Quote from: stevesechi;955726Spike, re: Atlantis and Talislanta - both were connected in an Easter-egg kind of way back when my old company, Bard Games, owned and published these two games. I later sold the rights to two of the Atlantis books to Morrigan, which later sold them to Khepera. Khepera's version of Atlantis is vert much Jerry Grayson's vision, and IMO a better product tan the old Bard Games version.

re: the Ariane/Druas - this character types was never sold, and remains a part of Talislanta, which I still own the rights to.

re: the Omni system and its variants - I've given permission to Morrigan, Khepera, and others to use the Talislanta Action Table system, free of charge. Those who have used the bones of this system have also made their own tweaks to it, such as Jerry's addition of Feats. I like Feats for a game like Atlantis, but I don't think the idea works as well for Talislanta; i.e., Feats are not a part of any of the older Talislanta editions or the new Savage Land edition.

Steve

Thank you, Steve. I love getting the insider dish on gaming... I'm like a little old gossipy grandma!

Quote from: stevesechi;955728There is a Tribe Sheet included with the game that is basically a Character Sheet for Tribes. This is where you keep track of your Tribe's basic stats, possessions, etc.

Very interesting! Can you post an example of a Tribe "character"? Or have examples been posted in the KS pages?

The Tribe stuff seems to be your key differentiator (aka, the thing we don't have already from other RPG purchases).

Also, any examples of play showing how the Tribe and PC actions flow together at the table?

Quote from: stevesechi;955724Bones, I don't have an actual list - just the write-up from the final draft of the Skills Chapter. If I get some time I'll try to make a list from a copy of that chapter, though keeping up with the things I've been putting together for the KS and my own music-biz work have been keeping me pretty busy the past couple of days (11 hours in the studio yesterday - agh).

Even a general comment as to how many skills there are compared to previous editions would be good. One thing I liked about Khepera's Atlantis was it consolidated the Omni skill list considerably.

What about hero points or similar resources? I was not wedded to the idea in Atlantis, do they appear in TSL?

Quote from: Spike;955810Thank you, Steve. I love getting the insider dish on gaming... I'm like a little old gossipy grandma!

hahahahaaaa!

Quote from: Skywalker;955901Even a general comment as to how many skills there are compared to previous editions would be good. One thing I liked about Khepera's Atlantis was it consolidated the Omni skill list considerably. >>

I don't know Khepera's Atlantis very well, but if I recall from reading the main book a couple of years ago, Atlantis had a lot more skills than TSL. When I was designing the rules for TSL, on we of my goals was to cut down on the number of Skills wherever possible. Main reason was that I felt the "less skills" idea worked in a milieu where most people were illiterate, and with no spell casting in TSL, there actually were less skills than in other, more civilized/advanced game settings. Second reason is, as a game designer I always felt that the less rules a game had, the better.

What about hero points or similar resources? I was not wedded to the idea in Atlantis, do they appear in TSL?

>>

TSL has Renown, which has a major effect on how a character is perceived by others in the game.

Quote from: Spinachcat;955827Very interesting! Can you post an example of a Tribe "character"? Or have examples been posted in the KS pages? >>

I don't have anything handy at the moment, but I'm probably going to add a couple of Tribe examples for a piece that I'm working on for the KS campaign. Not sure if this piece is going to appear in the Updates section of our KS page, or whether Stewart wants to use it as a stretch goal.

<< The Tribe stuff seems to be your key differentiator (aka, the thing we don't have already from other RPG purchases). >>

That, and the entire Savage Land milieu

<< Also, any examples of play showing how the Tribe and PC actions flow together at the table?

>>

Yes, though taken out of the context of the Rules section, I'm not sure how much of this will make sense. The main thing is there are 2 Action Tables - one for standard/individual actions and one for what we call Mass Actions. Both tables use the same mechanics, so it's pretty easy to move from one to the other based on what's happening in the game. Here's one example from the book regarding mass combat:

1) if opposing leaders or other notable individuals meet in the midst of a battle, the GM can allow those individual battles to be fought using the standard Action Table, while each Tribe continues Mass Combat using the Mass Action Table.

2) if a group or Tribe faces off against a single opponent or target, the GM can opt to handle this situation as a Mass Action scenario. To do so,simply use the rules for Mass Actions, comparing Advantages vs disadvantages, and awarding bonuses or penalties accordingly. Then roll on the Mass Action Table to determine the results.

Quote from: HorusArisen;955741Looking forward to this book(s)

Thanks, Horus!

