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Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine It looks like the old thread has vanished into darkness between the Kickstarter and today, so I'll make another to let everybody know that the ePub version of Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine has arrived! (EDIT EDIT EDIT: And now in print and PDF as well!) For those of you who don't know, Chuubo is a diceless game of pastoral adventure by Jenna Katerin Moran, author of Nobilis. Chuubo has a number of genre modes, but the most prominent ones focus on heart-warming adventure in the mold of Studio Ghibli, Revolutionary Girl Utena, or that other show, the one with the pastel horses. It's also surprisingly good for Homestuck games, it turns out. I worked really hard to make the ePub version of this game available, so I hope it convinces people that ePub can be a useful layout for gaming publications. Meanwhile, layout is going forward on the traditional version of the corebook and the first supplement, Fortitude: By the Docks of Big Lake, and there will hopefully be more news on that shortly. Rand Brittain fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Aug 8, 2015 |
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Apr 7, 2014 01:24
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Also there is a novel set in Chuubo's universe, Fable of the Swan. It's well written and brain warping in the best way possible. Basically Town is strange and wonderful and chock full of hooks for interesting stories.
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Apr 7, 2014 02:53
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Rand Brittain posted:I worked really hard to make the ePub version of this game available, so I hope it convinces people that ePub can be a useful layout for gaming publications. Meanwhile, layout is going forward on the traditional version of the corebook and the first supplement, Fortitude: By the Docks of Big Lake, and there will hopefully be more news on that shortly. I got the ePub thinking that was interchangeable for pdf, since that's how I hear it from other people. Didn't realize there was an actual ePub format that wasn't compatible with my pdf readers. Anyway, I downloaded an ePub reader since my pdf readers weren't liking it, but the interface for it is a little clunky. (And it has a nasty habit of cutting pages off in the middle of lists.) Mind sharing if you have any favorite ePub readers? On that note, you said that the layout still isn't finalized? Is this the final version of the ePub then? How's it going to be different from the other versions of the book? Hopefully the game a few other goons and I were going to do with our preview pdfs will get back up and maybe actually start now that this is out.
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Apr 7, 2014 20:50
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Krysmphoenix posted:I got the ePub thinking that was interchangeable for pdf, since that's how I hear it from other people. Didn't realize there was an actual ePub format that wasn't compatible with my pdf readers. Anyway, I downloaded an ePub reader since my pdf readers weren't liking it, but the interface for it is a little clunky. (And it has a nasty habit of cutting pages off in the middle of lists.) Mind sharing if you have any favorite ePub readers? Calibre has a fairly decent epub reader, although the best way to read ePub is on a tablet or dedicated eReader. iBooks does just fine for iOS, and Aldiko or Mantano works fine for Android. quote:On that note, you said that the layout still isn't finalized? Is this the final version of the ePub then? How's it going to be different from the other versions of the book? The ePub is final unless somebody finds a mistake. Print and PDF layouts are still in progress.
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Apr 7, 2014 21:31
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The forthcoming PDF has more graphical shininess (page backgrounds, art, fancy boxes), in the style of a print RPG---because it's the version we'll be printing---while the ePub offers resizable text and is easier to use on small-screen devices. I'm *intending* to give a discount on the PDF for people who've bought the ePub-only version, but I can't promise that because I don't know for sure that I have the technology. (I'm pretty sure that's how DriveThru bundling works, and I'm pretty sure that I can send a $10-off-the-PDF coupon to ePub-only purchasers if it's not, but I don't know for sure.) Jenna Moran fucked around with this message at 05:32 on Apr 8, 2014 |
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Apr 8, 2014 05:29
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Oh crap! I nearly forgot this existed after missing out on the kickstarter like a dumbass. I'll just sit here and hit f5 until that PDF goes live to make sure I'm on the ball this time.  
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Apr 14, 2014 14:56
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So I somehow missed that the epub was out until now,. It looks really nice Rand, kudos. I skimmed the beta when it was released with the KS but now I'm reading ti more thoroughly and really like what I see. I'm kind of curious for the people who have run it, have you mostly been starting off miraculous or non miraculous? It seems like depending on the genre it shouldn't make that much of a difference, the ability to turn into a giant snake doesn't help you ask that special someone to the dance after all. On an unrelated note for some reason I am kind of tempted to take the rules and throw them into a D&D setting just to see what the players end up doing.
