Does Anyone Care? (Cosmere RPG)

[Parmandur]

I'm pretty curious about their plans for a generic version of the rules because it looks like a fun system.

They have a roadmap out right now, though it is a bit vague:

And they have put up some early playtested reports in the newsletter:

Playtest Report: Project Folio
We ran our very first internal playtest this month with initial designs by the team! (Read on for details, but keep in mind that the final product will undoubtedly change from this experimental playtest.)

We’d heard rumors that a small village was suffering from some sort of malaise involving dark shadows smothering crops. The shadows were most noticeable along the river and seemed to come from the nearby foothills. We investigated, were accosted by strange spirits and odd devices, and found an enigmatic (and malfunctioning) machine deep within a cave complex. The complex was not at all what we expected, and after repairing it, we were taken for a very surprising ride as the ruin stood up! Some highlights included:

• Our delver trying to puzzle out the device
• Our plant guy holding back the machines
• Our weather wizard trying to throw us all onto a safe spot
• Our elementalist communicating with the ancient devices through sign language
• A poet character powering her magic with an improvised rap, so we didn’t have to fight a massive hand-shaped construct:

deep in the ruins where the tubes plug in your interface
I might intuit what might move you to defend your base
we got some swords, but a brawl’s not the plan
If you tell us what the hell you want we’ll talk to the hand

Playtest Report: Project Codex
The playtests continue! Our second internal playtest was Project Codex, but, as with our last newsletter, a disclaimer: it’s all experimental, and things will change significantly in the years to come as we design, write, and playtest!

The Heracles is a luxury cruise ship and portable ballroom for hire out of the Coral Nebula space station in the Sajjarian system. Tomorrow, Crown Princess Kelya Anlise of the Valkar Dynasty celebrates her twenty-first birthday. On display during the festivities will be the Valkar royal jewels—and you’ve been hired to steal them.

One player got on the ship because they knew one of the guests, one other got a job on the security team, one just snuck on, one came on as a secondary chef, and two more were smuggled on using the old catering trolley trick. Things went off the rails almost immediately as the steward caught the “chef” sabotaging some equipment. The party locked down part of the ship, trapped the security team in the hold, and then through fire suppressant distractions, a duel with a former general, and some very flashy manoeuvers, eventually stole the jewels and made their escape! Some highlights included:

• Our psychic bug alien shoring up the group’s defenses with their mind
• A sculpture being revealed as power armor
• A matter of fact conversation, mercenary to mercenaries
• Little flying drones disabling security and stealing jewels
• Psychic backlash that changed reality around us

 

[Tigris]

ICv2 does not ask US hobby stores numbers, they ask what they feel was more popular.

What?

So this "survey", does:

• Ask only US hobbystores
• Participation is non mandatory for hobby stores
• Asks about "feeling more popular" not about numbers

How then do they add this together with Kickstarter?


Also this survey does not also have a huge bias, since

• self selection,
• US only,
• hobbystore only,
• no comparable numbers (since its not sales numbers)

But participants of a survey also actively have an advantage if they lie about the popularity_

• Since these survey results go online and people talk about it, and it will increase the popularity of systems mentioned, its of best interest for the hobbystores to say the system of which they have the highest (unsold) stock to be the "most popular" in order to increase chances to get rid of it.
• Or name their favorite game in order to make it more popular.

Of course its not the biggest advantage, since they dont know if what they report really changes much, but still, why should someone be honest with this?


Also I get it, we dont have precise data, so we take what we have, but honestly the more I learn about this survey, the less useful it sounds.

 

[bedir than]

By any chance do you watch Roll for Combat?

NO, because all of their commentary thumbnails and headlines look like they were designed by manosphere grifters

 

[darjr]

What?

So this "survey", does:

• Ask only US hobbystores
• Participation is non mandatory for hobby stores
• Asks about "feeling more popular" not about numbers

How then do they add this together with Kickstarter?


Also this survey does not also have a huge bias, since

• self selection,
• US only,
• hobbystore only,
• no comparable numbers (since its not sales numbers)

But participants of a survey also actively have an advantage if they lie about the popularity_

• Since these survey results go online and people talk about it, and it will increase the popularity of systems mentioned, its of best interest for the hobbystores to say the system of which they have the highest (unsold) stock to be the "most popular" in order to increase chances to get rid of it.
• Or name their favorite game in order to make it more popular.

Of course its not the biggest advantage, since they dont know if what they report really changes much, but still, why should someone be honest with this?


Also I get it, we dont have precise data, so we take what we have, but honestly the more I learn about this survey, the less useful it sounds.

They include distributors as well. In fact I’ve previously been more bullish on their chart because of that, with a big grain of salt, and only after looking at other sources too.

I do find this latest chart from ICV2 needs much more salt at the moment. Always would like more info.

 

[Aldarc]

NO, because all of their commentary thumbnails and headlines look like they were designed by manosphere grifters

I only ask because Stephen Glicker has talked about the spread of pickleball to the surprise of tennis players, and it sounded like you were parroting one of his talking points. So maybe you two are common bedfellows. If not, you talk like it, so maybe you have more in common with them than you would like to admit.

 

[bedir than]

I only ask because Stephen Glicker has talked about the spread of pickleball to the surprise of tennis players, and it sounded like you were parroting one of his talking points. So maybe you two are common bedfellows. If not, you talk like it, so maybe you have more in common with them than you would like to admit.

Oh, reading his actual name reminds me that he's the fake-journalist that lied about the 2024 PHB sales numbers without ever recanting his fabrication.

 

[mamba]

Oh, reading his actual name reminds me that he's the fake-journalist that lied about the 2024 PHB sales numbers without ever recanting his fabrication.

he did not lie, the Bookscan sales probably were what he reported, they just are not very representative of anything any more

 

[Aldarc]

Oh, reading his actual name reminds me that he's the fake-journalist that lied about the 2024 PHB sales numbers without ever recanting his fabrication.

Okay? And you're both the people who compared various TTRPGs, including the Cosmere RPG, to tennis players being surprised by the rise of pickleball. That is the point.

 

[Parmandur]

They include distributors as well. In fact I’ve previously been more bullish on their chart because of that, with a big grain of salt, and only after looking at other sources too.

I do find this latest chart from ICV2 needs much more salt at the moment. Always would like more info.

These lists have always been just one leg of the elephant...kind of weird and incomplete. Don't see that this one is more or less odd, just Tha maybe we are in Interesting Times for the industry.

 

[Parmandur]

he did not lie, the Bookscan sales probably were what he reported, they just are not very representative of anything any more

Charitavly, I would say that he is imperviously ignorant rather than dishonest. Folks tried to explain to him what was wrong with that take, ind detail, and he refused to listen for some reason . Not a great look, but I will give the benefit of the doubt of honesty.