Torg Eternity Coming in 2016

I have to admit that as someone who reports on RPGs for a living, it's probably criminal that I am completely unfamiliar with Torg. However, there's a new edition coming called Torg Eternity, which is an updated take on the original game and seeing from 1990. The co-creator of Torg, Greg Gorden, is involved, and the project is being spearheaded by Shane Hensley (of Pinnacle Entertainment Group and Savage Worlds fame).

So, what's Torg? It was a multi-genre game written in 1990 and published by West End Games. Players play near-future Storm Knights who fight the invasion of Earth from various dimensions, each of which corresponds with an RPG genre. The title originally meant "The Other Roleplaying Game".

It's a "cinematic" game, and uses cinematic terminology like "Acts" and "Scenes"; it has exploding d20s, and a card system called a Drama Deck.

This will be a full color hardback book, and is slated for a 2016 release. It will be published by Ulisses Spiele, a German RPG publisher, which bought the rights after West End Games closed.

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Here's Ye Olde Presse Release:

CLASSIC ROLEPLAYING GAME TORG RETURNS AS TORG ETERNITY

Ulisses Spiele Announces Return of Torg in New Updated Edition

CHANDLER, AZ (July 21, 2015) – Ulisses Spiele US, a division of Germany’s premiere game manufacturer and distributor, today announced the return of the influential Torg roleplaying game.

The new game is entitled Torg: Eternity, and is a new and updated take on the original game and its setting. The design team includes many who worked on the original Torg line that debuted from West End Games in 1990.

Torg co-creator Greg Gorden has been involved at a high level and given it his blessing: “I really like this re-imagining of the TORG mythos. The streamlining and modernization of the game mechanics feel spot on. I cannot wait to play this game!”

The game’s rights were sold after the closure of West End Games and were eventually purchased by Torg fan and president of Ulisses Spiele, Markus Plotz. “TORG is a one of a kind RPG. The setting is unique and for over 15 years, I dreamed about releasing a new and updated version. Now, with the help of the amazing Shane Hensley, that dream finally becomes reality!”

Shane Lacy Hensley heads up the United States studio where both Torg: Eternity and The Dark Eye are being created. “Though my plate is pretty full with my own company, Pinnacle Entertainment Group, I couldn’t resist working on the game that gave me my start. I also met a kindred spirit in Markus Plotz who truly loves and appreciates what a turning point Torg marked in RPG development, so I just couldn’t say no.”

Torg: Eternity will debut in 2016 in deluxe, full color hardback format.

About Ulisses Spiele
Ulisses Spiele is the premiere manufacturer of RPGs in Germany. The company’s portfolio includes amongst other games The Dark Eye (the biggest Fantasy RPG in Germany), the German version of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game (as a license from US RPG giant Paizo Inc.) and the new German V20 version of Vampire – The Masquerade.

Additionally Ulisses Spiele is known as the German distributor for the critically acclaimed tabletop games Warmachine and Hordes from Privateer Press and Infinity from Corvus Belli.

With TORG: Eternity, Ulisses Spiele publishes its first English RPG.
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[Nikosandros]

I guess not since it is annouced as a color hardcover. Now if they run a Kickstarter and have it as bonus from Q-Workshop...

If this is going to be a hardcover, I wonder how they're going to handle the Drama Deck. The cards were a big part of the game system.

 

[Eminence_Grise]

What was the drama deck? What was it used for?

 

[megamania]

Its been nearly 20 years but the Drama deck was a way to create surprise events- random events- that both hindered or aided PCs. Your gun jams, you strike a crit etc......

