Acquisitions Inc. switching to Daggerheart

[Reynard]

Number 2 is Legend in the Mist which despite being in that spot for quite some time seems to be getting a near silent reception in the community. Though I'd argue it might be the better narrative storytelling engine.

I would argue that DH is not a "narrative storytelling engine" but a traditional heroic fantasy RPG with some narrative design influence.

 

[Agamon]

Enough that they're past their third reprint. Plus a few reprints of the limited that isn't supposed to get a reprint...

They weren't reprints, they were extras they were holding back in case of problems shipping the original orders. But the good packing they used made replacement level very low and so they sold the extras.

 

[Agamon]

I would argue that DH is not a "narrative storytelling engine" but a traditional heroic fantasy RPG with some narrative design influence.

I'd still call it "narrative first", with some crunchy rules that don't get in the way or even help facilitate the narrative.

 

[Seramus]

I've played DH online, not sure I agree with Mike on this one, at least in regards to DH init being tough to do online.

Yeah, DH initiative isn't hard to do online in a standard game format.
I do find it hard to do in Play-By-Post specifically.

 

[Reynard]

I'd still call it "narrative first", with some crunchy rules that don't get in the way or even help facilitate the narrative.

Tomato, tomahto? My point was it is not a narrative game in the sense that we usually label games as that, especially since it is very easy to downplay its narrative elements.

 

[Agamon]

I find DH is great online. But I much prefer it when cameras are on and there is no 'battlemap' as that really helps with narrative focused games.

(I don't know what 'SD' was in the second half of your post. I'm guessing that's a comment about not having initiative? If so - for me that's the main appeal of Daggerheart and if you put initiative systems into it, even the optional one in the DH book, then I might as well just go back to playing a boardgame like D&D or Pathfinder.)

Shadowdark. Exploration-focused dungeon crawl game. The initiative system facilitates dungeon exploration by having each PC act during their init, even outside of combat.

 

[Agamon]

Yeah, DH initiative isn't hard to do online in a standard game format.
I do find it hard to do in Play-By-Post specifically.

Oh boy, yeah, good point. Maybe doing as Derik suggests and when the spotlight goes to the players, the gm throws it to a specific player, asking how they respond to the gm move.

 

[Seramus]

Honestly this is where GM as facilitator comes in. I’m constantly managing the conversation in online and in person play, calling out interruptions (although most of my players wind up caught in a “no you go” loop instead of talking over each other), and doing the “hey player 2, you were trying to add something right?”

Agreed, and I wish more GM's operated as conversation facilitators. It's something I actively do in my own games as GM, especially the one you mentioned "Hey Player 2, you were trying to add something, right?" (I love this one). But I still see games where the GM treats it as a free-for-all. At that point you can try to facilitate as a player, but that can have some very mixed results. You just do the best you can!

 

[overgeeked]

Oh boy, yeah, good point. Maybe doing as Derik suggests and when the spotlight goes to the players, the gm throws it to a specific player, asking how they respond to the gm move.

That would dramatically slow things down and make it even harder to run in pbp.

The initiative tracker works great in pbp. On the PCs’ turn anyone with an action token can post. It really speeds things up.

 

[J.M]

Shadowdark. Exploration-focused dungeon crawl game. The initiative system facilitates dungeon exploration by having each PC act during their init, even outside of combat.

As an aside, I recently asked in the Shadowdark reddit whether people actually use the "always on" initiative rule, and the overwhelming answer was no.