Quiver Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 So, I've had some experience with video game RPGs, but reading FeatgerWriters Sydney Scroungers transcripts make me curious about table top role playing. And, well, I happen to know there's one based on a series if novels by this writer I sort of like... Can anyone give me any feedback on the game? How is it played? Is it any good? Would it be bad for an aspiring writer to jump into that as his first experiment with the genre? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claincy Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 (edited) I, personally, like it....a lot. Some rpg's like dnd are very rule constrained. There is are rules everywhere and it is like the dungeon master sets a challenge for the players to overcome. Like most crpg's really. The MAG focuses far more on narrative. It is very freeform and the rules are a lot less set and more up to determination. As a result it is harder to get used to than the more rule-centric rpg's but it can be very rewarding. Sometimes it is more like collaboratively telling a narrative with dice rolls helping decide outcomes. In that sense it is probably great for an aspiring writer. If you want to get some idea of what it can be like, over at steelministry we have a quick game running where we have a group of powerful characters attempting to kill the lord ruler. (We are all about to die.) That one is readable without creating an account if you want to take a look. Of course, you are welcome to create an account We don't have any openings in major campaigns at the moment but we always advertise spots for new players there first and we are happy to have people jump on. We also recently also started up "The arena" for having a bit of fun with the combat side of things which is also visible to anyone and the first combat there has just begun. Futile efforts (the aforementioned game where we are trying to kill tlr) can be found here: http://steelministry.com/viewforum.php?f=53&sid=2c27cd3b3f2c06d1ace04371c5fda4a7 Another good place to take a look at is the crafty games forums. The forums are a bit of a graveyard at the moment but there are some worthwhile topics there. http://www.crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?board=21.0 If you have any more specific questions feel free to ask Edit: I know that you have already seen this Quiver but I'll link it here as a reference for anyone interested in this who hasn't:http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/4815-essence-marks-and-allomantic-gold/#entry79547 Edited January 26, 2014 by lord Claincy Ffnord 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver Posted January 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 If you wouldn't mind having someone with absolute zero experience, I'd love to get some experience. For the moment, it might be a good idea for me to just stick with reading your stories though; again, as what is, in the common tongue referred to as a total no0b, I find the self more than a little overwhelmed at all this RPG terminology which I don't really understand. On that note, I looked at the combat arena and a shard bearer vs a thug and coin shot. That sounds interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claincy Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 If you wouldn't mind having someone with absolute zero experience, I'd love to get some experience. For the moment, it might be a good idea for me to just stick with reading your stories though; again, as what is, in the common tongue referred to as a total no0b, I find the self more than a little overwhelmed at all this RPG terminology which I don't really understand. On that note, I looked at the combat arena and a shard bearer vs a thug and coin shot. That sounds interesting. Sure thing. I mostly jumped in the deep end. I had been a player in a single session each of: -dnd -Shadowrun -World of darkness -Prime directive and vaguely touched gurps but never played a proper session. Then I ran a session of the MAG, and then I began a campaign that initially had 4 crews and now has 5. Taking it niiiice and slow And yes, we are trying out a cross-world battle. Herowannabe (who recently joined 17s as well) had written some very good rules for shardblades and plate and I wanted to try them out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver Posted January 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 Firstly, wow, I cannot spell when I'm tired. Featger? Seems like a time autocorrect should. I've had a brief look at their website, and looked over the free rules they posted. It does seem interesting, albeit it definitely a game to play with people who already know the source material. I've been annoying a few people on the forums about RPGs, and my main concern is not being 'in' to it. I've only ever played a single session of a game before (which I can't remember the title of- it was a fantasy game whose book had very anime-like artwork) and while I found it fun, I'm a little wary of spending lots of cash on something that might never be used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claincy Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 I'm a little wary of spending lots of cash on something that might never be used. Fair enough. Though the digital version of the MAG is actually only $15 and at present there are no expansions to buy anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurkistan Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 To be fair, the "no expansion" point will (finally) no longer be true within the next few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claincy Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 This is true. *Does a little happy dance* However I can't imagine the digital version of the expansion costing more than the base game, and you don't really need it anyway. It will be good to have, but it is a long way from being the type of expansion you need to keep playing the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herowannabe Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Hey, what? Did someone say my name? Here is my take on the MAG, though to be fair, it won't be that much different from what Claincy had to say. TL;DR version: I love it. Longer version: I played a little bit of D&D back in the day, and played quite a LOT of Star Wars RPG back when it was owned by West End Games, as well as dabbling in other RPGs here and there. That being said, the MAG is by far, hands down, my favorite (granted, I am a little biased, but if there is anything that matches my love for all things Sanderson, it's my love for all things Star Wars). It has it's flaws, to be sure (parts of the rules are vague or don't feel balanced), but the things it does well makes up for