Quote from: beebernice!  i look forward to seeing it in my grubby paws and on my bookshelf

any rough ETA?

Soon, actually! I've got an immense amount of work done for it, and am in the process of putting it together. Where work needs to be done is re-writing the intro, organizing a bibliography, and statting out all the non-fighters - a trivial task, but time consuming. I need to stat out vehicles! Also illos! I have a crap-load of e-painting to do!

I've finished the individual dogfighting sheets for the 56 fighter planes covered, character generation, the new dogfighting rules with new diagrams, a new section covering airfields and aircraft carriers, and a bunch of small stuff. Some stuff like SKills and the game mechanics section doesn't need rewriting.

It won't need much playtest as it's built on the Aces In Spades framework, which is thoroughly tested. I'd say late November.

-clash

cool!  it'll be available for the pearl anniversary, then?  excellent timing, mister bowley

Oooh! Excellent point beeber! I hadn't noticed that!

-clash

Forgive my naivite.

Is this an RPG or a wargame?  I'd been assuming it's a wargame.

Quote from: Old GeezerForgive my naivite.

Is this an RPG or a wargame?  I'd been assuming it's a wargame.

An RPG, Geezer. Is that a problem? Pundit reviewed the WWI version of the game here.

-clash

Not a problem, no, but it is a different sort of game.

Quote from: flyingmiceAn RPG, Geezer. Is that a problem? Pundit reviewed the WWI version of the game here.

-clash

"Plus it has one of the smoothest aerial combat systems I've ever seen, without being either too simplistic or stupidly complex."

Well, that's enough for me.  I hope you forgive me if I use it as a WW2 air combat wargame.

Quote from: Old Geezer"Plus it has one of the smoothest aerial combat systems I've ever seen, without being either too simplistic or stupidly complex."

Well, that's enough for me.  I hope you forgive me if I use it as a WW2 air combat wargame.

Actually, several people said I should make a wargame out of it. Let me know what you think of it!

-clash

Maybe this is drifting a little, but what will your game do as an RPG besides be an excuse to get in planes and shoot each other done?  As a premise for an RPG it doesn't really sing to me -- I'm not sure what the characters do between missions except get a lot of much needed sleep or booze it up and I'm not sure what the GM brings to the table either.  Are there really stories in there to be played?

I'm interested because I've tried it before with WW1, WW2, and things like Car Wars and the RPG was always kind of an appendix to the tactical wargame.  Inevitably it was more fun to write scenarios and run fights and maybe use the RPG rules to give characters increasing abilities over time.

So tell me about your two aerial games -- I want to believe!

Quote from: HalfjackMaybe this is drifting a little, but what will your game do as an RPG besides be an excuse to get in planes and shoot each other done?  As a premise for an RPG it doesn't really sing to me -- I'm not sure what the characters do between missions except get a lot of much needed sleep or booze it up and I'm not sure what the GM brings to the table either.  Are there really stories in there to be played?

I'm interested because I've tried it before with WW1, WW2, and things like Car Wars and the RPG was always kind of an appendix to the tactical wargame.  Inevitably it was more fun to write scenarios and run fights and maybe use the RPG rules to give characters increasing abilities over time.

So tell me about your two aerial games -- I want to believe!

I ran a fairly long playtest with Aces In Spades, about three to four months. The game uses troupe play, where you have three characters - a pilot, another officer, and an enlisted man - all working in the same outfit. The pilots had several ground adventures - like capturing an enemy fighter which had landed in a field, getting caught in a truck convoy that was being strafed, capturing a couple of spies, and one pilot got married to a local French woman, and helped clear the name of her parents, who were executed as German spies before the war. Two other pilots got established with local girls as well. They also caught another English pilot who had been lying about his kills, gathered evidence for the Major, and got him sent home in disgrace.

The troupe also got into action several times. The best was when they went out looking for the harp to the officer's club piano - which the Major liked to play, and the departing supply officer had traded for toilet paper. They took a truck to a bombed out town to loot a harp from a bordello or bar there, and came across five English deserters who had fled there and were living on human flesh once their food ran out. That was a tense situation!

I'd say it was about 50-50 between adventures in the air and on the ground. My group loved their characters, and didn't want to end the campaign, but I had another game to playtest.

-clash

That sounds pretty cool -- can you talk a little about how the game sets up that kind of action either mechanically or through GM advice?  I just know I'd be at a loss so I'd be looking for tons of guidance (mechanical or otherwise) to get a game off the ground.

Quote from: HalfjackThat sounds pretty cool -- can you talk a little about how the game sets up that kind of action either mechanically or through GM advice?  I just know I'd be at a loss so I'd be looking for tons of guidance (mechanical or otherwise) to get a game off the ground.

There's the whole Notice mechanic - this drives promotion. To get promoted, you have to get noticed by your CO by doing something cool or displaying your competence. You compete with your fellow PCs for notice from the CO. Notice is given in character by the CO.

There are suggestions for using the Notice mechanic by toadying, cutting down your fellows, and/or doing the stupid thing for honor.

THere's the Honor/Practicality mechanic, where you can add your honor or practicality score to any applicable TN. Honor and Practicality together add up to twenty, so the higher you push one, the lower the other goes. You add honor when dealing with superiors, using the Leadership skill, dealing with Society, etc. You add practicality when dealing with criminals or low-lifes, using the Discipline skill, dealing with corrupted officials, etc.

In Aces And Angels, I'm adding optional freeform personality traits, where the player can define personality traits and give them points, which are used up whenever the player wants to drive up the TN on any task where the trait suits the task.

The characters have a Luck resource which allows them to dictate a scene for one minute game time, within certain reasonable limits - you can't use it to actually harm anyone, you can't use it out of genre, and you can't use it to dictate the actions of other PCs. This is a character bound resource, purchased at chargen.

Characters are given two free skills and access to others if they take up certain hobbies. One of the PCs was a superb musician, for example, a pianist. He was the Major the Troupe characters were finding the piano harp for.

Aerodromes vary wildly in equipment and in housing - randomly if you want. The players tend to use this as opportunity for scavenging. They hate living like grubs, and the machines necessary to fix their planes are vital.

The squadron maintains trucks, autos, and motorcycles for the use of the pilots and crew, so they aren't tied to the base.

Characters have extensive background skills tied to their culture and lifestyle. Where skills are available, players tend to want to use them.

There are short guidelines for various playstyle options, like Notice being awarded by the players rather than the GM, No competition playstyle where the players vote for who advances, moving back and forth in time with prequels and foreshadowing - both player and GM initiated - and GM Fiat games.

Despite all this, its a very traditional game. Pundit says so.

-clash

Ghaa! Almost forgot! There's a big section on generating NPCs with goals, resources, and missions of their own, along with readymade opponents for the PCs to fight, all designed for quick generation, either randomly or not. This is great for inspiration.

-clash

This sounds pretty wonderful, even given Pundit's recommendation!  Thanks, Clash.

Quote from: HalfjackThis sounds pretty wonderful, even given Pundit's recommendation!  Thanks, Clash.

You're very welcome!

-clash