Quote from: tenbones;1059062Well you'll get your chance once the print editions drop. They'll be open for PDF/Print to the non-backers soon.

Good to hear: I didn't back the Kickstarter, because my 1e - 3e books are all I need, but a D&D 5e version would be nice to check out. I still consider Tal 1e to be one of the greatest unsung games: rules and exotic setting in 85 pp. Having run a number of Tal games back in the late '80s and '90s it plays fast and loose, and is a mix of Vancian picaresque, psychedelic exoticism and kitchen-sink D&D. Not for everyone, but we loved it.

Hey Rhialto (marvellous name) - thanks for the kind words about Talislanta. Much appreciated!

Steve

Quote from: rhialto;1059130Good to hear: I didn't back the Kickstarter, because my 1e - 3e books are all I need, but a D&D 5e version would be nice to check out. I still consider Tal 1e to be one of the greatest unsung games: rules and exotic setting in 85 pp. Having run a number of Tal games back in the late '80s and '90s it plays fast and loose, and is a mix of Vancian picaresque, psychedelic exoticism and kitchen-sink D&D. Not for everyone, but we loved it.

Yep.

And I still believe that the core mechanics still hold up to this very day as being rock-solid and better than most "modern" games. It was way ahead of its time on many levels.

Quote from: tenbones;1059375Yep.

And I still believe that the core mechanics still hold up to this very day as being rock-solid and better than most "modern" games. It was way ahead of its time on many levels.

I totally agree. Couple Talislanta/OMNI with an old-school attitude, and you can run pretty much anything with lots of the advantages of modern mechanics and none of the drawbacks!

Greetings!

You know, I have been a long-time fan of Talislanta. Way back to the days when they had just four or five softcover books. If I remember correctly, the system was 1st edition. It had to be. It was in the mid-to-late 80's. I was absolutely inspired by everything in the books--the writing, the bizarre races, the strange cultures. Talislanta really opened up the philosophical and world-design dynamics for myself, promoting the idea that your fantasy world didn't need to be a cookie-cutter clone of Medieval Western Europe and Tolkien. I should note, I have always been a huge fan of Medieval Western Europe and Tolkien. I've also always had a great passion for Sword & Sorcery, especially Conan, by Howard; Kane by Karl Edward Wagoner; and Elric of Melnibone, by Moorcock.

However, despite my passion and interest in Talislanta, I could never really get my players on-board with it, so to speak. My friends just couldn't identify with the Talislanta world, the bizarre races and the strange cultures. Talislanta just unfortunately didn't resonate with them. To this day, I have always been deeply inspired by Talislanta, and remain so. I'm looking very forward to getting my hands on whatever they produce!

On another note, I suppose from a design-perspective and a marketing-perspective, Talislanta always comes to mind as a prime example that exposes the mass-market's hypocracy--on one hand, you have these folks always sniffing arrogantly that they want a game world that is different, that is exotic--that isn't a Medieval Western Europe/Tolkien clone. Well, I honestly don't believe there has ever been a game-world produced and marketed that offered a more exotic, original vision of a fantasy world than Talislanta. And yet, despite this salient contribution to the fantasy genre of game worlds by Steven Sechi, Talislanta has tragically languished in commercial obscurity for 30 years. Contrary to what some "Exotica Advocates" proclaim--the vast hordes of the conventional gaming public stubbornly insist on a constant diet of more of the same Medieval Western European/Tolkien game-worlds that have been recycled and repackaged for the last 40 years. This artistic tragedy has been born out by all of the commercial metrics since the beginning of the RPG hobby.

I will buy Talislanta though, no matter what the rest of the gaming public says.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Back when 4th edition was published, I built a set of guidelines for making "standard D&D" characters using the Talislanta rules.  My group back then did play it, and it worked well.  I could always break that out again...

Quote from: SHARK;1059514Greetings!