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Apr 29, 2014 13:42
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I'm glad that people are reporting satisfaction with the ePub; I spent a lot of time on it and it's really my favored way of reading gaming books (there just aren't many high-quality ePubs being made right now). Hopefully now that the styling is established it won't take me as long to finish the Fortitude ePub. Meanwhile, I tend to emphasise the mortal side of things; the core of the engine is in the XP Actions and you don't need any kind of powers for that. I feel like I'm in the minority of players there, though.
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Apr 29, 2014 14:20
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Rand Brittain posted:I'm glad that people are reporting satisfaction with the ePub; I spent a lot of time on it and it's really my favored way of reading gaming books (there just aren't many high-quality ePubs being made right now). Hopefully now that the styling is established it won't take me as long to finish the Fortitude ePub. It's really mostly characterization; the powers and even the Skills aren't really there to let you do stuff but to *define* that you can do stuff, and what stuff's easy, what's hard, what's tiring, what's trivial, and what kinds of things you do to push past your limitations. You could probably do pretty well with nothing but the XP rules, ignoring even the mortal Skills, except that it'd go squishy in that standard narrative-rules-only gaming failure-mode way where the structure of the world drifts away and character abilities fluctuate based on plot and it starts turning into Lost or new Battlestar Galactica instead of Babylon 5. I think. Eventually.
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May 2, 2014 04:46
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So I finished the book and had a couple questions. First with genre, is the intention that you will switch this around during play? For instance let's say we are playing an Epic Fantasy game, and after fighting a riding of Excrucians the characters go to Little Island for a well earned vacation for a week. Would we just switch the genre to pastoral for a week? The second question is background wise. I only have Nobilis 2nd edition so I'm not sure hwo much has changed but is the intention that Nobilis is canon in Chuubos? Like, is Ananda still the Imperator of the age to come, and was Lord Entropy still cursed that everything he was directly involved with (like the school before his death) would become corrupt?
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May 10, 2014 16:27
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neaden posted:So I finished the book and had a couple questions. First with genre, is the intention that you will switch this around during play? For instance let's say we are playing an Epic Fantasy game, and after fighting a riding of Excrucians the characters go to Little Island for a well earned vacation for a week. Would we just switch the genre to pastoral for a week? Generally speaking, you'll stay in the same genre for the entire campaign, although I guess if you wanted to switch there's nothing to stop you. The exception is The Road of Trials, which you'll never play a whole campaign in, that you can switch into when things are about to get really rough for a while. It's the only temporary game mode and it's one that you'll use when you're shipwrecked on a desert island, fighting an extended boss fight, or dealing with trauma too severe to be friended away with a few purple actions. quote:The second question is background wise. I only have Nobilis 2nd edition so I'm not sure hwo much has changed but is the intention that Nobilis is canon in Chuubos? Like, is Ananda still the Imperator of the age to come, and was Lord Entropy still cursed that everything he was directly involved with (like the school before his death) would become corrupt? This is an area of deliberate uncertainty. (That said, I wouldn't be too certain that Entropy I's rules still apply—the events that led to the prince of evil judgment exploding and being replaced by a deity whose schtick seems to be "even evil things can be worthy of love" has probably wrought some changes there.)
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May 10, 2014 21:55
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If Nobilis just didn't click for me at all, is this game still worth checking out?
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May 10, 2014 23:23
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SALT CURES HAM posted:If Nobilis just didn't click for me at all, is this game still worth checking out? They're quite different in practice. A lot of people looked at Nobilis and said "But what do I do with it?" Chuubo technically uses the same mechanics resolution system but the important part of the rules is a giant engine designed to answer the question "so what should happen next?"
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May 10, 2014 23:28
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Honestly, the mechanics didn't really stick out as noteworthy to me when I skimmed it, that's not even what I'm talking about. My main issue with Nobilis was that the fluff and the overall feel of the thing just really really did not appeal to me. At the risk of putting this rudely (in an attempt to put it concisely), it disappeared up its own rear end very quickly, never to be seen by humankind again. Really, my question was more "how similar are the two in feel," not "how similar are the two in mechanics." What I'm seeing makes Chuubo's sound like it'd be more my speed, I'm just kinda treading with caution. SALT CURES HAM fucked around with this message at 12:03 on May 11, 2014 |
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May 11, 2014 12:01
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Keep in mind this is coming from the perspective of someone who liked Nobilis and Chuubo's. Chuubo's is a bit more down to earth, and more directed. It is more obvious what, in general, your characters are going to do. Whereas in Nobilis it can kind of be "OK, I'm the power of Wasps, now what do I do?" in Chuubo's you have your Quests picked out, which are essentially what you want to accomplish like Avenge your Fathers Death or Open up the Best Tea Shop in Town. The writing style is still similar I think, but overall clearer.
