elder calls the outside world.

But the safe days are over. Food is running scarce, and the fight for what’s left is turning violent.
You starve. Factions are forming, bosses on top and slaves at the bottom. In the middle, fixers who
try to turn a profit from anyone and everyone. And the Elder can’t stand up on his own anymore. They
say he can’t even take a piss without help. You’re on your own now.

It’s time to venture out. To explore the Zone, to search for artifacts and knowledge. Build, grow the
land, seek out others, create a new civilization on the ruins of the old one. Seek your origin. No children are born to the People – if you do nothing, you will perish. Maybe, one day, you will find the Eden of legend, the Ancients’ haven from the encroaching hellscape. That’s where salvation and truth await, the stories say.

Maybe it’s all fairytales. It doesn’t matter. You have no choice. This is the beginning.

This is Year Zero.

Reviews
http://www.geeknative.com/50439/wonderfully-horrible-way-die-mutant-year-zero-review/
http://www.stargazersworld.com/2015/02/09/review-mutant-year-zero/


Mutant Year Zero is yet another excellent game, and probably appeals to me the most of all the post-apocalyptic games I have looked at. I think this is because it has a narrow focus so players and the GM can concentrate on what is important and not have to worry about areas outside their control. This is not to say there is not lots to do, it is just that it is more personal and immediate goals you concentrate on. It is really a game your character can have a personal stake in AND actually make a difference to the big picture. In many other games your are just a actor on a stage, with Mutant Year Zero the decisions you make have real input into the story.

Basically, you are part of a small group (around 200) survivors of the apocalypse (what caused it, no ones now knows) living in your Ark (refuge), in a ruined city. Your Ark is marked on a 30 x 20 map divided into 1" squares representing 1 square mile. Also marked on the map are major geographic features and prominent land marks. The rest of the map is blank waiting for your exploration.

The great thing about this is not only do you get to create your characters, you also get to create and populate your Ark (a simple, straight forward process) and place it where you want it. If we ever were to play this game I would vote for setting it in Brisbane ;-)

Now there are two pre-made Arks , set in London and New York, but it is so much fun to design and personalize your own I would pump for that. The two pre-made Arks are still very useful to "mine" for NPCs etc..

Your adventures are divided between undertaking explorations to gain stuff for yourselves and the Ark, and undertaking projects to maintain and improve your Ark.

The game system uses a d6 pool system, with three different colours of dice, one for stats, one for skills and one for equipment. Work out what you are using for the task, roll those dice, 6's are a success, 1's are potential failures if you decide to "push" your roll. You push your roll if you re-roll any dice that did not come up 6 or 1, in hopes of getting a success or more successes, but if you push the roll any 1's you rolled come back to bite you ;-)

And of course you start with one, you beaut, mutation and will pick up more, which is good and bad ;-)

All in all a most excellent game :)

Mutant Epoch

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

VOW OF HONOR & HUNT THE WICKED

OK Vow of Honor and Hunted the Wicked are two great games, Vow of Honor is published and Hunt the Wicked as just completed its successful Kickstarter, although I have my hands on the draft of Hunt the Wicked through the Kickstarter.

Vow of Honor
The world of Sasara, your home, is broken and depraved. Despots rule over isolated city-states, indifferent to the suffering and squalor of the people. In the shadows of the enigmatic Ruins - the last vestiges of a prosperous era long forgotten - the vile terrorize the innocent few without fear of retribution. Until now.

You are an Arbiter, protector of all that is good in Sasara. Only as you embody the Tenets of Honor will you be empowered to protect the weak, avenge the victims of the wicked, and unlock the knowledge of the ancient Forebears to usher in a new age of peace. Will you take the Vow of Honor? Will you do what is necessary to save your home?

Vow of Honor is a tabletop roleplaying game focusing on the Arbiters of Fasann: icons of justice sworn to the Tenets of Honor.

