Post originally by Benjamin Rogers (BBRACK) at 2003-06-14 17:33:01
Converted from Phorums BB System

How different is it from your "typical" fantasy game?

This depends on what you consider to be “typical” fantasy. In most of the fantasy games that the developers have played, the environment is either cave-like-—whether a dungeon, a natural cavern, ruins, or other underground environment—-or it is lush grasslands, verdant forests, rainy or even swamp-like plains, etc. If you watch the Lord of the Rings movies, for instance, you will see all of these environments. What you won’t see—-unless you are looking at Mordor—are wastelands, deserts, desolate steppes, etc.

So, environmentally, the game is quite different. While it has some of these areas represented throughout the world, they are by no means the dominant environment. This is a desert or wasteland world—but it has its fair share of diversity.

In addition, most fantasy games are high-mana. The perfect example of high-mana games is Earthdawn—-where nearly everything has a magical component and even the most mundane tasks carry magical overtones. While Lord of the Rings has somewhat more subdued magic, it is still prone to have many different types of magical items to make up for its lack of “visible, potent magic”.

Promised Sands has visible, potent magic, but on a small scale. When we set about creating the basic premise behind the magic users for Promised Sands, we fell upon the idea of spiders. They are loners. They are cannibalistic. If you aren’t food, they really aren’t interested in you—-or you’re a predator. They spin webs. They trap prey. They are opportunistic hunters.

In Promised Sands, the Marocs—those who have “become maroc” through the imbedding of their “magic crystals” called “maroc stones"-—do not like to work together. They see each other as a threat. Some unite for common goals, but this is not the norm. Marocs are feared. They are hated. They are sought by those who wield power—because Marocs * are * power.

We also have Qai—which is another form of “magic”—-that takes nearly a diametrically opposed perspective than the Marocs. It is almost the difference seen in Shadowrun between the Elemental Mages and the Totem-based Shamans. Qai users are much more social, tend to revere life and nearly universally despise the Maroc. Who really don’t care what they think.


What is the apparent intended flavor of the game?

Exploration. Intrigue. Political maneuvers. Class struggles. Social changes. And the wonderful discovery of otec! It is a world that is undergoing another major upheaval, after only a few hundred since the last major collapse of order. It is a world that is changing. It is a world left wide open to the players and Bards to create and develop a new world—-whether based on the old, or completely unique.

There is a lot of imagery that includes deserts, wastelands, caravans, strange beasts, sand storms, fados (a wild magical storm that makes a tornadic F5 look like a spring shower), bartering, undercurrents of revolution, old ways trying to reassert themselves, new ways trying to gain a foothold.

The world is rife with opportunity for many different types of roleplaying. We tried to include as many “hand holds” as possible.

If you want to run a dungeon delving hack-n-slash game—-you can do it. There are mountains, caves, ruins, lost civilizations with ancient devices and critters enough to fill your nightmares.

If you want to run a game of political intrigue and schemes that would make Machiavelli drool, there are cultural connections, societal permutations, and political plots to carry even the most involved twists.

If you want horror, the world is rife with horrific events, creatures, societies, ideologies—-and we haven’t even discussed the Scorchlands yet.

Promised Sands is a game that was nearly defined by the idea of the reluctant hero. The squire who rises to accomplish more than his lord ever dreamed. The farmer whose family has been abducted and must be found. The socialite who pulls herself up by her bootstraps to a higher social status, ruling over her own small portion of the world. It is a game where anyone can be a hero—-even the lowliest beggar on the street.


You mentioned "post apocalyptic" once, is it real world earth, or a made up world (e.g. T'nah. Is it another planet, or a new name for Earth)?

The simple answer to this question is “no”. Post apocalypse would involve (in our understand), nuclear war, biological contamation, ecological catastrophe—-all of them due to some “mankind created event”. In addition to that “mankind created event”, there is the “slow reconstruction period” that follows. Most post-apocalyptic games exist in this time period.

Promised Sands is *not* a post apocalyptic world. Just that it is a wasteland does not inherently make it "post apocalyptic".

As for the question of whether it is another planet or earth, why does everyone want us to give away the secret? Does it matter? The point of the world is that it is what it is. It is a world that had a huge catastrophe that occurred 3000 years ago, making it the place that it is today. No. It’s not the Earth of today. Nor is it a place that we (the designers) think that our Earth will ever be. But, it is certainly not another planet. Or is it? That you must decide for yourself.


What are the races, cultures, et al. like? How are they different?

