Has anyone played EABA from BTRC (http://www.btrc.net/)? How is it? How does it play? What kind of settings would it work for?
I'm presuming you mean EABA v2.
I haven't played it, but I've read it and done some messing around with it. The rules for building stuff are very complete and very complex. While the system "supports" Powers as magic, last I checked, you won't find a lot of support for magic settings, as most of the creators and players seem more interested in modern/sci-fi settings.
From their website:
QuotePowers, if available, are constructed from sets of modifiers. The gamemaster can simply provide a list, or players can construct them from scratch. The level of effect you get is based on the type of modifiers, and you can mix and match to meet a particular need or the built-in nature of a specific gameworld. So, if all magic requires that you wave a wand and chant mystic syllables, then all powers have the modifiers "requires a focus", "requires gestures", "requires speech". Mundane gadgets are merely a subset of power design, so the power system can create a laser rifle as easily as it could create a wand of fireballs.
Here's a thread from the EABA website discussing magic: http://www.btrc.net/btrc-forum/24-core-rules/2887-help-making-magic-systems
Quote from: Tod13;993438I'm presuming you mean EABA v2.
I haven't played it, but I've read it and done some messing around with it. The rules for building stuff are very complete and very complex. While the system "supports" Powers as magic, last I checked, you won't find a lot of support for magic settings, as most of the creators and players seem more interested in modern/sci-fi settings.
From their website:
Here's a thread from the EABA website discussing magic: http://www.btrc.net/btrc-forum/24-core-rules/2887-help-making-magic-systems
Thanks, I would be thinking of using it for a sci-fi type setting.
Quote from: Ras Algethi;993441Thanks, I would be thinking of using it for a sci-fi type setting.
It should work great for that. I found it a very crunchy game (too crunchy for my tastes, but that isn't an indictment of the system). If you want to create custom Powers, add another very to the list. :D
Quote from: Ras Algethi;993441Thanks, I would be thinking of using it for a sci-fi type setting.
It'd be a great fit. If you haven't seen it, the EABA version of Fires of Heaven (https://www.conservativereview.com/articles/levin-susan-rice-lied-is-the-gop-going-to-do-anything-about-it) could be handy. It's for EABA v1 but it's still good.
With EABA I've run games in the Traveller setting, historical, low magic fantasy, Burn Notice-ish modern action, and Ghost in the Shell type scifi action. I haven't run it much recently as I've forayed out into GURPS and HERO territory but I've a feeling that I'll be bringing some of that experience back to EABA.
How's it compare to Dream Pod Nine's systems, either Heavy Gear or Silhouette?
Quote from: Ras Algethi;993549How's it compare to Dream Pod Nine's systems, either Heavy Gear or Silhouette?
They feel pretty different to me. Not only does that feeling come from how each die system is bounded but in EABA the whole works is tied back into the universal chart. As GM, you're able to exclusively speak about what's going on in real world terms, distance, size, what-have-you, and players can easily translate that into game terms on the fly. For example, if the GM says that a man sized target (+0 difficulty) is 100 meters away then a player can glance at the chart to find that 100 meters is + 16 difficulty. If you have players who really like to know the odds of success then they'll love EABA.
I like it as it is a simulationist game meant to generate plausible results. It also has a fairly unique and graspable system that generates audible results with. Little effort.
It does take some getting used to. Especially 2e with it's expanding turn scale. It also lacks a critical system.
If you like believable real world results based on real values in terms of speed, weight, distance, etc you should like it.
I just bought a bunch of the EABA v2 stuff, actually. Read but not played. It's a really interesting system that I'd like to dig into more (and I'd love to see/read some actual play of it), but for some reason the writing style or the layout makes my eyes glaze over. The mechanics seem smart, from what I've digested (and impressively solid for what appears to be a very small team of writers/testers). The worked setting books are neat but it seems like it'd require a lot of work constructing lists of abilities for a given campaign. GURPS may have spoiled me a bit in this regard with the wealth of available pre-written material to plug in.
Also, it could just be me (it probably is) but it seems difficult to implement playable nonstandard races. I've seen a couple different ways including one from Stuff!, but they seemed to involve a lot of eyeballing.
Quote from: Ras Algethi;993312Has anyone played EABA from BTRC (http://www.btrc.net/)? How is it? How does it play? What kind of settings would it work for?
It's excellent for people with high tolerance for crunch:). OTOH, it can easily do most setting, though I get the feeling that modern ones would be preferable.
Quote from: Schwartzwald;993688I like it as it is a simulationist game meant to generate plausible results. It also has a fairly unique and graspable system that generates audible results with. Little effort.
It does take some getting used to. Especially 2e with it's expanding turn scale. It also lacks a critical system.
If you like believable real world results based on real values in terms of speed, weight, distance, etc you should like it.
Yeah, this;).
Thanks for all the input, very helpful.
As a slight digression: how does EABA2 differ from EABA1?
Quote from: TKurtBond;993910As a slight digression: how does EABA2 differ from EABA1?
Well, the
BIG change is the expanding turn scale. Turns start at 1 second and double in duration every turn. Except that 8 seconds doubles to 15 to make the minutes even. You still get one major action a turn but you get 'turn mod' points that you can add to an action to make it more effective.
It's a fairly unique system that is a bit tricky to wrap your head around but does work to create a system where in longer turns there might only be a few major actions, the rest consists of reloading, dodging, moving from cover to cover, etc.
The author explains it here.
http://www.btrc.net/eabav2-119/eabav2core