Advice for an A/state GM

[JD Smith]

I'm planning an long-term campaign in A/state, using modified Riddle of Steel mechanics.

Any veteran A/state-ers out there with advice on using the setting?

 

[jdrakeh]

That's an interesting comination -- I suspect that you'll have much work ahead of you as TRoS isn't really set up to anything but Bronze Age fantasy out of the box (and, of course, unless you have The Flower of Battle supplement, it isn't particularly great at that). Out of curiosity, what made you choose TRoS in place of the a/state default?

As for tips, I haven't done this and think that few (if any) have, so you may well be on your own. That said, I wish you well and would ask that you share your experience with us!

 

[JD Smith]

That's an interesting comination -- I suspect that you'll have much work ahead of you as TRoS isn't really set up to anything but Bronze Age fantasy out of the box (and, of course, unless you have The Flower of Battle supplement, it isn't particularly great at that). Out of curiosity, what made you choose TRoS in place of the a/state default?

As for tips, I haven't done this and think that few (if any) have, so you may well be on your own. That said, I wish you well and would ask that you share your experience with us!

Bronze Age? Hardly-it does everything up to later Ren swordsmanship very well, and designing your own maneuvers based on realistic use is extremely simple. We've since worked out house rules for firearms from black powder to rail weapons; overall, I'm figureing we've about 200 weekly sessions with TRoS in four different settings. A/state won't require hardly any tweaking except detailing the weapons inherant to the setting and adjusting the PC creation priorities.

But the depth of A/state is such that I'm hoping to locate other GMs for advice on depictions.

 

[jdrakeh]

Bronze Age? Hardly-it does everything up to later Ren swordsmanship very well, and designing your own maneuvers based on realistic use is extremely simple. We've since worked out house rules for firearms from black powder to rail weapons; overall, I'm figureing we've about 200 weekly sessions with TRoS in four different settings.

Hmmm. . . I think that your epxerience is outside the norm for the game based on that statement. That's good, though -- it's nice to know that people are getting more mileage out of the rule set than the typical forum poster

A/state won't require hardly any tweaking except detailing the weapons inherant to the setting and adjusting the PC creation priorities.

Really? Hmm. . . I guess I don't see that. It seems like using TRoS to run a/state would require about as much tweaking as using D&D to explore The World of Progress, but that's just me. For the record, if this is the case, I envy your free time

 

[JD Smith]

Hmmm. . . I think that your epxerience is outside the norm for the game based on that statement. That's good, though -- it's nice to know that people are getting more mileage out of the rule set than the typical forum poster

From discussions with other TRoS users on other forums, I've found it tends to be a 'fanatic or nothing' type of system. Still, we've had good luck with it.

Really? Hmm. . . I guess I don't see that. It seems like using TRoS to run a/state would require about as much tweaking as using D&D to explore The World of Progress, but that's just me. For the record, if this is the case, I envy your free time

Not at all-it was the work of a couple hours. The biggest job was dropping skills used in wilderness settings, due to A/state's urban setting, and developing a skills set for the Flow Ghost ( a sort of Babbage hacker). I should note that I do not use SAs.

No, TRoS' d10 pool and logic-based combat system has served me well in several settings-its extremely easy to adapt. Just adjust the creation Priorities, touch up the skills, detail the weapons, and Bob's your uncle.

Its one of the main reasons we use TRoS: there's no need to learn new systems when we switch settings. The group can focus on the new setting with no learning curve.

The priority system of creation, d10 pool, and skill-driven system (not to mention terrible leathal combat) easily make tranistions.

 

[jdrakeh]

From discussions with other TRoS users on other forums, I've found it tends to be a 'fanatic or nothing' type of system. Still, we've had good luck with it.

I haven't done much with it since its initial release and at most of the forums that I frequented, the excitement was somewhat shortlived but. . .

Not at all-it was the work of a couple hours. The biggest job was dropping skills used in wilderness settings, due to A/state's urban setting, and developing a skills set for the Flow Ghost ( a sort of Babbage hacker). I should note that I do not use SAs.

It occurs to me, based on your input, that TRoS may make a much better fantasy system than a game -- which may account for the disappointment elsewhere (so far as I can tell, all of those posters were trying to use it RAW with the default setting). It seems that you're getting much more mileage out of it as a tool-kit system for other settings, and that's cool!

I have used (and plan on using again, shortly) Grim Tales in much this same capacity, so I don't have much use for TRoS, though when I pick it up again I absolutely plan on approaching it as you have (i.e., dropping the SAs and the default setting with an eye toward using the core mechanic for another game). Thanks for the insight!

 

[JD Smith]

It occurs to me, based on your input, that TRoS may make a much better fantasy system than a game -- which may account for the disappointment elsewhere (so far as I can tell, all of those posters were trying to use it RAW with the default setting). It seems that you're getting much more mileage out of it as a tool-kit system for other settings, and that's cool!

I have used (and plan on using again, shortly) Grim Tales in much this same capacity, so I don't have much use for TRoS, though when I pick it up again I absolutely plan on approaching it as you have (i.e., dropping the SAs and the default setting with an eye toward using the core mechanic for another game). Thanks for the insight!

You're absolutely right-the TRoS setting is generic at best. But I've used the system in Tribe 8, Darwin's World, and soon in A/state, and we've had tremendous success.