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PST posted:It was certainly a more diverse year for nominations, but Chaosium swept the board so completely they must have had a really effective campaign for getting people to do the clicking. Having some inside baseball here, I can say not really? They've got some moderately active facebook groups and a regular newsletter, but beyond advertising that they had stuff up for the ennies I don't think that there was much of a campaign. They're a well known brand with a decent reputation winning a popularity contest, it's not a huge mystery.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 12:19 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 05:56 |
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Are you saying that they didn’t have a campaign, or that their campaign wasn’t effective? They certainly posted asking people to vote for them, and they won because lots of people voted for them, so it seems from my outside tennis perspective that they had an effective campaign. Did their posts not lead to more people voting for them? That would be sort of odd, and I’d love to hear more about it if so.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 12:26 |
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I see your point, but It's hard to say. Posting "look we've got ennie noms go vote" in their social media and newsletter certainly made a positive impact, but it's impossible to say if it made a difference. They certainly would have won stuff if they had maintained radio silence.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 12:53 |
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Given the OSR community didn't get to pull the organised fix they've been doing for a few years that meant it was just down to broad popularity. The HPLHS Masks prop set was a $130 item. I doubt the majority of people who voted for it had bought it. Maybe they were critically looking at reviews for everything but I doubt it. Chaosium while undoubtedly doing a lot better than a few years ago are still a small company. And a relatively small player base compared to the bigger competition. But with none of the bigger competition in the running except perhaps Monte it was down to comparably popular games and companies. Hence wfrp and pelgrane/delta green etc. With chaosium in so many categories once they got someone to vote for one of their items they probably got them to vote for them all. Hence really successful campaign for them.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 12:57 |
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LongDarkNight posted:For $200 a year Monte Cook will mail you newspaper clippings, an assortment of matchbooks from defunct restaurants, polaroids of strangers and bespoke red string from the home of a conspiracy theorist that vanished mysteriously. The box itself smells vaguely of farts. Ok but if it was from Greg Stolze I'd probably buy it
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 12:57 |
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I'm just surprised that I see no Paizo on the list.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 14:00 |
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I've got Mothership and it looks great so I'm happy for those wins Lemniscate Blue posted:I'm just surprised that I see no Paizo on the list. Neither Paizo nor WotC submitted this year. Not sure if they plan to abstain in the future but it's definitely led to more indie products on the list!
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 14:10 |
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I'm really glad Ironsworn won for best free product. It's really good and deserves more attention.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 14:24 |
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PinheadSlim posted:While reading his wikipedia page I discovered he wrote a freaking Black Company campaign setting for D20 systems. It's pretty rare now so fat chance I'll get to read it Wow I should sell mine. It's really not good, though it does have a map, at least, unlike the books.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 14:53 |
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One of the Judges Spotlight Ennies, Plot Armor, looks like its sporting a cover that's made from a re-tinted piece of promo art from season two of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. I'd recognize Setsuna F. Seiei and the 00 Gundam itself just about anywhere.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 15:38 |
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dwarf74 posted:Wow I should sell mine. I've only gotten to do a few skims of Band of Blades so far, but it looks like a very good Black Company-esque game, at least.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 15:54 |
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taichara posted:One of the Judges Spotlight Ennies, Plot Armor, looks like its sporting a cover that's made from a re-tinted piece of promo art from season two of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. I'd recognize Setsuna F. Seiei and the 00 Gundam itself just about anywhere. Wow, they weren't even trying to hide it...
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 16:56 |
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Joe Slowboat posted:https://twitter.com/GreenRoninPub/status/1157399602716454912 The announcement on their website gave specifics on what the rules will be based on, too, so don't expect it to stray very far from the rest of their wheelhouse of d20 and D&D-alike games: quote:Tanya DePass (I Need Diverse Games, Rivals of Waterdeep) and Joseph D. Carriker (Blue Rose, Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting) will co-develop the game. The Fifth Season RPG will use a revised and customized version of Green Ronin’s Chronicle System, which powered the company’s long-running Game of Thrones RPG, A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 17:35 |
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Ettin posted:I've got Mothership and it looks great so I'm happy for those wins yea I'm biased as a big fan of Chaosium but I'm happy to see a lot of those wins and places. Also glad that D&D/PF didn't submit, I know we joke about this stuff being a 'who can get people to click the thing the most' thing...because it is, but it IS nice when the two kings of the ring don't suck up the air from at least letting the smaller guys tell their fans to click the thing.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 18:01 |
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PST posted:Best Game Is the website accurate when they say that Mothership is still an alpha version?
