tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post4100529440798519510..comments2024-03-25T00:18:14.319-07:00Comments on Against The Wicked City: Against the Wicked City: an explanationJoseph Manolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-49841806635802969772022-04-23T14:50:31.811-07:002022-04-23T14:50:31.811-07:00My systems knowledge is badly out of date, but in ...My systems knowledge is badly out of date, but in my view the three key elements of an ATWC game are these:<br /><br />1: Characters are human-scale, not superheroic, with no prospect of simply levelling up until they can blast their way to victory.<br /><br />2: The game is relatively fast and loose, without people worrying about musket calibres and whatnot. <br /><br />3: The system supports non-violent conflict resolution, and doesn't channel people towards combat all the time. <br /><br />1 and 3 disbar most modern D&D editions, as they're built around the assumption that the players will ultimately hack their way to victory and triumph through their overwhelming mastery of violence, which from an ATWC perspective is kinda missing the point. I'm sure some kind of Apocalypse World hack could work, though, and I've heard good things about the more modern versions of FATE!Joseph Manolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-76365699811671694562022-04-22T18:14:32.665-07:002022-04-22T18:14:32.665-07:00say, what other systems do you might reccomend for...say, what other systems do you might reccomend for a game set in this setting? as some of my players are interested in playing in this setting, but aren't interested in this system, or in an osr or dnd in particular.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02218833535209917047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-23736314970361445282018-03-02T14:47:22.197-08:002018-03-02T14:47:22.197-08:00Re: Central Asian myths - most of the sources I...Re: Central Asian myths - most of the sources I've found are academic works of anthropology, so it's easier if you have access to an academic library. I got some good mileage out of Julian Baldick's 'Animal and Shaman: Ancient Religions of Central Asia', and from Richard Foltz's two books, 'Religions of the Silk Road' and 'Religions of Iran: From Prehistory to the Present'. You can read a translation of the King Gesar epic at http://buryatmongol.org/epic-of-king-gesar-translation-by-sarangerel-odigon-2/, although my browser tells me it's currently infected with malware. Beyond that it's a matter of checking world encyclopaedias of mythology, and looking things up on JSTOR (or, failing that, on Wikipedia). Wikipedia's 'list of Turkic mythological figures' is a pretty good place to start:<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Turkic_mythological_figures<br /><br />And I'd never try to run a game built on these kinds of assumptions without discussing it with the players first, and making sure that it was the sort of game they were interested in playing. Otherwise, they'll respond to the unproductiveness of violence with yet more violence, until all that's left is a heap of PC and NPC corpses where the campaign used to be. Never try to solve out-of-character problems with in-character solutions!Joseph Manolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-4702507438871628182018-03-02T09:22:02.958-08:002018-03-02T09:22:02.958-08:00I stumbled on this looking for Central Asian mytho...I stumbled on this looking for Central Asian mythological stories and creatures for my own campaign. This. Is. Fantastic. And exactly like to the setting I had in my brain.<br /><br />I'm a new-ish GM running Pathfinder, but considering D&D (which would be tough because we're 3 sessions in already). Do you have any recommendations for CA myth resources?<br /><br />Also, did you set the expectation of mrdr-hobo not always best option ahead of time or let the players discover?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-49076452955657304232017-09-02T15:07:38.069-07:002017-09-02T15:07:38.069-07:00I'm not familiar enough with the 5e rule syste...I'm not familiar enough with the 5e rule system to judge how straightforward it would be to translate the ATWC classes into 5e rules - if it would be a real pain to have a PC playing a clockwork bear, or a sentient heap of frozen peat, then you might need to keep them to the more traditional class options. You'd also need gun rules, though I bet someone's written some good ones for 5e by now. Beyond that, though, I think it's mostly a matter of tone and theme.<br /><br />Two changes I would *strongly* suggest:<br /><br />1) Include strict morale rules, to ensure that the normal outcome of a fight is 'some violence happens and then one side surrenders or runs away', rather than 'violence grinds on grimly until one side has been completely exterminated'. Consider having most NPCs require morale checks to *initiate* violence against credible opposition. This should help to get everyone out of the mindset that 'They attack on sight and fight to the death' is the expected norm from every encounter, and encourage negotiation instead.<br /><br />2) Decouple XP rewards from violence. Dealing with opposition without bloodshed should be at least as heavily incentivised as just beating people to death. <br /><br />Aside from that, I should think you'd be fine. Good luck with the game!Joseph Manolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-87479256388013450722017-09-01T17:37:19.952-07:002017-09-01T17:37:19.952-07:00Hi there, long-time lurker and newbie DM - this lo...Hi there, long-time lurker and newbie DM - this looks like a really cool setting, in terms of aesthetic, theme and time/place setting reference.<br /><br />My experience with rpgs so far is almost entirely with 5th edition - how easy/wise do you reckon it would be to convert this to 5th? Especially in terms of mechanics supporting the theme of romantic rather than heroic fantasy. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.<br /><br />JacobAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09785464575479271013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-52669986859277361912016-02-22T14:25:33.105-08:002016-02-22T14:25:33.105-08:00You had me at 'Bollymecha'.
Seriously, th...You had me at 'Bollymecha'.<br /><br />Seriously, though, I'm delighted (and slightly amazed) to find that someone else out there has an interest in D&D, Central Asia, AND giant stompy robots. I'll read through Tartary the first chance I get.<br /><br />Hope you find something useful on the blog!Joseph Manolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05387275537008858939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-392427526916288536.post-32077447764874615992016-02-22T11:15:19.386-08:002016-02-22T11:15:19.386-08:00I've just been pointed over here by +Patrick S...I've just been pointed over here by +Patrick Stuart - it looks incredibly interesting and right up my street. For a couple of years I've been running a soemtimes grim, sometimes gallows-humourous Central Asian Bollymecha game called Tartary - <br />https://lurkerablog.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/tartary-the-story-so-far/<br />my approach to period/tech levl is a little different from yours: Tartary is post-apocalyptic but nobody knows how long the Great Event was, or if there was more than one. It has buried caches of stuff from various Cold Wars - AK47s in oil barrels, Ottoman cannons, unidentifiable radioactives - but otherwise it's stuck in a kind of Oriental limbo; spears and bows are just as highly prized as unreliable and irreparable ray guns. <br />I'm +Richard Grenville on G+ richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13517340075234811323noreply@blogger.com