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Welcome to Mind-Forg'd Manacles
Tuesday, September 07 2010 @ 05:02 PDT

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition, Demo

Monday, November 16 2009 @ 11:37 PST
Contributed by: Alvin
Views: 420

I got to play about an hour of the next version of Warhammer over at Endgame run by Brian Isikoff, regular Endgame GM and 2d6 Feet co-host. Before this, I played one session of the 1st edition about a decade ago. I've never played the wargame. I played the MMO for a few days. I'm not all that familiar with the setting other than its grim, gritty, and low magic. I also have no sacred roleplaying cows, and in fact relish games that throw away traditional trappings - as long as it makes for a fun experience.

Well, Warhammer has definitely thrown out all of the sacred cow with the bath water and filled the tub back up with a different style of fun. The short answer is that this is still every bit an RPG as D&D, Spirit of the Century, FATE, HERO, GURPS, and many other games ranging from large scale to independent publishing. A lot is different from any of those. And the differences seem bigger than D&D 4E's changes. But they are also superficial. The main difference is that instead of writing down the damage you've taken, you track it via chits. Instead of writing down your special abilities, you use cards. Instead of enacting a special ability, you trade in special dice. Instead of memorizing pages of combat rules, you've got it down on your combat cards.

Immediately the game looked more like a European boardgame with the box's contents spread out on the table. There were cardboard counters for the characters and enemies, a slew of custom dice, cards of various sizes (actually, just two sizes I believe) and lots of chits and counters. I'm told it's a very Fantasy Flight setup. However, there is no map. In a refreshing counter point to 4E, all map oriented stuff is done abstractly. I like this. I love 4E and its use of the map, but I like having another (the only other?) high production fantasy RPG take a different path. Brian did creative things, using the counters arrayed on the table to set the scene for the combat, he used some of the chits to note distance and some setting cards to note where a fallen wagon was, or a particularly thick copse of trees. The system is built for this level of abstraction, and gives you plenty of materials to set it up. I like what it does for my imagination.

As Brian went over the basics I was also quickly struck by how much roleplaying potential there is. I need more than combat from a game, and looking down on the character sheet (which was only about 8" x 5", maybe smaller) I saw there was a great potential for roleplaying. The stats are evenly split between physical and mental, and there's the ability to get worn down in both areas. Although there wasn't time for a non-physical conflict, so, I'm not quite sure how that works. There's a slew of standard skills which you can have at four training levels (including untrained) evenly split between the two categories as well.

Now, I should note, while my mind instantly started swimming with role-playing potential, I don't think this is a revolution in story gaming or anything like that. At best it's a notch down from Spirit of the Century (which is still a very high notch for me), a type of game that still plays traditionally, but allows for a lot more variety in conflicts and player input than we played in the 80's and 90's. This isn't the next Dogs in the Vineyard or Polaris (from what I played), nor is it trying to be. However it appears to have a more modern design and robust play support than GURPS, HERO, White Wolf's Storytelling, or even D&D 4E. (And again, we didn't get to play anything but a combat, so this is just my guess looking at the character sheet and getting a rules overview.) As Brian put it, the familiar trappings of roleplaying games have been removed and replaced by board game elements that do the exact same thing.

Aside from 6 stats and a bunch of skills, your character also has some equipment (weapons and armor seemed to be the only important items), a name and career, and rare or customized skills (not clear if the latter is possible). There are some skills that you can only use if you are trained in them, like Education that the Elf pre-gen had. I like this method intead of asterisks or relying on memorizing which ones need to be trained (D&D 3E I'm looking at you). There was more on the back, such as notes for additional equipment or career path choices, but we did not use any of it for the demo.