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 18:41 |
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Thanlis posted:Is the website accurate when they say that Mothership is still an alpha version? Latest release, which is still 'pay what you want' claims to be a 'beta'. Maybe being 'free' helped it win? On the other hand Ettin says it's great, so there's at least one ringing endorsement, and the 68 reviews are pretty solid on drivethru. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/245017/Mothership-Players-Survival-Guide
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 18:47 |
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dwarf74 posted:Wow I should sell mine. Post some of the statblocks, they're an amazing example of why not to use d20 for 35th level characters. (I'll post some when I get back to town)
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 21:06 |
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PST posted:Latest release, which is still 'pay what you want' claims to be a 'beta'. Maybe being 'free' helped it win? On the other hand Ettin says it's great, so there's at least one ringing endorsement, and the 68 reviews are pretty solid on drivethru. Mothership is a solid rules light game for sci-fi horror. It seems a bit odd that in won while still being in beta though. The design of the book and character sheets is really nice.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 21:40 |
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Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:The PDF isn't too hard to find if you can't shell out $100 for a used copy. xiw posted:Post some of the statblocks, they're an amazing example of why not to use d20 for 35th level characters. (I'll post some when I get back to town) I, uh, found it. I don't have any experience with D20 systems past level 20, so this is kind of a shocker for me. Punkinhead fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Aug 3, 2019 |
# ? Aug 3, 2019 22:13 |
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Remember that the Epic Level Handbook was OGL. So if you like gaping in horror at d20 rules bent past their breaking point, having the broken shards melted down and reforged, then bent and broken again, you can always admire the epic monster stat blocks in the d20 SRD: http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/epicMonstersAndObstacles.htm
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 22:52 |
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"Alignment: Himself" They got that right !
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 23:09 |
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A stat block of "haha gently caress you no" is entirely appropriate for the big assholes in the Black Company setting, and 3e D&D can definitely produce one of those. Something that's actually usable would be better though.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 23:10 |
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90s Cringe Rock posted:A stat block of "haha gently caress you no" is entirely appropriate for the big assholes in the Black Company setting, and 3e D&D can definitely produce one of those. Something that's actually usable would be better though. The funny thing is that it's not even "gently caress you no" because it has obvious holes in it. What is a demigod designed to take on 75th-level characters doing with an AC of 17? This isn't just a problem with the Black Company book, to be honest. A lot of 3.0 products were very swingy like that, as people learned how to build NPCs and monsters around benchmark mechanics, instead of the 2e and earlier setup of "just throw poo poo at the wall until it sticks." The sample NPC stat blocks in the 3e Epic Level Handbook have the same problems.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 23:17 |
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Arivia posted:The funny thing is that it's not even "gently caress you no" because it has obvious holes in it. What is a demigod designed to take on 75th-level characters doing with an AC of 17? Mind controlling people into not melee attacking him. :snark: The Dominator should be built to mentally control wizards of 35th-45th level and to pull off some flashy epic-scale attack spells like in the Lady's duel with the Black Castle/Dominator at the end of the second book. I particularly like the invisible giant's foot stomping all over platoons of soldiers for both effect and style
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 23:26 |
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Arivia posted:The funny thing is that it's not even "gently caress you no" because it has obvious holes in it. What is a demigod designed to take on 75th-level characters doing with an AC of 17? The Dominator wasn't ever intended, I suspect, to 'take on 75th level characters'; the Black Company books aren't that sort of high fantasy. Plus he's asleep. Most Black Company characters in the books (note: I have never seen the game book) probably top out, in my estimate, at around 12th level. EDIT: mllaneza posted:Mind controlling people into not melee attacking him. :snark: Yeah if the Dominator's Armor Class is ever even relevant the DM has hosed up mightily DivineCoffeeBinge fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Aug 3, 2019 |
# ? Aug 3, 2019 23:35 |
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Arivia posted:The funny thing is that it's not even "gently caress you no" because it has obvious holes in it. DivineCoffeeBinge posted:The Dominator wasn't ever intended, I suspect, to 'take on 75th level characters'; the Black Company books aren't that sort of high fantasy. Plus he's asleep. Most Black Company characters in the books (note: I have never seen the game book) probably top out, in my estimate, at around 12th level.
