Post originally by Wulf Corbett at 2004-12-31 13:33:26
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Decent review, I would like to note a couple of things.
Firstly, I don't mind the artwork at all, some of it is pretty good.
Secondly, the Mushroom King isn't a bad sort of monster at all, I'd say, once you figure the potential effects of his abilities.
Thirdly, and most importantly, is the reason for "Men of Steel, Beasts of terror". Your players are sneaking along a corridor - "OK," one says, "I get two successes, there are Minotaurs ahead, and they've got treasure!"
"Erm... right..." you reply, "minotaurs... I haven't got any minotaurs ready, give me five minutes..."
You see, creatures and traps can be inserted at virtually any time by the players, and despite being relatively simple, they need some thought, and some balance, to be useful. So having a prepared list, both for use and for example, is highly advisable.
Lastly, and closely tied in to that last point, is the fact that, despite having little control over the details of the plot, the DM really needs to prepare, probably more so than with a normal RPG. Lists of potential monsters, magic spells, set-piece encounters, locations and personalities, plenty to suit the PLAYERS' (rather than the DM's) possible range of choices. No treasure lists are necessary though, players get to define their own...
Post originally by anonymouse at 2004-12-31 18:13:32
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1: For further support, the game's got a message board over at the Forge: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewforum.php?f=28
2: "Considerable dice bag" is pretty true. I kid you not when I say that rolling upwards of 20-25 dice is not uncommon once all the players (DM included) get the hang of things.
3: Donjon works very well for doing light or parody games; the facts mechanic simply lends itself to absurdity and hyperbole. Longest running game so far has been "Monkey Knights", which my sibling and I have been going through off and on for about a year now. Great for pick-up-and-play.
4: The reviewer missed a pretty blatant attitude in the game: Donjon Master vs Player. It is not only accepted, but ENCOURAGED that each side twist the facts of the other to better your position (or simply to get back at Joe for eating the last piece of pizza). This isn't going to be the case with every narration, of course, cos you'd just burn out. But pretty frequently, in any case.
5: Reviewer also failed to mention just how these facts work: the person who succeeds gets to state the facts; the person who fails narrates them in, with however much embellishment the group is okay with. Taking the ambush example, once the player narrates those facts, the DM would then weave those into a couple few sentences: "As you're creeping down the trail, yadda yadda: sleeping orcs, a gnawed trip wire.. and three ogre mages coming back from using the latrine!" He can do anything he wants EXCEPT change those facts. Understand that this works both ways: if the DM wins, and states those ambush facts.. the player could narrate in a pack of hungry wolves stalking up on the sleeping goblins.
Anyway. I loves me some Donjon! Definitely one of my favourite games around.
Post originally by bondetamp at 2005-01-01 08:13:04
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Sounds like a good system for Paranoia.
A good system period, actually. I'm a bit worried about the amount of dice, but it seems like it should be possible to scrap the dice rolling rules in Donjon and just slap the "successes=facts" on top of one's favourite system that allows for gradual successes. Like Storyteller.
Post originally by unterhund at 2005-01-02 19:31:27
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It's that high number of d20s required that put my players off it in the latest round of "What do we do next?" voting.
One suggestion on the Forge has been to roll any dice, and compare the evens. Higher number of evens wins. We're gamers, we have lots of assorted dice. But I can't say I've tried it.
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