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Favorite Universes To Game

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04 Feb 2016 13:11 #221686 by jeb
Replied by jeb on topic Favorite Universes To Game

Legomancer wrote: Something set in a pre-established universe (especially an existing book/movie/tv show) is almost always an automatic turn-off for me.

I liked the world of Magic back when we only got scraps of a storyline. Piecing together what happened in "Antiquities" was kind of fun. I feel a similar way about the Neuroshima stuff. The fact that I can't find out the whole, "real" story, makes it much better for me.

Yeah! The Brothers War was badass in a completely unexplained way. Sign me up for _that_. Or whatever it was in my head, not what they probably made it.

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04 Feb 2016 14:08 - 04 Feb 2016 14:22 #221692 by Mr. White

Mr. White wrote: I'm not sure how deep this Android setting is besides the art on the cards. An RPG book would go a long way to solidifying the universe, IMO.


Here's a step in the right direction.
www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/...e-worlds-of-android/

How about those Android novels? I don't recall anyone saying they were great.
Last edit: 04 Feb 2016 14:22 by Mr. White.

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04 Feb 2016 14:15 - 04 Feb 2016 14:21 #221693 by metalface13
In no particular order ...
40K: I still remember the first time I saw the cover of the Warhammer 40,000 2nd Edition box in the back of an Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine, nestled in one of those ads for those mail-order used game companies. This was before used video games were the staple of Game Stop. I was in 8th grade. I just oogled over this dude in power armor with a giant cybernetic fist fighting amongst these orcs with giant guns. Space orks! A setting that blended fantasy and science fiction 40,000 YEARS in the future was just incredible to me. I've been hooked every sense. 40K is maybe a little too grimdark for me these days, but the humor of the orks, the gothic Imperium, the mystical Eldar which Jes Goodwin managed to turn into so much more than space elves. Man good stuff. And all the John Blanche art! The pinnacle of this universe for me is the sub-gaming universe of Necromunda. The Underhive, man. The UNDERHIVE! Filled with the teeming masses trying to get by, filled with gangs, brutal outlaws, hideous mutants, religious fanatics and more. By the Emperor, what a setting to game in. The rulebooks of that era were filled with great fluff and some really good short stories. I'm still drawn to this universe and am intrigued by the Conquest CCG, Forbidden Stars, Relic, etc.

Middle-Earth: My true love of fantasy settings. I'm not even sure how many games I've played in the setting, I'm ashamed I've never played War of the Rings. This setting has had me enchanted since I first watched the animated Hobbit. I don't even remember how old I was. From the Hobbit to Lord of the Rings to The Silmarillion I can get lost in Middle-Earth's history for hours and game there all day.

Dungeon Crawl Classics: Doesn't fit Jeff's criteria of multiple games here, but I love the way DCC sets you up for old-school fantasy gaming. Everything is weird and dangerous. Nothing is to be taken at face value. The artwork is awesome and the book is a pure gem.

Shadowrun: I'm with you all the way on this Jeff. I love cyberpunk and I love fantasy, so for me this mashup is peanut butter and chocolate. But I know for a lot of others it's like orange juice and toothpaste.

Star Wars: Yep. May the Force be with you.

Edit: Oh I forgot! Magic!

Magic: The Gathering: I love the idea of mages pulling power from different types of the Earth to fuel their spells. I love the color distinctions, their connections to different elements and the game has some interesting takes on different fantasy races and has the balls to introduce some of its own. Bull all these Planeswalkers and different planes and stuff I'm completely numb to and have no idea what's going on there.
Last edit: 04 Feb 2016 14:21 by metalface13. Reason: I'm dumb
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04 Feb 2016 14:22 - 04 Feb 2016 14:58 #221694 by OldHippy
Replied by OldHippy on topic Favorite Universes To Game

Mr. White wrote: [quote="Mr. White" post=221651I'm not sure how deep this Android setting is besides the art on the cards. An RPG book would go a long way to solidifying the universe, IMO.

Here's a step in the right direction.
www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/...e-worlds-of-android/

How about those Android novels? I don't recall anyone saying they were great.


I just can't bring myself to read a novel with FFG's logo on the book. I'm biased against genre books of that type, paid writers working for a game company? No, won't work. That resource book you link to looks cool though. That's the kind of thing that I think FFG might actually be able to handle. If I want to read genre fiction it has to be from a writer who is doing their own thing, not from a popular IP.

As for the universe not being much more than the 'art on the cards' well, that's actually a lot. I can get a really good feel for a universe with nothing more than art on cards.
Last edit: 04 Feb 2016 14:58 by OldHippy.

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04 Feb 2016 14:27 - 04 Feb 2016 14:29 #221696 by Mr. White
I'm with you, JJ, in regards to game fiction. Of course, I read the Dragonlance Chronicles back in the day, and a few early Warhammer novels (Gortek & Felix, and anything by Kim Newman - Warhammer and Dark Future), but yeah...I can't see myself buying a novel written in a game universe. If I want to read cyberpunk or fantasy I'll read something from an author writing on their own.

An rpg book or a world building sourcebook? Those I'll read. Is there a difference? I dunno. One feels more like a 'game book' so I guess I'd give it a pass. Who the hell knows why.

EDIT: So, JJ, what is the world of Terrinoth about? Is there enough to get the story just from the cards? What sets it apart from World of Warcraft, Pathfinder, or any of these recent era fantasy world games that appear to be more inspired by other games rather than literature?
Last edit: 04 Feb 2016 14:29 by Mr. White.

