Spinning off from the "Why is ZH in Barnes and Noble" thread... I saw the Blackbirds RPG (powered by ZH) in B&N the other day. But but not ZH. The author is Ryan Verniere, not DF. Here's the premise:

Quote from: Kickstarter pitchBLACKBIRDS is a skin stitched from cosmic horror gently fitted over a period similar to the Late Middle Ages. Toothless highwaymen stalk the roads, royal families hold each other's children hostage to gain political leverage, and a pack of wolves may drag you from your trusted mare straight into an early grave. Armor gives way, swords break, wounds fester. Creatures whispered of in folklore and spun into campfire song walk among humanity. It is a time of prophecy set in an age where the candle of hope burns ever lower.

Game of Thrones + Mythos?

Quote from:  Amazon pitchBLACKBIRDS RPG is set in a dark fantasy world where a cabal of power-hungry Oligarchs has stolen godhood. Their horrific act rent the fabric of reality, allowing corrupt magic to undermine the world's natural order. And, soon, the Oligarchs themselves will return to the mortal plane and remake it as they desire.

Sounds better.

Quote from: Amazon reviewerI love the details around the dead gods and the new "gods" who slew the old ones and took over. I love how each of the new "gods" has a disease/condition that they inflict on their followers that transforms them in multiple stages, leading to new and interesting monsters in each of the intermediate stages (as well as cool transforming diseases that can be inflicted on the PCs). Character creation options are similarly amazing. Spells are a standout, all based around pacts made with outsiders (similar to demons) and all coming with a cost. While "power with a cost" is a common theme in dark fantasy scenarios, I've not ever seen it so well-executed before.

Even better. I'm off to DT-RPG to see if I can get a quickstart.

(edit: quote tags)

I thought it sounded pretty good. But as it's based off the Zweihander system (it's bloated so I prefer WFRP) and if DF is in the credits I'll pass, tbh.

Took a quick look at the quickstart.

Pros:

It's a generous quickstart-- close to 100 pages.
Quality production values and art.
Nice character sheet design.
I like the 7 attributes.
About 30 skills, looks good.
Magic is focused on making bargains.

Cons:

Instead of GM, it's "Fateweaver."
Instead of adventure, it's "Weaving."
Instead of PC, it's "Blackbird." Stuff like "If a Blackbird fails their skill test..."
Instead of party, it's "flock." (Seriously? Please stop.)
Instead of long or short rest, it's "rekindling."
The system is 33 pages long (!) and it seems more complicated than it needs to be.
Some of the art is breaking the mood. Guy with hair of blue crystals? Purple insect court jester? Clowny-faced soldiers?
Wait, that's the end?

Summary

Something seems off. The game sets out with a dark and slightly macabre feel, with it's gothic chapter headers and haunting art. But the artwork in the adventure feels sort of cartoony or whimsical. Was this designed by committee?

I would have liked 5 pages telling me what the setting is about, what the PC options are, and an example of adversaries they face-- right from page 1. Instead there's two paragraphs. You've got to grab the reader and not let go. Instead, the quickstart blathers on about the system for 33 pages.

Final analysis: a few neat ideas but mostly boring, in a 1 to 4 ratio. I can take the premise and make something better myself, with Gurps or Mythras. Maybe the full product is better? Don't know, this bird has flown.

I actually would prefer if it stuck only to the Game of Thrones-esque part and skipped where the oligarchs somehow attain godhood and stuff.  I'd like to avoid gods and even magic in my game.

I'm glad it's not just GoT ... I don't need another one of those.

One of its main inspirations is Berserk, the Manga/Anime. That's where a lot of the god-stuff and weird shit is coming from, i guess. I quite like it.

The one big minus to me is DF's involvement. I'd have prefered no ZH and no DF. Oh well...

Quote from: Anglachel on July 08, 2023, 08:44:38 AM
I'm glad it's not just GoT ... I don't need another one of those.

One of its main inspirations is Berserk, the Manga/Anime. That's where a lot of the god-stuff and weird shit is coming from, i guess. I quite like it.

The one big minus to me is DF's involvement. I'd have prefered no ZH and no DF. Oh well...

