More About TRoS
|
|
1. Someone said your game advertised
a real-time combat system. Is this true? If so, how can it be?
Yes, we advertise a "real-time"
combat system. When we say real-time we don't so much mean that you roll
dice and figure damage, etc, at the same speed that someone fights, but
rather that it isn't turn-based in the traditional sense. Attackers and
defenders make decisions and roll simultaneously; allowing great levels
of both detail and strategy in combat while running faster than most any
other game. We do guarantee it to be the most realistic combat system
available on all levels: initiative, attack/defense resolution, damage,
etc.
2. What is the central mechanic
of your game like?
The central mechanic is a d10 success-based system,
with a heavy emphasis on contested rolls, encouraging strategy, creativity,
and decision-making.
3. Is the system complex?
Complexity...that's a hard question to answer
nowadays. The mechanic is centralized, so it's easy to pick up quickly,
yet there are many levels of involvement...overall I'd say though the
system is intuitive, it's also detailed-meaning more complex than many
game systems, but also more rewarding. It's probably about as complex
as some of the games from the 80's, but with a much more fluid and fast-moving
mechanic.
4. Is the setting more dark fantasy
or epic fantasy?
The setting is a mix between the fantasy of myth
and folklore (think Grimm's Fairy Tales), the pulp Fantasy of the 20's,
30's, and 40's, and historical research (Mallory's Morte d'Arthur and
real-world history). The setting reaches back to before "epic fantasy"
and "dark fantasy" applied. The end result is a very realistic
world where magic is immensely powerful but also rare on a mythological
scale. As far as I'm aware, this exact approach to and FRPG is new (or
at least hasn't been done in a long while).
5. When and where will it be
available?
The book is currently available by direct
distribution through our web page for individuals and retailers. We
will be releasing the game into US distribution in July, including a big
premiere at Origins, via Wizard's Attic. We have also just recently picked
up distribution in Europe. In short, if you want to get the game through
traditional channels wait until the beginning of August. Otherwise order
it from us online or pester your local retailer to contact
us.
6. Although the fact you could lose a limb at any
moment may make for very tense and exciting combat, but could also lead
to a bunch of party members nicknamed Stumpy, Matt, Art etc. as per the
old, tasteless schoolyard jokes. How does this work? If combat is truly
that deadly, how does one stay alive? Are you expected to not fight very
often? Does the game expect characters to die regularly and somehow deal
with this in another fashion?
What keeps your characters from getting whacked
is the same thing that kept man alive in the world back when it was this
deadly (which, technically, it still is): cunning and wits. TROS isn't
a hack-and-slash game...it's more about thinking your way through problems.
An example I like to share at demos is something like this:
Three of you (adventurers) are walking down a
path. One of you, a scout, runs up ahead and comes back to report that
there are 5 orcs (or whatever) coming down the path. These orcs are on
their way to do something bad, and you have to stop it (I'm ommiting details
so save space ).
But what is an orc? It's a 6 or 7 foot tall warrior-from-birth
from a culture that canibalizes the weak...
In every FRPG I've ever seen (and I've seen lots)
it runs like this: the fighter(s) in the group either handles it alone
ala Conan or the whole group just walks up to the poor orc bastards and
the fight starts after an initiative roll. Some better players may choose
to stage an ambush or whatever, but the advantage it gains them is piddly,
and their 17-year-old characters really don't need the advantage anyway
(if this doesn't sound like your FRPG games, then you're part of the blessed
minorty).
In TROS, undersanding that the odds are bad--but
that something must be done--the characters must act more carefully. So
that begin to form a plan (teamwork in an FRPG...what an idea!).
"We'll hide in the brush off to the side
and wait for them to pass. Then we'll sneak out and cut down the first
three right away, imediately putting the odds in our favor. If we're lucky,
the orcs will still be drawing their swords when we cut them down, too."
What develops is a low-risk plan...an ambush.
Ambushes have been working in the real world since man started killing
each other, but in RPGs they're usually just nice additions to the story
that in reality aren't all that advantageous. Also, the "very deadly"
system of the Riddle allows such plans to work as well as they should--because
the orcs don't have "X" number of hit points, health points,
damage thresholds, or whatever, even their bad-asses can get cut down
in one well-placed strike.
In over a year of our own play we've lost one
character to death, and it was due to a poor tactical descision on his
part. Part of the philosophy behind such a realistic and brutal combat
system is putting the responsibility for a fight's results into the hands
of the players, not their dice. So the game uses strategy and planning
on both team and indiviudal levels. As in the real world, smart fighters
can beat statistical odds.
What if you just roll really poorly? Well, that's
part of why we use dice...it keeps us from winning all the time. Despite
that, however, the "Spritual Attribute" system (the motivation-driven
character advancement spoken of in "What is The Riddle of Steel?")
will grant bonus dice in fights (or any situation) where something important
to your character is at stake.
And, in the case of maiming, the Riddle's super-flexible
and powerful magic system can put the limb back on, if you can convince
a sorcerer to take the risk of using so much magic at once.
Finally, because we recognize that some characters
are just gonna get killed (it happens...but then again, if you swing a
sword at people for living, who ever said it wouldn't...), TROS conains
a system called "Insight," which--like Karma--allows much of
a previous character's "experience" to pass on to the new one.
Kind of a "consolation prize" of sorts.
Harsh, and probably not fair, but it IS balanced
by the best mitigating factor...caution, thought, and the knowledge that
everyone is mortal, and that none of you have hit-points.
|