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May 11, 2014 15:46
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It's worth bearing in mind that Chuubo's is linked to Nobilis v3, which is a bit closer to reality than Nobilis v2 (ie, the GWB) was.
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May 13, 2014 04:02
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In other news, it looks like the Chuubo PDF is two chapters of layout drafts away from being sent to Dedicated Friends for test-reading.
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Jun 16, 2014 18:14
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...and, the almost-finished PDF codes are being sent out to backers!
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Jun 27, 2014 21:15
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How do the backers feel about the game and the PDF now that they have some time to look at it?
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Jul 4, 2014 15:42
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My feelings upon opening the PDF, and seeing how good the layout and art are: 
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Jul 4, 2014 15:50
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FewtureMD posted:My feelings upon opening the PDF, and seeing how good the layout and art are: I have the ebook version, but I felt that it was a bit hard to parse. Do you feel this version's layout makes it easier to read in comparison?
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Jul 4, 2014 16:06
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Okay, review time, I guess. I definitely feel that the layout/art version helps me parse the game better, and more importantly, helps me sell the game to newcomers. The fact that I can point to images of what life in Town is like is great, helped along by incredibly solid art direction. It's much easier to get across the idea that this is a game where interpersonal interactions can be just as important as combat, if not more so. (I think Principal Entropy tends to look down on fisticuffs) Add in the fact that the various Genre Icons are colorcoded, as are any boxes dealing with one, and I can say I genuinely regret not springing for a physical copy.
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Jul 4, 2014 16:31
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FewtureMD posted:Okay, review time, I guess. I definitely feel that the layout/art version helps me parse the game better, and more importantly, helps me sell the game to newcomers. The fact that I can point to images of what life in Town is like is great, helped along by incredibly solid art direction. It's much easier to get across the idea that this is a game where interpersonal interactions can be just as important as combat, if not more so. (I think Principal Entropy tends to look down on fisticuffs) Add in the fact that the various Genre Icons are colorcoded, as are any boxes dealing with one, and I can say I genuinely regret not springing for a physical copy. Were physical copies limited to the KS? Or will they be sold later through digital services? If you happen to know, I mean.
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Jul 4, 2014 16:35
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Covok posted:Were physical copies limited to the KS? Or will they be sold later through digital services? If you happen to know, I mean. It's going to be print-on-demand through DriveThru.
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Jul 4, 2014 17:01
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Rand Brittain posted:It's going to be print-on-demand through DriveThru. Any announced release date?
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Jul 4, 2014 17:59
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Covok posted:Any announced release date? I'm afraid it's just "when it's done," although hopefully it won't be very long. We still need to finish the ToC and index, incorporate any corrections pointed out to us by beta readers, and get the final cover drawing from Filippo. As far as I know Jenna plans to activate PoD as soon as the files are ready.
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Jul 4, 2014 18:03
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FewtureMD posted:Okay, review time, I guess. I definitely feel that the layout/art version helps me parse the game better, and more importantly, helps me sell the game to newcomers. The fact that I can point to images of what life in Town is like is great, helped along by incredibly solid art direction. It's much easier to get across the idea that this is a game where interpersonal interactions can be just as important as combat, if not more so. (I think Principal Entropy tends to look down on fisticuffs) Add in the fact that the various Genre Icons are colorcoded, as are any boxes dealing with one, and I can say I genuinely regret not springing for a physical copy. So how does the game differ from Noblis? And how's the art compared to Nobilis 3E?
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Jul 5, 2014 04:38
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To me, the major difference between Chuubo and Nobilis is that of scale. In Nobilis, you're playing the embodiment of a concept, with all the cosmic power that entails. Meanwhile, in Chuubo, the characters do have supernatural abilities, but nothing nearly on the level of an Imperator. Plus, the world is Nobilis is much more fantastical than Chuubo's Miyazaki-inspired magical realism. As to the art, it's still pretty "anime" akin to Nobilis 3e, but there's a stronger sense of cohesiveness to the various works, in that they all could be from the same place, rather than sort of cobbled together.