Off the character sheet you mainly have action cards and a stance track. The stance track shows whether you are in a reckless stance or a conservative stance. Each action card has two faces, the one you use depends on your stance. Some careers like the trollslayer favor reckless. Others like the elven envoy favor conservative. I was playing a Roadwarden, which was evenly balanced between the two. There's also a neutral stance, but it seems clear you do not want to be there unless you have to (such as when you are moving from reckless to conservative). Action cards tell you what abilities the action is based on, and special effects from the dice. Everything you need. All abilities have a number in the upper corner. This is a recharge number. Many of our abilities had zero's, meaning they could be used every round. Others had a 2 or 3. Using one of these means I need to wait that many rounds before I can use it again. Certain effects of other actions can increase or decrease the recharge time. What was really nice is that I felt like the 0 powers still felt very useful and powerful, unlike 4E's at wills which are often lack luster compared to encounters and dailies. Part of the reason for this is that dice play a big part in action results.

The special dice work very much like Don't Rest Your Head. There's a variety of colors, some of them are good to have in your pool, some of them are bad. They are all custom and come with the box.

You have blue Characteristic dice which are based on the stat you are using for your action.

Then you have green Conservative and red Reckless dice. Depending on your stance, you can swap a certain number of these for characteristic dice. The Reckless dice have some additional risk, but also chances at additional successes. The Conservative dice has very little risk, but there is a chance that your action will go slower (I'm not clear on exactly how, though, I rolled two hour glasses and it didn't delay my action).

There are the gold Expertise dice. If you are trained in a skill (like Melee Weapons) you add this for each level of training. In addition to a chance at more successes, you can get a chance for criticals as well.

Then there are white Fate dice, which you can add to your pool by spending fate points.

That's all the good dice. All the good dice have hammers on some or most of their sides. You count up the hammers to determine success. On all the cards I saw, one was all you needed, but three would give you some sort of bonus. Eagles give you some sort of boon, and you usually need two. And there's the comet, only on the Expertise dice, which can give you a crit.

Now for the bad dice. Bad dice have skulls, which can cause bad things to happen and cancel out eagles. Two skulls usually triggers something bad on many abilities, although if you are reckless you may only need one. And crossed swords cancel out hammers.

There are the Black misfortune dice. These can be added by the GM when conditions are less than optimal (such as its dark, or rainy, or there is interference of some kind). And purple Conflict dice, which act as difficulty dials. Usually you'll have one, two, or three conflict dice for easy, medium, and hard difficulties.

The dice rolling is fun. You are always building a pool, and it's just one roll resolution. There are no opposed rolls. Any active resistance just kicks up the number of Conflict dice that goes into your pool.

Damage is fairly straight forward. It's tracked by wound cards, and when you reach your wound threshold you are out, or dead, or I'm not sure but it's bad. You can flip over wound cards for critical hit results as well, which can have special effects like being dazed to grievous wounds and dismemberment (or at least, so I was told). All the fun of critical hit charts without the chart. The combat seems potentially as gritty as Warhammer should be, but it's hard to say as we didn't have time for a full combat after rules explanation and story set up.

All said and done, it was a fun time, and definitely a game I'd like to play more. Actually, I'm way more excited about the engine and design choices than I am the story and setting. I'm curious how the system lends itself to modding. I'd love to be able to use it like D&D's broad fantasy brush, but I'll have to wait until the box is out to see how flexible the careers are.

For all that you get in the box, the $100 price tag is a steal. Even so, I question whether you get enough. There did not seem to be a huge slew of monster counters. I could see quite a racket from producing box sets of new monsters and characters and other counters (I should note it was all thick card board, no minis of any kind - although you could use them if you wanted). Although outside of the visual element, you can easily use beads, dice, or any other token stand in for monsters, characters, and the various chits.

Another question that remains is GM workload. Brian was referencing the adventure booklet for the enemies. So, I'm not sure if enemies have similar action cards or stat blocks (ala 4E) or what. I hope the GM load is as streamlined as the player side of it, but have no insight into that yet.

