chat roleplaying at gen con

[wizardoftheplains]

Hi All,

Code of Unaris, a chat roleplaying game by Goldleaf Games is coming out this August. We're a new indy publisher.

Why post in a d20 site? Because I'm still a big d20 fan and I got my start here on EN World. The Sunset Kingdoms, which is the setting within the game, was one of the top 11 WoTC settings in 2002. It is one of two settings in the book that are separated from each other by 5,000 years. Players can play the game through any chat program.
Preview here: www.goldleafgames.com

A programmer rediscovers a lost algorithm that opens a wormhole to our distant past, and unwittingly alerts an ancient evil of its failure to prevent mankind from surviving into the twenty-first century.

Jump through time, take control of your ancestors, alter what the gamemaster types, and kick some proverbial (and verbal) ass.

It's diceless. Players don't have abilities like strength and dexterity, they have skills. Resolution is by skill value comparison verses a target number (either another player's skill or a target number set by the gamemaster. Skill values can be modified by the actions the characters take to change the situation. Example, gaining high ground or having a larger weapon. Players can also use story hack points to alter what the gamemaster types. Example, hack "fast" to "slow" or "alert" to "sleepy".

We'll be at booth 1341. The page count is 314 pages, softbound book, 4.5 x 6.375 inches. Play is fast. $15.95 will be the regular price. We're offering a discount at Gen Con. They'll be free adventure support online. Stop by if you can and say "hi".

It's not d20, but you can use the chat rules to play your own game online. We'll be putting out a FREE pdf preview in a about a week.

Gary
__________________
Gary Pratt
Goldleaf Games, LLC

 

[d20Dwarf]

From what I've seen, the setting is going to be outstanding, there are a lot of great opportunities for interaction and adventure, and it's going to be a really unique experience. It's definitely one of the Big New Things that everyone should seriously check out at the con.

 

[tarchon]

A programmer rediscovers a lost algorithm that opens a wormhole to our distant past, and unwittingly alerts an ancient evil of its failure to prevent mankind from surviving into the twenty-first century.

Yeah, that happened to me at work today too. I always mess up the stopping rule.

 

[wizardoftheplains]

an excerpt from play

Thanks, Wil. The setting took a huge amount of effort.


Here's an excerpt from chat play to give you all a hint of how the action flows. The story hacks, which allow a player to change what the gamemaster types, and the speed of play is really where the game shines. This also means that a gamemaster should only have 3 or 4 players participating at once. Any more and the gamemaster has a hard time keeping up.

Here's an example from play. (While you could attempt to play this in person, the context of chat with text flying by really adds to the intensity of the action.)

Grode:: as you get up, a short black robed figure bursts open

Grode:: the tavern door

Grode:: lightning streeks into the chairs and tables, shattering

Grode:: them.

EtherImp:: coming from the figure?

Grode:: Yes, from his gnarled clawed hands

Grode:: Lightning courses into the body of the waitress.

Hobbitroll:: I dive behind the bar

Grode:: She turns into a blackened figure.

Grode:: hero

EtherImp:: I hack "waitress" to "barkeep"

Grode:: Lightning courses into the body of the barkeep.

Hobbitroll:: coolio

Mauvais1:: I shoot the figure in the door way

Mauvais1:: shoot value of 10

Grode:: you riddle the body with bullets

EtherImp:: i run the figure thru with my spear

Grode:: You're spear impacts the figure

EtherImp:: my wood spear, that is

Grode:: sending lightning into the ceiling.

Grode:: the bar protects the talesinger

Mauvais1:: fill him full of lead

Grode:: EtherImp: your spear cuts into the robes of the figure

Grode:: revealing a gnarled greenish creature, with spines

Grode:: coming out of its back

Mauvais1:: Hack "back" to "skull"

Hobbitroll:: I'll improvise a flaming bottle of liquor to throw at him

Grode:: the spear cuts into the skull of the creature, it loses an eye

Grode:: flaming liquor arcs out (what's your throw)

Grode:: ?

Mauvais1:: pump more lead into him

Grode:: Hobbitroll, you're throw is?

Hobbitroll:: 3, I suck.

Grode:: It hits the doorway, spilling flaming brandy all over the figure and the tunnelrunner ally

EtherImp:: HACK: tunnelrunner -> DOOR

Grode:: brandy spills all over the figure and the door

Grode:: missing the tunnelrunner

(The above was a sample from an actual playtest.)
__________________
Gary Pratt
Goldleaf Games, LLC