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Author Topic: My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game  (Read 12021 times)

Dumarest

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My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game
« Reply #30 on: May 08, 2017, 03:44:18 PM »
Quote from: jcfiala;961310
...they get to draw their own pony and pony symbol.

I have a feeling my daughter will spend more time doing this and thinking of names for ponies than actually roleplaying it, but we play with the little hard plastic ponies all the time so maybe she'll get into it over time.

jcfiala
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My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game
« Reply #31 on: May 08, 2017, 04:27:50 PM »
Quote from: Dumarest;961346
I have a feeling my daughter will spend more time doing this and thinking of names for ponies than actually roleplaying it, but we play with the little hard plastic ponies all the time so maybe she'll get into it over time.

My daughter watches youtube videos where they re-paint the ponies to represent a different pony, and then does it to her own toys.  I figure it's on the trail to painting her own minis. :)
 

Dumarest

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My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game
« Reply #32 on: May 09, 2017, 03:45:35 PM »
Quote from: jcfiala;961357
My daughter watches youtube videos where they re-paint the ponies to represent a different pony, and then does it to her own toys.  I figure it's on the trail to painting her own minis. :)

If my daughter gets into that, she can paint mine for me. I lack the time, patience, interest, and talent so I inevitably use plain grey metal miniatures unless they're colored plastic already.

Alzrius

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My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game
« Reply #33 on: May 22, 2017, 03:25:04 PM »
Ahead of the upcoming UK Games Expo, River Horse Games has released a free mini-adventure for Tails of Equestria!

This two-page adventure is a scene (two scenes, actually) that can be interjected into any larger adventure. Its title is The Gift Horse, and you can download it for free over here. As a note, their newsletter strongly implied that this would be the format of the mini-adventures released with the upcoming dice sets.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2017, 03:42:41 PM by Alzrius »
"...player narration and DM fiat fall apart whenever there’s anything less than an incredibly high level of trust for the DM. The general trend of D&D’s design up through the end of 4e is to erase dependence on player-DM trust as much as possible, not to create antagonism, but to insulate both sides from it when it appears." - Brandes Stoddard

Dumarest

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My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game
« Reply #34 on: May 24, 2017, 09:19:59 PM »
Cool, I will have to print that out when I get a chance.

Alzrius

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My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game
« Reply #35 on: June 14, 2017, 12:44:24 PM »
The Curse of the Statuettes has just been released in North America! It's $25.95 - though the website I linked to only has a 2-day shipping option, which costs a whopping $14.50 - and includes dice, character sheets, and a GM screen in addition to the adventure itself. I've already ordered my copy, so I'll be sure to post a review once it arrives.
"...player narration and DM fiat fall apart whenever there’s anything less than an incredibly high level of trust for the DM. The general trend of D&D’s design up through the end of 4e is to erase dependence on player-DM trust as much as possible, not to create antagonism, but to insulate both sides from it when it appears." - Brandes Stoddard

jcfiala
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« Reply #36 on: June 14, 2017, 03:13:14 PM »
Oh, yes, do.  My daughter's finally returned, so I'm interested in hearing about the adventure.
 

jcfiala
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« Reply #37 on: June 16, 2017, 12:59:57 PM »
My daughter has returned!  And now she can read.  

This morning she was looking at the start of one chapter in the book and asked me "Daddy, what's GM Mean?"

I mean, that right there makes the purchase worthwhile. ;)
 

Dumarest

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« Reply #38 on: June 16, 2017, 04:15:40 PM »
Get her started while she's young! My copy of the game is in the "prize box" waiting for her to earn/win it or else it may end up a birthday present soon.

Alzrius

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« Reply #39 on: June 21, 2017, 03:10:57 PM »
It's taken me too long to get around to this, due to a combination of the two-day shipping needing five days, and a sudden illness on my part, but I've finally received and read through The Curse of the Statuettes. What follows is my take on it:

The Curse of the Statuettes calls itself an "adventure pack," and it's not hard to see why. Although it's entirely possible to get a Tails of Equestria game up and running with no more than what's in the main rulebook, this set contains both the accessories (i.e. a set of dice, a GM's screen, and a pad of character sheets) that are staples of an RPG session and a 48-page adventure. While the adventure is the main thrust of what's here, I want to cover the other aspects of the pack in turn.

