Conflict Roleplaying Rulebook

Conflict Roleplaying Rulebook

by

Mark M. Scott

Published by Conflict Books

Disclaimer: The copy used for this review was provided through Atomic Array in conjunction with Episode 042.

Every style of gameplay has its purpose and those who enjoy it, just as there is a platform and form factor for every gamer to enjoy. Whether you are a die-hard simulationist, an emotive role-player, a number cruncher or somewhere, everywhere, in-between and beyond those definitions. If there's a game, then there are gamers who play it.

So diverse are the options, so known are the flavors that we gamers even have our touchstones, be they labels, stereotypes, or common jokes and anecdotes. One such anecdote, that I'm sure we're all familiar with is the common place, "My player character can beat your player character" moments.

When you look at the tropes of roleplaying games it is commonly an activity where it is the player characters against some obstacle, foe, threat, or challenge setup by the person on the other side of a screen. However, from time to time, there are those moments where folks sometimes wanna compete with one and other. Be it for fun, be it for pride, or be it just because you wanna smash their toy, player-versus-player happens.

Now, thanks to Conflict Books, we've a set of rules to help folks play through these sort of encounters in a fun and enjoyable way.

Gone is the "Us versus the GM" stance of some styles of play, as the Game Master is literally an arbiter of the rules and the point of conflict is now between individual players, or various combinations of groups and/or team of players.

Conflict Roleplaying Rulebook provides guidelines for a tactical style of play with the focus of players facing off against players in a direct competitive style of play. It ain't just a hack-n-slash, gut the dungeon and steal the fixtures kind of game, but a game of tactical combat between players and groups of players.

In a way, it's like chess, with a fantasy force of characters using their powers to help you win the day.

It uses a very familiar rules set for many gamers out there, as it is compatible with the Open Gaming License and Paizo's Pathfinder RPG, however Conflict adds a very new terms and concepts to the familiar game.

These concepts are designed so that folks know whether or not they've the right character for a match (such as Battlepoints), ones to combat metagaming (such as the style of Conflict Maps and things like the Passcards), various types of events (Matches), and features that support the style of play (such as the Laws and Team Feats).

All in all, Conflict Roleplaying Rulebook is an excellent resource for those who wish for a more competitive, tactical style of gaming while still using a familiar rules set. It brings to the table the ability for players to challenge one and other, directly, in a grand way, while still encouraging it to be a fun, worthwhile gaming experience for those involved.

If you'd like to pick-up Conflict, please go here.

Also, if you'd like to know other thoughts on the game, please look below.

Want to learn more about Conflict Roleplaying? Read on…

• Atomic Array: Episode 042: Conflict Roleplaying
• Mad Brew Labs: Adding PVP Conflict to Pathfinder
• Apathy Blogs: A new way to play Pathfinder
• Know Direction: Episode 008

Kagematsu

Kagematsu

by

Danielle Lewon

based on a design by S.R. Knipe

Published by Cream Alien Games

Disclaimer: The copy used for this review was provided through Atomic Array in conjunction with Episode 041.

Kagematsu describes its self as a role-playing game of shame, honor, and love that takes place in a 16th Century village in Japan that is under a dire threat. Kagematsu is a ronin whose sojourn is, perhaps, interrupted by the villages need.

Will he stay and defend the village? Why?

In simplicity, Kagematsu is an example of small group improvisational theater and gender role reversal. It is a usage of "on the rails" gaming, but in a rather interesting and unique manner, with a focus on having a female control the male character of Kagematsu while male and female players portray the other female characters of the scenario.

While it is slightly heavy handed, as well as something that gamers could ignore if they so choose, I'd say that this role reversal is part of the unique draw of this game. Of course, that'd make sense, since it is a core design element and factor in the game.

Kagematsu is about interactive and cooperative storytelling, where the players help craft the story, the village and its folk, its threat, and even Kagematsu himself. Can the women of the village woo Kagematsu to stay and defend them from the Threat? Should they? Is it love? Is it something lesser?

