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Tulul posted:
Hey, a Fantasy Games Unlimited joint! Back in the late-70s-early 80s when FGU was a thing, they had a rep for three factors guaranteed to be in any of their games: 1) Cool rear end settings 2) Extremely detailed and ridiculously complex rule sets 3) Insane amounts of typographical errors. They published some amazing games like Villains and Vigilantes the first real superhero game (sorry, Superhero:2044 was not really a game), Aftermath (stupidly complex post-holocaust), Bushido (chambara Japan action), Daredevils (1930s pulp fiction), Flashing Blades (all musketeers, all the time), Psi-World (mutants in hiding in a fascist alternate North America), Year of the Phoenix (a game designed around a metaplot twist), Space Opera (This ruleset could handle pretty any kind of space fantasy you could name and is one of the worst proofread things I have ever seen), Other Suns (furries in space), and others.
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Nov 1, 2021 03:16
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:Hey, a Fantasy Games Unlimited joint! Back in the late-70s-early 80s when FGU was a thing, they had a rep for three factors guaranteed to be in any of their games: Other games included Gangster! (roaring 20s gangsters), Wild West (westerns), Freedom Fighters (Red Dawn with the numbers filed off), Land of the Rising Sun (C&S goes to Japan, the rare early RPG written by a woman [Lee Gold]), Merc (modern brushfire wars, including a terrible Rhodesia supplement), and still more. Note that all of these games had their own idiosyncratic, individual, mutually-incompatible core systems.
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Nov 1, 2021 03:45
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I'm pretty sure Education is meant to apply that total amount spread out among stats, as a means of customizing or fleshing out a character
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Nov 1, 2021 03:57
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FMguru posted:Don't forget Chivalry & Sorcery (SCA nerds rewrite D&D) and Bunnies & Burroughs (Watership Down with the serial numbers filed off), both of which are important early RPGs. I also left out War of the Sky Cities, the first Flash Gordon RPG, Skull and Crossbones, Down Styphon (a Lord Kelvin of Otherwhen RPG), Archworld, Bireme, Lands of Adventure...it just keeps going, and I have most of them.
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Nov 1, 2021 08:27
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Oh hell yeah, I love games like Privateers and Gentlemen that definitely have Takes about Social Standing. This is gonna rule.
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Nov 1, 2021 10:18
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Definitely looking forward to more Privateers and Gentlemen, if only to see what a 32-pounder I dodged by deciding to use Beat to Quarters as the system for my upcoming pirate game.
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Nov 1, 2021 11:24
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This is like finding out the the writer of the Aubery-Maturin novels was a fake irishman who was like "I don't understand why me people wouldn't love the English Crown"
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Nov 1, 2021 20:41
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Tulul posted:
What seemed to me the intuitive reading is that INT and Social Level gives you that many free skill points to place in different skills, not a fixed amount added to all of them. Kaza42 posted:I'm pretty sure Education is meant to apply that total amount spread out among stats, as a means of customizing or fleshing out a character So, ah, that PoontifexMacksimus fucked around with this message at 21:13 on Nov 1, 2021 |
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Nov 1, 2021 20:54
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Unfortunately, none of the NPCs in the books have skills, so I can't try to backsolve the math. This game doesn't have a particularly robust online community, either, so Google hasn't been helpful. I suspect the intention might have been to only allow you to apply it to the various skills that start with abysmal ratings, but I have no idea. For the sake of this character creation example, we're just going to ignore it, and allow our seaman to continue to be hopeless at Biology.
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FMguru posted:Merc (modern brushfire wars, including a terrible Rhodesia supplement) You mean the totally apolitical Rhodesia supplement with only accidental and unintentional political connotations, that is dedicated to the memory of the Crippled Eagles and those who answered Rhodesia's cry for help? I don't see what's so terrible about a book literally dedicated to the footsoldiers of white supremacy, working to maintain the dominance of one of the most nakedly colonial governments of the decolonization period, for money and kicks.
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Nov 1, 2021 21:07
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LatwPIAT posted:You mean the totally apolitical Rhodesia supplement with only accidental and unintentional political connotations, that is dedicated to the memory of the Crippled Eagles and those who answered Rhodesia's cry for help? Someone needs to do an F&F of this if it doesn't have one already.
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Nov 1, 2021 21:09
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Honestly, no one needs to subject themselves or us to that poo poo, actually.
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Nov 1, 2021 21:15
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I swear someone has covered it, or at least the horrible parts. Or I'm crazy.
