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Old 01-31-2009, 11:31 PM   #1
Rocket Man
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Default The GM Guide saga continues ...

A question for those in the know (and for the rest of us to recklessly speculate on)

While browsing through Warehouse 23, I noticed that the In Nomine Game Masters Guide (usually on the list as "out of print; check these dealers") is no longer listed at all. This suggests to me that either:

1) Its Forces have finally been disbanded for good and it has remerged with the Symphony,

or

2) That it is about to receive a new Vessel courtesy of e23 and no longer needs reference to its former corporeal form.

Anybody happen to know which it is? Or at least have interesting guesses?
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Old 02-01-2009, 12:18 AM   #2
spiritbear
 
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Default Re: The GM Guide saga continues ...

it's Fallen and is now in the service of Kronos?
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Old 02-01-2009, 06:43 AM   #3
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Default Re: The GM Guide saga continues ...

As sad as the former would be, I think the latter would be even sadder. I'd have to run through the table of contents to get a mathematical number (and my copy is boxed away since it didn't make the cut to send out West when I moved cross-country a bit ago), but I'd estimate from memory that 60-90% of the material in the book was definitely on the less-than-helpful side of things. As a whole, it does very little to prepare a GM for actually running a game of IN and instead talks about things like tone, contrast, and the like which aren't nearly as important. Useful things to think about, yes. Worth a whole book? Not really.

I'd have much preferred to see more crunch (example Servitors, Ethereal beings, corporeal beings, artifacts/talismans/relics, Tethers, so a GM could have some more options to play with without buying a whole suite of books of extremely narrow focus), and waaay more about rules adjudicating, dealing with resonance in-game, keeping a party of demons together, playing NPCs (especially Superiors) well, plot hooks, themes to explore, and so on and so on. Things useful for someone running a game, not just planning one.
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Old 02-01-2009, 07:58 AM   #4
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Default Re: The GM Guide saga continues ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocket Man
A question for those in the know (and for the rest of us to recklessly speculate on)

While browsing through Warehouse 23, I noticed that the In Nomine Game Masters Guide (usually on the list as "out of print; check these dealers") is no longer listed at all. This suggests to me that either:

1) Its Forces have finally been disbanded for good and it has remerged with the Symphony,

or

2) That it is about to receive a new Vessel courtesy of e23 and no longer needs reference to its former corporeal form.

Anybody happen to know which it is? Or at least have interesting guesses?
I suspect #2 is more accurate, with the proviso that "it is about to receive a new Vessel" is on the same timeline as "the Zadkiel and Marc supplements are about to receive Vessels".

SJGames doesn't appear to like having products go out of print, but there's only so much time in a day and so many projects to work on.

(Besides, used copies of the GMG tend to sell for about half what people ask for used copies of the Liber Canticorum - I'd rather see the songbook on e23 first.)
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Old 02-01-2009, 01:06 PM   #5
William
 
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Default Re: The GM Guide saga continues ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Acolyte
I'd estimate from memory that 60-90% of the material in the book was definitely on the less-than-helpful side of things.
Hmm, I found it exactly the opposite. I refer to it frequently. Ah well.
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Old 02-01-2009, 01:57 PM   #6
Acolyte
 
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Default Re: The GM Guide saga continues ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by William
I refer to it frequently. Ah well.
I am curious--while I used to read through the book infrequently to see if it generated in my head anything relevant to the campaign at hand, I've almost never referenced it outside of that--which parts do you refer to the most?
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Old 02-01-2009, 04:38 PM   #7
William
 
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Default Re: The GM Guide saga continues ...

Like you, I used it as an idea-generator and a campaign planner; during a campaign, I might open it up for the timeline, advice on RPing a Superior, reference to the laws of Heaven, or incidental questions of the setting that might come up in play.

Many of these are superseded by later supplements that go into more thorough detail of course, such as the expanded Superiors books for each Superior.
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Old 02-03-2009, 01:26 PM   #8
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Default Re: The GM Guide saga continues ...

I agree with William. I like the GMG a lot. It's one of he few books for GMs that assume that you already know how to run a game and give a more theoretical approach. This is complimented by things that a GM might lack from the core rules, such as a coherent timeline and rules for Word-bound.

I don't recommend IN to new GMs in any case, so those who do run it will want some info on hw to run this specific game, not how to game master in general.
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Old 02-05-2009, 10:52 PM   #9
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Default Re: The GM Guide saga continues ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by MIB4223
I agree with William. I like the GMG a lot. It's one of he few books for GMs that assume that you already know how to run a game and give a more theoretical approach. This is complimented by things that a GM might lack from the core rules, such as a coherent timeline and rules for Word-bound.

I don't recommend IN to new GMs in any case, so those who do run it will want some info on hw to run this specific game, not how to game master in general.
I've relied rather heavily on the timeline myself, and wish it were published online so my poor dear players could understand the significance of certain years. 1957 comes to mind...

Otherwise though, I almost never crack that one open.
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