My last post was inspired by how my friend had a horrendous strike of
unluckiness, which made his game nights less than fun. He is after all a
seasoned gamer and while an experience like that might sour him on a
game, it would not make him run screaming from the hobby. But, how about
someone who never played a RPG before? Maybe it is actually more newbie
friendly to use a game with a bell curve instead of a flat probability
when introducing new people.
So would I use any of the games mentioned in my last post, or the systems mentioned in the comments to introduce a newbie?
The Fantasy Trip
This
game has one big drawback, it's out of print. If you want to get it,
you will have to search on eBay and be a bit lucky to get a complete set
in nice condition. Luckily there are clones and derivatives out there.
My favourite is Heroes & Other Worlds, which is an attempt to take some cues from B/X D&D and fuse it with TFT.
As
most of you know, fantasy is the most popular setting for RPGs and TFT
fits the bill. Also, there are only a few stats (one extra in HOW) and
it's fairly easy to make a character in a short amount of time. Nothing
weird, nothing fancy, just swords and sorcery.
GURPS
Even
though it's not as visible as it used to be, this is still a game
supported and published. Since it's a generic system it can be used for
whatever setting, making it easy to run a game set in whatever setting
you newbie favours. The flipside of the coin is that a adapting a
generic game to a specific setting will take some work.
Character
generation can be overwhelming, to say the least. Since there are so
many options it's very easy to get analysis paralysis. Then, even if you
as the GM do your homework, and you use a template system, the game is
detailed enough to cover any eventuality. That can very easy bog down a game. But, it's extremely versatile.
Traveller
In
my basement I have a big box with nothing but Traveller books. Science
fiction is not a popular as fantasy, but considering how popular Star
Trek or Firefly is, it's not exactly weird or exotic. There have been a
ridiculous amount of stuff published for this game system, and many
different editions of rules available.
Mongoose Publishing is a company that I would generally advice people to stay away from. They have a terrible track record of games with awful
layout and abysmal quality control. But, their little black book of
Traveller is really neat. It takes the classic Traveller and packages it
in a very sweet package.
There is one thing that's
less than ideal of Traveller for newbies. Since it uses a life path
system where you take terms in different careers, and you can get thrown
out of said careers on a bad dice roll, you never really know what kind
of character you will get. As a mini game on it's own, it's quite fun.
But, I imagine it could be less than ideal if you as a player had your
eyes set on a specific kind of character with a specific set of skills.
Tunnels & Trolls
Everyone who looked at the
text on the top of this page, or followed the blog, might know I have
warm feelings for this game. It has some neat features, like a generic
resolution and stunt mechanic. It also have a slightly comedic, or at
least less than totally serious, attitude which I personally like.
If
there's something this game does less well is probably the fact that it
uses really big piles of dice, especially in later editions. Thus it
can take some time to gather all the dice, roll, sum and subtract. It
can be a bit slow.
HERO System
Everything
I said about GURPS is valid for HERO, even more so. This is
ridiculously adaptable. But, compared to TFT and GURPS which have a
small set of stats, this game's character sheet can be intimidating. If I
have to choose between GURPS and HERO, I'd choose the former, as it's
as clunky to make a character, but it's more smooth in play.
Over the Edge
I
have played this game system twice. Once was in the original setting,
and once was a free adventure for Harn I found online and ran with the
OtE system as I did not own Harn, and I did not really fancy it anyway.
In the original, and very
weird, setting this system is just right. You have so much oddity to
keep straight that the game system has to be very light and narrative.
If it has a problem, it is probably the same as Fate. Both game system
suffer from the fact you can make a Trait/Aspect out of anything, and
that can make you stumble before you understand how it works in play.
It's
a quite expressive system and I think the fact you can just ask a
potential player to describe in a few words what they envision, and then
put dice to that is a big win.
The D6 System
Most players of this system have
probably used it for Star Wars. I have only played it once, and then it
flowed very freely and the action was exciting. Since then I've read how
the piles of dice can be cumbersome, and that there are some rules that
are fiddly. The latter case would be the target numbers, that can be
chosen from a range, but probably just works best if you just have a set
interval of 5.
Conclusion
So would
I use these games to introduce a newbie to rpgs? Well. I think the fact
these games all use multiple dice, and thus probably have a more even
spread of successes, yes that is a point in their favour.
Would
I use one of the more generic ones, like D6 System, GURPS, HERO or OtE?
No, probably not. I think fantasy is popular for a reason, and even
though it's the game on the list I am least familiar with, I lean toward
TFT/HOW.
You would maybe expect me to champion
T&T, but I think that maybe for once I have to agree with those who
think the names of the spells are less suitable. Also, the free flowing
stunt system of SR are not very easy to handle even by seasoned gamers.
