Quote from: ForgottenF on September 05, 2022, 04:57:41 PM
So, I'm looking into options for a next campaign to run, and I think I want to do something in the vein of the Dying Earth genre. I.e., a setting wherein science fiction civilization has risen and fallen (perhaps several times), with the result that the world has collapsed back into something more like a fantasy setting, but with a sort of underlying substratum of sci-fi. As of this moment, my top contenders are:

Hawkmoon (either the Chaosium or Mongoose versions)

If you're open to Runequest/BRP you might look at The Chronicles of Future Earth. While there is a very late KS for a FATE version the original was a BRP book. Sadly, it appears to be out of print.

Check out Faded Suns. Scifi RPG with medieval overtones and some good ideas about basic resolutions.

Quote from: caldrail on September 07, 2022, 10:44:20 AM
Check out Faded Suns. Scifi RPG with medieval overtones and some good ideas about basic resolutions.

I hadn't thought of Fading Suns. I always read it as "D&D meets Dune" but I can see how it might work for a Dying Sun Science Fantasy game.

I think the presence of common interstellar travel is why I blocked it off.

Not a poblem, just do without space travel and use the other elements instead

Quote from: ForgottenF on September 06, 2022, 08:04:32 AM

Quote from: Effete on September 05, 2022, 10:37:39 PM
Cascade Failure is a completely free game built off the d20 OGL, but very striped down to the point it's almost unrecognizable. It's still very rooted in SciFi, and only "medieval-esque" in the sense that the characters need to relearn how to use the technology they find.

The only complaint I have is that the lore/fluff is mind-numbingly contrived. You'll probably want to homebrew some better explanations about how things went to shit, since the official version is not very coherent. But, hey! What do you expect for free?

Free is always worth checking out. 

Highly recommend you checking it out. Its system is fantastic. All the editions are solid. It never really took hold because of the setting was "too weird" for people. But I've converted people to loving it for decades at my own table. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have -shoot me a DM

(Bias alert as I'm associated with the last iteration of the setting but I swear I'm being objective /wink).

Quote from: tenbones on September 07, 2022, 02:16:33 PM

Quote from: ForgottenF on September 06, 2022, 08:04:32 AM

Quote from: Effete on September 05, 2022, 10:37:39 PM
Cascade Failure is a completely free game built off the d20 OGL, but very striped down to the point it's almost unrecognizable. It's still very rooted in SciFi, and only "medieval-esque" in the sense that the characters need to relearn how to use the technology they find.

The only complaint I have is that the lore/fluff is mind-numbingly contrived. You'll probably want to homebrew some better explanations about how things went to shit, since the official version is not very coherent. But, hey! What do you expect for free?

Free is always worth checking out. 

Highly recommend you checking it out. Its system is fantastic. All the editions are solid. It never really took hold because of the setting was "too weird" for people. But I've converted people to loving it for decades at my own table. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have -shoot me a DM

(Bias alert as I'm associated with the last iteration of the setting but I swear I'm being objective /wink).

Why not make a huge ass post selling us the game?

Quote from: GeekyBugle on September 07, 2022, 02:51:56 PM

Why not make a huge ass post selling us the game?

Heh I've been talking about Talislanta on this forum for years. Most people are tepid about it at best. It usually becomes a thread where I'm doing 50% of the posting and there is little feedback because while most people have some mild interest in the game, few actually go out and read it, and fewer run it. There's a good smattering of people that have played it but never with any consistency, but because of this dynamic there isn't enough feedback for people to even ask questions about things they don't know enough about in actual play.

And the forum seems to be largely consumed with DnD and OSR these days so... you know. Feels a little bit like screaming into the void.

I did touch on Talislanta, after meeting a full on fan of the system. It reinforced the 'Jack Vance' ideas I used in a long running D&D campaign, made for some great colour and individuality.

Quote from: caldrail on September 07, 2022, 01:57:42 PM
Not a poblem, just do without space travel and use the other elements instead

Agreed...I'm mostly jealous I didn't think of it first.

Quote from: tenbones on September 07, 2022, 02:58:04 PM

Quote from: GeekyBugle on September 07, 2022, 02:51:56 PM

Why not make a huge ass post selling us the game?

Heh I've been talking about Talislanta on this forum for years. Most people are tepid about it at best. It usually becomes a thread where I'm doing 50% of the posting and there is little feedback because while most people have some mild interest in the game, few actually go out and read it, and fewer run it. There's a good smattering of people that have played it but never with any consistency, but because of this dynamic there isn't enough feedback for people to even ask questions about things they don't know enough about in actual play.