The demo proved to me that I'll enjoy this game, and it's everything I hoped it would be. New mechanics that are focused on fun and ease of play, ignoring RPG tropes that have been around since Gary and Dave invented them simply because no one thought to try something else. This is another landmark in what's turning out to be an awesome revolution in RPGs as better game design works its way into the industry. I probably won't line up to buy the game at launch, but I am eyeing the 38% off Amazon price as a great buy. If I loved the Warhammer setting more, or if I had a regular group that I knew I was going to launch a campaign for, I think it's still a steal at the $100 price.

It does have a potential to go beyond RPG players, with its slick packaging and various bits. I'm not one to predict whether it will or not. I'm one who believes that Primetime Adventures should be in every family's game closet, after all.

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Word Cloud for 4th Edition D&D

Wednesday, June 18 2008 @ 09:36 PDT
Contributed by: Alvin
Views: 217

via Wordle.

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My Life With Master

Tuesday, March 11 2008 @ 01:39 PDT
Contributed by: Alvin
Views: 289

I picked up this game jsut a few weeks ago, and heard a lot of good stuff about it for a long time, now. But Boing Boing has a good run down of it.

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/11/my-life-with-master.html

I haven't played it yet, though. Let me know if you'd like to play!

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Language of Character Sheets

Friday, February 08 2008 @ 07:18 PST
Contributed by: Alvin
Views: 280

Look what I made!

http://www.alvinfrewer.com/sotc/

This was in response to this post by Fred Hicks, one of the developers (and the most hard core promoter of) Spirit of the Century. http://drivingblind.livejournal.com/327483.html

I'm good at spreadsheets, so I made one. For the majority of you who this doesn't apply to, Spirit of the Century is an awesome pulp action RPG that plays so fast and fluid even if you're like me and play stuff that makes D&D look like Monopoly (or Monotony, HAHA, AM I RIGHT?!). And I'm sure I'd love to play it with you :)

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Partly why I don't play D&D anymore

Monday, October 01 2007 @ 12:30 PDT
Contributed by: EZ
Views: 189

http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article73.htm

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Japanese RPG

Tuesday, August 21 2007 @ 04:01 PDT
Contributed by: Alvin
Views: 294

This is mostly for my memory, but one of the games I played at Gen Con is the work-in-progress translation of Tenra Bansho. http://www.tenra-rpg.com/

A fantasy world with samurai using magical gems that "hulk" them out, robots powered by tormented souls and flashbacks of their past, Shinto conspiracies who manipulate nations into wars. Children in giant power armor suits - and trained hunters to seek them out and face them with giant gun-swords. Buddhist monk street fighters, fan fighters, house warriors, Oni, cybernetic soldiers, demon summoners, ninja, healers that use insects that live inside them, and all sorts of craziness in a fantasy world that resembles feudal Japan flooded with magical science.

And one of the major focuses in gameplay is keeping your karma score under 108 (the number of sins in Buddhism). Which provides an interesting balance, since more powerful characters start out with a higher karma score, it lets the lower power characters pull off more amazing things.

Tons of fun.

The English translation is supposed to be ready by the end of the year.

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Og

Wednesday, August 08 2007 @ 04:00 PDT
Contributed by: EZ
Views: 212

A new RPG about cavement is coming out soon, and I'll most likely get a copy at GenCon. I'm not sure, but it's either about trying to communicate by grunting incoherently, or by using very basic vocabulary, e.g. "Me kill big thing," but either way it sounds pretty interesting, and it's by one of my favorite RPG designers, Robin D. Laws. It might be particularly interesting for those of you who enjoy exploring the boundries of language.

You can read the first two of three design journals at the publisher's site.

http://www.firefly-games.com/modules.php?name=News&new_topic=8

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Some game theory - Clarity of player intent

Friday, June 08 2007 @ 04:03 PDT
Contributed by: Alvin
Views: 335

I came across this chart:

Written by Fred, who makes some fantastic games over at Evil Hat.

