Post originally by Vin Diakuw at 2003-10-13 10:28:05
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"Also, dX lacks one mechanic that I can honestly say I have never seen omitted from a roleplaying corebook in all my years of gaming: Rules for holding your breath and asphyxiation. It never occured to me until I noticed their absence how truly odd this is. It's like omitting falling damage."
I have dozens of games in my stable, and only a handful have rules for this somewhat bizarre turn of events. Certainly D&D, also Silhouette games from Dream Pod 9, GURPS, and probably Hero (which I haven't owned for years).
I don't know how your games go (obviously ) but I've GMed for decades (okay, 2.3 decades) without ever having to asphyxiate a character. Players certainly, but never their characters. I wouldn't call it an omission. You mentioned OtE at the end of the review. It has rules for neither falling nor asphyxiation.
Anyway, a fair and accurate review. I just thought the asphyxiation thing was funny.
Post originally by Yamo at 2003-10-13 10:30:40
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In my closing summary, I wrote:
"Don't let a lack of pretty pictures and some minor warts throw you. If you want a rules-moderate (and cheap) bridge between 'rules heavier' generic systems like GURPS and HERO and 'freeform heavier' ones like Over The Edge, dX is the game for you."
Just so you don't get the wrong idea, I am aware that Over The Edge isn't technically a "generic" system. It has a setting, and a neat one at that. Since its mechanics are so wide-open, however, I've frequently seen it used as a sort of "generic freeform" system, so it was the first thing that came to my mind when writing the review.
Post originally by Yamo at 2003-10-13 10:34:15
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"Anyway, a fair and accurate review. I just thought the asphyxiation thing was funny."
Yeah, it is funny. Like I said, I found it more odd than anything else. I'm used to virtually all games I've encountered having some obligatory paragraph somewhere in the back of the book that beings with something like "Characters can hold their breaths for a number of rounds equal to..."
I'd gotten so used to them, that I only really notice them when they're absent.
Post originally by Andy Fix at 2003-10-13 12:39:23
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Why get so bent out of shape over the MO section? Remember, this game comes in at a cost of exactly $0.00. Heck, even paying $10 for the hardcopy version is a steal. So if you look at the MO section as advetizing that pays for the rest of the game, then it ain't so bad afterall, no is it? At least GoO had the decency to put the ads all in one place and at the back of the book.
Post originally by Yamo at 2003-10-13 12:52:12
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"Heck, even paying $10 for the hardcopy version is a steal. So if you look at the MO section as advetizing that pays for the rest of the game, then it ain't so bad afterall, no is it? At least GoO had the decency to put the ads all in one place and at the back of the book."
For a book that's about three pages away from unmitigated greatness, it seems like a bigger shame than it otherwise might...
Post originally by Jamie Herbert at 2003-10-13 13:06:40
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Huh? funny you mention thius, the last time I got asphyxiated in a game was about 2 years ago in a BESM game, we were playing a near future (Dominion, Bubblegum Crisis meets stargate) kind of game when we were caught in a warehouse by a foe who sealed us in and pumped in poisonous gas. Since then I haven't run into an issue where drwoning/ asphxyation had come in play. just kind of odd is all.
Post originally by Jamie Herbert at 2003-10-13 13:17:15
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Firstly I'd like to say that writting a review on a generic system is always hard to do (especially when you consier that most such systems have such a heavy following that when you do say anything derogitory it's often taken as an attack) All in all this is an excellent review. However I do have one point to make about the rules heavy/ rules light arguement. I believe that originally (BESM 1st ed.) the Tri Stat System was verymush on the side of rules light, however as with so many games later advances eventually altered the basics enough that it inherrantly became more complex. Just look at the original Starfleet Battles (in a plastic baggie) or Car Wars (pocketbox, with 24 page rulebook) to see how a great game with simple rules can become a behmoth of rules and indexes. I do think that Tri Stat is in some danger of following that path, although it is still more than playable at this point.
Also I do not believe that the number of stats is an easy indicator of the complexity or simplicty of a system, For one I would say that Savage Worlds (5 stats) is probably simpler than Tri stat and GURPS is way more complex than d20 (4 stats) It may be an indicator, and can show an idea of what the game designers placed importance on, but i do not think that the number of stats is any good baseline for complexity.
Post originally by Rob Knotts at 2003-10-13 23:45:00
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Just wanted to clarify something. The OBM in DX isn't even related to OBM from BESM. The BESM version is based on "Item Of Power" attribute, which allows for building a mecha from the ground up. The version in DX version was created to provide basic pre-gen vehicles for the generic book.
My personal opinion is that no Tristat GM in his right mind would choose to use the DX version of the BESM version.
) but I've GMed for decades (okay, 2.3 decades) without ever having to asphyxiate a character. Players certainly, but never their characters. I wouldn't call it an omission. You mentioned OtE at the end of the review. It has rules for neither falling nor asphyxiation.
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