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The LONG wait ends - 'Girl Genius Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game - Powered by GURPS' has been released!
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<blockquote data-quote="Jfdlsjfd" data-source="post: 8384730" data-attributes="member: 42856"><p>Well, if someone is interested on the take on the product by someone who never played GURPS and has no prior exposure or expectation regarding the system (and who, obviously, hasn't used the product in actual play situation)... I'll give an opinion on the different chapters without following their order in the book in order to present my overall opinion better</p><p></p><p></p><p>1. Chapter 8 : adventuring (4 pages)</p><p></p><p>This chapter aims at presenting what characters do in a GG campaign. That's a very interesting chapter but it suffers from not being 20 pages long and being near the beginning of the book. IMHO, one of the draw of playing in a litterary setting instead of a homebrew is to emulate the feel of what happens to the main cast of character. Part of the elements come from the sourcebook on the world, but a specific section on how to build adventure is welcome. It is interesting and gives good ideas, but aims at <em>integrating all kind of stories into the GG world</em>. If you want to play an adventure about X, then a good fit would to have a group starting this way and engaging with the setting from there. I feel more emphasis could have been put on the main themes of the GG story, especially if one or more players doesn't know the GG universe and doesn't feel like reading 20 years worth of (excellent, free) comic to catch up.</p><p></p><p>The chapter also advises to set the realism level to fit the tone of the campaign. Somehow, I felt this is a decision that should have been made by the designer. I suppose it's possible to have gritty adventures set in the GG world, but is this the tone one expects when reading the comic? Do you want to hesitate to engage in fights because life is precious? I felt most of the cast, especially sparks, could withstand having a flying castle dropped on their head and live...</p><p></p><p>2. Chapter 1, 2, 3 : the world (50 pages)</p><p></p><p>These chapters present the world, its situation, history, in a clear and fun to read way. It presents information in a concise way, giving a better understanding of the setting (even after reading the comic, where information is scattered). It reaches its goal of explaining the world, its difference with ours so the GM can fill in the blank as necessary and fit the mood of the GG world. The subsection on religion, for example, does it very well, expanding on the few mentions of religious building and institutions in the comic to integrate this in a worldbuilding advice.</p><p>It also present the main movers and shakers: characters from the comic, with their <em>stats and descriptions. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>3. Chapter 7 : the spark and technology (25 pages)</em></p><p></p><p>This chapter details how to deal with Sparks and their creation. It's mostly in the hand of the GM, with a table to adjudicate the resources needed to build something. Saying that it shouldn't break the limit of established Spark creation when you have Castle Wulfenbach or Castle Heterodyne in the table, that time travel and nuclear weapons are a thing (apparently, the Rome-Carthage War was ended by a Roman spark destroying most of north africa, leaving a dead zone to this day...) is difficult (but part of the charm). It's difficult to adjudicate mechanically without clear limits. We know it's possible to build an Agatha-approved portable death ray, at the second level of difficulty on the table, but will it have stats akin to a lightning gun, a heavy pistol or a Jäger rifle? This treatment makes me think a lightweight game system would have been better suited, as a superficial impression.</p><p></p><p>4. Chapter 4, 5, 6 : character creation and rules</p><p></p><p>The game provide several templates to help building characters. And a few advice littered, like the names, or the fact that few fight to the death and that bad guy prefer to gloat instead of killing their foes, that helps set the mood. On the other hand, reading this chapters (especially the rules one) reinforced my feeling about the system being overtly realistic/simulationist for a fast and loose game I image reflecting the theme of the comic. I know it's just a <em>feeling</em> at this point, but while some advantage are very adapted, like the Gizmo one that let you have gear that you probably should have on your person if it's fitting with archetype, some parts of the system are more grounded in reality... with the chapter ending with a falling damage according to distance. I'd need to see it in play to see how it goes.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>TL;DR: excellent and fun sourcebook for the world, good playing advice that could be expanded upon greatly, interesting attempt to encompass more themes that the one fitting, in my opinion, the comics, and a system that doesn't feel exactly fitting but that need to be confirmed in play.