The Secret of Zir'An

[Mainboard]

June 6th was my first game and so far I have yet to look back. I might add SoZ has really helped my group feel like it did when we first picked up a RPG. We have been together for 11 years and we were getting tired of the same old same old. Within the last 2 years we have grown weary of the "too simple" or "too complicated" systems out there. SoZ has such a brilliant balance that most of us have sworn off every other RPG system.

There is just something right about the system and how it fits with the setting and style of play. That it is still amazing us even after our 9th session last night makes everyone in our group happy. Sorry to rant so much but I really must say that anyone missing SoZ should kick themselves.

If you have played d20 or any other RPG but felt something lacking or wanted something that actually makes sense. If you feel everything out there is either over simplified or creates a system that is cumbersome and slows the game down too much. Really take a look at SoZ then, I think you will be very pleased.

If you have any questions post them here or goto www.paragongames.us for more information.

 

[Bobitron]

I haven't played it yet, but I do have the book. Seems to be an impressive system after a quick read, and I love the setting. Nice mix of Final Fantasy and a more modern anime like Laputa of Nausicaa.

 

[Crothian]

I have it and it was not as impressive as I was expecting it to be. It has some good buzz on RPG.Net but the game just didn't read that great to me. I am put off by the art behind the texts they use in about half the book though, that made it a pain to read and probably helped prevent me from really getting into it.

 

[Bobitron]

I am put off by the art behind the texts they use in about half the book though, that made it a pain to read and probably helped prevent me from really getting into it.

I'm glad you brought that up, because I forgot to mention it. It is the biggest shortcoming of what seems to be a good book.

For those who haven't seen it, there are small runic letters scrawled in a dark color behind the text on a large portion of the book. Not too bad when reading in a bright situation, but I found it really annoying while reading in bed or in a chair rather than at a desk.

 

[Mainboard]

I asked the question about why those chapters ended up like that and here was the official response from ParagonMarty.

The SOZCore Gamebook background rune text was meant to be all silver, 10% shade. Chapter 1 has the correct look that we wanted, for example. I do the layout and am ultimately responsible for not communicating and correcting things with the printer, so basically it's my fault things look like they do. It was impossible to see that the ink was not silver in the galleys, since they were printed in greyscale... a tragic fact that will haunt me personally forever! As you noted, we immediately uploaded the worst affected chapters as PDFs on our site for free when we realized the mistake. Also, the online PDF on DriveThruRPG.net fixes all these issues. On the plus side, it will be REALLY easy to decode those particular secrets using the upcoming Empyriar Code Wheel in the Fate Screen supplement coming out next month.

The bottom line is everything in the background was supposed to be silver... It is a big screw up but not enough of one IMO to condemn this great game.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

First, welcome to the forums

The bottom line is everything in the background was supposed to be silver... It is a big screw up but not enough of one IMO to condemn this great game.

Printing woes beyond the publisher's control?

Been there. Done that.

100% sympathy from me, man. That just sucks.

I'll check the site out.

EDIT: Oh, I've seen this! I've been somewhat interested for some time now. I love the 30s and 40s and I wish more games were set there. Hmmm. If this is available at origins I'll pick it up.

 

[Crothian]

EDIT: Oh, I've seen this! I've been somewhat interested for some time now. I love the 30s and 40s and I wish more games were set there. Hmmm. If this is available at origins I'll pick it up.

I'm postivie it will be at Origins. White Wolf always has a big booth filled with books from the various companies they assist.

 

[Bobitron]

The bottom line is everything in the background was supposed to be silver... It is a big screw up but not enough of one IMO to condemn this great game.

Man, that bites. A good book anyhow, though.

 

[Abulia]

The bottom line is everything in the background was supposed to be silver... It is a big screw up but not enough of one IMO to condemn this great game.

It was for me, unfortunately. Printing errors aside, that was a pretty huge layout faux pas. I flipped through SoZ at the FLGS and had to toss it back on the shelf, clawing my eyes out. Second printing, anyone?

I must say, you guys are being surprisingly accomidating to a new poster who's first post is essentially to pimp a non-d20 game on ENWorld. Well done!

 

[BiggusGeekus]

buy my book

I must say, you guys are being surprisingly accomidating to a new poster who's first post is essentially to pimp a non-d20 game on ENWorld. Well done!

Hey, it's a valid topic. buy my book My feeling is that buy my book if a good discussion comes out of a pimp thread buy my book it isn't really a pimp thread.buy my book