The upper left corner is what most games play like. In D&D or White Wolf, you pick up a sword (or your vampire stake) and you roll to swing and hope it hits. If you fail, you miss. The intention is usually obvious, kill your foe - but maybe not. With intent in the mix you could have the intention of "protect my honor, fight for my life, make him stop trying to kill me" or whatever. Which can make those non-combat rolls a bit easier, like trying to seduce the prince(cess) or haggling for a cheaper horse. When you fail, it's the intention that fails, not necessarily the action (maybe you kill the foe, but not before he made you look like a fool, or you seduce the prince, but he won't let your friends out of jail).

Interesting stuff, and a nice little chart that illustrates it nicer than I've thought of before.

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Changeling: The Lost Preview

Thursday, May 31 2007 @ 04:15 PDT
Contributed by: EZ
Views: 240

A Game of Beautiful Madness
The May 31st Preview of Changeling: The Lost
Posted: 2007-05-31 (on white-wolf.com

The protagonists of this modern fairy tale are the changelings, or as they often call themselves, the Lost. Stolen away from their human lives as children or adults, they spent what seemed like years or even centuries in Faerie, chattel to beautiful but inhuman lords and ladies. Fed on faerie food and drink, they gradually became more fae themselves, their bodies shifting slightly to reflect their roles. Some, however, managed to escape. Holding on to their memories of home, they found their way through the winding thorns of the Hedge, the barrier between the mortal world and time-twisted Faerie.

Their return, however, was all too bittersweet. Some came back twenty years after they'd first vanished, even though it had never seemed that long to them in Faerie. Others who had reached adulthood in Arcadia found that they returned only a few hours after their abduction. And almost all found, horribly enough, that they weren't missed. The Fae had been thorough. Left in the stead of each abducted changeling was a replica, a simulacrum, a thing that looked like him or her — but wasn't. Now, with inhuman strangers living their lives and nowhere to go, the Lost must find their own way in the world that was stolen from them.

Changeling deals with the struggles and dreams of people who are no longer what they were, their mortal flesh interwoven with fae magic. An illusion called the Mask obscures their remade physical bodies, allowing them to pass for humans — a word that doesn't apply to them any more. The contrast between the reality of the mortal world and the unreality of Faerie colors their stories, in ways that often express as beauty, madness or both.

The beauty referred to almost goes without saying. Faerie is beautiful. It isn't kindly, or nurturing, or benevolent, but it is wondrously beautiful. The same is true for its children, both those that were born of its unreal matter and those mortals that were abducted and nursed on its magic. Even a hideous Ogre may have some strangely sketched artistry to its asymmetrical features, and even a Darkling of disturbing mien may have an elegantly hypnotic grace or cold, frank sexuality. But as the Lost move among the mortal world, trying to recover their old lives or draw enough Glamour to sustain themselves, they become aware of the beautiful things that mortals often take for granted. To a changeling, there is beauty in the grief hanging over the funeral of a good man, or in the awkward way a young girl twists her hands at a school dance. They see things nobody else does — not simply because they can, but because they try.

The madness inherent to a changeling's existence is also twofold. Part is external. Changelings too often cross paths with things of Faerie and the Hedge — strange, creeping things that should not be, that defy human rationality. The Others themselves can only be described as "mad," for surely they subscribe to no mortal definition of sanity. But an equally great threat comes from within. The threshold between dream and reality, between Faerie and mortality, is easily crossed… and a changeling doesn't always know which side of the threshold she stands on.

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Little Fears - Bunnies

Monday, February 26 2007 @ 12:41 PST
Contributed by: Alvin
Views: 411

“There's a man inside that box.” Saying those words should have horrified Rebekah but they didn't.

Rebekah's sister peered over the side of the ditch. The box didn't look big enough to hold a man.

“Nuh-uh,” Danielle said but shrank back.

Rebekah pulled a Swiss Army knife from her pocket and jumped down into the ditch. “Yes, there is. I'll show you.”

Danielle opened her mouth to protest but she knew it wouldn't change her sister's mind. She had always been like that, Rebekah, and would probably always be.

