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Hey, I wanted to raise awareness for a boardgame kickstarter from a local developer, True Messiah. This is the second and last attempt to Kickstart it, after the first one only raised about half the goal, and he's basically funding at a considerable financial loss at the current goal just because he wants to get it published. True Messiah is a 1v1 or 2v2 abstract with a blind-bid card drafting mechanic. The concept is a post-apocalyptic world caused by the invention of an engine that channels collective belief into reality. Sadly, someone left the dial at 11 when they turned it on and a whole world's worth of  basically destroys society overnight. Out of the ashes rises four cults, each lead by a titular messiah who can tap into the Belief Engine to harvest their flock's faith to create "miracles." Players control each cult as they compete to determine the one true representative of God on earth. Basically, you're Mad Max Jesus.You can see the rules and some videos on the KS, but the core of the gameplay is moving your Messiah and militant cultists around the grid as they build temples, recruit followers, and rumble with the other cults. Combat is interesting because you can only attack a single target, but multiple targets can engage one target, so you're incentivized to "flank" targets by positioning your units on multiple sides while the beefiest unit takes the retaliatory blow. Alternatively, you can set your cultists to praying, which gives you the faith currency to play miracle cards that can affect the board and units. Cultists can even start praying on another player's turn so you can cast instant reactionary miracles. At the end of every turn, new miracle cards are placed on the market where you can blind bid for them using gold. A player loses either when their Messiah loses too much health or they're so starved of faith that they can't maintain a full miracle hand. Do other games do similar things better? Probably, but I had the chance to observe the developer showcasing it at a con in 2016 and it looked pretty solid, and the artwork on the miracle cards and overall aesthetic are really slick and distinct. If you like the theme and want to support Chicago indie boardgame developers, give it a look.
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Mar 12, 2018 22:31
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Bieeanshee posted:I heard some pretty wild stories about getting poo poo okayed for the defunct Marvel Heroes ARPG. Not just things like character models and costumes, but stuff like 'the player must be able to see Ghost Rider's face when he uses his Penance Stare' when the character could be facing away from the camera at any given time. There was also something weird on Marvel's end about the late, lamented Marvel Heroic RPG.
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Mar 12, 2018 22:56
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Dawgstar posted:There was also something weird on Marvel's end about the late, lamented Marvel Heroic RPG. I think that happens to a lot of licensed products that suddenly wither and die: a change of personnel at the licensor (even just one key person) and boom, it's dead.
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Mar 12, 2018 23:02
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FMguru posted:I'm pretty sure MHRPG was a pet project for a particular executive at Marvel, and when that exec left the company (or got rotated elsewhere) his replacement was far less interested in putting resources into something so unlikely to ever make much money for Marvel - so the company just became extremely uncooperative and that was that for MHRPG. What was unusual about the MHRPG thing in particular was how sudden it happened. The announcement was made that it was cancelled while several projects were in the pipe and in various stages of completion, then there was one week to buy anything you wanted and then it was utterly yanked from vendors.
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Mar 12, 2018 23:05
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Kai Tave posted:What was unusual about the MHRPG thing in particular was how sudden it happened. The announcement was made that it was cancelled while several projects were in the pipe and in various stages of completion, then there was one week to buy anything you wanted and then it was utterly yanked from vendors. That's the depressing part, knowing what they were working on and I think almost done with. As you and I both know, MHRPG could be used for all sorts of neat non-supers things (like, say, a funky Exalted Battlestar Galactica hybrid) and on the game's actual front it's a real pity that I believe they were mandated to release stuff like Civil War first, which nobody much cared about and led to not-great sales.
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Mar 12, 2018 23:14
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Dawgstar posted:That's the depressing part, knowing what they were working on and I think almost done with. As you and I both know, MHRPG could be used for all sorts of neat non-supers things (like, say, a funky Exalted Battlestar Galactica hybrid) and on the game's actual front it's a real pity that I believe they were mandated to release stuff like Civil War first, which nobody much cared about and led to not-great sales. Good news: they took the system and have released it as its own thing, with different variants for action/melodrama/whatever, to let you still do this.
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Mar 12, 2018 23:25
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FunkMonkey posted:Hey, I wanted to raise awareness for a boardgame kickstarter from a local developer, True Messiah. This is the second and last attempt to Kickstart it, after the first one only raised about half the goal, and he's basically funding at a considerable financial loss at the current goal just because he wants to get it published. I like a lot of things about this game. I like picking cards and player asymmetry. I like that it sidesteps politics by avoiding free for all. On the other side, the grim-dark theme is a turn off, the card-text templating seems loose and wordy, and the rules link goes to a 404 page.