I was quite pleased to see that Curse is a true boxed set. Contained in two slide-together pieces of high-grade cardboard, this is something that's become all too rare in contemporary RPGs. Rather oddly, the boxed set is just tall enough to be noticeable compared to others of its ilk; most (that I have, at least) are 9 inches by 11.5 inches or thereabouts. This one is 9 x 13 inches. That seems slightly unnecessary when you take into account that the interior has a supplementary piece of cardboard acting as a cradle for the book, pad of character sheets, and GM's screen. Wouldn't it have been easier just to make a shorter box?

The dice are a standard set of RPG polyhedrals, being a D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, and D20. Take note that there's no percentile-D10 here, since Tails of Equestria makes no use of one. While it's barely worth mentioning, the six dice are contained in a small ziplock bag, which might make it easier to store them for younger gamers who don't have their own dicebag yet. Amusingly enough, the dice are color-coded to match the listing of the different dice in the Tails of Equestria rulebook. This isn't a coincidence, as that book notes that River Horse Games (who made Tails of Equestria) color-codes the dice in ALL of their games, and is apparently given over to using that instead of the "D-number" notation that gamers prefer (e.g. they'll say "the blue die" instead of "d20"). The irony, of course, is that they DON'T do that in Tails of Equestria, saying "D20" instead. But I digress...

The GM's screen is a three-panel piece that's quite wide, but not very tall. The outer faces show the Mane Six (i.e. Twilight Sparkle and friends) standing in front of the magical map of Equestria in her castle. On the inside, the center panel reproduces the (current) official map of Equestria, whereas the left and right panels reprint salient information from the core rulebook. On the left you'll find the rules regarding test DCs, the rules for critical successes and fumbles, and the rules regarding tokens of friendship. The right panel has the equipment list and stats for generic earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns.

The pony character sheets are a single pad containing 40 sheets in total; five copies of eight different sheets. Calling them "different" needs an explanation. Most of the sheets have pre-drawn outlines of mare and stallion versions of each of the three pony types, which you can expand upon by coloring them in. There are also sheets whose character pictures have been left completely blank. Although it can be easy to overlook, each sheet is outlined in either blue or brown, with the former being for females and the latter being for males. That makes it rather awkward to have blank pictures for both males and females (i.e. there's a blue-outlined sheet with a blank picture, and a brown-outlined sheet with a blank picture), but there you are.

Finally, we come to the actual adventure for which the boxed set is named. The Curse of the Statuettes is, like the rest of the set, a fairly high-production item. Despite being only 48 pages in length, it's a perfect-bound booklet, and each page is laminated. This was probably a necessity due to the book being so art-heavy. While it doesn't quite live up to the core rulebook's having artwork on every single page, it comes close: this book is heavily illustrated (though, ironically, virtually none of these are deliberately designed to be shown to the players). Even the text is set against a sand-colored background.

Curse picks up where the core rulebook's intro-adventure, The Pet Predicament, left off: Spike has just rushed in to meet the PCs and begged them for help: the Mane Six, who were investigating a new threat to Equestria, have been captured! (I find it amusing that the Mane Six had stats given in the core rulebook, despite having almost no screen time in its adventure, whereas Spike appears in both adventures and receives stats in neither; it's just too apropos.) The PCs need to retrace their hoofsteps and figure out not only what happened to them, but how to solve the mystery that they were investigating.