Here are a couple reviews of Vow of Honor they explain a lot of the nitty gritty so it saves me doing so ;-)
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sigilstonepublishing/vow-of-honor-rpg/description
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16353.phtml
http://www.geeknative.com/49201/vow-honor-offers-world-full-dishonor/


Hunt the Wicked
You are a Bounty Hunter, sworn to hunt the wicked, keep the peace, and prevent the ire and retribution of your people's master.

Three sentient species live under the terrifying rule of the Archon - an incomprehensibly powerful organism capable of consuming stars. All civilizations that have expanded beyond their system must face the Great Filter's crucible and be judged. Only three have been deemed fit to avoid extinction.
As a Hunter, you've been entrusted with meting retribution upon the corrupt and the vile. Keep your guns loaded, your blades sharp, and your insight keen, or else risk the Archon's calamitous judgment upon us all. 

Hunt the Wicked is a tabletop roleplaying game focusing on Bounty Hunters: peacekeepers, gunslingers, saviors, and assassins, the heroes and mercenaries that go after the bad guys. They're here to save the galaxy, and make a profit while doing it.

Inspired by Blade Runner, Saga, Cowboy Bebop, Star Wars, Mass Effect, Guardians of the Galaxy, Steve Perry's Matador series, and a whole heap of Westerns.

Read the blurb from the Kickstarter for a more detailed description
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sigilstonepublishing/hunt-the-wicked-rpg/description

Both games use the same system, with a few names changed to fit the Hunt the Wicked setting. They use a d6 pool to resolve tasks, and similar to the 26 system used in Metamorphosis Alpha, your skill competence determines what numbers on each d6 are a success.

What I also like about these games because, before you create characters, everyone gets together and creates the setting, or more accurately their spin on the base setting. Once this is done you create characters that will work with this slant on the setting.

For example, in Hunt the Wicked, do you want to undertake missions that involved assassinations ? Do you want to overthrow "corrupt" governments, or destroy system spanning criminal syndicates ?? Or do you just want to hunt down criminals and get a paycheck ?

For example, Vow of Honor, are you trying to build a new Enclave out in a frontier town?
Is there a terrible despot proclaiming himself to be a god-king and enslaving half the population? 
Are you assigned to explore and retrieve valuable information and technology from a nearby Forebear Ruin? 

I final point regarding Vow of Honor, you follow the Tenets of Honor but this does not make you a goody two shoes, just honorable, not the same thing at all ;-)

That's about all for this week, next week I hope to have Mutant Year Zero up, and hopefully a couple of others.

Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition

Now for a bit of Science Fiction or Science Fantasy or, probably best classed as, Science Horror Fantasy ;-)

Ok, instead of trying to explain it all, here is a decent review that explains what you get, mostly
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product_reviews_info.php?&reviews_id=130385&products_id=151831

It is another Kickstarter I backed and there is a huge, and I mean huge, amount of material coming down the pipeline for Mutant Chronicles. That means, that although I really like the game, I am not looking to play it in the short term.

I have read a review from a fan of the original (1st & 2nd Ed) rules, but I think the reviewer was looking back with rose coloured glasses. To me it is a more complete game than any of the original editions, with a innovative game system, the Momentum System.

Have a look at it if you are interested but I have to put it on the back burner while I await the extra material. Not that I really have to, I just prefer to ;-)

Clockwork Dominion

Time for a little steampunk ......

The Magisterium taught us that we live within the Great Clockmaker’s orderly creation, an intricate world which shows the glory of the Divine in its perfect symmetry. Science has taught us to understand this creation and harness its power through steel and steam, creating the majesty of civilization, a clockwork of our own. The alchemists taught us that the very fabric of creation could be broken down and reformed in ways limited only by our imaginations. Explorers have mapped the globe, and spiritualists have mapped the realms beyond it. Yet, however bright the light of human accomplishment can shine, the shadow it casts still hides what most refuse to see: this Clockwork, so diligently created by God and man, was constructed from chaos … and the chaos wants it back.