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04 Feb 2016 14:36 #221698 by metalface13
There are some pretty good 40k novels out there actually. The Eisenhorn and Ravenor books by Dan Abnett are actually really good.

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04 Feb 2016 14:58 #221700 by OldHippy
Replied by OldHippy on topic Favorite Universes To Game

Mr. White wrote: So, JJ, what is the world of Terrinoth about? Is there enough to get the story just from the cards? What sets it apart from World of Warcraft, Pathfinder, or any of these recent era fantasy world games that appear to be more inspired by other games rather than literature?


It's Tolkien light essentially - very derivative. But the world is subservient to the game, not vice versa like most IP based games end up being. The factions don't represent lofty ideas for allegorical purposes, they represent gaming ideas for gaming purposes. So while I did read the background fluff in Runewars (- a couple of times, to my shame) so I know what's happened historically in that world... none of that matters. You don't need to do that.

From the cards you know that there are six factions at least (nations if you like), several neutral creatures and wild random heroes with alignments of a sort wandering the country side looking for adventure and treasure. You know that it's a 'high' magic world and roughly what kind of creatures exist there. You know that those six factions are - sort of - divided into three good and three bad. You know that a group of barbarians have made some kind of dark pact with demons, you know that an undead lord is ruling over an undead army and that he wants to control all of Terrinoth, you know that the Elves are diplomatic virtuoso's, the Dwarves are money hungry, the orcs admire pain and death, the human admire honour, tech and versatility. You know some of the major landmarks and geographical features, you know that Runestones are highly prized and can help rule kingdoms and keep the people in line. You know what kind of magic equipment is there. You know that peasants work hard to have enough food for the winter, some of the minor gods and religions...

So the Undead faction doesn't represent anything other than game ideas, bringing back dead warriors to fight time and time again, Elves winning over neuteral armies with their diplomatic skills... that kind of thing.

Once you get some of these basics the world is created anew each time you play a game. Like I said, the world is subservient to the game. So when I play a game based in the LOTR universe I know what that world map looks like, it's inside all the books we've seen time and time again since we were children. But for Terrinoth the map is how we choose to make it. We get authorial power in these worlds. The world is roughly designed and through the act of playing the game you fine tune it to your tastes through your actions. I'm not carrying the sympathy of years of fiction from other medias around with me when I sit down to a game in Terrinoth, I'm making those fictions myself with only the barest of bones to start with.

This doesn't just apply to Terrinoth of course, the basic concept works for all games set in their own unique IP. But the cards give you, in most cases with good games, more than enough information to work with to get into that world and start helping to create it.
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04 Feb 2016 15:13 #221702 by Mr. White
Wow, Jacob...That may be the best game analysis piece I've read in these forums in a long time. Hell, I'm almost willing to give Terrinoth a pass as a setting now.

Well done!

So, if FFG did up a 'World of Terrinoth' book like that Android deal would you be interested or would you not want your imagination to be constrained by the background text?

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04 Feb 2016 15:17 #221703 by Columbob
Replied by Columbob on topic Favorite Universes To Game

Mr. White wrote: Pathfinder,


You know this is D&D, right? 3.75 edition or so, with a few names changed to protect the innocent. So the Pathfinder world is just another D&D fantasy world with its own particular features.

And if you can make up your own world for D&D, why not make up a similar fantasy world with a few different creatures and archetypes to set your games in, such as Terrinoth.

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04 Feb 2016 16:13 #221709 by OldHippy
Replied by OldHippy on topic Favorite Universes To Game

Mr. White wrote: So, if FFG did up a 'World of Terrinoth' book like that Android deal would you be interested or would you not want your imagination to be constrained by the background text?


It probably would limit my imagination a bit and that would be irritating, but I love books like that so I'd still be interested despite myself.

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04 Feb 2016 18:04 #221720 by MacDirk Diggler
I am mostly in line with the folks that don't need a licensed game setting. It doesn't add that much to the game for me with the exception of War of the Ring. I just want the game to be good on it's own merits.
Shadowrun is a good one that needs to be explored by more games. I played an iPad RPG and knew nothing about it but it has most of the stuff offered by normal fantasy with spells and whatnot... but then it has technology and drugs. (Taking a potion seems kinda femme while using drugs for same kinds of character buffs seems a bit more manly) I played an elf rigger that controlled 2 fighting drones in combat. I am not sure why there are elves and orcs in the future though.....

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04 Feb 2016 20:31 #221739 by Sevej
Replied by Sevej on topic Favorite Universes To Game
I'm in for:

40k. I just love the stupid extreme stuff in it. Praying super soldiers, british ork... typical stuff but I just love it. Really can have any kind of sci-fi/fantasy there. Heck, you can have a Star Trek style stuff with Tau.

Generic fantasy. Really... not too dark, not too edgy, less demons & undead, low-medium magic, and good jokes. The new Descent Terrinoth maybe, but I really disliked Runebound 2nd Terrinoth.
Dystopian also, but there hasn't been any dystopian universe that I really grok.

I'd kill for a good non-Risk Mass Effect board game.
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05 Feb 2016 07:59 #221762 by Black Barney
As long as it has girl on girl alien sex, and gets banned in Singapore, I'm in

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05 Feb 2016 09:00 #221773 by wadenels
Replied by wadenels on topic Favorite Universes To Game
I really dig sort-of-medeival dark Europe settings. Stuff like Warrior Knights and Talisman and Warhammer Fantasy, not the Euro style. The other end of the spectrum is mechs and over-the-top future style, like Battleball and WH40K. So I guess Games Workshop has me pretty well pegged. Except I don't paint much.

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