The format of the adventure is meant to be very friendly to new GMs, to the point where it almost feels as if it's acting like an on-site coach. This isn't just due to the overview and preparation advice it gives, but in how it makes sure to use bold for things such as character names, tests and challenges, things that cause Stamina damage, etc. But the most notable aspect is the writing itself: most RPG adventures are written in a very "as-is" format, telling you what's there and leaving it at that, while others take a "if they do this, then this happens" approach. By contrast, whenever Curse presents a location or scenario, the writing comes across more like inspirational notes and salient reminders for an improv set. While it does talk about consequences to the PCs actions, the presentation is given in a way that is quite clearly trying to be evocative, inspiring the GM so that they'll in turn paint a vivid picture for the PCs. That's how I read it, at least.

The course of the adventure sits comfortably between a railroad and a sandbox. The setup presumes that the PCs grab the initial hook, after which they're largely expected to follow the trail of breadcrumbs that's laid out for them, though they have a middle segment where they can choose what order to follow them in. (To my delight, there was even a random encounter table at once point!) The book walks a tightrope with trying to tie itself into the source material without getting entangled by it, and does a good job as the PCs peel back the layers of the mystery. Most of the character tasks in this are focused around overcoming obstacles and challenges, with major threats being something you run away from rather than defeat (though there's at least one fight where you have to win, rather than escape). There are also a few scenes that have scripted endings regardless of what the PCs do, mostly with regards to the villain making early appearances as foreshadowing. Of course, the end of the adventure resolves the immediate threat, while still leaving a new mystery beckoning...

I have to take a moment to note the one thing this adventure doesn't do, which left me scratching my head. The entire idea of a "curse that turns you into a figurine at random times for random durations" was originally the idea of Tails of Equestria's lead designer (and editor for Curse), who always had - in whatever RPG he ran - that happen to the PCs at the start of a new campaign. The idea was that allowed for an in-game explanation for what happened when someone couldn't make it to game night. It's a creative idea, and it works very well here...except the book never once tells you to actually put that idea into practice! Obviously, you can connect the dots yourself, but I'm still surprised that it wasn't ever explicitly stated in the text.

Still, that aside, what's here is a very solid expansion pack for the Tails of Equestria RPG. Between the accessories and the adventure, this really helps to get a new game off the ground, and it as much of an introduction for the GM as it is for the players. It's a great product, and I'd definitely recommend it to fans of the game.
"...player narration and DM fiat fall apart whenever there’s anything less than an incredibly high level of trust for the DM. The general trend of D&D’s design up through the end of 4e is to erase dependence on player-DM trust as much as possible, not to create antagonism, but to insulate both sides from it when it appears." - Brandes Stoddard

Dumarest

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My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game
« Reply #40 on: June 21, 2017, 03:39:10 PM »
Sounds great, thanks for taking the time to write that up. I preordered it via Amazon back in April or whenever it was and am waiting for it still. Sounds like I didn't waste my money. The price seemed high but I didn't know there was so much packed into it.

Alzrius

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My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game
« Reply #41 on: July 12, 2017, 03:40:00 PM »
So River Horse just put up a preview for the Tails of Equestria dice sets.

To recap: these are three different sets of dice, each containing a d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. Each set is themed around one of the three types of ponies (earth ponies, pegasi, or unicorns), with each set also including a mini-adventure.

The preview doesn't add much new information, though we do get pictures. From what I can tell, the cases that the dice come in are metal (I think), and that suggests that they'll rest in a foam insert. We're also shown that the mini-adventure is folded so that it can fit into the case, which seems to confirm the idea that these are one- or two-page scenarios, similar to the mini-adventure they recently released on their website.

The other bit of new information is that, in addition to the dice being color-coded to match the usual River Horse Games presentation (mentioned in my review of Curse of the Statuettes), they're also in a different style depending on the set: the earth pony set has marble dice, the unicorn set has glitter dice, and the pegasus set has gem dice. Picture of the dice are shown in the preview.

The blurb is given below:

Quote
Take a look at the upcoming Dice Sets for Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game!

There are three sets to choose from: one for Earth Ponies, one for Unicorns, and one for Pegasi. You can collect a different set of dice to use for different pony characters!

Each set contains six roleplaying dice from D4 to D20, colour-coded as referenced in the Tails of Equestria core rulebook, and each with a different style. Also included in each set is a unique Mini-Adventure, perfect for including as part of a longer story, or as a standalone short session!

