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Author Topic: Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))  (Read 693 times)

Greentongue

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Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))
« on: July 11, 2019, 06:46:32 AM »
This game has been out for a few years. What is the consensus on it?

Any notable Pros and Cons?

Looks like a good game to get people back into RPGs to me. Has that been the experience?

Itachi

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Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2019, 01:17:29 PM »
Couldn't play it yet but it sounds great. The PCs backstory creation intertwined with the village is a great idea.

Greentongue

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Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2019, 01:25:31 PM »
Seems to me like a nice way to avoid the usual "murder hobo" characters.

As I have not heard much about it, thought I'd ask around.

Simlasa

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Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2019, 01:32:58 PM »
How does it avoid murderhobos?
It's beccome an issue for me lately as that seems to be default mode for one group I'm in and might soon run some games for.

Lord Dynel

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Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))
« Reply #4 on: July 11, 2019, 01:38:52 PM »
Quote from: Simlasa;1095321
How does it avoid murderhobos?
It's beccome an issue for me lately as that seems to be default mode for one group I'm in and might soon run some games for.


I'd say it has the potential to avoid it but it might not necessarily.  It has tools to dissuade it, though.  Characters are created with bonds to each other and to their community.  The idea is to have local, hometown heroes that dwell around their home area, adventuring when they want, or as necessary.  So, the PCs aren't transient killing machines, though they could still be murderers...just ones with a base of operations.  ;)

SavageSchemer

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Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))
« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2019, 04:19:05 PM »
Quote from: Simlasa;1095321
How does it avoid murderhobos?
It's beccome an issue for me lately as that seems to be default mode for one group I'm in and might soon run some games for.

Well, it makes setting creation a group activity, and throughout your players are defining their place in that setting (the village) and to each other. While at its core it's really just low(er)-powered B/X game, and you can do whatever you want, by default the adventure hooks the GM generates are based off of stuff that comes up in that group activity. In spirit it isn't unlike how characters in Runequest are defined, their their place in the culture and family ties and so on.

Edit: I should have kept reading to  Lord Dynel's post, because yeah - what he said.
The more clichéd my group plays their characters, the better. I don't want Deep Drama™ and Real Acting™ in the precious few hours away from my family and job. I want cheap thrills, constant action, involved-but-not-super-complex plots, and cheesy but lovable characters.
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jeff37923

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Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))
« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2019, 06:30:32 PM »
Quote from: Greentongue;1095272
This game has been out for a few years. What is the consensus on it?

Any notable Pros and Cons?

Looks like a good game to get people back into RPGs to me. Has that been the experience?

I have it and like the system and presentation, in particular the character creation, but sometimes the bare bones nature of it becomes off-putting because you want a little from the game (I found that I often had to borrow from B/X D&D or Labyrinth Lord to cover some situations).

I admit, I have not been able to get a group together interested in playing it, so everything I say is just from reading the material and some solo play.
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Snowman0147

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Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))
« Reply #7 on: July 11, 2019, 06:46:33 PM »
Quote from: jeff37923;1095361
I have it and like the system and presentation, in particular the character creation, but sometimes the bare bones nature of it becomes off-putting because you want a little from the game (I found that I often had to borrow from B/X D&D or Labyrinth Lord to cover some situations).

I admit, I have not been able to get a group together interested in playing it, so everything I say is just from reading the material and some solo play.

Yeah you can't solo in this type of game.  You need the group to make up your home town and backstory.  Which yes you can do that solo, but it loses its magic without a group of other people.

Greentongue

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Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))
« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2019, 09:01:59 PM »
Quote from: Simlasa;1095321
How does it avoid murderhobos?
It's beccome an issue for me lately as that seems to be default mode for one group I'm in and might soon run some games for.

As was said, it is hoped that characters tied into a town will not just kill everything in sight.
That they will feel that they are a part of the place and would be cutting off a part of themselves by destroying it and those in it.

Joey2k

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Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))
« Reply #9 on: July 12, 2019, 11:21:37 PM »
I found the magic system a refreshing change from d&d's standard fire and forget method, and was very evocative of the fantasy sub-genre it seeks to emulate.
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Snowman0147

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Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))
« Reply #10 on: July 12, 2019, 11:25:41 PM »
Quote from: Joey2k;1095521
I found the magic system a refreshing change from d&d's standard fire and forget method, and was very evocative of the fantasy sub-genre it seeks to emulate.

Yeah I love the cantrips, spells, and rituals systems.  I also love the greater detail they put into certain enemies and thus giving them more detail.  Just nice touches around which I bought the book instantly.

camazotz

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Beyond the Wall (Late to the party))
« Reply #11 on: July 13, 2019, 04:09:16 PM »
It's my favorite revamp of a B/X style retroclone, and I consider Beyond the Wall to be a really good example of a "forward thinking" OSR game in all the good ways. It takes the core conceit (B/X style system) then makes the mechanics work for the setting in interesting ways. Then it adds in a playbook format to character design and modules that innovates to teach new players how to run open-ended games, come up with interesting characters, and veterans get a nice suite of tools to play with. All around one of maybe a handful of retroclone style games I feel deserve as much attention as it can possibly get.