G.I. Joe RPG

[Kannik]

Thank you for this write up! I have read the book and while it is very nice looking with some great art pieces the rules system didn't catch my fancy at all. Wasn't sure if I was missing something in my read through, but from your description (which matches my impression) it sounds like not.

Given the over the top action Joes get into, if I end up running a game I'll use the book as a sourcebook/inspiration and run the campaign in a more cinematic and narrative system (Cortex being my first go to, in this case).

Now to think of some good codenames

 

[payn]

Now to think of some good codenames

Thats the other half of the battle... Yo Joe!

 

[R_J_K75]

the rules system didn't catch my fancy at all. Wasn't sure if I was missing something in my read through, but from your description (which matches my impression) it sounds like not.

Yeah they made some strange rules choices in parts, the weapons, defense and damage system being just one example. It's pretty awkward we've found. It just going to take a little getting used to. I'm sure the more we play we'll get the hang of it given enough time.

(Cortex being my first go to, in this case).

Not familiar with the Cortex system, is this it, is it any good?

Cortex Tabletop Roleplaying Game | Dire Wolf Digital

Cortex is a multi-genre, modular, session-centered tabletop roleplaying game system. Build your own custom tabletop RPG game with Cortex - all of the tools and resources are yours. Check out our first Spotlight Game, Hammerheads, for free.

www.cortexrpg.com

 

[Kannik]

Yeah they made some strange rules choices in parts, the weapons, defense and damage system being just one example. It's pretty awkward we've found. It just going to take a little getting used to. I'm sure the more we play we'll get the hang of it given enough time.

Not familiar with the Cortex system, is this it, is it any good?

Cortex Tabletop Roleplaying Game | Dire Wolf Digital

Cortex is a multi-genre, modular, session-centered tabletop roleplaying game system. Build your own custom tabletop RPG game with Cortex - all of the tools and resources are yours. Check out our first Spotlight Game, Hammerheads, for free.

www.cortexrpg.com

Oh my yes, it is good. It is one of my favourite systems, and if I'm not careful I'll gush about it endlessly. It is geared towards narrative/story heavy play with theatre-of-the-mind action sequences (if the game has action sequences). It's very flexible, and I've run several games in differing genres (Firefly, Superhero, Ponies, and a kitchen-sink post-dual-apocalyptic world with magic and tech and mystery called Broken Lands) and it's always worked great. Especially for a Joe-type game, Cortex smoothly handles different capabilities and abilities and "power levels" across characters very well, so as with Broken Lands mixing hightech with weird Dr Mindbender type things to Lady Jaye covert ops works seamlessly. The different type of scenes and resolution mechanics, plus easy integration of groups/mobs and bosses, also make it easy to use what will highlight the story or action in the moment.

That said, the game as you linked to above is very much a toolkit and can be rather convoluted to get in to, as you need to pick and choose what modules to use for your campaign. Tales of Xadia is the only 'official' RPG currently available using the ruleset, but it has an extensive quickstart available that's a good introduction. You might be able to find older games under Cortex Plus as well (such as Firefly, Smallville, Marvel Superhero Roleplaying, Leverage). There's also a database of fan-produced campaigns (my Broken Lands one included), which can be great to check out and see how they've kitted things together.

https://www.talesofxadia.com/compendium/rules-primer (click on PDF at the top right to download)

Cortex Prime Hack Database - Cortex Hacks

The Cortex Prime Hack Database is a list of fan-made rules, settings, and mods for the Cortex Prime roleplaying game designed by Cam Banks et al. and currently published by Dire Wolf Digital. Use the Search box to search and filter by name/title, genre, or creator. Use the Show toggle at the top...

cortexhacks.timbannock.com

If this piques your interest, I would be totally down to work on a Joe Cortex game... it's something that's loosely been bouncing around in my head already.

 

[Bayushi_seikuro]

No further explanation needed


It's been a while since I've seen a cartoon, but did anyone actually get murdered? I mean, Cobra Commander, but . . . oh! Sorry for the spoiler!

If you haven't seen it, I'd HIGHLY recommend GI Resolute. The full movie is on Youtube. It's more of an anime look, but Good Lord is it gritty and ruthless. It starts off with the body of Major Blood being found, Bazooka's corpse being found on the Flagg right before it explodes, and Cobra Commander detonating a device over Moscow and wiping it out...