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Nov 1, 2021 21:26
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:Down Styphon (a Lord Kelvin of Otherwhen RPG) Wikipedia posted:Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen is a 1965 science fiction novel by American writer H. Beam Piper; Huh, sounds a lot like an RPG we saw in the thread 
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Nov 1, 2021 21:28
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FMguru posted:Don't forget Chivalry & Sorcery (SCA nerds rewrite D&D) and Bunnies & Burroughs (Watership Down with the serial numbers filed off), both of which are important early RPGs. Plus my favorite FGU product, Starships and Spacemen -- a thinly disguised Star Trek four years before the officially licensed Trek RPG.
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Nov 1, 2021 21:32
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LatwPIAT posted:You mean the totally apolitical Rhodesia supplement with only accidental and unintentional political connotations, that is dedicated to the memory of the Crippled Eagles and those who answered Rhodesia's cry for help? A smarter person than I could probably string together how one of the most evil actions an individual person can do (treating the brutalization of occupied peoples as a boy's life adventure) with something something recurring themes of colonialism in RPGs. Possibly, the smarter person would demonstrate their intelligence by not attempting doing so, but I digress
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Nov 1, 2021 21:59
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One could go on about the colonialism in RPGs, but that's honestly beyond the scope of a review thread I think.
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Nov 1, 2021 23:09
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Robindaybird posted:One could go on about the colonialism in RPGs, but that's honestly beyond the scope of a review thread I think. In general, possibly, but in specific in a game that's being reviewed or as part of a review, I think it could entirely be relevant!
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Nov 1, 2021 23:13
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wiegieman posted:I swear someone has covered it, or at least the horrible parts. Or I'm crazy.   It's not the most horrible thing in there but I will always laugh at the idea of an "unofficial" embassy, which rather completely and comprehensively misses the entire point of the entire system of embassies and consulates.
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Nov 1, 2021 23:24
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"stemming Communist aggression" here meaning "enforcing explicit white supremacy over a black majority"
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Nov 1, 2021 23:31
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Kaza42 posted:I'm pretty sure Education is meant to apply that total amount spread out among stats, as a means of customizing or fleshing out a character gently caress, I should have known someone would take one look at it and figure it out.  The perils of staring too long at old gaming manuals. I'll update the post in a bit.
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Nov 1, 2021 23:58
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Mors Rattus posted:"stemming Communist aggression" here meaning "enforcing explicit white supremacy over a black majority" There's a history section which talks about how poor little Rhodesia had a Totally Legit Plan For Universal Suffrage, but the mean Britain and US were rushing them which would have turned the country over to the Communist Hordes. Which is complete nonsense, and Ian Smith's government in fact suppressed black voting rights after the UDI because they were a bunch of racist shits. It's one of those long-lived lies about Rhodesia, that they were actually going to let black people vote, it was just going to take time (Campaign Book Rhodesia says a ten-year-plan), and if only Britain and the black population had been more patient... Keep in mind that Zambia ('Northern Rhodesia') and Malawi ('Nyasaland'), part of the same colonial administration as Zimbabwe ('Southern Rhodesia'), had managed nearly instantaneous transition to majority rule in 1964: the idea that Ian Smith somehow needed a decade and couldn't get it done in the fourteen years of South Rhodesia's independent existence is ridiculous. The Rhodesian elite made themselves rich off massive farms worked by poor black men, which made majority rule untenable because it would mean a democracy that could listen to the Zimbabwean people's demand for land redistribution. It basically tries to buy legitimacy for Ian Smith's regime of terror by saying that, actually, if it hadn't been abandoned by the west, we could have avoided the mess with Mugabe's genocidal communist dictatorship. It's your fault, Americans and Brits, that Zimbabwe isn't a liberal democracy now. If only you'd trusted us to know better than the black Zimbabweans clamouring for self-rule how to build democracy, oh, if only, then everything could be perfect. gently caress that poo poo. The author also manages to translate FRELIMO (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique) as "Black Nationalist Liberation Front" which really tells you how he's angling these things.
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Nov 2, 2021 00:08
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Lots of things get filed under "stemming Communist aggression", like that time the US helped a military junta murder a million people in Indonesia. That's not a rhetorical million, that's an actual million.
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Nov 2, 2021 00:19
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Libertad! posted:Someone needs to do an F&F of this if it doesn't have one already. I actually have a copy of the main rules and the Rhodesia Supplement. The rules system isn't any better or worse than any other early 80s RPG, but gently caress the politics.
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Nov 2, 2021 01:00
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megane posted:What kind of weird hang-up makes people take clever, memorable characters from beloved children's stories and decide that the best way to represent them is "he can cast Power Word: Stun 2d4 times per day" The same weird hang-up that makes people write/play RPGs in the first place?
