[RPG]: Desolation, reviewed by mitchw (4/4)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/13/13922.phtml

Mitch A. Williams's Summary:

Desolation is a fun and interesting game to read and looks like it will be a great game to play. However, given its dark tone, dangerous magic system, and the amount of detail left up to the GM, I don’t believe that just any group could make it work as it should. Without a skilled GM and players willing to get into all of the roleplaying aspects provided, the nuances could be lost. And that would be a shame because it is all the glorious details that make Desolation stand out from the norm.

Go to the full review for more information.

[Greymalkin_Steve]

Thanks for the well-written, fair and balanced review, Mitch. I think that Desolation might indeed be a tricky game to run for some GMs and getting the tone right could be a challenge, and that was a good point to make.

Hopefully it doesn't put anyone off taking a look at the game, and seeing what parts of the setting (and indeed, magic system) they'd like to use for their own campaigns.

Thanks again for taking the time to look at Desolation!

[Greymalkin_Steve]

Originally Posted by Greymalkin_Steve

Thanks for the well-written, fair and balanced review, Mitch. I think that Desolation might indeed be a tricky game to run for some GMs and getting the tone right could be a challenge, and that was a good point to make.

Hopefully it doesn't put anyone off taking a look at the game, and seeing what parts of the setting (and indeed, magic system) they'd like to use for their own campaigns.

Thanks again for taking the time to look at Desolation!

Also, I have to add that Jamie Gooch and Matthew Somers are the other two authors of the book My own credit is "Lead Writer" and somehow I've ended up on Amazon.com as the only author of the book, much to the amusement of all concerned.

[DavidStallard]

I'd be interested to hear a little more about the tone of the setting. Does the "darkness" of the setting mostly refer to the past (the actual apocalypse) or to the current state of things? I mean, is the setting full of despair and thievery and distrust? Or is it essentially a "regular" points-of-light type fantasy setting and the apocalypse just serves to give a reason why there are ruins to explore and unexplored areas and whatnot? (I'm actually hoping for the latter; I'm not a fan of darkness and horror generally)

I'm trying to contrast this to Earthdawn, which you might also say is a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting. But I wouldn't consider Earthdawn to be a dark setting, even though there are Horrors still lurking about. But hey, I don't consider Deadlands to be a dark setting either but I know a lot of groups would play up the horror elements a lot more than I would.

[mitchw]

Originally Posted by DavidStallard

I'm trying to contrast this to Earthdawn, which you might also say is a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting. But I wouldn't consider Earthdawn to be a dark

My knowledge of Earthdawn is from a read-through of the first edition several years ago but here are my thoughts:

In Earthdawn, a lot of groups were able to prepare so the when it was over, the communities and governments that survived were mostly ready and able to start up again. In Desolation, it was unexpected for almost everyone (except for the Gnomes). Things are bleak, skilled workers like Blacksmiths are in high demand and it is hard to find someone to train the next generation of craftsmen. Magic, which could be used for good, is almost universally distrusted. Food production and supplies are barely coming up to sustenance level. Civilization is teetering on the edge with several groups ready to push it on over.

I don’t think it is as dark as the Midnight Setting though. I would set it at about the same level as the Warhammer FRP on the 'darkness meter'. It differs from Warhammer in that there is some hope of things getting better if your characters work to make it better. IMO a big part of the Warhammer setting is that you are only holding back the inevitable collapse.

As I see it:

Earthdawn - The horrors are gone (or going) and we get to shape a whole new better world.

Warhammer RPG - Things are bad and getting worse but we can hold on for a long time if we try.

Desolation - Things are bad but it's up to us to either let them get worse or make them better.

Mitch

[DavidStallard]

So it sounds like Desolation has heroic themes in that the PCs try, or at least have the opportunity to try, to help people and improve their world. I like that a lot better than something like, "the world is full of bastards, and the PCs are bastards too...now go do bastardly things."

[Greymalkin_Steve]

Originally Posted by DavidStallard

So it sounds like Desolation has heroic themes in that the PCs try, or at least have the opportunity to try, to help people and improve their world. I like that a lot better than something like, "the world is full of bastards, and the PCs are bastards too...now go do bastardly things."

I think that's a very nice way of putting it. With no alignment or moral code within the game, it's really up to individuals to decide what to do next, and some characters may decide that the world needs a new Empire of Light, while others will just want to get back to their hometown to see who survived the Night of Fire.

The heroic themes are there if the players want to be heroes, and I hope that they do Likewise, if they turn out to be less than heroic, then the campaign could turn quite dark. Personally, I'd hope for campaigns that examine personal themes in either case.

[xenongames]

Originally Posted by Greymalkin_Steve

With no alignment or moral code within the game, it's really up to individuals to decide what to do next,

You do realize that this describes the vast majority of rpgs out there, no? Lines like this give the "We're not D&D!" vibe that is the downfall of so many frpgs.

Originally Posted by Greymalkin_Steve

and some characters may decide that the world needs a new Empire of Light, while others will just want to get back to their hometown to see who survived the Night of Fire.

How many generations has it been since the Night of Fire? I got the impression from the review that it was "a while ago," long enough for the Empire to rise and become stable.

Maybe it was a shortcoming of the review (and the lack of space to do the setting justice), but I caught none of the post-apocalyptic feel or tone of the setting. It seemed pretty standard frpg fair to me.

[madwabbit]

Originally Posted by xenongames

Maybe it was a shortcoming of the review (and the lack of space to do the setting justice), but I caught none of the post-apocalyptic feel or tone of the setting. It seemed pretty standard frpg fair to me.

I imagine you'll find what you're looking for over at www.desolationrpg.com.

[DavidStallard]

Originally Posted by xenongames

You do realize that this describes the vast majority of rpgs out there, no? Lines like this give the "We're not D&D!" vibe that is the downfall of so many frpgs.

I know the vibe you're talking about, but I don't get that vibe at all from Steve's comments.

At any rate, I was just trying to figure out if "dark tone" meant that the world had a hopeless, doomed feeling about it and that's the way you're supposed to play it. That's something I wouldn't be interested in. But it sounds like you can easily make the game about the struggle to rebuild, which has plenty of room for heroics and "good people" in the world.

Actually, a lot of fantasy settings have an "age of legends" in their dim past and something happened to bring that to an end. It sounds like maybe with Desolation this end of an age just happened a lot more recently than is typical, so you deal with the immediate after-effects. Instead of visiting a ruin that your ancient ancestors once lived in, you visit a ruin that YOU once lived in.

How many generations has it been since the Night of Fire? I got the impression from the review that it was "a while ago," long enough for the Empire to rise and become stable.

It sounded to me like the cataclysm just happened mere days or weeks or months ago. Steve mentioned that the PCs might try to return to their homeland to look for loved ones and help rebuild.