 

[megamania]

Even though I swore never to buy any more books I may have to get at least the intro book. Love Torg

 

[barasawa]

The group I played with really used the deck to our advantage. I doubt anyone will forget when the forgotten lands tried to push out to a new area. We were there to stop them. Already wore down, and just finishing off the stellae, and a freaking godzilla sized TRex came charging across the bridge at us. One of our guys using a 6Pack, a home-built 2.75 rocket launcher with 6 shots, ran up the bridge to give us the time we needed. Face to face with the big dino, he declares he's firing all 6 shots in one volley at the Rexs feet to collapse the bridge, and then he gets a huge grin on his face and plays the Martyr Card!
Needless to say, the king lizard, mega-hotfoot and all, dropped to it's doom as the explosion ripped a giant hole in the bridge that then continued to destabilize and disintegrate. The PCs never really saw what happened to their friend after he fired off the rockets, but they know he died with honors, as the explosion silhouetted him flipping off the tyrant lizard before he disappeared as well.
Yes Travis, we still remember that scene, and value it slightly more than when you tried shooting that thing off in the helicopter and nearly killed all of us.

 

[jhilahd]

I think the drama deck will be a separate purchase if it is a hardcover and not a box set. Many other gaming systems use decks(Savage Worlds, Edge of the Empire, Mutant Year Zero) but have options for not using them as well. Maybe there will be tables to recreate alot of those options the cards prevented.
Or maybe I need to sell my box set... hmmmm

 

[aramis erak]

I was waiting for this since 1995 !

I hope that the revision will go beyond the streamlining of the rules. One of the issue of the original game was that there was no way for the Storm Knights to win the war. To truly go into the epic of changing permanently the course of the war was quite difficult. Removing a Stelae was freaking difficult and would have dramatic negative effect most of the time. I won't even speak about taking down a High Lord...

The game's been reprinted since then... Handled a copy of it in my FLGS a few years back. RPG Geek shows the revised edition in 2005...

Torg was a case of bad timing. Rifts shipped a bit earlier and got a lot more traction. Torg was the better game and better thought out multi-genre setting. I suspect that, if Torg had been a bit earlier, Palladium would have had far less success with Rifts. Initiative matters, especially when two games are so close in concept and so close in release time.

I like the engine, but do prefer the Masterbook and Shatterzone versions (which uses 2d10 instead of 1d20, and has two more special cards in the drama deck).

What I like better setting-wise than Rifts is that there's a reason it all went wonky, and the stellae/possibilities relationship really makes the need to get tales of heroism out there...

Time to start figuring out what to sell...

 

[Rabbitball]

What was the drama deck? What was it used for?

The Drama Deck was a set of cards that managed several aspects of the game:

• On the player's half (cards were split in half with player use on one half and GM information rotated on the other half) was a benefit you could spend the card for. This could be a reroll of a failed skill check or attack, a bonus to an attribute or skill for the round, a Possibility (adding another die to your check), or other potentially useful ability. It also allowed a player to potentially introduce subplots and other characters into the adventure (with GM still having veto rights if it would horribly break the narrative). Cards could be traded between players on a one-for-one basis, which had the potential to set up a trade which would allow multiple cards to end up in one player's hands which could be spent all at once for a massive effect.
• On the GM side, the card listed which side (heroes or villians) had the initiative for the round. Heroes would have the initiative advantage in Standard encounters, while Villains would have it in Dramatic encounters. It also had the potential to confer advantages or penalties to one or both sides (Confused, Up, Flurry, Stymied, etc.) and listed Approved Actions for the heroes. Heroes were not required to perform the Approved Action, but a hero that succeeded at an Approved Action could draw a new card.
• In between, rotated so that it aligned with the GM side of the card, was the Dramatic Skill Resolution bar. This was an early forerunner of the D&D 4th Edition Skill Challenges, except that it allowed the GM to designate up to 4 steps in a skill challenge (which did not always have to be the same skill) with potentially varying difficulty, and the line would indicate which of the steps were available to perform in any given round. It could also have a potential problem which would force the players to "waste" a round dealing with it or face greater problems down the road.

 

[mirco]

I asked Ulisses via their forum: w w w.ulisses-spiele.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=92&t=2059 about the Drama Deck.
They could/would not tell more about the Drama Deck of Torg Eternity than: "Torg without Drama Deck would not be Torg, would it?"

 

[Oliver Shead]

I confess I haven't ever heard of Torg before, but now I'm wondering why not! It looks great.