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Nov 2, 2021 01:31
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megane posted:What kind of weird hang-up makes people take clever, memorable characters from beloved children's stories and decide that the best way to represent them is "he can cast Power Word: Stun 2d4 times per day" It’s the same hangup that sees people statting up Batman in D&D as level 20+. At that level range, a character can and probably will punch at least a few minor gods in the mouth. Batman’s like an eighth level rogue or something. All he really does is beat up 1HD humans and make good use of his equipment list.
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Nov 2, 2021 01:42
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Pvt.Scott posted:It’s the same hangup that sees people statting up Batman in D&D as level 20+. At that level range, a character can and probably will punch at least a few minor gods in the mouth. Batman’s like an eighth level rogue or something. All he really does is beat up 1HD humans and make good use of his equipment list.
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Nov 2, 2021 02:09
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Tibalt posted:He did fight and (kinda) win against Darkseid a few times, and Darkseid is a New God. I thought he just threatened Darkseid with an anti god gun.
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Nov 2, 2021 04:21
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Mors Rattus posted:Honestly, no one needs to subject themselves or us to that poo poo, actually. I was thinking more of a mini-review, but earlier posters here covered rather succinct points via screenshots. Robindaybird posted:One could go on about the colonialism in RPGs, but that's honestly beyond the scope of a review thread I think. I think that doing a review of recurring themes in various RPGs can be a worthwhile one, although it'll be unorthodox and different than the thread standard. The closest I did to this was when covering Deadlands's Confederacy supplement I showcased other work by the same author in another gameline. Something like that, but more on certain themes or portrayals that pop up in unrelated RPGs.
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Nov 2, 2021 05:34
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Two semi-related news: Mork Bork is soon to come in Cyberpunk flavor as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWZAeR4Km7s Me and Cassa reviewed a Mork Bork miniature game: https://twitter.com/fortifiedniche/status/1455436788688822276
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Nov 2, 2021 08:45
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re: the earlier Fyreslayers thing, the Fyreslayers are pretty universally the least popular faction and the representation issue is probably Exhibit A for why.
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Nov 2, 2021 10:06
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TK_Nyarlathotep posted:re: the earlier Fyreslayers thing, the Fyreslayers are pretty universally the least popular faction and the representation issue is probably Exhibit A for why. Also not a lot of choice in units. I would not mind a Magmaqueen and some other ladies in the next expansion they get.
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Nov 2, 2021 10:36
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TK_Nyarlathotep posted:re: the earlier Fyreslayers thing, the Fyreslayers are pretty universally the least popular faction and the representation issue is probably Exhibit A for why. Well they also all look the same and are expensive to collect (since you need a truckload of hearthguard and they are 5 per box) with is probably bigger reason
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Nov 2, 2021 10:37
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Also reminds people of Fyre fest.
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Nov 2, 2021 10:54
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Don't forget that their newest models are two editions old and just missed the boat on being metal, and some might still be finecast -continues showing Exhibits until the court dies of old age-
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Nov 2, 2021 11:37
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Wait - with ones are finecast? Fyreslayer range is all plastic from what I know. Also the newest models and pizza ovens and prayers with were second edition (yeah I'm aware that that is not a lot)
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Nov 2, 2021 11:40
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It's also that they took the models and general aesthetic of dwarf slayers im fantasy (that people liked) but ditched the lore (that people really liked) and shunted them into a tiny seperate faction with an IP- and SEO-friendly name, which AOS was doing a lot of at the time. I get the vibe that Fyreslayers suffered from the blowback to early AOS - I think they're pretty cool but I wasn't super invested in Fantasy Dorf grudge-cultire and stuff.
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Nov 2, 2021 14:07
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It took me actually going into the lore from Soulbound and 2e before I warmed to them, because yeah, I liked Slayers and the Fyreslayers don’t feel the same. They have great lore, imo, but it took me a long time to get over them just all being visually Slayers.