While there are mechanics to the game's rules, they are quite light and very easy to learn. Perhaps the hardest part, for some, in playing Kagematsu will be the role-playing that is encouraged by the game, for it can be of a more dramatic and romantic nature than is common to various systems, even those with a focus on storytelling.

All in all, Kagematsu is a thought provoking role-playing game with an intriguing premise, an enjoyable depth, that are an example of how our hobby can be more than angst or greed, with respect to emotional breadth of play. While the game might not be for everyone, it certain could be if they tried.

Kagematsu can be purchased here.

Want to learn more about Kagematsu? Read ...

Atomic Array: Episode 041: Kagematsu

A Free Copy of Kobold Quarterly #10

Fresh from the dexterous hands of a demure kobold is the news that the folks at Kobold Quarterly are giving away a copy of KQ #10, from now through January 31st.

If you head to the KQ Store and enter KQ10Free then you'll be able to download an awesome edition of one of the best gaming periodicals out there. I've had a subscription to this quarterly since it's inception and I've never had a reason to regret it, as it covers a lot of what I play today. Be it things that'd work with 4th Edition D&D, Open Design Projects, Pathfinder, or OGL, Kobold Quarterly fills my tabletop needs quite nicely.

So why don't you head over to Kobold Quarterly and checkout what they have to offer. Unless a free issue with the likes of Jason Bulmahn, Monte Cook, Ed Greenwood, and John Wick aren't your cup of tea...but, then again, if they aren't, it's not like you'd be reading my blog. Would you?

Fantasy just got Crafty

Fantasy Craft

by

Alex Flagg, Scott Gearin, Patrick Kapera

Published

by

Crafty Games

Disclosure: Review copy provided via Atomic Array, carnival details follow the main body of this article.

With the latest offering from the makers of Spycraft 2.0 the universe of the Open Gaming License just got a bit more empowered. Not only that, but Crafty Games sets the expectation for the line right on the back of the book, and I quote, "Your Dungeon, Your Dragon, Your Way."

As that back-cover maxim suggests, nay commands, Fantasy Craft is all about customization and, if you'll forgiven a further pun, crafting the best fantasy experience that fits the desires of those involved in a campaign, in front of or behind the screen. With 12 races, some made more varied by Species feats, and 12 base classes, it's easy to see how Fantasy Craft offers the ability for gamemasters and players to customize their experiences.

If you're the type of gamer that wants the crunchy skeleton to hang the meaty world upon, to have generic rules to power the fantasy world in which they play, then Fantasy Craft is definitely a good purpose for you. From cover to cover there is help for creating characters (player and non-player), evocative creations of magical milieu, and world building assistance for helping out the nascent person behind the screen and hone the sharpened edge of an expert.

In addition to the ability to use race specific feats to customize your character, Fantasy Craft also has variations on classes, too, with the base class, expert class, and master class feature. While players can stay within a base class for the whole of the PC's career, they can also option into the expert classes and, eventually, a master class. It's up to the players and their Game Master to decide where they want things to go and how.

While Fantasy Craft is based off of the OGL variant that Spycraft uses, it also tweaks things into what Crafty Games is calling Master Craft, a rules set that they will be using to power other settings and show between game-line compatibility, however they also have the Powered By license, which allows for folks to use the Fantasy Craft and Spycraft systems to power their own creations. Thus, the Open Gaming movement is quite obviously still alive, as we've seen with other companies, but also strong enough to power other innovative branches of the OGL family.

Overall, Fantasy Craft is an excellent addition to any bookshelf and is an excellent system for players and gamemasters who enjoy deep customization and variation of player characters and systems, as well as for those who seek a generic rules set to empower their own flavorful creations and worlds. I know that Fantasy Craft is an excellent addition to my own electronic bookshelf and, soon, to my hardcopy bookshelf, as well.

Want to learn more about Fantasy Craft? Read on...