Don’t forget to follow the Official Tails of Equestria Facebook page to see what’s coming up!
« Last Edit: July 12, 2017, 03:45:09 PM by Alzrius »
"...player narration and DM fiat fall apart whenever there’s anything less than an incredibly high level of trust for the DM. The general trend of D&D’s design up through the end of 4e is to erase dependence on player-DM trust as much as possible, not to create antagonism, but to insulate both sides from it when it appears." - Brandes Stoddard

Alzrius

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My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game
« Reply #42 on: September 04, 2017, 03:48:13 PM »
So I just received an email from River Horse indicating that the three dice sets are now available. While they don't seem to be up at the Soda Pop Miniatures page yet, that will probably change soon. Moreover, the notification reminded me that I wanted to review the dice sets here, having picked them up at Gen Con.

As I'd previously speculated, each set comes in a metal container. To my surprise, the cover of these containers isn't hinged; rather, it simply fits atop the container and can be completely removed. More notably, there isn't any sort of lip or catch around the container itself to keep the lid in place. For the most part, this isn't a big deal, as the lids fit rather snugly, but that's not a guarantee. Of the three dice sets, I can turn two of them upside-down without anything spilling out, but the third one's cover would immediately fall off if I tried that.

The inside of each container wasn't quite as nice as I was expecting/hoping it would be. I'd thought that there'd be a foam insert, possibly with individual areas for each die. Instead, the containers all have a hard plastic interior with a single recess in the center where all the dice are meant to go. The dice themselves are sealed within a small ziplock bag. As noted before, each set has dice in a different style; marble dice for the earth pony set, gem dice for the pegasus set, and glitter dice for the unicorn set. What that means is that the marble dice are solid with subtle streaks and whorls through them, the gem dice are translucent, and the glitter dice have small, sparkly particles in them. The dice themselves are all color-coded as per the Tails of Equestria rulebook.

Finally, each set comes with a two-page adventure, printed on both sides of a single sheet that's been folded down to fit into the container. While none of these adventures are long enough to be a scenario unto themselves (the text suggests dropping them into an existing adventure), they have rewards of both a tangible variety and a chance to earn new tokens of friendship depending on how the PCs conduct themselves. Interestingly, each adventure is lightly (though not exclusively) themed around the type of pony on the tin. So the pegasus adventure "Flying High" is primarily focused around pegasus ponies, whereas earth ponies fit in best with the earth pony dice set adventure "One Good Turn Deserves Another," etc. These are nice little inclusions, and probably the main reason to pick up the dice sets if you already have sufficient dice to play (though really, who ever has enough dice?).
"...player narration and DM fiat fall apart whenever there’s anything less than an incredibly high level of trust for the DM. The general trend of D&D’s design up through the end of 4e is to erase dependence on player-DM trust as much as possible, not to create antagonism, but to insulate both sides from it when it appears." - Brandes Stoddard

Alzrius

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My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game
« Reply #43 on: September 19, 2017, 09:07:31 PM »
The latest email update from River Horse arrived yesterday to announce the release of Tails of Equestria's second full-length adventure, The Festival of Lights! The website's product page is now taking orders (though ordering from that site only works for customers outside of North America), and lists a price of $17.57.

Interestingly, the email provides a bit more information than what's on the product page:

Quote
Something moves in the deep dark beneath Equestria...

A brand new full adventure for Tails of Equestria, The Festival of Lights is available now!
It can be used to follow on from your adventures with The Curse of the Statuettes, or to start a new series of adventures!

In The Festival of Lights you will delve deep into the Umber Depths, a vast system of caves and tunnels that stretches beneath Equestria. The city of Umberfoal has been lost and forgotten for a thousand years--until now. The city now wakes, its denizens lost and confused, in great need of help...

...but Umberfoal isn't the only thing that now wakes in the dark.

Descending deeper and deeper, a sinister threat lies in wait. Always in the shadows, it plots and schemes, poised to strike at just the right moment.

