Old Gods of Appalachia

[doctorbadwolf]

The art is good but otherwise a very disappointing offering, never would use the system and the whole Appalachia part is so off and lacking. According to the book Appalachia only exists in 4 states, claims Boone which was an outta the way minor college town of no note until the past 40 years( and then as a college) or so is the heart of Appalachia and skips some of the most interesting and lore rich parts.

The map is a very poor representation of Appalachia leaving out many points of interest.

It’s not a travel guide. You don’t need to include every point of interest of a real place when using it as a setting.

And it’s written by a guy from Appalachia, to fit alongside his horror anthology podcast set in Appalachia.

 

[Fenris-77]

The game is also pretty specific about the setting being an alternate Appalachia...

 

[FrogReaver]

The game is also pretty specific about the setting being an alternate Appalachia...
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Right and Appalachia isn’t simply the region where the Appalachian Mountains exist.

 

[Umbran]

Which narrows the system a lot for me, because I will not make a character with illogically derived drawbacks that don’t actually follow from the trait they’re tied to.

I think the narrowness of it, especially with respect to magic, is intentional.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I think the narrowness of it, especially with respect to magic, is intentional.

I mean, intentional design can also be a design flaw, so…sure?

Mostly, if it’s gonna be possible to be an explorer that can talk to spirits, let Fears No Haints give training in one magic skill. It’s just not doing that narrowness you refer to very well, going partway to allowing niche-combining, but doing so awkwardly.

Also that text that you quoted was about features having built in specific drawbacks, not about the narrow niche protection of the game.

 

[CleverNickName]

I love the Cypher system. I had a lot of fun tinkering around with Numinera back in the day.

For anyone who might be interested, Monty Cook Games has published a Cypher System Rules Primer, and it's a free download. Check it out.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Cypher was actually the reason I ended up skipping this. I quite acknowledge it works well for some people, but that's not me (and that was a big disappointment when it came to The Strange, which I quite like conceptually but not at the price of using the embedded game system.

 

[FrogReaver]

Cypher was actually the reason I ended up skipping this. I quite acknowledge it works well for some people, but that's not me (and that was a big disappointment when it came to The Strange, which I quite like conceptually but not at the price of using the embedded game system.

Never played cypher system before. What don’t you like about it?

 

[Baron Opal II]

Do they detail Ellie Walker? She's capable with magic and wields that special knife.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Never played cypher system before. What don’t you like about it?

There were several things.

1. I still think having a resource that both fuels your success and is what you use to take damage is fundamentally a wrongheaded design decision.

2. The special abilities in the system are as exception based/special case as can be.

3. It conflates metacurrency and advancement resources, something I've never considered even vaguely a good idea.

It also leans into GM fiat in some areas far more than I even vaguely want to see.