A Game of Thrones RPG

[Jaeger]

Without magic and monsters, how do you keep the game fresh?

I just have to ask...

Why would you need magic and monsters to keep a game fresh?



.

 

[jdrakeh]

Why would you need magic and monsters to keep a game fresh?

I wondered about that myself, though supposing one has only ever seen movies, read books, or played games about fighting monsters and casting magic, it makes sense that they would find it inconceivable that there are other ways to create dramatic tension or excitement.

 

[Maester Luwin]

I can only agree with all of the positive statements of the previous posters. I have used the rules & found they go a long way to create the feel of Martin's world. I would recommend it highly. Maester Luwin

 

[Digital M@]

I wondered about that myself, though supposing one has only ever seen movies, read books, or played games about fighting monsters and casting magic, it makes sense that they would find it inconceivable that there are other ways to create dramatic tension or excitement.

Although you can create a near infinite amount of encounters using different class combinations fighting humans, I have never played a long term fantasy game as such and have never had players show interest or inquire about such an option. Magic and monsters offer an easy way to offer variety in combat and the campaign world. After all PC's can't see all of the creative energy you put into making the human adversary, they just see you roll die and tell them if they are hit, they do not know you combined three classes to create that attack option, and in the end, they don't care. Chances are the opponent is dead in three rounds anyway, so after a dozen or so combats, things would start to look and feel similar on the battlefield.

It is also hard to get a group together that are all interested and take equal roles in a completely intrigue based game. I don't think I am alone in this concern, a majority of the people who posted in this thread, don't play the game regularly or have a long term campaign going.

I really wanted to see if people play the game, or just used pieces of it in their own D&D game. It looks like everyone agrees it is well written and captures the world as uh as d20 can, but they do not play it regularly. The play a different D&D world for their weekly game. From this feedback, I decided not to drop $60 on a book I will enjoy reading once and then shelve until I decide to sell it. I have done that too much in the past and want to be more wise with my spending.

Thanks for all of the feed back everyone.

 

[Jaeger]

Although you can create a near infinite amount of encounters using different class combinations fighting humans, I have never played a long term fantasy game as such and have never had players show interest or inquire about such an option. Magic and monsters offer an easy way to offer variety in combat and the campaign world. After all PC's can't see all of the creative energy you put into making the human adversary, they just see you roll die and tell them if they are hit, they do not know you combined three classes to create that attack option, and in the end, they don't care. Chances are the opponent is dead in three rounds anyway, so after a dozen or so combats, things would start to look and feel similar on the battlefield.

It is also hard to get a group together that are all interested and take equal roles in a completely intrigue based game. I don't think I am alone in this concern, a majority of the people who posted in this thread, don't play the game regularly or have a long term campaign going.
.

A Fantasy game does not need to be intrigue based to be human-centric. In fact I find what I call: "Monster Of The Week" syndrome, to be a detriment to unique campaigns. And really suck the fantastic elements out of an encounter with a monster, by making the fantastic commonplace.

In my campaigns the PC party may only run into a bonafide monster once, or at most twice in an entire campaign. And my games are very low magic (Mages/Witches get burned at the stake if they get caught.)

But I guess ultimately it's what type of game do you and your players want to play? If they want a MOTW hack n' slash game, then that's what they'll get.

I find it very helpful to sit down and discuss with my players the upcoming campaign and get on the same page what it's gonna be about. And I have not have issues running my human-centric low magic games because the PC's are having fun. Combat against only humans is never boring if the PC's have a reason for the fight and/or an NPC that they hate in it.

I think if you sat down and pitched the game to your players - and they were all on board with what it was about - so long as everyone is having fun, I guarantee they will not notice the lack of monsters and magic.

 

[Tharen the Damned]

I'd wait, anyway, for the game that's coming out later this year, from Green Ronin. Not too far away, in fact - AFAIK. It is free of classes and levels, which I think will help for this style of game. This is the one I will use to - finally! - run A Song of Ice and Fire.

To chime in with Aus Snow, A Song of Ice and Fire RPG by Green Ronin comes out in August this year (at Gen Con).
This Game uses its own system that is not related to D20 or True20. It was specifically created to support a Grim and gritty low to no magic setting. It has rules for Mass combat and political maneuvering that really help if you want to stay true to GRR Martins world.

And ASIF will be supported by Adventures and more Setting Books!

For those who are interested in more information, I have posted my playtest experiences on a thread at GR boards . There are quit a few posts by me, so read on.

This game really rocks!