it. What does it do well? First off, it's a masterful adaptation of Mistborn into a game format. Second, as Claincy said, it does a wonderful job at creating an environment where the narrator and the players can create a story. I should have mentioned that earlier, but that is my favorite part about RPGs, creating stories. I'm not an author, and probably never will be, but I do have that creative part of my brain that churns out stories and yearns to share them with the world. Playing RPGs is how I do that. The "Futile Efforts" story that Claincy linked to above is the perfect example. If you're new to RPGs and specifically to being the Narrator (MAG term for Game Master), fear not. Literally 1/3rd of the MAG is dedicated to helping the Narrator create stories with his players. The resources in that section of the book would be useful for any RPG setting. Third: Brandon is himself a gamer, and from what I understand he had a lot of input in the MAG as well. There are excerpts directly from him scattered throughout the book giving his thoughts, feelings, and suggestions on the game. That's just cool. Fourth: As a Mistborn Aficionado, the MAG is a great resource, and there are a lot of little Mistborn secrets tucked away inside its pages. A lot of what we know about the metals and how they work- especially ones that we haven't seen in the novels, such as Chromium and Nicrosil- come directly from the MAG. (I remember specifically having my mind blown when I read that by stealing a Feruchemist powers via hemallurgy that it would let you tap that feruchemist's metalminds. Crazy! I still have some very cool ideas that I want to try out in my games that hinge on that concept.) Fifth: Being a (very little) bit of an artist myself, I have to point out that the artwork throughout the book is incredible, as well. It's all done by Ben McSweeny, who is the artist for most of the interior art in WoK and the Rithmatist. He absolutely nailed all the characters (except for Elend- that's not how I picture him anyway) as well as the Koloss, Kandra, and mistwraiths. Wow, this is getting long... hmm... in response to a few of your specific concerns: Cost: like Claincy said, the PDF version is only $15, and well worth it. If you keep your eye out it occasionally goes on sale for as much as 50% off. New Players: the MAG is simple enough that the rules are easy to pick up, and if you have players who are unfamiliar with Mistborn, that's fine. Just create stories that introduce elements of Scadrial a little bit at a time. In other words, I probably wouldn't have any of the new players start out as a Mistborn, Feruchemist, or Kandra character. Instead, let them make a crew with a few Mistings in it and let them experience Scadrial a little at a time. It actually would be quite fun to see their faces as they discover Kandra for the first time. Or Hemalurgy. Or Inquisitors. etc. etc. Anyway, it's late and I'm rambling, but you get the point. I highly recommend it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewStirlingMacDonald Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Are there still games happening on steelministry.com or anywhere else online? Or, for that matter, in-person games anywhere in the mid-atlantic area? I'm really interested in playing the MAG at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurkistan Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 We're still up and running over on Steelministry, though no new games are starting up at the moment. If you want you can drop by and see if there's interest in starting up a new one. Fair warning: PBP is very much the patient man's game. In one campaign it's been 2 months since we started an encounter, and that's an instance of moving along at a fair clip given the number of players involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boongeebee Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Some of my co workers and I started a campaign, but we are out west. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claincy Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 We did have a slump on steelministry, but things are moving at a reasonable pace (for PBP) again now. I'd like to echo Kurk's warning about PBP though, it's very slow at best, sometimes extremely slow. That said, I love it In my experience there tends to be a lot more roleplaying in PBP games, which I really enjoy. Anyway, we're always happy to welcome more people to the site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haelbarde Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) The real question is 'How does it compare to the MBI?' That can be pretty slow... Edited August 19, 2015 by Haelbarde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claincy Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 The real question is 'How does it compare to the MBI?' That can be pretty slow... I'm not part of MBI but from what I know of it I'd say it varies a bit from campaign to campaign. That said aside from any that have ground to a halt entirely they still move faster than MBI (to my knowledge). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewStirlingMacDonald Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 What does PBP mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haelbarde Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 What does PBP mean?Play By Post (which makes me wonder - did people play things things by sending letters in the post in days gone by?). So playing by posting in a forum as opposed to physically meeting up or using something like Skype to Video/Voice chat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herowannabe Posted August 26, 2015 Report Share Posted August 26, 2015 Play By Post (which makes me wonder - did people play things things by sending letters in the post in days gone by?). So playing by posting in a forum as opposed to physically meeting up or using something like Skype to Video/Voice chat. I've heard of / seen on TV people playing chess via mail over long distances and many months. Which seems like it would have been kinda cool and fun... ...Until the internet came along and spoiled everything, that is. BTW, for anyone who stumbles across this thread at some future point, the Futile Efforts campaign that Claincy mentioned, where an elite crew took on the Lord Ruler, lasted about 7 months from beginning to end. And it was just one fight scene (albeit a very epic and cinematic one). Claincy actually went through and compiled all the narration for it (editing out all the dice rolls and rule discussions and etc) into one big thread. Feel free to check it out here: http://steelministry.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=518 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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