 

[R_J_K75]

Oh my yes, it is good. It is one of my favourite systems, and if I'm not careful I'll gush about it endlessly. It is geared towards narrative/story heavy play with theatre-of-the-mind action sequences (if the game has action sequences). It's very flexible, and I've run several games in differing genres (Firefly, Superhero, Ponies, and a kitchen-sink post-dual-apocalyptic world with magic and tech and mystery called Broken Lands) and it's always worked great. Especially for a Joe-type game, Cortex smoothly handles different capabilities and abilities and "power levels" across characters very well, so as with Broken Lands mixing hightech with weird Dr Mindbender type things to Lady Jaye covert ops works seamlessly. The different type of scenes and resolution mechanics, plus easy integration of groups/mobs and bosses, also make it easy to use what will highlight the story or action in the moment.

That said, the game as you linked to above is very much a toolkit and can be rather convoluted to get in to, as you need to pick and choose what modules to use for your campaign. Tales of Xadia is the only 'official' RPG currently available using the ruleset, but it has an extensive quickstart available that's a good introduction. You might be able to find older games under Cortex Plus as well (such as Firefly, Smallville, Marvel Superhero Roleplaying, Leverage). There's also a database of fan-produced campaigns (my Broken Lands one included), which can be great to check out and see how they've kitted things together.

https://www.talesofxadia.com/compendium/rules-primer (click on PDF at the top right to download)

Cortex Prime Hack Database - Cortex Hacks

The Cortex Prime Hack Database is a list of fan-made rules, settings, and mods for the Cortex Prime roleplaying game designed by Cam Banks et al. and currently published by Dire Wolf Digital. Use the Search box to search and filter by name/title, genre, or creator. Use the Show toggle at the top...

cortexhacks.timbannock.com

If this piques your interest, I would be totally down to work on a Joe Cortex game... it's something that's loosely been bouncing around in my head already.

For now, I'm going to stick with the GI Joe RPG rules and perhaps browse the Cortex Prime ones. I don't want to keep switching rule sets, have my players make new PCs, they'll probably lose interest or chafe at the idea of having to learn yet another system. I'll keep it in mind though. For the systems faults I think we can make it work and for the amount of time we actually play it may not be worth it. No one has actually expressed disdain for the rules, just the occasional "well that rule sucks".

 

[R_J_K75]

Renegade door kicker code name Tallboy

Wow I really did have too many Monday, I just caught the "Tallboy" reference...

 

[R_J_K75]

If you haven't seen it, I'd HIGHLY recommend GI Resolute. The full movie is on Youtube. It's more of an anime look, but Good Lord is it gritty and ruthless. It starts off with the body of Major Blood being found, Bazooka's corpse being found on the Flagg right before it explodes, and Cobra Commander detonating a device over Moscow and wiping it out...

For some reason I see our game ending very abruptly with mass destruction and overkill.

 

[Kannik]

For now, I'm going to stick with the GI Joe RPG rules and perhaps browse the Cortex Prime ones. I don't want to keep switching rule sets, have my players make new PCs, they'll probably lose interest or chafe at the idea of having to learn yet another system. I'll keep it in mind though. For the systems faults I think we can make it work and for the amount of time we actually play it may not be worth it. No one has actually expressed disdain for the rules, just the occasional "well that rule sucks".

Totally fair. As noted, I can get overly exuberant about it. And Cortex Prime also takes a bit of a mind shift in how you go about playing the game (running it too) compared to d20-like games, so it could be a double hard sell. If the Renegade rules work well enough to keep you all entertained, then that's what counts.

 

[R_J_K75]

And Cortex Prime also takes a bit of a mind shift in how you go about playing the game (running it too) compared to d20-like games, so it could be a double hard sell.

Compared to some people on these boards, my experience with varying roleplaying systems is pretty minimal. The people I'm playing with have even less experience with RPGs, and the majority of which is 5E. So, getting them to play GI Joe was a bit of a hard sell to begin with. The system isn't inherently bad, it plays like 3.x or 5E in some respects but diverts in some strange ways at times and the hardest thing to get past is the new terminology. Everything reads and is called something differently but is relatively doing the same thing. I do like the narrative style of the game though, and the Joe vs. Cobra angle is very straight forward which makes writing adventures pretty easy. Hopefully we'll stick with this for a while.