And the forum seems to be largely consumed with DnD and OSR these days so... you know. Feels a little bit like screaming into the void.

I have most of the first three editions in physical form including the now apocryphal Cyclopedias but haven't played. It's a mix of takers, being just a little too different (says the guy who loves Glorantha, but I hooks in it better than Talislanta). I think its key advertising point, "no elves" hid underneath it the issue. Compared to the three settings I most associate it with: Tekumel, Glorantha, and Jorune, it had the fewest points of contact with what I expect from fantasy/myth/science-fiction. Of course, that is very much a YMMV thing based on background prior to encountering it.

I do find 3rd edition interesting as I see early elements of D&D 3, which given Jonathan Tweet is listed as a designer.

There is the monthly RPG meetup here Saturday...maybe I should dig out my Talislanta books and see if I can get people to take a swing. It'll certainly be something different.

Do it!

Trying to convince people on forums is a mixed bag at best. The real way to do anything is to show people. The Edition Wars in any system exist only amongst Forum Nerdzerkers. I'm confident there is some asshat that is an idiot savant that can make DnD 4e awesome for me.

That's not going to change my feelings about 4e, likely, but it'll mean there is someone out there that probably can make it sing after much needless work that other systems can do much more easily.

The weird part about this forum's "thing" about the OSR - is I'm still mystified about all the flavors of the OSR in particular, and the understanding that there are already systems that do most if not all of what the OSR offers.

But I digress - Dying Earth is Jack Vance. Talislanta is very much inspiried by Vances Dying Earth - much like old-school DnD. But it's very much its own thing. The system speaks for itself. GO FORTH AND SHARE!

Quote from: PulpHerb on September 07, 2022, 12:20:21 AM

Quote from: ForgottenF on September 05, 2022, 04:57:41 PM
So, I'm looking into options for a next campaign to run, and I think I want to do something in the vein of the Dying Earth genre. I.e., a setting wherein science fiction civilization has risen and fallen (perhaps several times), with the result that the world has collapsed back into something more like a fantasy setting, but with a sort of underlying substratum of sci-fi. As of this moment, my top contenders are:

Hawkmoon (either the Chaosium or Mongoose versions)

If you're open to Runequest/BRP you might look at The Chronicles of Future Earth. While there is a very late KS for a FATE version the original was a BRP book. Sadly, it appears to be out of print.

Fortunately I have means of getting a hold of out of print pdfs. One of my regular players has been lobbying for a BRP game, and that looks like being well within the tone I'm looking for. So thanks, That one goes on the short-list.

For those (apparently several) of you that have some experience with Talislanta, what's the consensus on the various editions of it? From a cursory glance through what's available on their website, it seems like the rules have not changed much from edition to edition. If so, I'd usually go with the most recent one (5th edition), but it looks like 4th edition might have the most support in terms of additional books?

I'm a Talislanta 1e fan first (mostly for the aesthetic), with 2e and 3e being close behind (I do like the expanded Magic options in them); I find the more recent editions (4e, 5e and TSL) to be regressions, mostly due to needless reworkings of Magic & Combat. Magic loses all flavor with its Ars Magica style "combine techniques and forms to scientifically drain Magic of it's wonder" and the combat system is likewise uniformized to blandness (you fumble, miss, hit for half-damage, hit for full damage or crit; no random damage rolls, which may not be a big deal for you, but I prefer more randomness in combat).

You can get a nice POD hardcover copy of 1e on DriveThru for $26 + shipping.

Quote from: rhialto on September 08, 2022, 05:26:56 AM
I'm a Talislanta 1e fan first (mostly for the aesthetic), with 2e and 3e being close behind (I do like the expanded Magic options in them); I find the more recent editions (4e, 5e and TSL) to be regressions, mostly due to needless reworkings of Magic & Combat. Magic loses all flavor with its Ars Magica style "combine techniques and forms to scientifically drain Magic of it's wonder" and the combat system is likewise uniformized to blandness (you fumble, miss, hit for half-damage, hit for full damage or crit; no random damage rolls, which may not be a big deal for you, but I prefer more randomness in combat).

You can get a nice POD hardcover copy of 1e on DriveThru for $26 + shipping.

I like the cut of your jib, sir.

Among Tal-superfans (of which I'm a card-carrying member) I actually like 3e a LOT. But the reality is you can plug-and-play all the editions together. Even ripping out the magic systems and replacing them with the edition you like with almost no impact to the rest of the system. Or you can get crazy and use them all simultaneously.

The system, the setting and the scale of the game was *way* ahead of its time. And I'd argue it still is better than *most* stuff out there.