The moment is coming. The Festival of Lights must be held. The fate of Umberfoal, and perhaps all Equestria depends on it!

A classic RPG dungeon-delve experience comes to Tails of Equestria!

In The Festival of Lights you'll find new monsters, maps, and magic items that keep the action intense and the adventure unpredictable. Experience Equestria like never before!


There were also two previews in the email, the first one being a map of the city of Umberfoal, and the second being for some new monsters (presumably met in the adventure):





Hopefully the North American release will follow soon!
"...player narration and DM fiat fall apart whenever there’s anything less than an incredibly high level of trust for the DM. The general trend of D&D’s design up through the end of 4e is to erase dependence on player-DM trust as much as possible, not to create antagonism, but to insulate both sides from it when it appears." - Brandes Stoddard

Alzrius

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My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game
« Reply #44 on: October 17, 2017, 09:12:51 AM »
The latest email update from River Horse announces the release of The Bestiary of Equestria!

Quote
"Inside this tome you will find my gathered notes on the creatures of Equestria, their strenghts and weaknesses, what makes them tick, and how to find them."

A brand new core book for Tails of Equestria is now available!

There are tons of new monsters, beasts, creatures, and characters to explore in The Bestiary of Equestria, including new playable non-pony races. With this book, the choice of character race is expanded to include:

  • Majestic Griffons.
  • Fearsome fire-breathing Dragons.
  • Proud Buffalo.
  • Curious and cunning Diamond Dogs.
  • Wondrously powerful Changelings.
  • Wise, ancient Crystal Ponies.
Along with Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns from the core rulebook, that's three times the amount of character options for your games!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1808[/ATTACH]

These pages are full of info on familiar creatures from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and even original creatures from Tails of Equestria, such as the arcane 'Bookwyrm' above. They are all detailed with relevant traits, talents, quirks, and special abilities, for maximum ease of reference during sessions!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1809[/ATTACH]

As well as being great reference material, try flicking through The Bestiary of Equestria when planning your own adventures. The detailed information is sure to give you the inspiration you need to make your stories as epic as they can be. There's also a great section on how to create your own creatures: come up with a story, set the challenge, give them talents, and make your game truly unique.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1810[/ATTACH]

PREVIEW:
Check out the brand new rules for playing a Griffon character! Powerful talons and wings make them formidable foes, and even fiercer friends.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1811[/ATTACH]

The Bestiary of Equestria is the perfect companion to your Tails of Equestria rulebook!

You can pick up The Bestiary of Equestria here, available now!

EDIT: So there's already a review over on RPGGeek. The review confirms the following:

  • The book is a 128-page hardcover.
  • The book has five chapters - creatures; making your own creatures; pony NPCs; new talents and quirks; new player races - and an index.
  • The chapter on new creatures includes listings for dragons, changelings, hydras, parasprites, and yaks. Presumably the first two are different from their PC listings later in the book.
  • The chapter with new creatures also includes specific individuals, with Discord and Iron Will being listed. This matches what we see in the Tails of Equestria Core Rulebook, where Zecora is listed along with other creatures.
  • Chapter three is listed as describing "pretty much every character that has been in the TV show"!
  • More specifically, it states that some ponies have a full stat block given, while others have abbreviated listings that just list their cutie mark, quirk, and race. DJ-Pon3 and Muffins (aka Derpy) are given the full stat block treatment, for example, while the Flim-Flam Brothers receive an abbreviated listing.
  • One of the new talents in chapter four is to have a pet.
  • The new races in chapter five are confirmed to be griffons, changelings, dragons, diamond dogs, crystal ponies, and buffalo. No yak option is present.
« Last Edit: October 17, 2017, 09:54:51 AM by Alzrius »
"...player narration and DM fiat fall apart whenever there’s anything less than an incredibly high level of trust for the DM. The general trend of D&D’s design up through the end of 4e is to erase dependence on player-DM trust as much as possible, not to create antagonism, but to insulate both sides from it when it appears." - Brandes Stoddard