Dragon Age: Talk to me

[pawsplay]

I saw a copy of Set 1 used and I almost grabbed it on principle, but hesitated. It looks like a nice, rules-lite system, but seems to have some quirks (limited character origins, lots of randomness).

First, is anyone familiar with the computer game? Does it have a world background worth emulating? Is it worth learning the difference between a hurlock and a hobgoblin?

Second, actual play experiences? Good?

I am somewhat hesitent to invest in the game for a reason unrelated to the quality of the product itself. Green Ronin, the publisher, is associated with True20, M&M, and other OGL products. Dragon Age is closed. Although I imagine licensing agreements may have forced that situation to some extent, it makes me hesitant to hop on the bandwagon.

Thoughts?

 

[mach1.9pants]

...ask me in a couple of months, our next campaign starts on Weds and almost 100% sure going DA. But maybe Fantasy Craft... probably not due to player casualness.

Not played PC game either. EDIT: but what I have seen of the world pretty cool, elves the underclass, corruption, inquisition against mages, etc Dark Fantasy. I have ordered the two novels by the games writer to get more of a feel.


But yes small number of options and combat looks pretty tough and old school random. but looking forward to it. Note that the BETA for Set 2 should be out any time soon so you can get that PDF when it is released (mid Sept alledgedly)

 

[Walking Dad]

The 'randomness' isn't that bad in play. But I would prefer a point buy option for the abilities. The random benefit in the backgrounds are enough randomness in character creation for my taste. Maybe also adding an option to take average on the Health and Magic Points.

Inplay, at the beginning, it feels weird you cannot simply try to disarm anytime you want. But just think about it, that in actual combat, there isn't always opportunity to try this either.

 

[amerigoV]

I really enjoyed the video game (it is very immersive - so go get! What are you waiting for?!?! ). I picked up the boxed set. The game looks fun and I would love to give it a whirl. I like the touches randomness. Walking Dad has it spot on - the stuns represents those opportunities in battle when you get an opening.

My reading is that it feels like D&D 2e with a refined system and good house rules (ie - mana for magic, not Vancian). Not too heavy on the rules, but enough to have some good Hurlock slashing fun.

 

[ValhallaGH]

First, is anyone familiar with the computer game? Does it have a world background worth emulating? Is it worth learning the difference between a hurlock and a hobgoblin?

I'm not familiar with the game, having never played it. I have played the RPG, and the background is alright. Bleaker than most games I enjoy, but there's enough room to play the big hero.

Second, actual play experiences? Good?

Yeah, it's pretty good. Simple resolution (3d6+stat vs. TN), flat difficulty types, simple level progressions, and the random PC-generation works pretty well.
Once you get your basic stats, there are a lot of choices in character creation. Not as many as most games have, but enough to get something interesting and fun (though not necessarily what you set out to play).
In combat, you're essentially waiting for Stunts to happen. Statistically, you should see them about half the time, but I'm the guy that can't "save ends" in 4e for seven rounds, so it does get sparse.
The mechanics support the flavor of the world very well, which is harder than it sounds. My hat's off on that point.

it makes me hesitant to hop on the bandwagon.

Thoughts?

I can't see why. The system is "closed" but simple enough that you can fairly easily generate whatever supporting rules you feel that the game lacks. And the game itself is robust enough that I haven't felt a need to create rules.
Obviously opinions vary, but that's my input.

Good luck.

 

[pawsplay]

As I am still working on my thesis, I am way behind in my video game playing, but I am curious.

Elves as an underclass confuses me.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Play test is up, so grab it from GRP website

Elves are like the ex-slaves of the world. Conquered and downtrodden, their religion mostly destroyed along with their culture. It is a real good world story. As I said ordered the 2 novels to get more.

EDIT: DA runs on the AGE adventure game engine, there maybe more to come after DA. Also note there is an article in KQ abut different backgrounds, and TBH, writing your won would be a doddle.. they follow the same formula throughout. Check out the playtest.

 

[Donovan Morningfire]

I got a chance to play through the introductory adventure a few months back. Overall, the game has a "rules-simple old school" feel to it.

Character creation is random, but unless your dice really hate you, you won't be too horribly off (just watch out for the folks that get really lucky rolls). Probably wouldn't be too hard to just utilize the old 3.X point-buy system (purchase your raw 8 to 18 scale numbers, then convert them to the DA value).

I thought having the various races as "backgrounds" was a neat option rather than as a separate racial package the way D&D does it.

Combat moves pretty quickly, although the stunt point system can take a bit of getting used to and could slow combat down. One house rule I think I've seen brought up on the Green Ronin forums was to restrict NPC stunt point usage to major opponents to help speed it up.

As for the setting, I'm an big fan of the computer game (by all means, when you get the chance, pick it up, even if you don't bother with any of the DLC), and am quite fond of it's gritty approach to the world. There are magical wonders in the world, but it's not a happy sparkling place either; the phrase "Grey and Black Morality" sums it up pretty well; the closest thing to heroes in the setting, the Grey Wardens, are willing to do some pretty nasty things in the name of stopping the Darkspawn.

Elves are pretty much the 2nd class citizens of the land (considering how badly they got bent over the barrel by various Human groups, namely the Tevinter Empire and the Chantry), and it's a nice change from "elves are always wise and powerful beings." The land in the default setting (Fereldan) is still recovering from a major war of independence from a foreign power, and there's a great and powerful evil force that is threatening to destroy the world (very similar to Chaos from Warhammer Fantasy). But then I've always liked settings that differentiated themselves from the "default fantasy setting" that Tolkien did so well, so the various shake-ups to those standards that Dragon Age has suits me just fine.

Sadly, the output of new material has been pretty limited as is often a concern with licensed properties, although as has been noted, playtest material for the 2nd box set has been made available, so there's added material there. Dunno how much, as I've just downloaded it today.

If you've got the time to do so (or have a job that isn't so demanding you can't listen to music while you work), check out the Pantsless Gamers, who recorded their play-through of the introductory adventure (whose name escapes me), and can be found at the following link (just scroll down to the bottom of the page).

New Dragon Age Podcast Episode #4 | Greywardens.com - Dragon Age: Origins Blog - News, Infos, Screenshots, Downloads, Walkthrough

 

[Votan]

Elves as an underclass confuses me.

Even cooler, the past had the traditional high fantasy elves making the current version feel . . . tragic. Elves are all about the loss of greatness and what it was to once be mighty. I thought it was a very effective shift of a classic fantasy trope.

 

[Walking Dad]

Here is a link to the pdf of the Set 2 open playtest:

http://grfiles.game-host.org/dragon_age_rpg/DASet2OpenPlaytest.pdf