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 23:42 |
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90s Cringe Rock posted:I'm pretty sure the game's gimmick was mostly playing lower level characters and then having super epic wizard assholes hiring you or getting in your way so you have to call your super epic wizard rear end in a top hat employer or just spend a session figuring out a way to ambush and murder them without them getting a reaction. So, accurate to the books, then The Black Company novels are essentially "fantasy Vietnam" and you're a regular-rear end infantryman, but if you're lucky your employer can chuck some magic airstrikes for you
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 23:44 |
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90s Cringe Rock posted:I'm pretty sure the game's gimmick was mostly playing lower level characters and then having super epic wizard assholes hiring you or getting in your way so you have to call your super epic wizard rear end in a top hat employer or just spend a session figuring out a way to ambush and murder them without them getting a reaction. But mostly you'd be fighting other lower level characters, oppressing villages, murdering rebel scum, the usual Black Company stuff until they switch sides. but wotc already released the 3e Forgotten Realms?!?!?1
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# ? Aug 3, 2019 23:44 |
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As weird as it sounds the low AC would be true to the books. Given that they get rid of him by trapping him in an anti-magic field and stabbing him to death. I somehow doubt Forgotten Realms would allow one of its biggies to go down like that.
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# ? Aug 4, 2019 00:10 |
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:Most Black Company characters in the books (note: I have never seen the game book) probably top out, in my estimate, at around 12th level. They're characters in a work of fiction, they don't have levels, they have whatever abilities the writer's whim and the necessities of the plot dictate. Trying to assign RPG stats to characters from novels/movies/etc. is an incredibly dumb thing that people need to stop doing.
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# ? Aug 4, 2019 00:22 |
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Lemon-Lime posted:They're characters in a work of fiction, they don't have levels, they have whatever abilities the writer's whim and the necessities of the plot dictate. this is a conversation about the RPG based on the books though, this is the one case where assigning RPG stats is actually a thing
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# ? Aug 4, 2019 00:37 |
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Ghost Sound +42 - this skill lets you speak in a spooky voice, call out to nearby ghosts, and insert spectral catheters
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# ? Aug 4, 2019 02:07 |
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neaden posted:Mothership is a solid rules light game for sci-fi horror. It seems a bit odd that in won while still being in beta though. The design of the book and character sheets is really nice. Yeah, I am super into Mothership's layout. The way it does map spreads inspired me to do something similar with Hard Wired Island
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# ? Aug 4, 2019 02:59 |
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Ettin posted:Yeah, I am super into Mothership's layout. The way it does map spreads inspired me to do something similar with Hard Wired Island Are we about the sci-fi horror game? If so, I got if from itch.IO, I like the design, but it doesn´t really feel, that well made of a game, it felt like it´s just the core rules for a sci-fi horror game made in the guise of an OSR game. I mean, you have mercenary rules and weapon tables, ship-to-ship combat, but nothing about "why are we doing this?" or even "who are the ill-fit people coming together to possibly get killed searching this space hulk?".
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# ? Aug 4, 2019 08:26 |
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Mr.Misfit posted:Are we about the sci-fi horror game? If so, I got if from itch.IO, I like the design, but it doesn´t really feel, that well made of a game, it felt like it´s just the core rules for a sci-fi horror game made in the guise of an OSR game. I mean, you have mercenary rules and weapon tables, ship-to-ship combat, but nothing about "why are we doing this?" or even "who are the ill-fit people coming together to possibly get killed searching this space hulk?".
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# ? Aug 4, 2019 14:30 |
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Mothership's neat. I enjoyed GMing it and the effort I put into it, even if the rule system was kind of weak and definitely unfinished. It really does suffer from the "you're kind of less than average at a skill at start" thing that made my group cold on it, especially for a one-shot. But the game itself and its ideas do make the monkey brain happy so I don't regret putting money into it and the space station supplement.
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# ? Aug 4, 2019 20:18 |
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I joined a con game of Mothership recently and I feel like the intent is the skills are supposed to be only that low when your character is under high stress/disaster level pressure situations. When the GM kept calling for rolls in the first act tension phase it felt narratively *wrong*, but the cascade failure scenarios the math promotes seemed on brand once the actual horror started. Haven’t read through the actual rules myself, but it was interesting enough I’d like to see the final version and how it works with less of an emphasis of roll for everything than my one shot GM had.
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# ? Aug 4, 2019 20:48 |
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For anyone needing more input on the Zweihander guy, he's the kind of guy who puts out a mini-supplement based on a Twitter meme within 24 hours. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/284979 Whether you feel this is good or bad will help clarify how you feel about him.
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# ? Aug 6, 2019 16:57 |
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Also the Gencon Exclusive LOTFP book boldly emblazoned with "Zak S had nothing to do with this book" has a screed about how punishing people monetarily for being rapists is actually a bad thing for you as you are denying yourself their "great art".
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# ? Aug 6, 2019 20:11 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 05:56 |
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Raggi the Extremely Upset Coward.
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# ? Aug 6, 2019 20:51 |