Re: [RPG]: Beast Hunters, reviewed by Graham W (4/2)
One paragraph stands out. It explains that the tribe's women "choose the men they want to breed with" and that some tribes "treat their man badly". It's jarring and it's not referred to again: indeed, it's later explained that Beast Hunter men and women are treated equally. So what's the intention? Perhaps it's intended to make the game less macho, more welcoming to women: but it reads as though someone's hijacked the text for political purposes.
I think the important distinction here is that the Beast Hunters are a small subset of the people within the greater Chel'qhuri tribal culture. The Chel'qhuri are matriarchal, and as in many ancient cultures, this means that those not of the dominant gender are often treated as being lesser. The Beast Hunters, however, are members of a small, hand-selected group within the Chel'qhuri, and within their ranks, all are equal regardless of gender.
Re: [RPG]: Beast Hunters, reviewed by Graham W (4/2)
I believe the salute handshake thing is a device to remind a couple that plays together to leave game conflict in the game. An added layer of insulation to preserve harmony in the relationship.
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Re: [RPG]: Beast Hunters, reviewed by Graham W (4/2)
Amnesiack,
Quote:
I think the important distinction here is that the Beast Hunters are a small subset of the people within the greater Chel'qhuri tribal culture. The Chel'qhuri are matriarchal, and as in many ancient cultures, this means that those not of the dominant gender are often treated as being lesser. The Beast Hunters, however, are members of a small, hand-selected group within the Chel'qhuri, and within their ranks, all are equal regardless of gender.
To be honest, that's my complaint: that the issue's mentioned but, later, it's explained that it doesn't apply to Beast Hunters. If the women-on-top thing's going to be there, I'd like it to be integral to the setting: as it is, it's mentioned but not followed through.
Gloomhound, yes, that sounds about right. The salute felt odd to me: a touch of ritual in a game that, otherwise, has little ritual.
Re: [RPG]: Beast Hunters, reviewed by Graham W (4/2)
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Originally Posted by Graham W
The salute felt odd to me: a touch of ritual in a game that, otherwise, has little ritual.
One thing I've never been comfortable with, ever since reading the suggestions in 'the Everlasting', is any form of ritualisation in a role-playing game. I guess some people might like it, and in this case a simple handshake would not pose a problem, but for some reason any unneccessary additions, or to be more precise unneccessary abstracted actions beyond the simple act of roleplaying itself, make me feel uncomfortable. Fortunately this is naturally something that could easily be left out.
Regarding the review (nice review, by the way) I was surprised that I was actually intrigued more by the example play session than your description of the rules, which felt rather unwelcoming and unneccessarily esoteric. I don't think I'd enjoy this game - I've never been a fan of confrontational GM-free role-playing - but it's nice that people are trying something different. For me, it doesn't work, but for others it may strike a chord that regular RPGs do not, so I think it's important that we have these occasional, dare I say, oddball products exploring the frontiers of the hobby.
Re: [RPG]: Beast Hunters, reviewed by Graham W (4/2)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham W
Amnesiack,
To be honest, that's my complaint: that the issue's mentioned but, later, it's explained that it doesn't apply to Beast Hunters. If the women-on-top thing's going to be there, I'd like it to be integral to the setting: as it is, it's mentioned but not followed through.
That makes sense. I've tended to make it more of a central issue in the couple of short games I've run, by putting the Hunter into lots of scenes with non-BH members of the tribe. The BH may be egalitarian, but most of the people he/she interacts with won't be. I can definitely see how making it more pervasive would be an interesting way of working it, though.
Re: [RPG]: Beast Hunters, reviewed by Graham W (4/2)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Destriarch
I've never been a fan of confrontational GM-free role-playing
The Challenger in Beast Hunters is very much like a traditional GM, controlling everything but the player character. This is NOT a GM-free game. And it's also not a competitive game, if that's what you mean by confrontational. The Challenger/GM's job is to provide cool challenges/encounters/conflicts for the player, just like in D&D.
You can check out the demo, which is linked in my sig and contains all of the conflict resolution rules as well as premade characters and a complete conflict, and see what I mean.
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