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Nov 2, 2021 14:17
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Age of Sigmar: Disciples of Tzeentch Magic Made Flesh We get a brief bit on Tzeentch's plans for Chamon, but mostly it boils down to reshaping the Spiral Crux into a giant sigil of Tzeentch, and so far no one's noticed it but he hasn't actually managed to do it yet thanks to the war with the Kharadron and other local mortals. Most of the efforts are caused by the adding up of small reshapings on the part of individual cult summonings over a long time, as kind of a side effect of the cults pursuing their own goals, which is probably why it's taking so long and is so hard to notice. (And also relatively easy to counter - just keep fighting back. The Kharadron have hosed a lot of it up just by starting the Aether War to get access to new aether-gold veins in the middle of Arcanite territory in the Spiral Crux.) Tzeentchian daemons are essentially raw magic made physical and then warped in some way to reflect an aspect of the Changer of Ways. They are highly variable, but each one is cunning, magically potent in some manner and a giant weirdo. They tend to change color naturally and occasionally lose corporeality for no apparent reason, only to gain it back shortly. They never rest and do not need food, and they are immortal beings, as all daemons are. Their physical form can be destroyed, but this merely banishes them back to the Realm of Chaos - quite painfully, mind you, and they take a while to reform, so it's worth doing. However, there is a special case - the Horrors, the most common Tzeentchian daemons, will often split into two smaller daemons when slain in battle, which will then split again into tiny daemons of spiteful flame before finally being banished properly. It's very hard for any daemon to hold the favor of their god for very long - his attention span isn't very big and he's prone to going into fits of introspection to pursue new arcane theories rather than pay attention to small creatures like a daemon. His physical form hasn't budged in the Impossible Fortress in centuries, as he prefers to focus on his plans, counter plans and magical musings. His throne sits at the heart of the Hidden Library, where he reads the possible fates of the world and hands out orders to his legions. The fate of any given individual will generally draw his notice only very briefly, mortal or daemon, and only if they're amusing to him. He quickly moves on to other things, more focused on the greater picture that is produced by the overlapping of many fates and consequences. That can keep him entertained for years. Tzeentchian daemons may not need food, but they do need magic. They are more easily able to manifest in magic-rich areas, and they will starve to death if rendered unable to access aetheric forces for an extended period. Fortunately for them, the Mortal Realms began highly magical and have only been getting moreso as time goes on. Many Tzeentchian daemons are able to maintain a corporeal form for decades, as long as they make sure to keep to areas that have plenty of magical energy floating around. Their theoretical goal is to cause the Realm of Chaos and the Mortal Realms to physically merge with each other, becoming the same place and allowing them to exist indefinitely. When they manifest, many-colored magic pours out of them into the air. Many of them seek out mages to consume, hungering for their potent souls. The Horrors are the weakest of the lot and typically exist in a state of slavery to more powerful daemons. They must obey the orders of higher-ranked servants of Tzeentch, though they are still quite capricious and mischevious in how they tend to do so. Other, more potent daemons have much more autonomy. The middle ranks are primarily composed of the Heralds of Tzeentch, which sort of resemble very large Pink Horrors. They are cunning creatures with powerful ambitions, and often they are left to command the lesser Horrors in pursuit of their legion's goals. It is only when a situation is truly dangerous or important that it comes to the attention of Tzeentch's greatest servants - the Lords of Change. These are giant bird-monsters who are essentially given total freedom to do whatever they want as long as they can argue it around to being part of Tzeentch's broader goals. They are the ones who hand out marching orders to the Heralds and come up with most of the plots that Tzeentch's forces are so famous for. The composition of the Scintillating Hosts is constantly in flux, unlike those of most other Chaos Gods. They lack Khorne's strict organization or Nurgle's cycles, because fluidity and change are precious to Tzeentch. There are constants, though - primarily, those built around the sacred number nine. Each of the convocations is led by a Lord of Change and divided into nine (or some multiple of nine) hosts, each of which is led by a subordinate daemon of some sort - sometimes a weaker Lord of Change, sometimes a Herald, sometimes a mortal servant, though that's rare. It is possible that a convocation master will lead an army as well. All of the daemons are theoretically dedicated to furthering Tzeentch's aims, as they are part of his essence, but what convocation they belong to will heavily influence how they think they should do that and what aspect of Tzeentch they draw from. For example, the Grand Cabal represent Tzeentch as the Great Conspirator and focus on espionage, political intrigue and spying through magic rather than direct battle, and are the most peaceful of the Hosts, preferring to avoid the battlefield whenever possible. The Hosts Duplicitous also enjoy using deception, but they don't do it as a tactic so much as for the sake of doing it alone, wielding illusions and trickery for the love of the game and confusing their foes in battle. The Hosts Arcanum are most commonly found in Aqshy and seek out magic to consume and claim, either by serving as familiars to mages and siphoning off their power or by eating artifacts directly. (They spend most of their time trying to claim the legacy of the Agloraxi.) The Transcendental Change focus on mutation as a weapon, altering their foes to more