Clockwork: Dominion uses an intuitive card-based mechanic, a non-linear initiative system that allows combatants to act at any moment, and a robust social conflict system to push intrigue to the heart of your story. Players take the role of exceptional individuals within the British Empire of 1896 as it strives to maintain tradition in the face of scientific advancement, powerful mystical practices, and the threat of the Pontus—the primordial chaos which is slowly reclaiming creation. 


Clockwork Dominion is yet another Kickstarter I backed, under the name Clockwork Empire, and is definitely one of the better ones. Some fine short fiction scattered about the rule book is very evocative of setting and helps set the scene.

The rules book comes in at hefty 330 pages pages:
Welcome to Clockwork 18 pages
Clockwork Society (background material) 26 pages
Cosmology (more background) 18 pages
Rules & Systems 40 pages
Character Creation 76 pages
Accouterments & Technology 36 pages
Transcendent Powers 40 pages
The remainder is GM stuff

As you can see Character Creation takes up the biggest chuck of pages and is quite intricate but pretty straight forward with lots of choices and consequences. It creates quite complete and individual characters, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Now, pretty obviously, you are not going to sit down and create a character in 10 minutes, and it would be better for it to be a group effort, but it is a very interesting system.

You can pick from four races each with its unique abilities and bonuses:
1. Pure Human 98+% of the population
or the "corrupted" races
2. Beastmen - Humans that have animal body parts grafted on to them.
3. Changelings - Fey blooded
4. Nephilim - Descendants of the Grigori, a choir of guardian angels.
Each of the three corrupted races has many options within them.

CHARACTER CREATION IN TEN STEPS
1 Choose a Bloodline: Is your character a pure mortal, or does she descend from a corrupted
ancestry? Choose a bloodline, record its bonuses, blessings, and curses.

2 Choose a Pursuit: How does your character choose to act against the Pontus, and how does that affect her core nature, motivations, and personality? Choose one pursuit, record its bonuses.

3 Choose a Background: What trade, lifestyle, or situation of birth influenced your character
the most? Choose a background, record its bonuses.

4 Assign Aptitudes: What are your character’s core competencies? Assign 5 ranks to aptitudes.

5 Assign Skills: What skills has your character learned? Assign 12 ranks of skills.

6 Choose Assets and Liabilities: Does your character have any special social advantages or disadvantages, fiscal resources or debts, or other benefits or complications? Choose a number of assets determined by your chosen background. Any character may choose up to two liabilities, gaining an additional asset for each one taken.

7 Choose Affinities: What are the things, people, or ideologies that drive your character to do what she does? Place three ranks into at least two different Affinities.

8 Choose Reputations: For what behaviors, adventures, or events is your character known? Place three ranks in at least two Reputations.

9 Choose Starting Accoutrements: What special gear and accoutrements does your character own?

10 Finishing Touches: Calculate common derived traits and get her ready for play.

The Game Rules
The overall mechanic for everything from task resolution to Social conflict is pretty straight forward, add all applicable modifiers, subtract the difficulty and draw a card, if you get a value of +1 or better you succeed, otherwise you fail (with some exceptions). There are varying levels of success and failure, but that's it in a nut shell. Most other elements of the game are fairly basic, each character has a class, aptitudes, skills, etc.. However there are a few parts that are fairly unique, for example reputation, affinities and dispositions, which all have mechanical effects on Social conflicts. 

Players may spend Purpose to take narrative control at various times.


Here is a youtube video that explains the basic mechanics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMbzu13xp8Y

There is till more extras heading down the road from the Kickstarter......

In conclusion if you are interested in a Steampunk Gothic Horror setting I would strongly recommend looking at Clockwork Dominion, it rattles, rolls and hisses :)

Better Angels by Greg Stolze

Better Angels is a very interesting game with a strong roleplaying element. Well thought out, great premise, and should be a blast to play.


