I know mostly the board game and a little of the Wargame. To date never seen the RPG. But doesnt surprise me that one edition or another was hit or miss. That is par for the course really.

Isnt Mutant Chronicles an outgrowth of the even older Mutant RPG?

Funfact. I did a a whole mod pack for Alien Assault to re-create the board game. AA was formerly Space Hulk. :cool:

Sadly seems like the site is gone???

The setting is interesting, and oddly enough to me it has more of a Battletech feel to it of warring inner factions and an outer threat.

Two words: Jay Little.  

Glue some questionable editorial decisions on his creative ..something, and you got MC3. It doesn't really look too bad at first glance, but reads like an etruscan text, and plays only marginally better.

Quote from: baragei;972890Two words: Jay Little.  

I don't follow RPG creators so I have no idea who that is or if that is supposed be a good thing or a bad thing.

I've played a decent amount of 1st and 2nd and would like to run 3rd.  The system for 3rd looks like fun, though I wish it were a little less clunky-crunchy.

I don't care about its "derivative" setting and I certainly am not bothered by the stereotypes (actually, I kind of love them).  I played it as a film noir Blade Runner setting and it was OK.  I've played much more of Starship Troopers-style military games and we have had a blast with it (even though the rules got in the way).

I do wish the new rules gave more explicit support for military games.  I think "Buck Rogers meet Hellraiser" is a pretty awesome description.  When I get a chance to run 3rd, I want to do "Band of Brothers meets Hellraiser with a side of Roughnecks and Kult."

Quote from: AaronBrown99;972879I love the gonzo corporations, the Imperial Trencher miniatures looked fantastic, and the recent-but-widely-despised RPG hits the fun button for me hugely.

Why do you say widely, got any evidence for that?

I've savaged the 3e here a few times, so maybe that's what he's referencing.  I'm a fan of the setting and the first edition RPG (adn the second, though I only ever found a PDF file for it.... no book.), the third was an... unwelcome direction... for the rules... never mind the half naked russian air-motorcycle chicks they added are silly. Russia is cold*, its sorta famous for it.





*actually, much of Russia is quite pleasant, the Crimea region for example is a vacation spot on par with the Cote d'Azure... but when we talk about 'Russia' in just about any non-vacation conversation we think of Father Winter, Ice Palaces, Tundra and were-yeti... not half naked bikini chicks working on their tan on the Black Sea beaches.  Well... maybe we should...

Quote from: Spike;972983I've savaged the 3e here a few times, so maybe that's what he's referencing.  I'm a fan of the setting and the first edition RPG (adn the second, though I only ever found a PDF file for it.... no book.), the third was an... unwelcome direction... for the rules... never mind the half naked russian air-motorcycle chicks they added are silly. Russia is cold*, its sorta famous for it.





*actually, much of Russia is quite pleasant, the Crimea region for example is a vacation spot on par with the Cote d'Azure... but when we talk about 'Russia' in just about any non-vacation conversation we think of Father Winter, Ice Palaces, Tundra and were-yeti... not half naked bikini chicks working on their tan on the Black Sea beaches.  Well... maybe we should...

I haven't seen this in Whitestar yet.  Tried looking for images but couldn't find any.  This sounds like exactly the kind of silliness I approve of and would play totally straight in my game.

Dunno about 3rd edition. I've played 1st and 2nd. It's a fun game. Rules are meh but serviceable. World is cool in that Noir meets 40k way.
And the IP produced one of my favorite board games, Siege of the Citadel.

The other option if the rules are a bit 'meh'. Is to go for the Savage World's version of 3e.

Then toss out the new stuff of the 3e setting and go back to the vibe of 1st or 2nd. Although, that's assuming people actually like Savage Worlds - Which I do.

Quote from: The Exploited.;973283The other option if the rules are a bit 'meh'. Is to go for the Savage World's version of 3e.

Then toss out the new stuff of the 3e setting and go back to the vibe of 1st or 2nd. Although, that's assuming people actually like Savage Worlds - Which I do.

There is a  Savage Worlds book called "Necropolis something" that seems to share a lot of the Mutant Chronicles vibe. I can't be sure as I've not played either game, my only exposure to Mutant Chronicles is via the criminally underrated Ron Perlman movie, critics be damned.