pleasing forms, changing the environment and reshaping even themselves as needed. The nine most powerful convocations at any given time are given command of the Fractal Fortresses, and so earning Tzeentch's favor is a major occupation of each convocation. Those who displease him are often banished to the worst parts of the Realm of Chaos or even absorbed back into their lord's substance, their minds destroyed. The schemes of the convocations against each other are as numerous as those against the world, if not moreso, and the relative standing of each convocation is marked on the Shifting Pyramid of Yrch within the Crystal Labyrinth, though it's updated only when Tzeentch feels like it. Control of a Fractal Fortress means faster recovery from being corporeally killed, thanks to the Nine Gates, but it's rare for a convocation to retain such control for very long. Tzeentch is capricious as hell, and even the most favored must be careful - it's not as if Kairos Fateweaver himself has been able to avoid Tzeentch's anger all the time. Once, he got hurled into the Well of Curiosity just so Tzeentch could see what would happen. As for the mortal Arcanite cults of Tzeentch, they tend to exist in pursuit of power, knowledge or eternal life. They are generally mystery cults, structured around various trials that must be passed to ascend to greater hierarchical position and access to magic. The most famous success story of the Arcanites is that of Elias the Seer, better known now as the daemon El'an'zeth, the Ninefold Promise. He was a gifted mage, highly intellectual and very greedy about magical lore. He spent most of his life as a hermit, studying magic and entertaining himself by manipulating other people from afar. His love of controlling others led him to darkness when he decided to send false prophecies to the minds of the Skullfiend Tribe of Khornates. Once they realized what the cause was, they came after Elias, and he fled to the arms of the Guild of Summoners cult and worship of Tzeentch for safety. He made many sacrifices and earned great arcane gifts in the ranks of the cult, managing to avoid the traps of pride and greed that doomed so many others. He prioritized the plots of Tzeentch that aided the mortal peoples of the Realms, and he even managed to survive a confrontation in one of the Silver Towers to account for his deeds. He came out of it rewarded with wisdom and mutations - powers he thought beneficial, but which ultimately helped turn him into a daemon. These days, he still thinks of it as a reward - he just doesn't really care about helping others any more.  The Eternal Conflagration are currently one of the top convocations of Tzeentchian daemons. They are the masters of wyrdflame, wielding the unnatural fires of change with a skill no others can match. Everyone touched by their burning fire are mutated into horrible forms - tentacled masses, bone statues, crystalline ice. Their fires burn with all the colors of the world, and those who are foolish enough to face them in battle are consumed by that fire. Their icon is the flaming triskelion, a wheel that turns and burns eternally. They are by far the least subtle of the Hosts, and their rivals often laugh at them for their simplicity and lack of scheming. Their leader, the Radiant Lord, simply shrugs. His motto is to let the fires of change run wild, and Tzeentch will handle the rest. This pure focus has earned them great favor with the Changer of Ways, as Tzeentch deeply enjoys seeing his foes turned into various weird poo poo as a manifestation of his anarchic nature.  The Hosts Duplicitous adore lies and mistruths. They answer questions when asked, but they distort the answers, making what seems true into falsehood and what seems false into twisted truth. Illusion is their magic of choice, and they believe the power of deception is sacred over all other things. They refuse to ever reveal their true intentions, and their symbol itself is a study in contradiction shown in the two faces screaming at each other while being the same entity. They feel a constant need to destroy truth and pervert justice, working to undermine the Free Cities whenever they can. Sometimes they spread false rumors, sometimes they perform secret rituals, sometimes they vandalize and obscure what is actually going on. When the time comes, though, they are fully willing to launch full-scale invasions to achieve their aims. Their leader, the Phantom Lord, insists that there is no lie greater than the idea of stability and order, and he plans to prove it.  The Hosts Arcanum are Tzeentch's favorite librarians, the pursuers of pure sorcery. They believe themselves to be the finest spellcasters in existence, and they may not be wrong. No spell is beyond their reach, no mystery unsolvable to their knowledge. Those seeking magical skill sometimes offer them sacrifices, for they are better teachers than any other daemons. They're quite happy to answer such prayers and deliver arcane power to anyone that wants it, for one simple reason: handing out Chaos magic gives them better access to the Mortal Realms, allows them to spy on those around their servants and helps weaken the bounds of the Realm of Chaos. Their icon is the all-seeing eye, representing their desire to witness every form of magic. They are often helped by the infamous Blue Scribes, who Tzeentch has set to amass arcane lore. Even other daemons sometimes come to them for aid in studying magic, and their power is ever-growing as magic grows stronger in the Realms. Next time: More daemonic legions
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Nov 2, 2021 17:38
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What happened to the Mork Borg review? Need some good OSR to flush out the Zak S. stink (the stink of pants, freshly-shat in a Chik-Fil-A at Gencon) (allegedly)
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Nov 2, 2021 17:59
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My piles of skulls forming the words "Rhodesia Delenda Est" are raising a lot of questions already answered by my piles of skulls.
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Nov 2, 2021 18:17
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