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Mar 12, 2018 23:48
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jmzero posted:I like a lot of things about this game. I like picking cards and player asymmetry. I like that it sidesteps politics by avoiding free for all. Sorry about the rules, you may be able to get them off his website, where I found them. I respect that the theme isn't for you. My impression from meeting him is that it's pretty much just him and his wife, which may explain any amateurish formatting issues.
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Mar 13, 2018 00:07
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Bieeanshee posted:I heard some pretty wild stories about getting poo poo okayed for the defunct Marvel Heroes ARPG. Not just things like character models and costumes, but stuff like 'the player must be able to see Ghost Rider's face when he uses his Penance Stare' when the character could be facing away from the camera at any given time. My favorite thing was that they couldn't make Quicksilver playable because Marvel required that he actually be able to move a zillion miles a second and they couldn't figure out how to make that work from a technical or gameplay perspective.
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Mar 13, 2018 00:12
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The Moon Monster posted:My favorite thing was that they couldn't make Quicksilver playable because Marvel required that he actually be able to move a zillion miles a second and they couldn't figure out how to make that work from a technical or gameplay perspective. Superspeed is super hard to balance. I can't think of a single computer game where it's not either useless or OP
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Mar 13, 2018 00:49
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The Moon Monster posted:My favorite thing was that they couldn't make Quicksilver playable because Marvel required that he actually be able to move a zillion miles a second and they couldn't figure out how to make that work from a technical or gameplay perspective. Oh, it's easy. Slow all other players and enemies down to 10% of their previous speed whenever Quicksilver enters their zone.
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Mar 13, 2018 01:09
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Kaza42 posted:Superspeed is super hard to balance. I can't think of a single computer game where it's not either useless or OP In the comics Flash is basically a demigod because there's so much crap you can pseudoscience super speed into allowing you to do. In the hands of the wrong player or DM for like a PnP RPG it'd be insufferable.
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Mar 13, 2018 02:08
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Spells/abilities that tell gently caress you to action economy are always the most broken ones lol
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Mar 13, 2018 02:22
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Plutonis posted:Spells/abilities that tell gently caress you to action economy are always the most broken ones lol You'd think this would be one of the commonly understood principles of game design, any sort of game, by now but somehow there are always still new examples of people failing to figure it out.
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Mar 13, 2018 02:58
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Kaza42 posted:Superspeed is super hard to balance. I can't think of a single computer game where it's not either useless or OP
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Mar 13, 2018 03:05
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Even Max Payne didn't let you run rings around the enemy any more than you could normally if you wanted.
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Mar 13, 2018 03:25
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You could run superfast in Metal Gear Rising and it was fun and cool
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Mar 13, 2018 03:35
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Super speed can be faked anyway by just having lots of actions that perform quickly and using afterimages and clones to give the appearance of super speed.
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Mar 13, 2018 08:04
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Mors Rattus posted:Good news: they took the system and have released it as its own thing, with different variants for action/melodrama/whatever, to let you still do this. Oh, that's cool. What's the new thing called?
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Mar 13, 2018 15:43
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demota posted:Oh, that's cool. What's the new thing called? Cortex. There was a Kickstarter for it, I learned after MR said something.
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Mar 13, 2018 15:57
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True Messiah rulebook's back up if anyone wants to give it a read.
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Mar 13, 2018 16:28
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demota posted:Oh, that's cool. What's the new thing called? Cortex Prime. It has not yet been released, sadly, but should be coming out within the next couple of months?
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Mar 13, 2018 16:50
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FunkMonkey posted:In the comics Flash is basically a demigod because there's so much crap you can pseudoscience super speed into allowing you to do. In the hands of the wrong player or DM for like a PnP RPG it'd be insufferable. Plutonis posted:Spells/abilities that tell gently caress you to action economy are always the most broken ones lol That's one reason I really like how Mutants and Masterminds handles it. It's a cheap ability to buy because it doesn't break action economy or make you invincible/untouchable. Even if you take the advantage that lets you split up your move before and after your attack, so you always end your turn on the other side of the planet, enemies can just ready an action to clothesline you. Sure, you can also attach "turn invisible" or "phase through stuff", but since it's an effects-based game that's no more OP than someone who can just turn invisible or phase through stuff otherwise. You're paying exactly as much either way
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Mar 13, 2018 17:04
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The somewhat controversial Dragons Conquer America RPG is back on Kickstarter, having reassessed certain aspects. Personally, I find it an interesting idea with beautiful artwork and a history of good game design, despite the controversy.
