what rpgs did santa bring you?

jimmy corrigan · Post by **jimmy corrigan** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:02 am

devlin1, the generous, got me three sweet traveller modules circa 1980s by judges guild. and though not technically rpg-related mordraine, the also generous, got me a shiny bender fig from futurama that proudly adorns my desk at work. actually, scratch that. the bender fig will be rpg-related when i use it as a mini in dev's spirit of futurama game, should he decide to run it again. and although they were technically christmas gifts to myself, i just got eternal rome, trojan war, and hamunaptra in the mail from the paizo order i placed a while back.

what'd you loot?

Dragonkin · Post by **Dragonkin** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 2:33 pm

I didn't get anything playable, but I did get Wizards Presents: Races & Classes and The Grand History of the Realms. While WP: R&C doesn't have any actual crunch, the story elements and walk through some of the design process is actually very interesting. I recommend GHotR to any fan of the Forgotten Realms who would like a comprehensive timeline for major events in Faerun. In addition to the timeline, there are also some interesting sidebars which deal with various major events in the history of Toril.

Illuman23 · Post by **Illuman23** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 3:52 pm

I got an I-pod Touch, and Gabe got a Wii! That's almost RPG related...

Count Zero · Post by **Count Zero** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 4:50 pm

~~[quote="Illuman23"]~~I got an I-pod Touch, and Gabe got a Wii! That's almost RPG related...[/quote]

I think those are better than anything RPG related....

devlin1 · Post by **devlin1** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 6:18 pm

I didn't get any RPG stuff, because no one ever fuckin' gets me shit that I'd, y'know, want. I'm not complaining, because I got other stuff I like and appreciate, but every year I avoid giving my family the obvious gift ideas in the hope/expectation that they'll be able to figure it out, based on the knowing me and all, but no. This chagrins me every year, but I've finally figured out to just buy the stuff I want outright instead of relying on my family (whom I love, don't get me wrong) to make some educated guesses. Like, the one thing I asked for -- the Twin Peaks Gold Box Set -- was declared unfindable, so sometime this week I'll walk into a store and just buy it over the counter (or go through Amazon or whatever -- point is, it's eminently findable). It's not that I don't get good things; last year I got an iPod, and that was a really great surprise, but it wasn't something I would've asked for or thought I wanted.

All right, enough of sounding spoiled and ungrateful.

I've bought a ton of RPG stuff for myself this month -- well over a thousand dollars' worth, albeit it at a heavy discount. Today I bought more: two more Blue Planet splats, Swords of the Middle Kingdom (another wuxia game), a supplement and an adventure for The Dark Eye (purely to review, but for a few bucks, why not?), and the recent revamped boxed set of The Wilderlands of High Fantasy.

Barrier Peaks · Post by **Barrier Peaks** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 8:03 am

Hey, hey. We're in California for the holiday (heading back to the Land of Chill tomorrow). This marks the first year I didn't get a single RPG product for Christmas (unless you count a pack of Force Unleashed minis, which I don't). Lots of DVDs, though, and some books to add to my Star Wars research library.

Funny, my Amazon wishlist has a lot of RPG stuff on it. ;)

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 11:05 am

No gifts but I got myself "Cthulhu Tech" which is a beautiful book, cool if not wonky setting, and slow and clunky system.

devlin1 · Post by **devlin1** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 11:07 am

~~[quote="cczernia"]~~No gifts but I got myself ~~[b]~~"Cthulhu Tech"[/b] which is a beautiful book, cool if not wonky setting, and slow and clunky system.[/quote]
Wonky, slow, ~~[i]~~and [/i]clunky? All right!

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 11:40 am

~~[quote="devlin1"]~~Wonky, slow, ~~[i]~~and [/i]clunky? All right![/quote]

It's exactly what I look for in a game.

Illuman23 · Post by **Illuman23** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 4:11 pm

~~[quote="cczernia"]~~It's exactly what I look for in a game.[/quote]

Here's a quote from the CthuluTech web page:

~~[Quote=www.Chtulutech.com]~~Framewerk, the proprietary system upon which CthulhuTech is built, is not only simple and intuitive, it is cinematic, exciting, and puts destiny back in the hands of the player. Its easy to grasp nature makes the game straightforward to learn and quick to start. Its clever dice mechanics make even the simplest of task resolutions exciting.[/quote]

So how did they go from cinematic, exciting, straightforward to wonky slow and clunky?

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:22 am

~~[quote="Illuman23"]~~
So how did they go from cinematic, exciting, straightforward to wonky slow and clunky?[/quote]

Well, the game designers are never going to say they came up with a slow system.

Here is the die mechanic. Take a dice pool of d10s equal to your skill. You have three choices as what to do with this die pool

1. Take the largest number

2. Add together any pairs (6+6+6=18)

3. Add together a straight of numbers (4+5+6 = 15)

I have yet to play this game but that mechanic seems slow as you have to spend time to figure out how to get your number. Also, in combat you roll to attack, defend, damage, and armor soak. That is four rolls using the above die mechanic.

devlin1 · Post by **devlin1** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:28 am

~~[quote="cczernia"]~~3. Add together a straight of numbers (4+5+6 = 15)[/quote]
Ah! Finally a dice mechanic that uses sequences! I made a kung fu style for WotG that used sequences instead of matches, but it looks like CthulhuTech's gone one better and instituted a dice mechanic that uses ~~[i]~~three [/i]mechanics simultaneously.

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:46 am

~~[quote="devlin1"]~~Ah! Finally a dice mechanic that uses sequences! I made a kung fu style for WotG that used sequences instead of matches, but it looks like CthulhuTech's gone one better and instituted a dice mechanic that uses ~~[i]~~three [/i]mechanics simultaneously.[/quote]

I don't know how it will play out. It is more the four roll combat system that I'm worried about (it is slow in oWoD and Fading Suns). I'll have to give it a try.

devlin1 · Post by **devlin1** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:54 am

~~[quote="cczernia"]~~I don't know how it will play out. It is more the four roll combat system that I'm worried about (it is slow in oWoD and Fading Suns). I'll have to give it a try.[/quote]
It sounds like it'd work better using an ORE-like mechanic that extracts different results from the same die roll. E.g., matches to hit, sequences to soak, high roll for damage.

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 10:16 am

~~[quote="devlin1"]~~It sounds like it'd work better using an ORE-like mechanic that extracts different results from the same die roll. E.g., matches to hit, sequences to soak, high roll for damage.[/quote]

I agree. I'm currently reading the setting info and haven't read in detail the rule stuff so it might surprise me but I think an ORE like system would have been ideal for this game.