eleran said:
OK, this makes me curious. Having heard a lot of jokes about Torg, but never having cracked a cover of any Torg book, how was that game?
I haven't played it intensively, but members in my group played it a lot (before 3E appeared, at a time where the game was still supported).
From what I saw, it was awesome, but you had to get into a specific mindset (not really compatible with the 3E mindset) to play it well. It has a certain "anything-goes"/"over-the-top"/"pulp" style.
I suggest creating a thread on it in the General RPG Discussion Forum on the topic, since this will lead off-topic. There's also a
Wikipedia Entry (it was discussed a few weeks ago on th General RPG boards)
Talking about 4E and different design "techniques" or subsystems, I am always reminded of Torg (not that 4E is "stealing" much from it, but when you're exploring RPG design spaces, you will always find some good solutions in Torg).
Interesting tidbits:
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- Fast Gameplay. You roll only a single dice per round, that stands for all your actions (and you can take multiple, at a penalty). You get some rerolls, but most of the time, it's just one roll.
- Logarithmic Conversion Table to convert everything to everything - km/h to m/sec to kg to currency units.
- Use of non-weapon skills to perform "attacks" (taunt, test of wills, maneuver) and actually take out your foes.
- Card-based initiative system (Drama Deck) that supports "dramatic" and regular encounters, declares actions that grant benefits. A "regular" encounter is where your party mows down 20 shock troopers with 20 rounds of ammo. A dramatic encounter is where you fight two Ninjas (or the arch villain) and get your ass handed to you...
- Drama Deck is also used for handling something similar to 4E skill challenges.
- Drama Deck Cards also include "Plot" Cards, that allow a player with a card to influence the plot - play a Romance, Connection or Idea Card to forward the plot, or use a Martyr card to rescue your friends/the world, sacrificing yourself.
- Earth is invaded by several realities (Orrorsh is one of them), and the heroes (Stormriders) are "possibility"-rated, able to move between the realities and have the chance to alter the course of the world, stopping the evil overlords of the various realities.
- The Possibilities of characters basically are a kind of "hit point" or "plot-protection point" for PCs. In combat for example, they can be used to reduce damage taken.
- Combine Elven Wizard with Cyberaugmented Priest with ordinary (Core Earth) human private eye and a Superhero to a party of adventurers (Storm-Riders), all equally capable of fighting the good fight.
- Each Reality has different Axiom Levels for things like Social, Technological, Magical and Religious Development, determining the kind of social structure, technologies or magic and dinve powers are usually available in the setting. Each Realm also has its own "Laws", that you can invoke to gain benefits when in that Cosmos for goals pertaining to that Law, but sometimes also just set the feel of the setting - Nippon Tech laws include a Law that tells you that 10 % of all members in any random organisation are traitors to it, so expect a lot of betrayal and back-stabbing when working in Nippon Tech...
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All in all, I think Torg was pretty innovative.