Well, if you like the setting and game you can always make a compromise. Just this once!

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 08, 2023, 08:55:16 AM


Well, if you like the setting and game you can always make a compromise. Just this once!

You mean like you did? *looking at your first post in this thread* 

Quote from: Anglachel on July 08, 2023, 09:23:10 AM

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 08, 2023, 08:55:16 AM


Well, if you like the setting and game you can always make a compromise. Just this once!

You mean like you did? *looking at your first post in this thread* 

Okay, I didn't but I have made compromises in the past, to be fair.

And I would never advocate for piracy. 

Quote from: Aglondir on July 06, 2023, 09:14:37 PM
Something seems off. The game sets out with a dark and slightly macabre feel, with it's gothic chapter headers and haunting art. But the artwork in the adventure feels sort of cartoony or whimsical. Was this designed by committee?

I would have liked 5 pages telling me what the setting is about, what the PC options are, and an example of adversaries they face-- right from page 1. Instead there's two paragraphs. You've got to grab the reader and not let go. Instead, the quickstart blathers on about the system for 33 pages.

Final analysis: a few neat ideas but mostly boring, in a 1 to 4 ratio. I can take the premise and make something better myself, with Gurps or Mythras. Maybe the full product is better? Don't know, this bird has flown.

Welcome to the mirror universe version of 4e D&D Gamma World where they keep telling you its a laugh riot. But the monster art is circus freak horror and the book does about nothing to actually push the ha-ha-funny! theme. Or a theme at all hardly.

I knew the book was thick, but didn't realize it's 680 pages. That's 600 more pages than I need.

Also this, from a Forbes article:

Quote from: ForbesHow Is Blackbirds Different From Dungeons & Dragons?

Each technique includes an Extinguish action that puts a powerful narrative shift in the hands of the players at the cost of shutting the technique down for a while. These actions include combat enders such as flurry of blows from a master swordsman to a magic character calling in an imp to eat the remaining bad guy.

"Well that's strikes two and three right there." --Ricky Bobby

Quote from: Aglondir on July 09, 2023, 08:27:07 PM
I knew the book was thick, but didn't realize it's 680 pages. That's 600 more pages than I need.

Also this, from a Forbes article:

Quote from: ForbesHow Is Blackbirds Different From Dungeons & Dragons?

Each technique includes an Extinguish action that puts a powerful narrative shift in the hands of the players at the cost of shutting the technique down for a while. These actions include combat enders such as flurry of blows from a master swordsman to a magic character calling in an imp to eat the remaining bad guy.

"Well that's strikes two and three right there." --Ricky Bobby

Gotta have that Game Journalist Difficulty Level for all the babies with training wheels on their dice.

Hate the system, love the setting, and since it's been nominated for both Origins and GenCon awards I decided to look into it. Problem is...

There's no dedicated forum.
There's no dedicated Discord.
The Twitch channel no longer exists.
The Reddit sub is dead.

...and I was banned from the only place where any active discussion takes place for... simply being there. Which is likely due to Dan the Fox, who hopefully the devs start to realize is a liability, as he gatekeeps and has been brought up as the reason folks avoided the game whenever they've attempted to promote it. The game also contains the work of problematic authors like Zoë Quinn, who was also a player in one of their livestreams, which makes selling it to those on a particular side of the fence difficult, but I'm well and truly done with deciding my entertainment based on the ideology of its creators.

Hopefully the next KS streamlines things and divides it into two books.

Quote from: Grognard GM on July 09, 2023, 09:50:05 PM

Ms. Frost is just following rules as written in her Dark Dungeons campaign.

QuoteSummary

Something seems off. The game sets out with a dark and slightly macabre feel, with it's gothic chapter headers and haunting art. But the artwork in the adventure feels sort of cartoony or whimsical. Was this designed by committee?

I must say personally I thin gothic haunting horror and whimsical fairy horror are quite close kin (both rooted in various flavours of britishness) and it should not be hard to really marry them.

QuoteWell, if you like the setting and game you can always make a compromise. Just this once!

Compromise you say.