[Osprey Games] Romance of the Perilous Land

[Aldarc]

Just did (I think I read v1.2 last year). RotPL has a lot of similarities with BH.

Black Hack also gets criticized for not being "OSR enough" and too modern. I sometimes get the sense that the OSR community can be its own worst enemy. /shrug.

RotPL has a non-D&D and non-LOTR inspired setting. Also magic is cast using spell points, which is a major boon for me. I don't want to emulate the OSR experience. Did that in the 80s. Glad I left it behind. RotPL is not OSR.

Yeah, that gets bonus points for me as well. I could also see how you would find spell points a selling point, particularly if you like that in Green Ronin's AGE system. I do think that "Cunning Folk" is a strange and cumbersome choice for the name of a class in RotPL, particularly when something like "Mage" would work.

I saw Paleomythic but not my thing.

Shame. I never thought that Stone & Sorcery would be my thing, but it scratched an itch that I never knew that I had. (Also a non-D&D and/or non-LOTR inspired setting.) It was one of those games where I read it and immediately knew at least 20+ ways that I could run it.

 

[atanakar]

Black Hack also gets criticized for not being "OSR enough" and too modern. I sometimes get the sense that the OSR community can be its own worst enemy. /shrug.

Yeah, that gets bonus points for me as well. I could also see how you would find spell points a selling point, particularly if you like that in Green Ronin's AGE system. I do think that "Cunning Folk" is a strange and cumbersome choice for the name of a class in RotPL, particularly when something like "Mage" would work.

Cunning Folk is a weird name but I guess it fits with the pseudo-historical era. Commoners would be fearful of mages. It has a negative connotation that I like, without outright saying that mage get burned or attacked if discovered, as with dark fantasy RPGs. A fine line not to cross imho.

Another reason I like RotPL is the reliance on Skills as bonus (Advantage) to Attribute checks. That is a major difference with OSR games which have no skills (except for thieves).

 

[Aldarc]

Cunning Folk is a weird name but I guess it fits with the pseudo-historical era. Commoners would be fearful of mages. It has a negative connotation that I like, without outright saying that mage get burned or attacked if discovered, as with dark fantasy RPGs. A fine line not to cross imho.

Sure, but then you could go with something that communicates "cunning folk" simpler like "Sage," which is a wise person. I have no idea what it is about these sort of classes that causes people to overthink available vocabulary.

Another reason I like RotPL is the reliance on Skills as bonus (Advantage) to Attribute checks. That is a major difference with OSR games.

Some OSR. A number of other games have checks provide a bonus to your attribute when making a roll, which is similar in that it still preserves the roll under attribute system.

 

[Fenris-77]

Black Hack also gets criticized for not being "OSR enough" and too modern. I sometimes get the sense that the OSR community can be its own worst enemy. /shrug.

I find the reboot of edition wars for the OSR movement distasteful. It seems very out of keeping with the DIY zeitgeist that's supposed to characterize OSR play. Gatekeeping, how do I loathe thee, let me count the ways...

 

[Bluenose]

Because it only really matters in turn 1. There's little (if anything) that is round-based.

Not to mention it breaks verisimilitude for me, the same way group initiative did in D&D.

THat it's also flat out unrealistic (as is sidevs side initiative) is another whole kettle of fish, and I hate fish.

Is there a system of initiative where people take turns acting that is in any way like the simultaneous action that takes place in combat? Verisimilitude seems the last thing to worry about for D&D-style combat.


With regard to RotPL, it's an interesting setting and the system is neat and unobtrusive and I really can't get into it. Paleomythic on the other hand is excellent, and like Aldarc it surprises me how much I enjoyed the setting and system when I'd never really thought of it as something I'd like.

 

[atanakar]

Is there a system of initiative where people take turns acting that is in any way like the simultaneous action that takes place in combat? Verisimilitude seems the last thing to worry about for D&D-style combat.


With regard to RotPL, it's an interesting setting and the system is neat and unobtrusive and I really can't get into it. Paleomythic on the other hand is excellent, and like Aldarc it surprises me how much I enjoyed the setting and system when I'd never really thought of it as something I'd like.

I'll keep that in mind. But I always make sure I use the new stuff I buy before I buy other new stuff.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Is there a system of initiative where people take turns acting that is in any way like the simultaneous action that takes place in combat? Verisimilitude seems the last thing to worry about for D&D-style combat.

There's shot counting, like in Feng Shui, Exalted 2nd Edition and the upcoming Iron Sky, where you track the amount of time each combat action takes and use a shot counter and track individuals' next turn on the shot clock. It's very involved, and not a lot of fun.

 

[Aldarc]

Okay, @atanakar. What are your top 5 favorite things about RotPL and what is your 1 least favorite thing about it?

 

[atanakar]

Okay, @atanakar. What are your top 5 favorite things about RotPL and what is your 1 least favorite thing about it?

I'll reserve my comments for next week, after I do a solitaire session with 4 character. Sometimes things I don't like on paper turn out to work better than I thought at the table.

 

[aramis erak]

Is there a system of initiative where people take turns acting that is in any way like the simultaneous action that takes place in combat? Verisimilitude seems the last thing to worry about for D&D-style combat.

Yes... WEG d6. Everyone notes down their actions for the turn. Everyone's first action is rolled for success, and that roll is also the initiative point (highest first) of the individual.

I've always HATED the side-based initiative, which this essentially is. The initiative is essentially just a surprise round.
And simultinaity is a non-fighter's delusion. Years of armed martial arts, including fencing melée, nothing is truly simultaneous.

With regard to RotPL, it's an interesting setting and the system is neat and unobtrusive and I really can't get into it. Paleomythic on the other hand is excellent, and like Aldarc it surprises me how much I enjoyed the setting and system when I'd never really thought of it as something I'd like.

Paleomythic is well written, but essentially is a level-based mechanic...
... I'm more likely to run Paleomythic than RotPL.
RotPL, however, has some ideas for monsters that I can use in Pendragon.