That is the eye candy but the game is so much more, characters are ordinary people processed by a Demon (the demon being created by the player on your left). This Demon grants you awesome, evil, superpowers - half of which you pick and half by the player on your left. Your job is to keep your Demon "happy" by going occasionally all EEEEVIL! (Comic Book Style) while not going actually evil. In return you can you get to use the Demon's powers.

Go too far into evil and your Demon will physically drag you down to Hell, which has really earned its bad rep. Be good or mostly good and you can try to exorcise your Demon, losing all your Superpowers, going back to your boring ordinary live and probably being arrested for all the crimes you committed. So your job is to walk the fine line between being to good or going all evil. To help you along the way the player on your left is whispering in your ear that EEEVIL has its advantages.

Better Angels is power by O.R.E. (One Roll Engine), a very good d10 dice pool system.

It does not end there. A full campaign, well fullish campaign of ten adventures has now been released to go with a game. Everything you could ever want to get started ;-)

Dream Arc actively support the game with a large number of online tips & tricks as well as downloads, for example

http://arcdream.com/home/2013/06/better-angels-tips-playing-better-demons/
http://arcdream.com/home/2013/05/instant-adventures-for-better-angels/
http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/tremble-before-my-awesome-wait-let-me-try-that-again-a-quickn-dirty-review-of-better-angels.5584/

Metamorphosis Alpha 5th Edition - Signal Fire Games

This new edition of Metamorphosis Alpha was funded by Kickstarter and, although there is nothing that new as regards setting, it features a completely new game system, System 26 by Jamie Chambers.

As you may or may not know MA is set on the Starship Warden, a massive Ark style spaceship, built to be indestructible (Titanic anyone ?) until it ran into an unforeseen circumstance. As characters you play, primitive, survivors of the cataclysm that has engulfed the good ship Warden.

System 26 uses a d6 dice pool system, where you can usually, except in extraordinary conditions, roll no more than 5 dice. Successes are gained by rolling 3+ on easy difficulty, 4+ on normal difficulty and 5+ on hard difficulty. You only need one success to achieve a marginal result and more successes result in greater success at the task. A very simple, and I think, great system.

As a character you have the choice of being Pure Breed Human, Mutated Human, Mutated Animal or Mutated Plant. Each has some basic Basics, all Mutant characters start with mutations (more good mutations if you wish to take a bad mutation). All characters also have 19 Traits (Skills) all initially valued at 2d6. You can raise 1 Trait to Amazing (+3d), 2 to Good (+2d), 2 to Competent (+1d), 2 to Hopeless (-2d) and 3 to Weak (-1d). You can also pick Qualities which are specialized skills that can add (Talent) or subtract (Liability) dice from a Trait roll.

Like SotDL you can pick your Traits (+ and -) and Mutations or roll randomly if you are a follower of Chaos theory ;-)

All mutations have a dice value and you get to pick or roll for. You can start with 6d worth of beneficial mutations and you have the option of taking up to 4d defects to gain an equal number of extra beneficial mutations. Extra mutations (+and -) are also picked up as you go along.

There is lots of pretty nifty tech hanging around as long as you can work out how to use it ;-)

Last words of Slobbo the Barbarian "Oh, this funny box like thing has started making this ticking sound when I pulled out this bit, that's nice ......." 

On my shortlist (which is a pretty long list) of future games to try................

http://geekdad.com/2015/07/new-metamorphosis-alpha/

Shadow of the Demon Lord

Shadow of the Demon Lord by Robert J Schwaib http://schwalbentertainment.com/

This game was a Kickstarter project I backed and I am very please I did so :)

Unusually for a Kickstarter the main rulebook came out on time and is very nicely presented. As is suggested by the title SotDL is a fantasy horror setting, but as with many things about this game, the amount of horror can be dialed up, down and sideways according to the group's preferences.