One thing that we have done is to differentiate race from culture. Just because you are born a Syl (similar in some ways to elves in “typical” fantasy games), does not mean that the character is gifted with trees, loves small furry woodland critters, nor has leaves in his hair. He *may* choose to follow that path and develop his character in the Sylvan culture—-which would be closest to that idea. Or, he can choose to be a part of the Skulae culture. The Skulae are desert nomads, who are masters of the wastelands whose ways are strange and unusual. They practice family values that would make Jack Chick scream in horror, and worship gods that would have him bellowing for genocide.

Or, that very same Syl, could join the Shnahn—-a culture dedicated to education, understanding and shepherding (animals, people and nations).

There are 11 specific races. 5 half races. 7 subraces. There are 25+ cultures. I will not bore you with the details here. Feel free to examine the website where we have snippits of each culture and race. You will find much more information there.

http://www.promisedsands.com

You will find even more information in the book itself. Don’t forget to ask your local Retailer to order a copy for you to examine. I am confident that you will like what you see.


How does the magic system work?

There are two.

Ido—-that which is used by the Maroc—-is based upon building power and releasing it through a pattern to create an effect.

Qai—-that which is used by the Rusahn—-is described by the one who wrote it as “trying to mold wet jell-o”. It funnels energy through an “expression” to provide a desired result.

None of the developers have ever played or looked at the Dark Sun setting—but I have been told that the “taint” of Qai is similar to the way magic works in that setting. (Though, I suspect that Ido is actually more like Dark Sun magic in its effects. I have just recently bid on a Dark Sun book from eBay, which I hope to read and educate myself to answer those Dark sun fans who have been clamoring for information.)


How does the combat system work, exactly? "Straightforward and typical" means what, exactly? D&D/BRP style? Or WW style?

You have a success value (SV) for every skill. You roll against this SV and hope to roll under the number on percentile dice. With your percentile dice, you have also tossed a 1D10-—which will provide the effect. Value can be exchanged between the Effect Die (ED) and the percentile roll if it is necessary to be successful with the roll.

Everything you need to know is on your character sheet. Your skills all have their SVs notated and every weapon has its ED modifier listed. Roll, compare. Simple as that.


How does character creation work?

This is the most complex aspect of the game. In a nutshell, here it is:

Pick race.
Pick culture.
Pick occupation.
Roll attributes.
Pick Qualities/Assets/Detriments
Apply skills.
Add it all up.
Play

In that process, you will have chosen your character’s genetic heritage, cultural heritage and first years of apprenticeship. This will provide a basic history upon which to build your character’s backstory. It is much more detailed than the above suggests-—and you can build more advanced characters-—or play for awhile, put the character down, advance him and then rejoin your group later.

Character gen has been called “a game in itself” by a few people.


How unified is the system as a whole? Is it piles of different resolution mechanics, or just one that involves percentiles and opposed rolls?

One system. Three methods of interpreting it (General, Ido, Qai). The character generation system is totally separate because the developers never considered character gen to be “part of the mechanic”. Building your character should not use the same rules as playing your character.


You do explain the system a little, but not how it would actually work. Which leads me to ask, how does the system work? Roll under stat/skill?

I think that was answered above. Yes. Your SV = Skill Level + Controlling Attribute. You want to roll under that number for success-—and then look at the ED (Effect Die) to see how successful you were. Every roll provides a “stages of success” resolution.


What are characters expected to do? In other words, what is the premise of the game? To kill things and take their stuff? Or something more "metaplot/story oriented"?

This is totally up to the Bard and the players. It is not intentionally designed for one particular style of play. The designers prefer a game centered around more storytelling, intrigue, political machinations and social interactions than hack-n-slash. Although, one of our group gets a little frustrated when he hasn’t killed something in a session. The game will handle whatever you want to throw at it.

There is a metaplot—-though it is in the background and isn’t required for play. If you wish to participate in the metaplot, the developers will be looking closely at what the fans email and suggest in the future development of the products.

We do have a loose mechanic for something called the character’s “epic”. This allows players to write down the achievements of their characters and submit them to us for recognition. In fact, some of upper echelon positions—-the master and grandmaster of each Field—-will be assigned to those players who submit their characters to us. They will receive some recognition on the web page for these submissions in the future. (No, you can’t find an example of it, the book is just too damn new—-nobody has made it that far yet!)


How does character advancement work?

You are awarded “wisdom points” for your character’s achievements and for your own ability at roleplaying and ideas.

In addition to the raw “wisdom points” that build your skills, attributes, Mahya and expressions, there are also social ramifications for everything that is done. Characters can gain respect, renown or infamy for their actions and these can help (or hinder) development along the way.

There are no awards for “killing the monster”--*UNLESS* the Bard has defined that as a major goal of the particular scenario.