You know, I have been a long-time fan of Talislanta. Way back to the days when they had just four or five softcover books. If I remember correctly, the system was 1st edition. It had to be. It was in the mid-to-late 80's. I was absolutely inspired by everything in the books--the writing, the bizarre races, the strange cultures. Talislanta really opened up the philosophical and world-design dynamics for myself, promoting the idea that your fantasy world didn't need to be a cookie-cutter clone of Medieval Western Europe and Tolkien. I should note, I have always been a huge fan of Medieval Western Europe and Tolkien. I've also always had a great passion for Sword & Sorcery, especially Conan, by Howard; Kane by Karl Edward Wagoner; and Elric of Melnibone, by Moorcock.

However, despite my passion and interest in Talislanta, I could never really get my players on-board with it, so to speak. My friends just couldn't identify with the Talislanta world, the bizarre races and the strange cultures. Talislanta just unfortunately didn't resonate with them. To this day, I have always been deeply inspired by Talislanta, and remain so. I'm looking very forward to getting my hands on whatever they produce!

On another note, I suppose from a design-perspective and a marketing-perspective, Talislanta always comes to mind as a prime example that exposes the mass-market's hypocracy--on one hand, you have these folks always sniffing arrogantly that they want a game world that is different, that is exotic--that isn't a Medieval Western Europe/Tolkien clone. Well, I honestly don't believe there has ever been a game-world produced and marketed that offered a more exotic, original vision of a fantasy world than Talislanta. And yet, despite this salient contribution to the fantasy genre of game worlds by Steven Sechi, Talislanta has tragically languished in commercial obscurity for 30 years. Contrary to what some "Exotica Advocates" proclaim--the vast hordes of the conventional gaming public stubbornly insist on a constant diet of more of the same Medieval Western European/Tolkien game-worlds that have been recycled and repackaged for the last 40 years. This artistic tragedy has been born out by all of the commercial metrics since the beginning of the RPG hobby.

I will buy Talislanta though, no matter what the rest of the gaming public says.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

You are the first Shark I would ever hug.

/salute

Quote from: Imaginos;1059528Back when 4th edition was published, I built a set of guidelines for making "standard D&D" characters using the Talislanta rules.  My group back then did play it, and it worked well.  I could always break that out again...

I would also reverse that - I would play any D&D setting using the Talislanta/OMNI rules. I am 99.999% certain it would play smoother than 5e and scale better.

Quote from: tenbones;1059530I would also reverse that - I would play any D&D setting using the Talislanta/OMNI rules. I am 99.999% certain it would play smoother than 5e and scale better.

Turns out I had saved my conversions on my Google Drive.  It isn't terribly complex, just lets you build an elf, dwarf, halfling, or human as a fighter, rogue, mage, cleric and use the Tal4th rules.

Quote from: Imaginos;1059540Turns out I had saved my conversions on my Google Drive.  It isn't terribly complex, just lets you build an elf, dwarf, halfling, or human as a fighter, rogue, mage, cleric and use the Tal4th rules.

It would be fun to come up with archetypes and create a life-path for 4e/5e character to build their own. That's 80% of the conversion right there. You can plug-and-play almost everything else.

Quote from: tenbones;1059529You are the first Shark I would ever hug.

/salute

Greetings!

LOL. Thanks, Tenbones!!!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: tenbones;1059530I would also reverse that - I would play any D&D setting using the Talislanta/OMNI rules. I am 99.999% certain it would play smoother than 5e and scale better.

Indeed: you could probably distill the Omni rules as presented in 1e down to ~20pp, with a trimmed down skill list and basic set of spells.

Quote from: rhialto;1059606Indeed: you could probably distill the Omni rules as presented in 1e down to ~20pp, with a trimmed down skill list and basic set of spells.

I've been able to distill the OMNI rules down to a few pages. And that was for 4E, IIRC!

Imaginos: Share those with me?

Quote from: Silverlion;1059633Imaginos: Share those with me?

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