• Atomic Array: Fantasy Craft (Atomic Array 032)
• Game Cryer: Review by Chris Perrin
• Questing GM: Questing with Fantasy Craft
• allgeektout: What Fantasy Craft Has to Offer
• Campaign Mastery: Mine Fiction for Campaign Qualities
• Emerson's Bookshelf: Fantasy Just Got Crafty
• Critical Hits: Critical Review
• Fear the Boot: Fear the Review
• Gnome Stew: GM Spotlight: What Fantasy Craft Brings to the Table
• Uncle Bear: Fantasy Craft Chargen
• Flames Rising: Dark FantasyCraft Review

Drop by Crafty Games today!

Strike Force 7; now with RuneQuest or Savage Worlds

Strike Force 7 - Savaged! or (RuneQuest) Strike Force 7

by

Caias Ward and R. Hyrum Savage

Published

by

OtherWorld Creations

At the end of 2008 I did a review of Strike Force 7, which can be read here, which brings us today, where Strike Force 7 is being brought to us using RuneQuest and Savage Worlds systems, from Mongoose Press and Pinnacle Entertainment group, respectively.

While I could talk alot about the individual PDFs and their price points, I feel that it's better to talk about the most important aspect of this offering; Strike Force 7 is offered in three different systems. How cool is that?

Like a lot of folks, I'm use to getting setting material that is often tailored to one specific system or game, but as I've grown older, physically at least, I've grown to like having options. Sure, it can be nice when the background and setting of a game are all tied to a system, but, better still, having a game tied to the setting, yet flexible in what rules set is used, is pretty damn cool.

Fans can be fairly entrenched in a system, just as they can be staunch in their support of a particular designer or developer, and it can sometimes be a shame when those two facts can end up opposed to one and other. But, what if they didn't?

OtherWorld Creations has bypassed that possibility by adding additional systems of support for their Strike Force 7 offering, an adventure game that could easily be attached to common genre trope touchstones like G.I. Joe, The Man from U.N.C.L.E and S.H.I.E.L.D.. Superheroic armed service personnel fighting a global terrorist organization that is bent on world domination and freedom endangering activities.

Whether SF7 fans use the Spycraft variant of the OGL, PEG's Savage Worlds, or the latest version of RuneQuest, they will still have the flavor of Strike Force 7 and it's fight againstSkorpian in the system of choice for those around the table. How about that?

OWC has made an interesting choice, on that some might be noticing around the industry, where independent publishers are starting to support multiple systems, as opposed to uniting behind one system. Systemless, or perhaps system-ful, seems to be an excellent model for independent publishers to follow, right up there with some of the better aspects of the patronage model, in that it puts more options in the hands of customers, instead of restricting them.

The variants of Strike Force 7 can be found following the links above or by visiting RPGNow andDriveThruRPG; both PDF offerings are normally priced at $8.99, however, at the time of this posting, the Savage Worlds variant is selling for $6.99 and the RuneQuest version is at $8.49.

Want to learn more about Strike Force 7? Read on...

Atomic Array: Strike Force 7 (Atomic Array 28)

Game Cryer: Review by Chris Perrin

Uncle Bear: Impressions

Flames Rising: Savaged! Review by Todd Cash

Emerson's Bookshelf: Now with RuneQuest and Savage Worlds

allgeektout: Hiding in Plain Sight

Atomic Array: Free Mini-Mission

Drop by OtherWorld Creations today!

The problem with System Fundamentalists...

Although I play only a handful of systems regularly, I'd never say that there is one system that I feel is the best, nor would I down one system over another, which is probably why system fundamentalists bother me. I feel that they're a disservice to the hobby, especially when they're elitist and insulting about their disdain of one system over another.

I'm sure we've all heard the phrase about being a "role-player, not a roll-player," with the implied insult toward players of one system that the speaker doesn't approve of. It's a stereotype, that everyone who players D&D is a hack-n-slash gamer, just like it's a stereotype that everyone who plays a narrative game is an drama king or queen. While there are always examples of stereotypes, thus lending some level of reinforcement, these are normally just anecdotal evidence, at best, and full of more holes than a strainer.

Whether a game come from a major publisher or through one of the independents, it is up to the folk who play it, from either side of the screen, about whether the tone of the game is good or bad. There isn't anything wrong with talking in character for a whole session, without the resolution mechanic ever being touched, just like there isn't anything wrong with a whole session of dice-throwing...if that, in both cases, is what those involved in the game want.

