Whenever I get into a new game or other type of media, I avoid comparisons because I feel they dilute, if not erase, the original property. However, at the same time, picking up a new RPG is much easier when similar mechanics click in your head. So when I got to the point of “Oh, this feels a lot like Blades”, thing progressed a little smoother.
It does, however, give me pause, since I’ve never ran or played a proper campaign of Blades or any other game it inspired, and I find its array of mechanics daunting. Luckily this game doesn’t seem to have any sort of Crew/Hideout/Ship/Homebase mechanics.
Another aspect is forcing each game’s unique lingo inside your head, and everything regarding Sin, Psyche, Psyche Burst and all other nomenclatures are currently flying over my head, but I hope to get a better grip as I go.
Its also a little silly, I’m not fond of games that have different names for “Game Master” and just say GM every time. Likewise, realizing here that “Talismans” are just Clocks (they’re even called so in Page 14) makes me roll my eyes a bit, just like “Kit” being Load.
Hooks also seem a little bit like a Devil’s Bargain, but I’m also trying to get that better in my mind. The idea of having so many running clocks, and so much potential consequence really pushes this game into a deadly territory, but I can see all of that is very intentional (though I’m wondering what tools I’d use to track all of this together)
Wrapped up my short playtesting campaign for my game Textor Exilium last night. Everyone had good feedback, and I’m really satisfied with the stuff I wrote whole cloth and ready to move on from the Forged in the Dark chassis into a new kind of dice rule engine.
I’m really happy to have this group playtesting my game, and excited to play other games next year, like The Road to Limina and Fabula Ultima!
Also Adell! I have a flight this Saturday. I’ll read Cain on the Plane and post notes during my layover.
We Dig Giant Robots is a rules-light, tabletop roleplaying game focused on single-sessions and short-campaigns of rockin’, giant mecha, action. Inspired by Megas XLR, We Dig Giant Robots focuses on action/comedy, rock’n’roll, big cars, and giant mecha. And a lot of flame decals.
The theming isn’t skin-deep, either. Using rules inspired by Mike Pondsmith’s amazing Teenagers From Outer Space and Ryo Kamiya’s Maid RPG, this title reinforces the light, comedic tone with every action.
Armour Astir now includes Encore (eight additional classes) and Amor Astir (optional rules for romance) in its core book. Briar has put up 100 community copies to celebrate the book going to print. :)
Cain up to page 33: this looks solid but I need to see it move.
It’s going to be hard not to write a rejoinder to Adell’s review XD, but I’ll try to comment on some other stuff too.
This is a game with Proper Nouns. I think that along with the art it’s trying to take you into a tight linguistic framework steeped in the occult to enchant the experience. Admin, Talismans, Psyche Burst, Divine Agony etc.
I really like how Sins are just runaway psychic manifestations that outgrow the people who project them. What if a thought or internality escaped the person who thought it? I was worried that this game would be “what if you could kill trauma” but it’s really “what if unaddressed trauma got away from you?”
I like how Exorcists are at special risk for releasing or becoming Sins. CAIN’s role of identifying and conditioning people with high Grace is reminiscent of Jedi seeking people with a high midichlorian count so you don’t have magical walking bombs going around and I think that sets a very clear institutional relationship.
The Dice system is interesting. Applying or withholding the Hard status seems pretty important when you’re checking an entire dice pool for one 4+, and the shift to a 6+ on hard looks like it will be meaningful. It also looks like a good way to give players who want to brute force the dice results some pause so they think more.
I thought the Risky Roll was just going to get in the way of the GM escalating a situation but the rules for moves they can also do are pretty solid.
progressing a situation or moving time forward
Introducing a complication or changing up the situation
presenting exorcists with a choice
threatening exorcists with something
Gaining SIN in exchange for more psychic bursts (in addition to your standard 3 per mission) is good. Divine Agony/Pathos is another way to conduct the Armor Astir Spotlight, DW gain 1xp on a failed roll mechanic. I think a comeback mechanic works really well for the tone of the game.
Talisman read like clocks, and perform like clocks, but I think it’s fair play to call them something else when you’re making lines across a thin strip of paper. In person this will be a way easier thing to include as a physical play aid.
Also the Give Up/Resist stuff is cool. I think that’s a good conclusion choice to make when the game is about being within the institution of CAIN.
Recap of TQY session 1: we made a Songs-ass community
Highlights
Our town borders the Resolution Lake in the Meridian Valley. It’s flanked by a swamp, and there’s another tech restoration community living in a canyon to the north of us, who have settled into caves in the canyon walls.
A large potentially pre-Radiant pump station lies at the edge of the lake - it’s old, abandoned, and completely untouched by nature even after centuries. There are a lot of other underground caverns and passage to an underground portion of the lake
the oldest community member is Distributed Intelligence One, aka DIONE. She is an AI who was stolen from unknown previous creators/owners.
By distributed I mean that she has nodes which are either normal servers or portable nodes carried by community members. She needs a minimum of 5-6 nodes within 10m of each other to achieve full sapience.
Nodes which fall below that concentration can still record input/retrieve data, those just behave more like Siri-level programs, and return information to the whole when brought back within range.
A coming of age ceremony for children involves being granted their own personal node to carry.
there are flowers in the area that attract a lot of Transcendent and/or spirit beasts. we’ve yet to elaborate on this detail(edited)
other notable fauna include the crocodiles who live in the lake (one of which has gone and laid a whole nest in the middle of our town), and a large pack of wolves who are a eusocial hivemind
Today on my total inability to not “Yes, and” everything my players say
Me: You’re getting in contact with your hacker friends, but how do you do it? Instant messaging, face to face, forum posts, carrier pigeon…
Player, a little dejected: I wish I could have a carrier pigeon
Me, excitedly: You absolutely can, this is make believe, you can just say it
And that’s how the hacker pilot now has a carrier pigeon
; hi one question does it still take place in new jersey
