Stars/Worlds Without Number (General Thread)

[kenada]

Not sure why I’m still subscribed to r/wwn when I’m working on a switch to a homebrew system, but I saw today that Kevin Crawford posted several more countries from the upcoming Atlas of the Latter Earth.

 

[Aldarc]

Not sure why I’m still subscribed to r/wwn when I’m working on a switch to a homebrew system, but I saw today that Kevin Crawford posted several more countries from the upcoming Atlas of the Latter Earth.

Because it's still a good system whose writer produces quality content?

 

[kenada]

Because it's still a good system whose writer produces quality content?

While I wouldn’t call it bad, I wouldn’t call it good either. When I first read the rules, my impression was very positive, but my opinion of the system has dropped the more I’ve run it. I think some of it is the kind of sandbox WWN offers is not actually the kind I am interested in running, and the system clashed with that, but there are a few things that I think are general problems.

• The game is too verbose. It’s difficult to find things when you need to look them up (even if you know the right section), and it gets in the way of leaning and understanding the game;
• The rules are incomplete. This seems to affect what I want to do than the story-driven sandbox style that WWN seems designed around. The game would be better if it picked one style and didn’t pretend it could do the other;
• The GM tools kind of suck. The faction rules are heavily oriented towards factions that deploy assets as detailed in the book. Projects are basically GM fiat. I found myself wishing for a fiction-first approach and something more robust for projects.

There’s also an aesthetic issue. I think WWN has convinced me I really just don’t like generic systems. While WWN is class-based, most of your character is realized through customization. I would rather have archetypical classes with that reflected in their mechanics. I’ve also talked about problems with partial casters. For us, I think having fewer but (much) more effectful spells is the wrong tradeoff.

There are also some issues I have with the game’s attitude towards mining real world cultures for ideas and its depiction of the anakim and blighted. After seeing the way blighted played out the first time they were introduced in my game, I think I’m going to need to revisit their portrayal in my homebrew setting.

Update: To avoid derailing this thread, I’ll be bowing out unless someone responds directly or @-mentions me.

 

[Aldarc]

Kevin Crawford has posted an preview of the upcoming Bard for WWN.

 

[kenada]

Kevin Crawford has posted an preview of the upcoming Bard for WWN.

It seems like it doesn’t get most of the benefits of being a partial expert class, but Kevin explained in the comments why he went that route (more hp, having more non-mage partial classes). I agree with one of the responses there that effort seems like a very mage-y thing. It’d be neat if it tied into something more expert-y feeling like their skills.

 

[Aldarc]

It seems like it doesn’t get most of the benefits of being a partial expert class, but Kevin explained in the comments why he went that route (more hp, having more non-mage partial classes). I agree with one of the responses there that effort seems like a very mage-y thing. It’d be neat if it tied into something more expert-y feeling like their skills.

One could probably make a good "warlord" with a Warrior/Bard.

 

[Aldarc]

And now the Illusionist mage. Crawford is prodigious.

 

[kenada]

The Atlas of the Latter Earth Kickstarter is live.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Glad I caught this in time to get the limited $70 level in time before it filled.

 

[dbm]

They are currently about half pledged for, so definitely worth backing quickly for anyone wanting one. It’s the same printer as the main book, and the quality was excellent.