Well then, allow me to express my desires with the eloquence and erudition that the Failbetter community has come to expect from me.
Do want.
I am already subjecting my players in other RPGs to Recurring Dreams. Naturally they are stole… influenced by the ones in Fallen London. (Though I have no plans to allow my players to earn Storm-Eyed).
edited by Abraham Bounty on 8/5/2012
I would buy the sourcebook for Fallen London sight unseen! Mind you, I would prefer if it used either one of the generic systems I use (GURPS and FATE), or it either had the mechanics segregated from the rest (for easy conversions) or was system-less.
Personally, I feel that FATE is particularly well suited for this, and given the way it’s licensed (OGL), you don’t need to actually ask for a license. BTW, one the creators of FATE plays this game Fallen London
I am the one that originally mentioned this in the other thread, so yes, I would buy something like this.
Please!
I would be extremely interested in such a book, even if I never ran a game for it. Just a compendium of lore, even.
I would buy it in a heartbeat. I never even play pen and paper RPG’s I just like rulebooks.
I’d pay 100$ for such a book (it’s 500 of my country’s money!). Seriously.
Edit: Or maybe even more…
Please do it!
edited by Voodoo Master on 8/6/2012
I’d likely be interested, but I don’t know who I’d play with. I’ve had bad luck doing pen and paper online with folks in the past.
I would be interested too. I agree a story oriented system would be good, rather than a detailed nitty gritty system. (Though Diskworld was done in GURPS, so kudos to Phil and co.)
I’ve not played FATE myself, but have run PDQ (Prose Descriptive Qualities) which seems similar but with a broader brush (no skill system for instance).
As to the effort needed for it I guess that depends how gennerous Failbetter are with their license. Would they allow explicit quotes from the game (sidebars for instance) and use of their artwork? Could information in fate locked storylines be included in the Game Master’s notes?
Fallen London online is much like a novel heading towards a particular end point, whereas an RPG would be a series of adventures for a company of talented individuals. When Star Wars was licensed for public convention campaigns an isolated region was given to the organisers so they could do things without impacting the galaxy at large. Not sure if need to go that far with Fallen London as I expect there are a thousand streets each with their own story. Would need to be careful with major characters though.
If the Kickstarter hasn’t convinced you that the fanbase has disposable income and appetite for high-quality Fallen London products, I don’t know what will. If an Echo Bazaar RPG with Failbetter’s stamp of approval is published, I will buy all the books. I’m utterly certain I’m not alone in that.
Yes please!
At least one “me too” from here!
Let me bring up one fundamental point of importance.
I would expect at least all non Fate Locked content to be part of the license, at the very least. And that this lore would presented, if not in the main rulebook, then at least in a campaign sourcebook. In a completely spoilered manner (as any rpg Games Master would expect), detailing every main NPC, every main area, and all the conspiracies and happenings that tie them together in plainly catalogued and not-suspense-building words.
I know this is the bulk of what Fallen London is. Many other worlds and stories live a separate life as a movie or (huge) monolithic chunk of text, and so a pnp rpg might not feel much of a threat (=replacement) to the original body of work. But because the browser game already consists of mostly text snippets, any properly executed Echo Bazaar rpg will and should, and this is a fundamental truth that Failbetter (and its licensee) must accept from the start.
While I agree rules are generally less important to rpgs with such an emphasis on story and atmosphere as (hopefully) a EB one (as compared to games about kicking down doors, killing monsters and looting their caves for instance) I definitely would recommend Failbetter (and its licensee) to include one.
Do not underestimate the power of a ruleset that is specially crafted around a particular setting.
Echo Bazaar as an RPG would be fantastic, and I’d buy it.
Just look at all the RP that goes on on Twitter, Livejournal, and this very forum to see how into roleplay the fans are.
My opinion on the matter differs. I see a tabletop RPG as an adjunct to the online game, not a copy or replacement.
So I’d expect background and environment-setting information to paint a picture of Fallen London, its denizens and culture. But I would strongly support it being other stories, with just enough “public” knowledge of key online situations and characters to make it feel like part of the same universe. And I feel it would benefit from that as well, as it would allow the developers to figure out the best way (mechanic) to bring the players into the milieu for that medium.
Your mileage may vary. :)
Lots of really interesting thoughts here, everyone. Keep them coming!
I have to say, my own personal preferences for any Fallen London RPG match up with Woogawoman’s. The point, as I see it, would be to support people to tell their own Fallen London-style stories, not to require they tell the same stories that are in the game.
Tabletop roleplaying is such a personal, even intimate, creative experience that it’s always at its best when it’s the product of a specific group, their rapport and their collective imagination.