Quote from: Soylent Green;973303There is a  Savage Worlds book called "Necropolis something" that seems to share a lot of the Mutant Chronicles vibe. I can't be sure as I've not played either game, my only exposure to Mutant Chronicles is via the criminally underrated Ron Perlman movie, critics be damned.

That's a good one too.  Personally, I liked that one because the religious background was explicitly Catholic, which I appreciated...but the "Catholic Church" they described was pretty far from reality.  But it was still pretty cool.

Okay, 2d20 basics, I should save this I keep redoing it

Character creation is stage limited life path with big 2d20 event tables.  Essentially you can add 1 to each skill expertise, skill focus, and attribute for each life stage, starting in adolescence.  It's okay but slow and not too exciting.  There are also talent trees.

Money is handled in 'Resources' that represent a couple thousand dollars.  The character makes an appropriate skill roll to find what they're looking for and then rolls their earnings damage dice (seriously) to see how much they can scrounge up without dipping into their savings.  This is okay if you hand out lots of Resources but the petty cash won't let Donald Trump buy a car or anything.  My patch would be to allow PCs to roll for savings every month and add them to their Resources.  It's not a very popular rule.

Actions are resolved by rolling one or more d20s.  Mooks roll 1d20 and heroes roll two d20 (you don't add them up so it's not 2d20 whatever the name of the game may be).  If you roll under attribute (average is + skill expertise (1-5) you get one success.  If you roll under skill focus (1-5) you get two successes.  If you roll a 20 the other side gets a plot point.  GM plot points can be used to jam guns inflict dread etc.  I actually love the dread mechanic, the more points you accumulate the more plot points you give to the GM with it capping out a 16 - 20.  People under stress make more mistakes in this game.  Difficulty is represented by requiring a number of successes, so a basic difficulty of 1 requires one success.

The game gives out chronicle points which can be spent to put down a roll of 1 on a d20 or buy features and events in the game.  There are also momentum points which can be used for extra damage or to help other PCs by buying more dice.  There are also Dark Symmetry Points which the GM uses to activate the bad guy's heavy weapons and special powers.  This mechanic is very adversarial and often feels like having your hands tied behind your back.  Still, players tend to enjoy the power it gives them. It's only stated in one place I can find but the GM gets 1 DSP for every Chronicle point the pcs have.  This is the part that people hate most, I'm thinking.

Range bands give a penalty for being closer and further.  I like this, it's efficient and makes a pistol better than a heavy machine gun at close quarters.

For damage you roll special d6s and add so a gun might do 2 + 2devil.  Essentially 1 & 2 = +1 & 2 damage, 3 - 5 = squat, 6 = weapon special effect.  You have hit points per location after which you have serious and critical wound points.

Quote from: Biscuitician;972799It's a bit of a cult hit and 3e seems quite popular.

I get that its gonzo. I like that.

But it always came across as just the wrong side of gonzo; juvenile and shallow.

What am I missing?

To my knowledge, nothing. But to answer your thread title "(Why Isn't This Hated?"), why would it be hated? What you've described is a game that is excessively mediocre.

mediocre isn't hated.

mediocre is ignored.

Things with lots of potential that seems squandered those are hated. Things that everyone (it seems) loves and you don't know why, those are hated. Things that try to hard to tell you how much you are supposed to like them, those are hated. mediocre. mediocre just keeps on keeping on.

Quote from: Soylent Green;972878You say "juvenile" and "shallow" as if they were bad things.

I'll never understand where the correct amount of seriousnesses and adulthood is supposed to be for the average gamer. It seems to be some fictional neverwhere that cannot be achieved.

Quote from: Biscuitician;972956Why do you say widely, got any evidence for that?

I say widely reflecting on this forum, where the designer's name is almost a swear word. On EnWorld, any thread about a 2d20 game will bring out the threadcrappers eventually.

No, I don't provide evidence when I'm expressing what I've observed in my own experience, it's purely anecdotal.

Quote from: Soylent Green;973303There is a  Savage Worlds book called "Necropolis something" that seems to share a lot of the Mutant Chronicles vibe. I can't be sure as I've not played either game, my only exposure to Mutant Chronicles is via the criminally underrated Ron Perlman movie, critics be damned.

Oh god... Generally, I like Ron but that film was utter pig's swill.

Nice one! Actually, I forgot about Necropolis. That's probably a better option for SW...

Especially, if you like 40k. But the vibe is pretty similar to MC as well (the early editions at any rate, not a 'big'). I've not read that in a good while. I must dig it out...