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Mar 13, 2018 17:26
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Hiro Protagonist posted:The somewhat controversial Dragons Conquer America RPG is back on Kickstarter, having reassessed certain aspects. Personally, I find it an interesting idea with beautiful artwork and a history of good game design, despite the controversy. I was kind of interested but then I got to this section. quote:Social interactions are shaped by a TOLERANCE AND PREJUDICE system. We want you to feel like your character belongs to this harsh era, so they'll start flawed and prejudiced, but the upgrade of the Tolerance skill can be used to create a natural arc away from bigotry. And this is kind of a red flag for me.
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Mar 13, 2018 20:21
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Yeah, uh, no.
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Mar 13, 2018 21:06
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Hiro Protagonist posted:The somewhat controversial Dragons Conquer America RPG is back on Kickstarter, having reassessed certain aspects. Personally, I find it an interesting idea with beautiful artwork and a history of good game design, despite the controversy. 'Controversy?" Dawgstar wondered. 'What controversy?' quote:Social interactions are shaped by a TOLERANCE AND PREJUDICE system. We want you to feel like your character belongs to this harsh era, so they'll start flawed and prejudiced, but the upgrade of the Tolerance skill can be used to create a natural arc away from bigotry. Oh. Oh, my. No.
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Mar 13, 2018 21:15
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"Your character begins with a +5 on the Rape/Not Rape scale and as you level up, you can allocate points to either your combat stats (to perform better in fights) or your Rape meter (to determine the odds that your character will automatically sodomize the nearest living thing when you roll on any skill check)."
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Mar 13, 2018 21:16
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I just really feel like +1 to strength is really where my character is at narratively. I guess I have to keep raping.
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Mar 13, 2018 21:22
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Absolutely, let's let the game made by PoC people based on actual academic research of the era beyond stereotypes fail because they went with some ham-handed morality scale that you can drop in about 10 seconds. Good praxis y'all.
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Mar 13, 2018 21:24
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are you a woke enough dude to save this kickstarter?
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Mar 13, 2018 21:30
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:Absolutely, let's let the game made by PoC people based on actual academic research of the era beyond stereotypes fail because they went with some ham-handed morality scale that you can drop in about 10 seconds. Good praxis y'all. I mean it's also the super both-sides stuff with the Europeans?
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Mar 13, 2018 21:31
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:Absolutely, let's let the game made by PoC people based on actual academic research of the era beyond stereotypes fail because they went with some ham-handed morality scale that you can drop in about 10 seconds. Good praxis y'all. Yes?
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Mar 13, 2018 21:32
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Pulsedragon posted:I mean it's also the super both-sides stuff with the Europeans? There's barely a hint of this, you can play people of Spanish origin but let's look at their examples of character types:
4 of the types are strictly New America in origin, one is "Europeans out of their depth", one is "mixed company". "Both sides"
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Mar 13, 2018 21:36
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My cultural identity is looking up who conquered my people and then being against them.
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Mar 13, 2018 21:40
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:There's barely a hint of this, you can play people of Spanish origin but let's look at their examples of character types: Yes? Also conquistador is a playable class for PCs as will be a Spanish inquisitor if they get that stretch goal?
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Mar 13, 2018 21:40
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Pulsedragon posted:Yes? Also conquistador is a playable class for PCs as will be a Spanish inquisitor if they get that stretch goal? Does the conquistador learn tolerence?
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Mar 13, 2018 21:41
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Bombadilillo posted:Does the conquistador learn tolerence? I mean it appears to be a skill so you can max out your tolerance as one, near as I can tell.
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Mar 13, 2018 21:42
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seems like it would have been hilariously easy to just cast the conquistadors as the evil guys with literally 0 downsides
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Mar 13, 2018 21:42
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Bombadilillo posted:My cultural identity is looking up who conquered my people. You're now accusing a Mexican writer who wanted to do an alternate history RPG of grovelling to the conquistadors. And you think you're being clever.
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Mar 13, 2018 21:43
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