[quote=Woogawoman]
I see a tabletop RPG as an adjunct to the online game, not a copy or replacement.
So I’d expect background and environment-setting information to paint a picture of Fallen London, its denizens and culture. But I would strongly support it being other stories, with just enough “public” knowledge of key online situations and characters to make it feel like part of the same universe. And I feel it would benefit from that as well, as it would allow the developers to figure out the best way (mechanic) to bring the players into the milieu for that medium.
Your mileage may vary. :)[/quote]
+1, I am completely and 100% in agreement with you.
As an aside, my only previous ‘rpg’ experience was briefly participating in a friend’s dungeons and dragons campaign… I can only hope anything Failbetter comes up with is not so ‘technical,’ to put it plainly. I was quite bored with all the rolling for every little action. I just want to play preten- erm, I mean, engage in very sophisticated roleplaying activities via the wonders of modern techology. If I wanted to calculate percentages or worry about the weight of my belongings, or what have you, well then, I’d pick up a console game and let the computer worry over it for me.
[quote=ladylikeikneel][quote=Woogawoman]
I see a tabletop RPG as an adjunct to the online game, not a copy or replacement.
So I’d expect background and environment-setting information to paint a picture of Fallen London, its denizens and culture. But I would strongly support it being other stories, with just enough “public” knowledge of key online situations and characters to make it feel like part of the same universe. And I feel it would benefit from that as well, as it would allow the developers to figure out the best way (mechanic) to bring the players into the milieu for that medium.
Your mileage may vary. :)[/quote]
+1, I am completely and 100% in agreement with you.
As an aside, my only previous ‘rpg’ experience was briefly participating in a friend’s dungeons and dragons campaign… I can only hope anything Failbetter comes up with is not so ‘technical,’ to put it plainly. I was quite bored with all the rolling for every little action. I just want to play preten- erm, I mean, engage in very sophisticated roleplaying activities via the wonders of modern techology. If I wanted to calculate percentages or worry about the weight of my belongings, or what have you, well then, I’d pick up a console game and let the computer worry over it for me.[/quote]
Rolling can add an interesting story element, even if done to excess, as long as it’s done well. But then… we forced our DM to create a “Monster taste” table and roll for the deliciousness of our foes, so… mileage may vary (along with sanity.) Getting lost in game mechanics can be a game itself (one not to everyone’s taste!); but I would not find it a good fit for the Fallen London setting. Right now I really only have seven stats, and a vague idea of how various factions feel about me. Everything is tracked by computer backed by a database, yet I still feel I could capture the important parts of my character on a cocktail napkin. That’s more the mechanical style I’d expect from a Fallen London RPG.
[quote=Abraham Bounty]
I am already subjecting my players in other RPGs to Recurring Dreams. Naturally they are stole… influenced by the ones in Fallen London. (Though I have no plans to allow my players to earn Storm-Eyed).
edited by Abraham Bounty on 8/5/2012[/quote]
One of my most beloved characters in another RPG entirely had the Asset “Dreaming Strange Dreams: Enigma - Dreams about ethics, family, and other formally undecidable propositions.” So, yes. I certainly do want a system that can create stories in the style of Fallen London, for starters.
But the setting of the Neath is so absolutely delicious that I would certainly want at least some information about the setting, to help inspire my own Neathy tales. So many of the hints and clues we get tease at a much larger, more beautiful story. I’d purchase any tome that simply offered the hint of more secrets even if I knew I could never get anyone to play it.
edited by FloraKaline on 8/7/2012
While I agree with Woogawoman’s point that the RPG should allow new stories to be told in the setting, I also agree with ZappBusker about depth of content. We want the background facts, the conflicts between characters. These help drive new stories happening. I would hope that FB would allow some fate locked background to be included. Most of the juicy bits about Rubbery men are in a fate locked area, and gives hints at to motivations and possible activities.
I wouldn’t expect a recap of each story in the online game. However the facts revealed in these stories should be extracted. Of course in the online game they are secrets to be revealed to the player. The player of the online game also benefits from narrative and intrigung stories. I wouldn’t want to deprive FB of revenue. There may be facts that don’t really fit into a story but FB have stuck in background note - perhaps those secrets could go into the book.
A big difference with an RPG is that the player has a lot more control over what happens. They aren’t constrained to a fixed set of narrative choices. So the person running the game needs some extra information to be able to answer questions like how long a character would last if he decided to try to kill a Master while having a private audiance with one. Of course it could be fudged with a pack of special constables entering the room.
edited by Martin Hopfield on 8/8/2012