Song of Ice and Fire

estar · December 17, 2011, 02:32:29 PM

Quote from: Claudius;495616Don't you consider Hârnmaster a member of the 1d100 family?

No more than Rolemaster. To me d100 mean the family of games originating with Runequest not all RPGs that use a d100 as their mechanic.

estar · December 17, 2011, 02:53:31 PM

Quote from: finarvyn;495610I've come to the conclusion that a decent Game Master can run almost any setting with almost any rules set. Most posters who advocate a "perfect" system for whatever setting under discussion are biased by their love for that rules set and would say it's perfect no matter what setting was being proposed.

GURPS, BRP, D&D 4E, and other rules sets all do pretty much the same things, only they approach them in slightly different ways. They all could work for almost any setting if the Game Master is familar with the rules and the setting. For me, I prefer OD&D or C&C for most games. That's my own bias speaking and may have no bearing on whether those rules work for you.

Just my two cents.

I always contended that a game with all the elements of roleplaying can run anything. It boils down to how much work you want to put into it. Obviously individual systems take less work to use for specific genres, settings and/or campaign style.

What makes roleplaying games so flexible is the fact the character is the focus of the game. That and the human referee allows for infinite number of scenarios to unfold. You would have to work hard as a designer NOT to make a roleplaying game flexible.

estar · December 17, 2011, 03:05:32 PM

Quote from: daniel_ream;495632Frankly I think that says more about the paucity of variety in RPG design than anything else.

As an obvious example, the notion of having a set of rules for modelling an organization as a single entity in such a way that organizations can interact with each other and PCs can interact with the organization is a relatively rare thing in RPG design, and is usually tightly tied to the setting (Covenants in Ars Magica, Houses in Song of Ice and Fire, Kingdoms in Birthright, etc.).

That doesn't follow from finarvyn's statement. What defines all those games is the focus on the playing of individual characters and the use of a human referee to adjudicate.

The presence of subsystems, like SoIaF's House system, Birthright's domain system, covenant, Traveller trading, are useful aides to help the referee adjudicate these aspects of the game. But these mechanics are not necessary if the referee is willing to do the work.

brunz · December 18, 2011, 03:45:32 AM

Quote from: daniel_ream;495632Frankly I think that says more about the paucity of variety in RPG design than anything else.

Yeah, it might, if it was true. Well, even then, there would be much better comparisons to be made, and so, it would end up false anyway.

Looking at just two of those - D&D 4th edition and BRP - there's the world of difference in how they approach things. Just in so many ways, it would be staggering to make them at all alike. And that is hardly the most dissimilar pair of RPGs in existence! Not by a long shot.

If I suspected some kind of agenda in the post you replied to, I would have to say it was disingenuous. As it stands though, I'll just go for "inaccurate".

The Butcher · December 18, 2011, 06:06:04 AM

Quote from: Claudius;495716And OD&D and C&D

Isn't that a Palladium game?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

The Butcher · December 18, 2011, 06:11:10 AM

Quote from: Imperator;495410I think that a BRP based game would be a perfect fit for the setting, certainly. And creating some rules for the houses struggle is not difficult.

I'd use the MRQII Empires system, and stat up each house and its territory as a Province. But I'm not sure it would work with major houses vs. minor houses within the same territory (e.g. Starks vs. Boltons). What do you think?

Claudius · December 18, 2011, 06:21:09 AM

Quote from: The Butcher;495860Isn't that a Palladium game?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Uuuuuhm

, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs is what I meant from the very beginning, I promise.

selfdeleteduser00001 · December 18, 2011, 01:17:44 PM

I was actually thinking that maybe I could use the RuneQuest Empires book, which I also have sitting unread on my shelves and model the houses with that. I do like the idea of a dynastic game and since I don't intend to follow GRR Martin's plotline, to give the game the same sense of uncertainty and shock as reading the books the first time does, then a strategic level meta-system is needed.

Imperator · December 19, 2011, 04:41:05 AM

Quote from: The Butcher;495862I'd use the MRQII Empires system, and stat up each house and its territory as a Province. But I'm not sure it would work with major houses vs. minor houses within the same territory (e.g. Starks vs. Boltons). What do you think?

Not sure, as I'm not familiar with Empires system. Anyway, the differences in power between the major and minor houses are so crushing that I'm not sure you really need a ruleset to decide on the result, should one of these houses rebel without the support of another major player.

Claudius · December 19, 2011, 05:09:42 AM

Quote from: The Butcher;495862But I'm not sure it would work with major houses vs. minor houses within the same territory (e.g. Starks vs. Boltons).

House Bolton is not a minor house at all. They are vassals of house Stark, sure, but they are a powerful house in spite of that. The books are full of major houses that are vassals of other houses, like Hightower, or Frey.

Claudius · December 19, 2011, 05:27:10 AM

Quote from: The Butcher;495862I'd use the MRQII Empires system, and stat up each house and its territory as a Province.

Quote from: tzunder;495917I was actually thinking that maybe I could use the RuneQuest Empires book, which I also have sitting unread on my shelves and model the houses with that. I do like the idea of a dynastic game and since I don't intend to follow GRR Martin's plotline, to give the game the same sense of uncertainty and shock as reading the books the first time does, then a strategic level meta-system is needed.

I have MRQ2 Empires, but I haven't read it in depth (let alone used it), I found it a little too complex. Besides, it doesn't model noble houses inside a kingdom, but different kingdoms/empires/whatever and their provinces.