Quote from: jdrakehGood call. The only bit of good (mechanically speaking) that I recall seeing in the original Manhunter was the abstract ship to ship combat system.

I don't even remember the ship to ship combat rules, but the setting is freaky cool. Like Blade Runner meets Battlestar Galactica.

Quote from: David RI'll be looking forward to your review. I don't have an opinion on the game - haven't read it. Some folks here though....

Well, I actually have another game to review first -- and it looks like it might be considerably worse at first glance (though that impression may change once I more closely scrutinize it).

Quote from: pigames.netI don't even remember the ship to ship combat rules, but the setting is freaky cool. Like Blade Runner meets Battlestar Galactica.

The ship to ship combat rules were weird -- used a 'to hit' matrix of sorts, with each portion of the matrix representing a specific system or subsystem of the ship. It tied into ship contruction somehow (though the specifics escape me). All that really sticks with me is the "Damn, that's neat!" impression that reading said rules left me with. I can recall having a lot of fun building ships. The rest of the rules were total crap, though. Sadly, I can recall most of those vividly

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.

Brilliant, pulpy joy of a setting.

Utterly dull rules that largely just feel out of place and not at all right for the feel of the game.  

A prime example of why sometimes, it really is a bad thing to have one single "house system".

Quote from: J ArcaneCadillacs and Dinosaurs.

[...snip...]

A prime example of why sometimes, it really is a bad thing to have one single "house system".

That was by GDW, wasn't it? Which house system did they use? (I can think of three)

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaThat was by GDW, wasn't it? Which house system did they use? (I can think of three)

!i!

Twilight 2000 as I understand it.  I've never read T2k, so I don't know first hand, that's just what I was told when I brought it up on RPGnet a long time ago.

Quote from: J ArcaneTwilight 2000 as I understand it.  I've never read T2k, so I don't know first hand, that's just what I was told when I brought it up on RPGnet a long time ago.

Yeah, it used a [poorly edited] variant of the Twilight 2k system. And you're right. It was a damn poor fit (which was unfortunate, 'cause the setting screamed cool fun).

Quote from: J ArcaneTwilight 2000 as I understand it.  I've never read T2k, so I don't know first hand, that's just what I was told when I brought it up on RPGnet a long time ago.

Ah.  I can see how that'd be an odd fit -- a game that wouldn't really benefit from a "pulpish" application.  Now, the Space: 1889 system would make better sense to me.

!i!

Living steel.

Traveller 4

Cyborg Commando. (Worst rules in the history of gaming, but not a bad setting.)

Quote from: J ArcaneCadillacs and Dinosaurs.

Wasn't this a cartoon once? On tv?

Quote from: jdrakehWell, since most of the people who bash the game (or most games , for that matter) do so based totally on hearsay, it doesn't bother me too much. Incidentally, that's why I requested a review copy -- if I'm going to praise or damn a agame, I'll do it based only on my own experience. And, of course, there's always the IL function

*Shrug*

I've read the novels.  Issues of sexual diversity and identity, and violent tribalism in a glam-punk post-apocalyptic world don't strike me as being "wide audience" material.  

I believe that it could have developed a truly passionate audience, if it had been done very well indeed.

As I understand it, the game was not well done.

Quote from: Levi KornelsenI understand it, the game was not well done.

As I said, at a quick glance, it has some obvious problems. That said, I've seen far, far, worse (even with the mechanical issues that I see, the game doesn't rank "flying bears with laser beam eyes" horrible or "Cyborg Commando" unplayable).

As Jeff related in his blog review, the game simply just doesn't look very good, mechanically speaking -- not bad, mind you, simply far short of stunning. I don't think it seems much worse than the spate of forgettable fantasy games released throughout the 1990s.

Of Gods & Men? Legends of Yore? Pelicar? Immortal? Yeah. That's where I'm starting to see the current edition of the Wraeththu RPG sitting. Not horrible crap, but nothing particularly noteworthy, either. As Jeff noted, it looks as though oen could play it and have fun (though, for me, I can safely say that this would require some house rules).  

Now all of that said, the owner of the IP (i.e., Ms. Constantine) has expressed a deep personal dissatisfaction about how the game turned out and said that she would like to see a new game, wth a new development team and an entirely different system.

Having had zero exposure to the fiction prior to reading the game, I think that this might not be such a bad thing. I'd play in such a game if it was handled properly (by which I mean "If the rules were tied to the setting, tested thoroughly, and the cover didn't sport a close-up of alien genitals").

[Note: For thsoe who haven't seen the cover of the current game, I am not joking about the genitals. Ask jrients.]

Pendragon is my choice. I just never felt the BRP system really fit the setting well. The Pendragon-specific stuff, like honor and the traits and passions, are pretty cool, but could be fairly easily adapted to other game systems.

Quote from: beejazzWasn't this a cartoon once? On tv?

It was originally a comic series, but there was an animated adaptation yes.  

There was also a video game for the N64.

Question. Would you ever buy a source book with no rules but with a lot of setting detail, perhaps charts dealing with stuff like - creating random npcs, economics, weather, populations etc - advice on running differents types of games using the setting ?

Regards,
David R