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Jul 5, 2014 05:00
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FewtureMD posted:To me, the major difference between Chuubo and Nobilis is that of scale. In Nobilis, you're playing the embodiment of a concept, with all the cosmic power that entails. Meanwhile, in Chuubo, the characters do have supernatural abilities, but nothing nearly on the level of an Imperator. Plus, the world is Nobilis is much more fantastical than Chuubo's Miyazaki-inspired magical realism. As to the art, it's still pretty "anime" akin to Nobilis 3e, but there's a stronger sense of cohesiveness to the various works, in that they all could be from the same place, rather than sort of cobbled together. Also the art isn't complete junk and is presented in a lovely way. No bland tohou ripoffs here. (There's a bit of swiping from Harry Potter but I'm assuming that's intentional)
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Jul 5, 2014 08:13
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Man, reading and talking about Chuubo really makes me sad that the game I was in earlier this summer died out after like, five posts 
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Jul 5, 2014 23:53
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FewtureMD posted:Man, reading and talking about Chuubo really makes me sad that the game I was in earlier this summer died out after like, five posts Well, I have an epub version and I'm sure there are a few others interested on the forums. You could start another one.
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Jul 6, 2014 02:30
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Colour me interested in that. The more I read, the more I feel like I need to see an example of play or actually play it myself to know how this game works or what it's meant to look like. Sadly, I'm the only one in my RL gaming group who backed it and the only one who would be remotely interested in running it. Jenna and/or Rand Brittain, I don't suppose there's an Actual Play or something out there on the internet that I could be linked to?
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Jul 6, 2014 13:43
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I'm interested in playing Chuubos as well, just so I can feel out the gameplay a bit.
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Jul 6, 2014 15:55
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Currently playing the Sort-of-Similar Nobilis 3e, and a naked Julian Assange appeared as the Marquis of Exposure. I cannot stop laughing.
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Jul 11, 2014 03:40
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I recently started reading On Such a Full Sea, a novel set in a future post apocalyptic and Chinese colonized America, and it oddly reminds me of Chuubos. Which in turn makes me realize that Chuubo's is post-apocalyptic even if it doesn't have a lot of the things I would normally associate with a post-apocalyptic setting; especially given how pleasant Fortitude is. I think you could do some interesting things with that. Count me in as interested in a potential Chuubos game as well, I might be able to HG as well but I wouldn't be able to promise daily updates or anything.
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Jul 27, 2014 04:21
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neaden posted:I recently started reading On Such a Full Sea, a novel set in a future post apocalyptic and Chinese colonized America, and it oddly reminds me of Chuubos. Which in turn makes me realize that Chuubo's is post-apocalyptic even if it doesn't have a lot of the things I would normally associate with a post-apocalyptic setting; especially given how pleasant Fortitude is. I think you could do some interesting things with that. At some point I considered doing more word-of-mouth advertising about "extremely pleasant post-apocalyptic slice of life" but I was convinced that this might lead to misconceptions.
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Jul 27, 2014 04:30
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Rand Brittain posted:At some point I considered doing more word-of-mouth advertising about "extremely pleasant post-apocalyptic slice of life" but I was convinced that this might lead to misconceptions. I think especially with Immersive Fantasy you could do a lot with it. The book makes refference to the internet still existing, just mostly vanished but you could do the same with TV for isntance. You get a pair of rabbit ears and you can get the news from 5 years ago (or 5 years from now), PPV boxing, teletubbies, etc. Town wouldn't have much of a manufacturing base either, and if trade with the outside is rare you could have a nice hodgepodge of modern and ancient technologies along with jerry-rigged solutions. For some reason speaking of the internet I also like the idea that within Town there is an active BBS community.
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Jul 27, 2014 19:02
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I love the idea in Chuubo as the universe having dissolved into near formless chaos, from which an island of reality has formed, some of the things that touch it find it welcoming and they crystallize into existence and then you wake up on the beach and you've always been from Fortitude. I like to think something aspired to goodness and created Fortitude so the universe would have a second chance and of course some things disagree. There's fodder there for a hopeful game about life after a genteel apocalypse.
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Jul 27, 2014 20:31
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Did anyone ever start another Chuubo game? I finally bought the epub and would like to see it in action.
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Jul 27, 2014 22:54
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ibntumart posted:Did anyone ever start another Chuubo game? I finally bought the epub and would like to see it in action. I don't think so. What kind of game would people be interested in. I think the Immersive Fantasy/Adventure Fantasy/ and Pastoral genres seem to be the most interesting, with quests that push the other way. So a pastoral game with adventurey quests or an adventure fantasy game where you have a quest to build a house or run a teashop.
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Jul 31, 2014 02:55
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