So,
who knows. Maybe I get to try to use one of these systems to bring new
gamers to the fold. Maybe I actually will try to use TFT/HOW! Today I
started to read HOW and I really felt like I wanted to play it. We'll
see.
Showing posts with label Over The Edge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Over The Edge. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Sunday, April 22, 2012
T&T hacks - Over The Edge
Since Over The Edge showed up in 1992, designers Jonathan Tweet and Robin D Laws have designed more games, and all are very much talked about. I don't know if it started with OTE, but it has been a very influential design. Let's take a look at why.
The setting of the game is very surreal. It's a game where every oddball tabloid conspiracy is out there, fighting over reality. It makes my head spin every time I read it. It is also the only have I have played where That Guy(tm), don't even stand out, he is just like the rest. Yes, it's that odd. But, I don't think it's why the game is so highly regarded, it's the rules.
To make a character, you pick one defining trait, a few supporting ones and assign them some dice. Easy enough, eh? The really interesting thing is that those traits are not picked from a list, or even limited very much at all. Basically, you can take any descriptive phrase at all, and make it your defining ability. In one game I made a character that had the trait Playboy. I used it for seducing, gambling, shopping and intelligence gathering. On the other hand, you could make it quite narrow, and then you get some more dice to assign to it. More dice are good when you roll them, add and try to beat a target number. But, I guess you see how that is the least exiting part of this. No two characters will look alike, and you have lot of freedom to define the characteristics of your character. Now let's see how we can take this system and put it into the guts of T&T.
In this hack, you have one trait called the Expert trait. This defines what your character is all about. Write down whatever you feel define your character, and roll 2d6+6 for that trait. Now, write down two more Good traits. These are the abilities that you feel gives you some breadth and is important, but not as defining. Roll 4d6 and pick any three for both those traits. Lastly, everyone has a Flaw, the ability that always gets you into troubles. Roll 2d6 for that trait. For any other trait you feel you need, roll 3d6.
Now, in order to be able to use as much as possible of the standard T&T rules we need to think of combat adds, combat hits and magic. Designate one of these traits as your Health trait. It can be your Flaw or your Expert trait. This is going to work just like CON usually does in T&T. You also need to define three traits that is level defining, and contribute to combat adds. Pick any three. Lastly, pick your Mystic trait, which works like INT and WIZ does in T&T.
Got that? Let's summarize.
The traits
Their usage
Since this is very different from the usual fare, expect the games you play be very different. Tweak those numbers a bit and roll some different dice, but keep the distinction of one one trait higher than the rest, two above average and one sub par.
The setting of the game is very surreal. It's a game where every oddball tabloid conspiracy is out there, fighting over reality. It makes my head spin every time I read it. It is also the only have I have played where That Guy(tm), don't even stand out, he is just like the rest. Yes, it's that odd. But, I don't think it's why the game is so highly regarded, it's the rules.
To make a character, you pick one defining trait, a few supporting ones and assign them some dice. Easy enough, eh? The really interesting thing is that those traits are not picked from a list, or even limited very much at all. Basically, you can take any descriptive phrase at all, and make it your defining ability. In one game I made a character that had the trait Playboy. I used it for seducing, gambling, shopping and intelligence gathering. On the other hand, you could make it quite narrow, and then you get some more dice to assign to it. More dice are good when you roll them, add and try to beat a target number. But, I guess you see how that is the least exiting part of this. No two characters will look alike, and you have lot of freedom to define the characteristics of your character. Now let's see how we can take this system and put it into the guts of T&T.
In this hack, you have one trait called the Expert trait. This defines what your character is all about. Write down whatever you feel define your character, and roll 2d6+6 for that trait. Now, write down two more Good traits. These are the abilities that you feel gives you some breadth and is important, but not as defining. Roll 4d6 and pick any three for both those traits. Lastly, everyone has a Flaw, the ability that always gets you into troubles. Roll 2d6 for that trait. For any other trait you feel you need, roll 3d6.
Now, in order to be able to use as much as possible of the standard T&T rules we need to think of combat adds, combat hits and magic. Designate one of these traits as your Health trait. It can be your Flaw or your Expert trait. This is going to work just like CON usually does in T&T. You also need to define three traits that is level defining, and contribute to combat adds. Pick any three. Lastly, pick your Mystic trait, which works like INT and WIZ does in T&T.
Got that? Let's summarize.
The traits
- One Expert trait - 2d6+6
- Two Good traits - 4d6, pick any three
- Flaw - 2d6
- Other traits - 3d6
Their usage
- one Health trait - works like CON
- three combat and level traits - works like STR,DX,SPD and LK in T&T
- one Mystic trait - works like a combination of INT and WIZ
Since this is very different from the usual fare, expect the games you play be very different. Tweak those numbers a bit and roll some different dice, but keep the distinction of one one trait higher than the rest, two above average and one sub par.
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