Nah, I only squeal when I'm jerking off to drow porn. That's the best way to pretend to be an elf.

I own the game, I own its one supplement (Nazi Gestapo Elves!), played it and run it.  Yes, the game does work.  Despite the seriously objectionable parts, it does work.  I still would not recommend it, but it is false to claim that it's a game that does not work as intended; the problem is with the intention, not with the mechanics.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;457839I own a copy of this (and the only supplement, the Adventurer's Guide), though I've never managed to convince anyone to play it with me. Its one of three or so softcover books I love so much I had to laminate them, though it is badwronglove.

Anything bad you have heard about this game on the internet is probably true (Except the bit above about bajillion Strengths; mortals have a Strength maximum of 1,000 for a x600 damage adjustment). The rpgnet review is rather harsh too, there are a number of good ideas hiding in the game system in various places, if obscured behind some shockingly bad implementation.

The setting is fun if silly, but the amount of drinking required to maximally enjoy it may make using the system problematic for most people.

This review makes far too much sense to me.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;457839Its one of three or so softcover books I love so much I had to laminate them, though it is badwronglove.

Oh god the mental images.

Quote from: The_Shadow;457852Pretending to be an elf is for geeks.

All professional actors pretend to be elves.

Heck. All professionals -period- pretend to be elves.

We ALL pretend to be elves.

Sorry - I never was a 13 year old gamer. I didn't start roleplaying 'til I was 21, in 1977.

-clash

I attended a game design workshop that featured several local gaming celebrities, including Synnabar author. I honestly don't remember anything else about that workshop except for his input on game design.
 
I went looking forward to the chance to revile his game design philosophy but and hopefuly discover he was some grotesque cripple, but no, he actualy presented himself quite well.
 
He had a very distinct thought process. He'd brainstorm, pick a goal, achieve it and then move on to the next brainstorm. It was unusual because he seemed completely free of, I dunno, introspection? shame? Anyway he said that he copied the layout for his Char Gen section from the IRS. Everyone in the room groaned and complained that they don't like tax forms, but he was steadfast to the idea that if it was easy enough for millions of American Taxpayers, it was easy enough for roleplayers. He was particularly proud of how each line on his picture of a character sheet has it's own page number -- JUST LIKE A REAL TAX BOOKLET!

It was very axiomatic. "Easy is good. Taxes are easy, therefore tax form character sheets."  He modeled the gunfire by hiring children to blast him with squirtguns. He wanted the PCs to be as powerful as martial artists amongst children, he's a martial artist they're children, therefore it's science. He wanted monsters no one had ever seen in a roleplaying game. Fire breathing clams were not in a roleplaying game. Therefore....
 
One of the legends that surrounds Synnabar is the missing boat die roll. The game says something like: When the players abandon their boat roll 1d100 and record that number. When they return roll again and if the second roll is higher their boat is gone forevar, if it's lower they still have a boat. He was aware, when I saw him, that the odds are 50/50 despite all the extra work. So, anyway he's not as dumb about probability as the internet would have us believe.
 
As a kid I had no patience for Synabarr, but after meeting him it made me see Synnabar as the successful achievement of a goal I do not want. But still a success.

Quote from: Malleus Arianorum;457908He modeled the gunfire by hiring children to blast him with squirtguns. He wanted the PCs to be as powerful as martial artists amongst children, he's a martial artist they're children, therefore it's science.

Oh, like that episode of Seinfeld where Kramer joined a karate class.  

JG

Wow, after Malleus' explanation of the author's way of thinking, this sounds like an absolute must have! It's like capturing for posterity an obscure, dying foreign language that turns the accepted assumptions within anthro-linguistics on its head. Like a testament to the near-limitless ingenuity of the human mind to solve problems.
:worship:

Eat your heart out, Greg Stafford.

Funny thing, it was never the gonzo that bothered me, and I tend to enjoy a bit more serious gameplay (and always have.) Yet the numbers--huge numbers, that had little real need for all those zeroes. That kept me from ever owning it.

Quote from: flyingmice;457892Sorry - I never was a 13 year old gamer. I didn't start roleplaying 'til I was 21, in 1977.

-clash

Yeah, I was never a 13 year old game either as I got only started in my late twenties. Even so flying grizzlies with laserbeam eyes never lost their appeal. Class is class regardless of age.

Quote from: TAFMSV;457919Eat your heart out, Greg Stafford.

Hey, he's not half bad.

Each time I discover something new about Synnibar and/or Raven C. S. McCracken, my respect for the man only increases.

Quote from: Dan Davenport;457777No, really. I think every gamer should own a copy of this game. Not necessarily to play it -- I'm not sure I could manage that trick myself. No, just to remind yourself of those bygone days when you were a hyper 13-year-old gamer so jazzed about the endless possibilities of gaming, and man, wouldn't it be cool if there were a game that let you play, like, dragons, and ninjas, and robots, and giants, and superheroes, and...

No, RIFTS is for that.  Synnibarr is so that you understand that it can have all that and still suck if you can't actually have rules that work.

RPGPundit

I own a copy. I consider it the cornerstone of my Bad RPG collection.