Rebekah worked the dull blade against the soft wood, slowly popping the rusted lock from its purchase. It took more than a few pained grunts to finish prying the lock from the wood but it eventually popped out.

Danielle tried to think of a lie about how they should get home but she was too curious for one to stick. Plus, she was learning that arguing when her sister was like this was useless.

Rebekah held up the lock like a rare coin, beaming, “Here, catch!” She flung the lock toward her sister but it flew past her, clanging on the street as it landed five feet behind its target.

Danielle turned to pick it up. It was freezing out here. It was barely dawn and Rebekah hadn't given Danielle enough time to properly dress for the cold.

Danielle padded quickly towards the lock. It was as she knelt down to grab it that she saw the thin man, across the street, mostly obscured by the clutch of trees that bordered the road.

Danielle caught a mouthful of frigid air and started to cough. “Rebekah...REBEKAH!”

Her sister looked up from the ditch. “What?”

“REBEKAH!”

The older girl climbed out from the sodden rut, catching herself twice as the ground threatened to give way.

“What?” She said, finally emerging. She saw the man immediately, something about the unnatural darkness that surrounded him drew your eye.

“Hello again, Rebekah.” He said. Even in the dark, they could see him smile.

Danielle clasped her sister's hand. “Let's go.”

“No,” Rebekah replied, coldly. “Not this time.”

A pale hand extended from the darkness. It was covered in boils, old flesh, and ancient scars that circled his forearm like manic scratches from a feral beast.

“It's time, Rebekah.”

“Rebekah, what's going on?” Danielle was already shivering from the cold but now her body was tremorous.

“It's okay, Danielle. It'll be okay.” She was just saying the words, a perfect mimic of a motherly tone.

“Have you ever heard the shrill cry of a rabbit just before it dies?” The thin man whispered from the dark. “Sends shivers right through your soul.”

“Shut up,” Rebekah shouted. “SHUT UP! GO AWAY!” Rebekah turned toward her sister and let go of her hand. “Run,” she mouthed silently.

Danielle put one foot in front of the other but a sudden rush of invisible wings knocked her backwards. She clutched the wet earth as she fell but her small fingers couldn't catch. She slid down into the ditch, landing on her side. Her head smacked the side of the wooden box, splitting open just over her left eye.

“It's like the song of Hell,” the thin man continued.

“Shut up!” Rebekah cried. “Shut up now!”

The thin man stepped out from the shadow. His face was avian, like a mask. “It sounds like little girls weeping.”

“Shut up!” Rebekah screamed again and a light shot up from the box.

A voice like the wind before a storm shook the leaves from the ripe trees. The thin man stepped back into the darkness.

“You are not welcome here,” the voice said.

Rebekah closed her eyes and prayed for her sister.

Lightning shot across the suddenly darkened sky. The thin man's eyes, still visible through the shadow, were wide in awe and terror.

A wind lifted Danielle's limp body from the ditch and placed it at Rebekah's feet.

“Take your sister,” the voice continued.

Rebekah choked back tears. “I—I don't know what to do. What's happening? WHAT'S HAPPENING?” Her words sounded distant, like she had said them before and was simply replaying them.

It was then she heard the keening cries, the torturous shrill bellows. She turned to face the sound and saw the wave of mottled white and brown fur rise up from the ditch. There were hundreds of them, all bearing their long teeth. They were crying, fiercely, like the song of Hell.

The wind picked up speed, cutting through her thin coat and into her bone.

Rebekah looked down at the box, its lid completely open. Her vision had been wrong; there was no man inside the box. But there was something like bloodied fur. She quickly realized what it was.

“My bunny...,” she gasped.

The voice became a calm whisper in the little girl's ear. It said simply, “You should run.”

And you should too.

The clouds are gathering. The lights are dimming. The closet door is opening.

Discuss Little Fears: Nightmare Edition at the official forum hosted by Flames Rising.

Little Fears: Nightmare Edition
Coming in 2007.
Are you still scared?

Source.

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