The rules are a mixture of Dragon Age, D&D (in all its editions) simplified, with many unique elements added in. As it stands, the basic rules use a d20 to resolve challenges and combats, If I was to run or play this game I would ditch the d20 and replace it with 3d6, which I much prefer and would require only the barest minimum change to the system. For example, on occasion, scoring 20+ on the d20 roll plus modifiers gives you an enhanced result, and scoring 0- can have a detrimental effect. Changing this to 18+ and 2- when using 3d6 is such a simple solution. That being said, SotDL does not really have "Critical" or "Botch" results in most cases only in a few in special circumstances.

Dice rolls are modified by the controlling attribute and by boons and banes. Boons are positive modifiers and Banes are negative modifiers. Boons add 1d6 to a roll and Banes Subtract 1d6 from a roll but also cancel each other out, so, for example, if a roll has 3 boons and 2 banes you end up with 1 boon added to your base roll. Also if you have 3 boons on a roll, you would roll an extra 3d6 but only add the highest rolled to your base roll.

Character creation is very nicely done. There are six Ancestries (races) to choose from; Human (of course), Changeling, Clockwork, Dwarf, Goblin and Orc. Each Ancestory has its basic attributes, which you can make limited modifications to. Each character also has some basic story elements which you can pick from, or roll for or devise your own or mix and match as you like. These elements comprise Background, Personality, Religion, Age, Build and Appearance. Some Ancestries also have extra background details. Added to this each character has at least two professions which you can pick or roll for to give your character a idea of what he is good at.

All in all it provides a very comprehensive "background" for a starting character, without the usual angst that can be found in other systems.

All characters start at Level 0, after your first adventure the group advances to level 1. At level 1 you get to pick a Novice path (Magician, Priest, Rogue or Warrior) very similar to how Dragon Age works. Each path gives you basic attribute bumps etc.. which you have choices to make. At level 2 you advance in your Novice Path.

At level 3 you pick an Expert Path, there are 16 in total. Each Novice Path has 4 Expert Paths but you don't have to choose a path related to your Novice Path, you can choose any Expert Path you like!

At Level 4 you get Benefits from your Ancestory.

At Level 5 you have the choice of taking a Master Path (64 choices) or taking another Expert Path.

At Level 6 you improve your Expert Path

At Level 7 you improve your Master Path

At Level 8 you improve your Novice Path

At Level 9 you improve your Expert Path

At level 10 you improve your Master Path

There are a few variations on this but, basically, this is how your character advances by levels. And as you can see, there are plenty of options you can take along the way. This should suit players who like to plan their characters advancement to the last detail and those who take what comes, when it comes.

Further on advancing levels, unlike most RPGs, these are no experience points awarded and no individual levels in fact. Your group has a level and the groups level increases when it passes a major milestone. This means if your character dies, or maybe you just want to change it, your new character starts the Groups level.

For those that like magic, there are lots and lots of spells and traditions to choose from. What first looked like, to me, the typical D&D memorizing spell table limit, turned out to be a much neater arrangement. Depending on your Power (a Stat) the table tells you how many times you can cast each spells you know, between rests. For example, your Power is 2, means you cast each level 0 you know a maximum of 3 times, each level 1 spell 2 time and each level 3 spell once, before you have to rest. Also after resting all you have to do is meditate for 1 minute to refresh all your spells.

Well that is about it from me, if you have any questions just ask :)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16505.phtml
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16513.phtml

Once and Future Games

Being my first post I will tell you what I plan to Blog about. 

The Swan Street Recalcitrant will concern itself with new Role Playing Games, new Boardgames and, maybe, new Wargames, I purchase, purloin, back on Kickstarter and generally get my hands on ;-)

I will mostly, at least initially, be concentrating on new games that look like fun to play, with interesting backgrounds, with basically simple mechanics, which I may inflict on my gaming groups at a possible future date.

Initially I will post a link to this blog among my players, ex-players and friends. If you are interested I will be happy to see your interest or comments, if not then you can just ignore it.

Anyway, enough of this flim flam let's get on to the first game I want to talk about ....