Quote from: stevesechi;955929I don't know Khepera's Atlantis very well, but if I recall from reading the main book a couple of years ago, Atlantis had a lot more skills than TSL. When I was designing the rules for TSL, on we of my goals was to cut down on the number of Skills wherever possible. Main reason was that I felt the "less skills" idea worked in a milieu where most people were illiterate, and with no spell casting in TSL, there actually were less skills than in other, more civilized/advanced game settings. Second reason is, as a game designer I always felt that the less rules a game had, the better.

TSL has Renown, which has a major effect on how a character is perceived by others in the game.

Great thanks. Atlantis has around 25 skills, though a few of them are skill groups. Less than any  edition of Talislanta IIRC but I thought there could consolidated even more.

Renown is all good and makes sense in the setting.

Overall, I am loving the less is more approach. If the book remains around 250 pages I will be happy. I am getting sick of those around 350+ pages.

Quote from: Skywalker;955968Great thanks. >>

Sure

<< Atlantis has around 25 skills, though a few of them are skill groups. Less than any  edition of Talislanta IIRC but I thought there could consolidated even more. >>

I thought there were more than that in Atlantis - maybe that was some other version of the Omni system that I saw...?

<< Renown is all good and makes sense in the setting. >>

Yeah, I think it's going to be a lot more useful TSL than it was in Tal or in some other RPGs I've seen. In a setting without laws or nations, your rep (or lack of it) is going to carry a lot of weight.

<< Overall, I am loving the less is more approach. If the book remains around 250 pages I will be happy. I am getting sick of those around 350+ pages.

>>

As far as I know, we're sticking to around 250 - though the new 2-page spreads and possible text additions that we hope to add via Stretch Goals would bump that up a little. The book is already crammed with artwork, but if we can get more, I'm all for it.

Quote from: stevesechi;956099>>

As far as I know, we're sticking to around 250 - though the new 2-page spreads and possible text additions that we hope to add via Stretch Goals would bump that up a little. The book is already crammed with artwork, but if we can get more, I'm all for it.

So lemmee ask... since I quite literally just got a new job (as in an hour ago), if I'ma pop a little KS money your way as I'm increasingly inclined to do because money is for chumps or something... how many weeks do I got to make up my mind.  

Pretend I've never kick started anything in my life... not strictly true because, you know, motorcycles are a thing... and assume I know nothing but its a way to throw money at people I don't know for promises I can't take to court and product that might be delivered before the heat death of the sun (Exalted...), astounding everyone.

Quote from: Spike;956154So lemmee ask... since I quite literally just got a new job (as in an hour ago), if I'ma pop a little KS money your way as I'm increasingly inclined to do because money is for chumps or something... how many weeks do I got to make up my mind.  

Pretend I've never kick started anything in my life... not strictly true because, you know, motorcycles are a thing... and assume I know nothing but its a way to throw money at people I don't know for promises I can't take to court and product that might be delivered before the heat death of the sun (Exalted...), astounding everyone.

The KS is open for another 22 days. Some KS do allow for late backing but I can't recall seeing this confirmed for Talislanta.

Quote from: stevesechi;956099I thought there were more than that in Atlantis - maybe that was some other version of the Omni system that I saw...?

Khepera's Atlantis did a great job of pulling back the number of Skills in Omni to a more suitably consolidated list for a modern design IMO.

Quote from: Spike;956154Pretend I've never kick started anything in my life... not strictly true because, you know, motorcycles are a thing... and assume I know nothing but its a way to throw money at people I don't know for promises I can't take to court and product that might be delivered before the heat death of the sun (Exalted...), astounding everyone.

Barring a supernova of our own sun or a similar disaster, all the stuff promised on this KS so far is pretty much ready to go. The main TSL book is written except for a couple of small additions that I'm working on that were inspired by requests from backers... all of the color artwork is done except the new 2-page spreads promised as stretch goals... the D&D 5e conversion book has been written...the TSL soundtrack album is done,  the new wall map is in the works and should be done soon... and even most of the graphic novel has been finished.

About the only thing I can think of that hasn't been finished is the D6 conversion. Also, it's possible that we may add one more format - if so, it would probably take a month or two to get that written. So none of this stuff is vapor-ware, so to speak.

Quote from: Skywalker;956160Khepera's Atlantis did a great job of pulling back the number of Skills in Omni to a more suitably consolidated list for a modern design IMO.

People who want more skills will differentiate.
People who want less skills will consolidate.
So has it always been, so shall it always be.

No need for some new school jackass dickery claiming less skills is "Modern Design".

Quote from: CRKrueger;956279People who want more skills will differentiate.
People who want less skills will consolidate.
So has it always been, so shall it always be.

No need for some new school jackass dickery claiming less skills is "Modern Design".

Most RPGs consolidate their skill list with each edition, to which the Omni system seems no expectation. This is simple extrapolation (and a trend which I personally due to its simplicity at the table), which doesn't really need to be attributed to any nefarious agenda.