</p><p></p><p>I am satisfied with my purchase even if I end up not using the system.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jfdlsjfd, post: 8384730, member: 42856"] Well, if someone is interested on the take on the product by someone who never played GURPS and has no prior exposure or expectation regarding the system (and who, obviously, hasn't used the product in actual play situation)... I'll give an opinion on the different chapters without following their order in the book in order to present my overall opinion better 1. Chapter 8 : adventuring (4 pages) This chapter aims at presenting what characters do in a GG campaign. That's a very interesting chapter but it suffers from not being 20 pages long and being near the beginning of the book. IMHO, one of the draw of playing in a litterary setting instead of a homebrew is to emulate the feel of what happens to the main cast of character. Part of the elements come from the sourcebook on the world, but a specific section on how to build adventure is welcome. It is interesting and gives good ideas, but aims at [I]integrating all kind of stories into the GG world[/I]. If you want to play an adventure about X, then a good fit would to have a group starting this way and engaging with the setting from there. I feel more emphasis could have been put on the main themes of the GG story, especially if one or more players doesn't know the GG universe and doesn't feel like reading 20 years worth of (excellent, free) comic to catch up. The chapter also advises to set the realism level to fit the tone of the campaign. Somehow, I felt this is a decision that should have been made by the designer. I suppose it's possible to have gritty adventures set in the GG world, but is this the tone one expects when reading the comic? Do you want to hesitate to engage in fights because life is precious? I felt most of the cast, especially sparks, could withstand having a flying castle dropped on their head and live... 2. Chapter 1, 2, 3 : the world (50 pages) These chapters present the world, its situation, history, in a clear and fun to read way. It presents information in a concise way, giving a better understanding of the setting (even after reading the comic, where information is scattered). It reaches its goal of explaining the world, its difference with ours so the GM can fill in the blank as necessary and fit the mood of the GG world. The subsection on religion, for example, does it very well, expanding on the few mentions of religious building and institutions in the comic to integrate this in a worldbuilding advice. It also present the main movers and shakers: characters from the comic, with their [I]stats and descriptions. 3. Chapter 7 : the spark and technology (25 pages)[/I] This chapter details how to deal with Sparks and their creation. It's mostly in the hand of the GM, with a table to adjudicate the resources needed to build something. Saying that it shouldn't break the limit of established Spark creation when you have Castle Wulfenbach or Castle Heterodyne in the table, that time travel and nuclear weapons are a thing (apparently, the Rome-Carthage War was ended by a Roman spark destroying most of north africa, leaving a dead zone to this day...) is difficult (but part of the charm). It's difficult to adjudicate mechanically without clear limits. We know it's possible to build an Agatha-approved portable death ray, at the second level of difficulty on the table, but will it have stats akin to a lightning gun, a heavy pistol or a Jäger rifle? This treatment makes me think a lightweight game system would have been better suited, as a superficial impression. 4. Chapter 4, 5, 6 : character creation and rules The game provide several templates to help building characters. And a few advice littered, like the names, or the fact that few fight to the death and that bad guy prefer to gloat instead of killing their foes, that helps set the mood. On the other hand, reading this chapters (especially the rules one) reinforced my feeling about the system being overtly realistic/simulationist for a fast and loose game I image reflecting the theme of the comic. I know it's just a [I]feeling[/I] at this point, but while some advantage are very adapted, like the Gizmo one that let you have gear that you probably should have on your person if it's fitting with archetype, some parts of the system are more grounded in reality... with the chapter ending with a falling damage according to distance. I'd need to see it in play to see how it goes. TL;DR: excellent and fun sourcebook for the world, good playing advice that could be expanded upon greatly, interesting attempt to encompass more themes that the one fitting, in my opinion, the comics, and a system that doesn't feel exactly fitting but that need to be confirmed in play. I am satisfied with my purchase even if I end up not using the system. [/QUOTE]
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