A rules light-ish post apocalyptic fantasy game. One of the most cleverly designed RPGs I've seen. While it borrows from a lot of RPGs I don't like, I like this.
Post originally by Ezekiel Black at 2005-03-04 14:56:00
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I think it takes a lot to give a good rating to a game that is obviously not your taste. You mentioned the games you DON'T like, my only question is why you didn't state the games you do like?
I suppose it could be trollbait for someone to say "x game suxxors" but if you are going to place your biases in a review, I'd like to hear the positive as well as the negative.
All together, your review was relatively informative. I myself like a review that goes insane on the mechanical details, but I've seen the other tSoY reviews, so I have all the details I need to make a decision.
Post originally by Rafial at 2005-03-05 15:27:47
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TSOY, like a number of the games it draws inpiration from, enables a style of play that often feature *character* vs *character* conflict within the context player collaboration. That is, the players often collude to bring their own characters to loggerheads, because that creates drama, and drama drives a good game.
One mechanic in TSOY which you didn't mention, but which I have found in my own play to be key to the experience is "The Gift of Dice". At the beginning of each session of player, every player (including the GM) receives a small pool of dice that they can contribute as bonuses to *any roll but their own*. This really allows players to participate not only in the successes and failures of their own characters, but in those of other players as well, fostering a very collaborative game play even while the imagine characters may be striving against each other.
Post originally by Ezekiel Black at 2005-03-05 18:56:35
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He didn't say he hated Over the Edge, another great game that inspired the rules of (and is mentioned in) tSoY.
As far as hating every great game on earth, he didn't mention Unknown Armies or FATE (although his hate of FUDGE may spread to FATE for obvious reasons)
I just thought it was funny that he hates both GURPS and FUDGE. Aren't they both sides of the "crunch-continuum" of generic RPGs? One could try speculate what generic RPG he does like. Or he could just answer the question I posed on my thread.
I also thought his comment on "trendy" games was priceless. On the RPG.net boards, there is but one "trendy" game which all others quake in fear of. Just go to the Roleplaying Open board and look at about 10 random threads. 4-6 of them will be about that game. I promise it won't take Ben Stein to figure it out.
tSoY is known as a great game, and it is for it's great mechanics. It is mentioned often for the fact that it was written recently and has great mechanics which the writer states that he blatantly stole from other great games known for great mechanics. And the work is free, unless you want pikturs.
I suppose that could be considered trendy. I consider it kickass. And I'm usually a "troll". Go figure.
Post originally by Chris at 2005-03-06 03:27:56
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I always find it interesting how some folks view the setting in TSOY. There's a lot more in the various nation/kingdom writeups than I can find in many "gazeteers" or "atlus" style setups around... You get a neat write up of how the people live, major conflicts at hand, and some crunchy extras specific to the area.
It's a lot more accessible and useful than, say, population numbers or "annual rainfall" statistics.
Post originally by Andy K at 2005-03-06 11:24:45
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Oh totally, man. When I open a book to the "atlas", I want to see a quick summary of the people, and the things stated above (how they live, major conflicts, and LOTS of plot hooks). When I see population numbers and the like (points finger at Forgotten Realms, etc), my brain shuts off.
Post originally by Ezekiel Black at 2005-03-06 22:05:00
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R Check wrote:
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Actually, I agree with the original author. That's a fair "short list" of crappy games in my book, as well.
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I pose to you a variation of the same question I asked the author of the review: What do you consider to be good games?
I'm not asking to bring you down or troll, I really want to know what you would consider a good game if these games are "crappy". I honestly want to know your taste.
Post originally by Ezekiel Black at 2005-03-06 22:22:56
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You can't have a good campaign setting if you don't know that the next town your coming into has approximately 12,745 people living in it, of which 60% are Human, 20% are Elf, 15% are Halfling, and 5% are Misc.
Consequently, I've searched everywhere, and I can't find the Misc race. I don't see it in the Index or TOC. Can someone help me? Is it in the next FR supplement?
And bagging on annual rainfall research for a territory is just wrong! I really need to know how the meteorology works in a land where a vast desert can exist directly next to an even-more-vast glacier. It's not like I can make it up all willy-nilly, I really need to use the brains that mastercrafted this perfect environment to do it for me.
After all, it is a precision instrument to be used by a careful and calculating GM to know exactly what the environment entails, so if I have to make it rain for 3 days, I can state "This sort of rainfall doesn't occur in this region too often" and have all the book keeping there to back up my statement, should the players inquire about my references about the weather, a very useful and discussionworthy topic.
Kidding and massive run on sentences aside, I completely agree with you both. On the other hand, I may have just wasted 20 seconds to 1 minute of your life. Sorry!
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