Greg Stolze (Unknown Armies, One Roll Engine) Appreciation Station

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Greg Stolze (Unknown Armies, One Roll Engine) Appreciation Station

Helena P Blavatsky: Oct 17, 2003; onward to victory

Gerund posted:

Actually when you think about it the Industrial Revolution is our precept of "Modern" in our current era. So a lot of the stranger stuff for Adepts would be passed by without a blink, such as carrying around dead bodies or collecting random gee-gaws; eccentric behavior works fine in that setting- which implies that it wouldn't work to serve the themes of UA

While I disagree about the industrial revolution being "modernist" as it predates modernism for the most part (although maybe you mean modern in a different sense), the basic point here is absolutely correct. Adept magic for Unknown Armies is rooted in post-modernist ideology. Trying to port that framework back to a period of time before post-modernism is going to be odd at best and terrible at worst. All in all, it's not a very good idea. Regardless, the rules will handle it just fine.

of course applying post-modernism to pre-modern time periods could itself be said to be pretty post-modern so~

# ¿ May 24, 2010 19:11

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 18:07

Helena P Blavatsky: Oct 17, 2003; onward to victory

Ansob. posted:

I didn't say I wanted to port UA as it is to the Industrial Revolution - what I'd like is a game similar to UA, where you play UA-style mages and try to influence the world, except it's set during the tail end of the Industrial Revolution and not the 90s.

Basically, I want a game that lets me run around defying Victorian European political norms and actively stirring up revolutions just so I can gain a major charge.

What does "UA-style mages" mean to you? Or to anyone in this thread?

# ¿ May 24, 2010 19:36

Helena P Blavatsky: Oct 17, 2003; onward to victory

Attorney at Funk posted:

I just started reading the Unknown Armies core book, and I really like what I've seen so far, with one exception: why do they have to spell magic with a k

I like to think it's because people who know about magic in Unknown Armies are pretentious and so would pretentiously call it "magick." If it's self-aware then it's okay to me.

# ¿ May 27, 2010 20:10

Helena P Blavatsky: Oct 17, 2003; onward to victory

Ansob. posted:

That sounds super cool. Is the big book that includes the setting stuff available as a .pdf anywhere or is it just sold as a physical product? If the latter then I doubt I'll be able to find it here, but I guess I'll go into Paris at some point and look.

:19bux:

What I like about the default Reign setting is it is more a "fantasy setting" than a "thinly-veiled real-world fantasy analog." It is much less bland than "fantasy middle ages Europe" (or even "fantasy post-WWI Europe," IMO).

# ¿ May 28, 2010 16:52

Helena P Blavatsky: Oct 17, 2003; onward to victory

Ansob. posted:

You can't see a benefit to knowing shoemaking and the associated leatherworking techniques in a fantasy setting?

Maybe if you were a peasant in an actual fantasy setting and not rolling dice around a table, then yeah. But as it is I sure as hell hope more entertaining things are going on in your games than, "oh man I'm going to roll the dice to see how well I cobble things - yeah I fixed the gently caress out of that boot"

That's not to say it's worthless, but it's not really up there with lying or killing jerks with a sword

# ¿ Jun 3, 2010 23:37

Helena P Blavatsky: Oct 17, 2003; onward to victory

Ansob. posted:

Uses for cobbling:
- teach soldiers how to spare the soles of their boots or design better boots, allowing them to march longer;
- make some designer shoes as a gift for a d�butante;
- know how to safely boil leather so you can eat it.

And there are bound to be other uses. I mean, sure, it's a little narrow, but in a military campaign it'd be reasonably useful.

As useful as:

- lying to the soldiers to sneak out the macguffin you've nabbed from their capitol?
- lying to the soldiers to stoke their rage, causing them march longer, fight harder, and/or stay happy longer?
- lying to a cobbler to get him to do all that stuff you proposed but for free or on the cheap?

However you're totally right, it could certainly be useful. It's just still not as useful as a real skill, though. Nothing wrong with that. Gives it niche appeal.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2010 01:12

Helena P Blavatsky: Oct 17, 2003; onward to victory

FMguru posted:

The original high-concept "elevator pitch" for UA was "Tim Powers meets James Ellroy and Quentin Tarrantino." So, yeah, you're obligated to pick it up.

Reign has a short $10 handbook edition that just came out that's missing the (delightfully weird) default fantasy setting (but has all of the system material). Reign Enchiridion Edition or something like that.

Something that I appreciate about Enchiridion is that it's actually available from distributors so you can order it through game stores. $10 isn't much, but I like to support the store where I play so I ended up buying it. The normal Reign book can only be ordered online, as far as I know.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2010 06:58

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 18:07

Helena P Blavatsky: Oct 17, 2003; onward to victory

Pope Guilty posted:

Holy poo poo, look at that lineup. Stolze, Ken Hite, Dennis Detwiler, Monte Cook, Adam Glancy, and John "holy poo poo it's John loving Tynes" Tynes. It's like, if you were putting together a dream team to resurrect TUO, this is who you would choose.

Unfortunately it looks like they're going to be using Todd Shearer's art for it, at least in part. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I think his "poser models with photoshop filters" motif is just hideous. Really brought the quality of the new Delta Green book down.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2010 03:06

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Greg Stolze (Unknown Armies, One Roll Engine) Appreciation Station