Regardless of the publisher's desires, once the game is purchased and falls into the hands of others, once the folk who will play the game have purchased it, the intended purpose of the system ended at the point of sale. It is those who play the game, those who gather around a table, or even over the Internet these days, who set the ton of a game and that's just the fact of it.

In my nearly thirty years of gaming, I've seen a large variety of game systems and styles and not once, ever, did a specific system force me to play one way or another. Some of the best in-character role-playing I've ever had was in a homebrew D&D campaign that used a modified 2nd Edition system with a Dragonbone Chair series wrapper on it and it was awesome. In contrast, one of the most bloody, epic carnage and power-play games was an early World of Darkness game I played in when I was in college, it had a mix of Mage, Werewolf, and Vampire and it was very over the top.

But, each time, it was those who played in the games, as well as those who ran it, that determined the tone of the games, not the systems. Maybe I've just been lucky, guilty of my own anecdotal evidence taking precedence, but I've never had a game style forced on me, nor have I had my role in a game reduced to just rolling dice and letting someone else narrate my character's actions.

My advice to folk out there, think about whether you're being a system fundamentalist or not and if you feel you are one, please think about how you're coming across to others. Passion is a good thing, but sometimes if you're overly passionate about something, to the point of being push or rude, even insulting, then you're doing more harm to folks opinions of your system than you are improving it.

Review - Open Design Podcast

Whether you're interested in the art of design and development of role-playing games as a gamemaster or professional, I think that the Open Design Podcast is going to be just the podcast that you're looking for. Our hosts are Wolfgang Baur, Ed Healy, and Rone Barton, with Monte Cook and Skip Williams slated as regular features verbalizing their Kobold Quarterly columns, respectively Game Theories and Ask the Kobold. Thus we have the vanguard of the patronage movement for the design and development of role-playing games, the hosts of Atomic Array and RPG Countdown, amongst other things, and two of the lead folks of 3rd Edition, one of whom is an OGL pioneer, himself.

How's that for potential and that's just the hosts and monthly featured folks.

Open Design 001: Kobold Ecologies, the initial offering from the Open Design Podcast comes out guns blazing with Jeff Grubb and his authoritative thoughts on design and development, as well as his experience with the patronage movement. The next offering is Brandon Hodge, senior patron and contributor to Halls of the Mountain King, an Open Design patronage, as well as the proprietor of Big Top Candy Shop and Monkey See, Monkey Do, both of Austin Texas. Hodge talks about his experience with Open Design and patronage. Last, but not least, we have Clinton J. Boomer, RPG Superstar finalist and all around interesting character who talks about his own path to monster design, as well as his current projects.

Of course, during all of this are have the feature contributors, Monte Cook and Skip Williams, respectively talking about contrasting differences between fiction and game writing and sage'd advice about the rules for occupying a five foot space in an OGL game.

Clocking in at just under an hour, Open Design 001 covers a lot of subjects in a pleasant format that imparts a fair amount of information in a modest amount of time, entertainingly so, with time passing by rather quickly. While it would be easy to associate the Open Design Podcast with d20 mechanics and the Open Game License movement, there is plenty of information that could easily be used, independent of system, by the listener.

Although this is only the first episode of this podcast, it's my opinion that anyone interesting in being better behind the screen, learning to design and develop their own works or works for others, could do a lot worse for themselves than listening to this podcast. Not only does the Open Design Podcast have over three-quarters of a century of role-playing industry experience in its core offering, but it has the potential of hitting the century mark with any given episode, simply based on the wide-ranging potential of guests.

Also, if you're more of an auditory learner, or someone whose always got an MP3 player plugged into your head, than this should definitely be in your rotation, as you're bound to learn something, each offering.

So do yourself a favor, however you wish to listen or subscribe to it, and give the Open Design Podcast a listen and see if it's for you; I think you'll be quite pleased with the results.

Open Design 001: Kobold Ecologies

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