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Old 01-15-2019, 02:17 PM   #21
JLV
 
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Default Re: Orcslayer

All snark and whatnot aside, I would LOVE to see Orcslayer converted to TFT. I think it's a perfect example of how to do this kind of scenario and would add some needed info on cross-country travel (plus those castle maps were too cool to miss).

Of note, Steve mentioned in a Daily Illuminator update (I think) on TFT that he either has or is very close to finishing a conversion of another GURPS scenario over to TFT, so I don't REALLY think he would have a problem with converting some of the older, less complex, scenarios (where the scenario doesn't turn on some quirk of the GURPS rules) into TFT scenarios.

I also think it would be relatively easy to ignore the "Caithness" stuff, if he leaves it in, just as I routinely ignore other backgrounds if the adventure is worth running in TFT. Plus, you could always argue that Caithness IS on Cidri -- just somewhere far, far away.
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Old 01-16-2019, 04:37 AM   #22
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Default Re: Orcslayer

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Originally Posted by JLV View Post
Of note, Steve mentioned in a Daily Illuminator update (I think) on TFT that he either has or is very close to finishing a conversion of another GURPS scenario over to TFT, so I don't REALLY think he would have a problem with converting some of the older, less complex, scenarios (where the scenario doesn't turn on some quirk of the GURPS rules) into TFT scenarios.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects.../posts/2385192

"I have mostly finished translating the GURPS introductory solo, All In A Night’s Work, to TFT. But I am not certain what we might do with it."

This was part of a discussion yesterday. We're zeroing in on an idea for _how_ we may use this adventure.
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Old 01-16-2019, 09:05 AM   #23
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Default Re: Orcslayer

I'd like to see an introductory adventure that's online and walks the player through a sample combat and the other general concepts of the game.

Say a thief who needs to make some choices in sneaking around and has to deal with locks, traps, a snake, perhaps even a guard. With the game showing the results of all the rolls, perhaps because it is the thief herself who knows the illusion spell so that hostile attempts to disbelieve can be rolled "out in the open" for the player.

At the finish page it would have links to go buy the PDFs, etc.

As this would be crossing the line from scenario generator to actually playing the game online it requires an additional level of permission I don't have.
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Old 01-16-2019, 11:38 PM   #24
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Default Re: Orcslayer

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Originally Posted by philreed View Post
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects.../posts/2385192

"I have mostly finished translating the GURPS introductory solo, All In A Night’s Work, to TFT. But I am not certain what we might do with it."

This was part of a discussion yesterday. We're zeroing in on an idea for _how_ we may use this adventure.
That is just great! I can hardly wait!
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Old 11-06-2019, 06:48 PM   #25
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I was running Orc Slayer with GURPS 3e. All the characters were required to follow the squire character type on page 119 of the Fantasy 2e. When we started the players never had time to create their characters and we had some people who had never played GURPS before so we ended up using pre-generated characters that I created for the campaign.

As Orc Slayer is a set of combat oriented, linked, Man-to-Man scenarios and not a full GURPS adventure like Harkwood, I filled in the setting where there was not a lot of detail. For example of pg. 10 it says that the road takes the party through three villages. So I got maps for the villages and populated them with pre-generated NPCs in case the party happened to get involved in the local politics and machinations of the towns folk.

I had a couple players who had played a lot of 4e and some other players who play a lot of D&D, however everyone agreed that the campaign style would be realistic and by the book.

The first time we played, there was a total party kill at the Evil Lizard Kassk. One of the veteran 4e players wanted his squire to scout the ridge line. I asked him if he wanted to reduce his encumbrance level as his stealth roles would be penalized by his encumbrance level. He told me he knew how to play GURPS and didn't need my advice but of course he ended up failing a stealth role and the three reptile men leaped over the ridge line and quickly over powered him before the rest of the party could come to his aid.

The next time we played all but two of the players dropped out about half way through (one of the players got really mad because I told her that she couldn't change her characters disadvantage after the character had been brought into play as it clearly states on pg. 26 of the Basic Set 3e.). Then one player went completely berserk when his character was killed by an orc while trying to cross the orc lines in Castle Defiant smashed my vacuum cleaner and never came back.

I have to say, I don't know what the table top RPG community is like in other cities but where I live, I have met nothing but a rude motley crew of anti-social bullies since I started running a GURPS campaign. Most of the players first response to any obstacle is to bully the GM. The local table top RPG community seems to be under the iron grip of a fanatical D&D mafia who bully any one who tries to play anything other than D&D 5e. Numerous times I've had a new player come to a session and have a really good time. I will see them posting on the local RPG forums that they have found this awesome RPG group playing GURPS and recommending it to all their friends only to get the "GUPRS is not for us" message from them the day of the next session. The message is always basically the same:

The "Oh you've taken advantage of my table top RPG naivety and had me play 'that GURPS game', we'll stick to that wholesome, all American, family table top RPG D&D 5e. and with proper Protestant indignation say that 'GURPS is not for us'" message


Randi,, the guy at Fandom II who looks like one of the wizards on the cover of GURPS MAgic Items III and has looked like that as long as anyone can remember, explained the origin of the GURPS issue to me.

