Kickstarter!

[JLV]

Amen to all of the above (especially the "why didn't I think of that" comment, because, darn it, we should have thought of those things! ;-)

I too think it has the potential to do extremely well in today's market -- where, let's face it, the attention span reflects a computer mentality (want it now, get it now), and the fast play is almost more like an analog "computer game" than it is the more typical "40 minutes to resolve a single round of combat" that some games have drifted into. Of course, that's just my entirely unsupported personal opinion, but I sure hope I'm right!

[Dave Crowell]

I think the trick will be getting new players to try TFT. Make it clear on the boxes that Melee and Wizard are standalone games and that they can give fun experiences as arena games.

D&D is a boring rule set for arena combat. RuneQuest/BRP is only a litte better. TFT arena combat is fun and engaging. Not just enless cycles of roll to hit, (rol to defend), roll damage.

[Rick_Smith]

Originally Posted by JLV

Returning to the question of the GM screen, I'm strongly in favor of it -- the original had tons of useful info that saves me lots of time during the game, as well as stuff the players could use on their side of the screen. It was a good thing to have.

Though I agree that if Steve just provided printable insert PDFs for the panels, that would be fine for me personally -- I have one of the plastic folders for that sort of thing (that I picked up in another Kickstarter -- I think it was Barrowmaze), and I'm pretty happy with it. ...

Hi JLV, everyone.
The Schlock Mercenary RPG had an add on product, which was a plastic Shield where pages could be inserted.

I very much like this idea. If I'm doing an underwater adventure, all the rules for that could be placed on an insert, etc.

Warm regards, Rick.

[philreed]

Originally Posted by dusser

I am glad that the core of the game will remain intact. Also, it will be refreshing to have some tweaks to clean up some of the rules, though the game is simple enough to overlook and adapt anything that does not seem to fit.

I think we can look at this as TFT 1.+ and not a second edition of TFT. Steve's changes to the game are not intended as "let's make a completely new edition of the game!" That, plus the visual approach to we're taking to the game -- especially the maps and counters -- should land the game squarely in the old-school camp.

It's my personal opinion that a lot of players want to replace copies of Melee and Wizard that were lost while those new to the game want to see the historical significance of the title. There are a lot of games out there, but there aren't many games that have the pedigree of TFT.

[GlennDoren]

Before it was clear there would be minimal changes, I had the idea of having a "Classic TFT" edition included in the kickstarter as a stretch goal. That would allow long-time TFT'ers (Trippers? Ugh...) to have a clean PDF version of the "Original Edition" (of course, sadly, the old art would not be included in such an edition for copyright reasons).

I definitely would love some "historical" perspective included in this edition for those of us who love reading about "behind the scenes" and "back in the day". The "Designers & Dragons" series is a good example, and a great read.

With that said... I do hope the game isn't marketed as a "museum/historical piece" as opposed to a legit system for modern players. Going too far in the "retro/old school" direction could backfire and make it seem like a "blast from the past" museum piece instead of an elegant legit system. Presumably one goal is also to encourage new adventures and content by bringing new players/designers into the fold :)

I totally understand the need to "test the waters" with the kickstarter... but hopefully it is balanced with a desire to give it the full treatment and best chance to succeed. I wonder if some of those decisions can be informed by the kickstarter itself via supporter feedback(?)

Thanks, as always!

[CJM]

The stuff Steve is coming up with and his approach to making this happen is getting me stoked for playing TFT again and contributing to the Kickstarter. I have already informed my friend who introduced me to TFT in 1982 what was happening and he said to count him in.
On another note...I had an idea...I know it happens on rare occasions....that if SJ Games could get something on the Geek and Sundry's site about the history
of TFT and what kind of a great game it is, that it might help out with the Kickstarter. They promote a lot of Kickstarters for the gaming community. Maybe someone has already mentioned Geek and Sundry in the forums but there are a lot of threads going on and I'm too busy to catch it all. Just thought anything to help promote this project would be a good thing;-)