Eclipse Phase

Thanee · Oct 30, 2009

Saw the book in the FLGS yesterday, and it looks pretty neat (both physically (similar production quality to SR4A) and content-wise).

Does anyone have any experience with this game, yet?

Bye
Thanee

Derren · Oct 30, 2009

Only by reading, not by playing.

The setting is very interesting, but I guess not everyone can get used to it. But once you accept that the technology works as described it makes sense that the society would look like that.

The mechanic is a simply "roll under your score to do it".
Also the PDF is much cheaper than the book so if you are unsure get that one first.
Some people even say that the text is free because its under the CC license, but I am not sure about that.

Tilenas · Oct 30, 2009

Derren said:
Some people even say that the text is free because its under the CC license, but I am not sure about that.

Yessir, it's CC, so you can download it and check it out!
I got it from here: Eclipse Phase - RPG : Books > RPG - Mininova

Eclipse Phase Creative Commons Factsheet said:
What this means is that you are free to copy, share, and remix the text and artwork within these books and PDFs (with the exceptions noted below) under
the following conditions:
1) You do so only for noncommercial purposes;
2) You attribute Posthuman Studios (see below);
3) You license any derivatives under the same license.

DarkKestral · Oct 30, 2009

Haven't played, but saying it's purely a roll-under system is not entirely true. It uses roll-under, but it has a quality-of-success mechanic, and doubles are criticals. Other than that, it's a fairly basic percentile system. Also, one thing to note for people who dislike point-buy systems. Not only is it a point-buy system, player characters start out with 1000 points to begin with, and a lot of things cost 5 or less points, in addition to some freebies which are handed out. Twinking is lessened if only because a number of the points are mandated to be spent in certain areas, though there are still some things which may need to be houseruled, like the prices of starting morphs (morphs cost more if you buy them via CP directly rather than through cash paid for through CP, for example). Having a spreadsheet to add things up is very likely to be a good idea, particularly since the game recommends saving characters to account for characters forking themselves or having backups made. One other thing to note is that the game doesn't come with rules for making your own morphs yet, but there's fan-made rules for that that seem to jibe pretty well with the core material out there, so if you want something different, search for 'em at places like RPG.net or on the EP forums.

That said, the setting material is excellent, and the game doesn't lack for potential antagonists and allied groups, even if you don't go with the assumed default campaign. One thing to note is that there's no adventures currently published, so you'll have to roll your own, at least until the GM's screen comes out, as it comes with an adventure, and likewise, information on specific areas of the setting is usually pretty sparse. You'll see stuff about the general conditions on Mars or in the Oort cloud, but other than occasional mentions of things like the MeatHab, don't expect detailed info.

Thanee · Oct 30, 2009

Considering, that it's still fairly new, I'm sure there will be some support books coming out soon enough.

Bye
Thanee

P.S. The CP->Morph vs. CP->Cash->Morph sounds like a pretty silly mistake, though. :lol:

XCorvis · Oct 31, 2009

I picked up the hardcover in the store just last week. It is expensive ($50 US), but the book itself is of very good quality. If you're a PDF person it's quite a bit cheaper in that format.

As far as I'm concerned, the setting is amazing. I keep trying to describe it in terms of other media. So far it's Delta Green + Ghost in the Shell + Cowboy Beebop + "Down and out in the Magic Kingdom".

The system seems pretty reasonable so far, but I have yet to see how it behaves in play.

DarkKestral · Oct 31, 2009

Thanee said:
P.S. The CP->Morph vs. CP->Cash->Morph sounds like a pretty silly mistake, though.

It was apparently intentional. If you want to start in a morph that costs CP, (pretty much anything other than a clanker, flat, or infomorph, as far as I can remember), officially, you are supposed to buy it with CP. Cash morphs are essentially supposed to be unavailable immediately after game start, and are therefore cheaper, because they are intended to be "alternate" morphs, that will be switched between as appropriate, whereas CP morphs are meant to be your primary morph.

I figure one way to make some benefits to CP morphs if you end up having issues with this is to houserule it so that CP morphs can be customized at start with morph advantages while cash morphs have to remain "stock", or maybe CP morphs get disads equal in CP to the difference between the morph bought with CP and the same morph bought with cash.

As for support books, a few have already been announced, but I know some people like to have either premade adventures or adventure locations before playing a game, and it appears to be a common complaint, so I felt like warning people.

Votan · Nov 1, 2009

DarkKestral said:
As for support books, a few have already been announced, but I know some people like to have either premade adventures or adventure locations before playing a game, and it appears to be a common complaint, so I felt like warning people.

That'd be me. Unless the material is fairly easy to develop critters for, I like to have some examples to draw upon when developing games. That's less important if I am a player but one of the harsh lessons of the seattle RPG environment is that I suspect I have to GM is I want have certain types of games happen at all.

Thanee · Nov 1, 2009

DarkKestral said:
It was apparently intentional. If you want to start in a morph that costs CP, (pretty much anything other than a clanker, flat, or infomorph, as far as I can remember), officially, you are supposed to buy it with CP. Cash morphs are essentially supposed to be unavailable immediately after game start, and are therefore cheaper, because they are intended to be "alternate" morphs, that will be switched between as appropriate, whereas CP morphs are meant to be your primary morph.

Hmm... I see. It might be balanced a bit via opportunity costs then.

Bye
Thanee

DarkKestral · Nov 1, 2009

Votan said:
That'd be me. Unless the material is fairly easy to develop critters for, I like to have some examples to draw upon when developing games. That's less important if I am a player but one of the harsh lessons of the seattle RPG environment is that I suspect I have to GM is I want have certain types of games happen at all.

EP does come with some 'stock' antagonists. Not necessarily similar-to-character antagonists, but if you're going for "save the day from the Exsurgent threats," the book does have some pre-made opponents for you.