He said that back in the day there was a war between Gary "Gandulf" Gygax and "Evil" Steve JAckson and his armies of Mordor to see if the table top RPG world would be united under a die 20 system or a 3 die 6 system. D&D 3.5e won the war but Steve Jackson had a big ego was, obstinate, and refused to admit defeat and came out with GURPS 3e. And ever since the Table TOP RPG world has been divided and if only the GURPS GMs would simply go away we would all be happy table top RPG hobbits playing our D&D 5e because after all there never was an addition before 5e. They just called it 5e because 5 is a nice number. It divides 10 and we all use a decimal number system.........
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Old 11-06-2019, 11:35 PM   #26
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Default Re: Orcslayer

That's hilarious and sad. Condolences for your vacuum cleaner, but at least we got these anecdotes. And you got to learn quickly that those players were problematic.

I've been lucky enough to have often found like-minded friends and strangers to play The Fantasy Trip (whose forum you posted this in, by the way - this was a thread about the possibility of porting Orcslayer to TFT) and GURPS. I've managed to detect and avoid playing with players who are too incompatible with the type of game I'm interested in playing.

Having determined some people are a terrible match, I'd suggest avoiding them and instead using other methods to find players who already want to play the games you want to play (e.g. by making posts or looking for posts for wanted games and players), or who at least are open to trying the games you want to play.

There's no need to win over entire communities - just to find enough compatible people to play with.
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Old 11-07-2019, 12:36 PM   #27
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Default Re: Orcslayer

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There's no need to win over entire communities - just to find enough compatible people to play with.
That's for sure. I'm part of a gaming club that mostly plays Pathfinder. I run a GURPS DF game. It's very cinematic. At some point, I'll finally get the chance to run some TFT, and I'm sure most of my players will have fun with it. I sandbox, which seems to make a huge difference. The Pathfinder players who try it either love it or hate it, and it's usually not due to the system - it's because there is no set (adventure) path as to where to go - just forge your own path.

[My group got angry at a minor god (who actually bound them to them - in exchange for their lives). This has set them on an epic quest to find the 7 artifacts needed to kill a god. Of course, there are no instructions as to how to use them, and I have a nasty twist for them. But this is all them in terms of their goals, with me facilitating them by providing interesting locales, enemies, etc., as obstacles on their overarching quest.]

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that there are undoubtedly people out there in your community who will play just about anything so long as they're having a good time. Those who won't because it's not D&D are really not worth your time. (And, even when I have played Pathfinder or D&D 5e, that sort of player really annoys me.)

Good luck!
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Old 11-07-2019, 04:18 PM   #28
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Default Re: Orcslayer

Hi Sorry if my post is considered off topic. I have run Orc Slayer a lot in the last year and was excited to find a recent thread where it was being discussed. I was more trying to post my experiences in converting Orc Slayer into an actual RPG adventure as it is really just a set of linked combat encounters. I find it is a good introductory adventure for the Caithness setting because the players have to travel a long way and learn about some of the major towns and Nobles.

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Originally Posted by Skarg View Post
The Fantasy Trip (whose forum you posted this in, by the way - this was a thread about the possibility of porting Orcslayer to TFT) and GURPS. I've managed to detect and avoid playing with players who are too incompatible with the type of game I'm interested in playing.
Regardless of the setting, unless it is present day, in order to run an open ended king maker type of campaign the players have to first be really familiar with the setting. Orc Slayer is much better for introducing the setting than Harkwood because in Harkwood the party never travels very far from the town.
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Old 11-07-2019, 08:09 PM   #29
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Default Re: Orcslayer

Oh no, I didn't mean you were off topic, but sometimes people post in the TFT forum thinking it's a GURPS forum, and I wasn't sure you knew that so I was mentioning it for attempted clarity.

I really like Orcslayer, mainly as a good intro adventure that is simple and compartmentalized enough to serve up digestible little tactical situations, with prepared maps and foes (with sheets made up in a practical format, not a text blob about character points like many published GURPS characters). And that they are pretty varied and suggestive of how different tactical (and some travel) situations can be interesting just by having them be logical and laying out situations to represent the situation. And it's nice that it strings them along in a way that has context.

I think it's great intro material both for GMs and for players, especially if they are learning the system and how to run things.

I like that it's not much more developed or open-ended than it is, because that helps focus the play and the learning on the prepared situations that have maps, foes, and supporting rules.

I also like that, unlike GURPS worldbooks, it does give you enough supporting rules for relevant details, like battering rams, arrow slits and travel rules as needed.

When I ran it I mainly wanted to use it as a learning situation and not get off track, so I didn't feel a need to detail the villages. But I did sketch a bit more of a map, even though the route was intended to be a straight shot. But I love maps and map-based play.

Of course I also liked that it comes with tactical combat maps for its scenarios, including castle maps!
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Old 11-08-2019, 05:57 AM   #30
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Default Re: Orcslayer

Has anyone statted out Orcslayer for TFT or Melee?
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