I have to say that thread on TRoS might have saved me from an unwise impulse buy. That said, I have also been wondering about Unknown Armies.

I haven't heard as much about this one, and early on the descriptions of exactly what it was (especially in terms of genre and such) were a bit vague. I think I'm getting a better understanding of it, having poked around a bit. I get the feeling it bears some similarity to Hellraiser or Paranoia Agent, at least in the... uh.. mood?

I'm also vey curious about the madness meters and what they do exactly. Ever since reading Unearthed Arcana (love love love that book... it made D20 all cool and tinkerable) I have loved the idea of sanity mechanics, but the specific mechanic presented there seemed just short of unusable. There were lists of things that could make you crazy and such, and lists of possible ailments, but... very little description of the mechanical effects of the ailments, I think. It's been a while since I looked that up though... Anyway, how are the madness meters in Unknown armies? Are they easy or at least easier to implement? Can a person still play as (s)he goes crazy? Is the descent gradual, or sudden?

Outside of the meters, little gets mentioned. What is the rest of the system really like? Also, people say that the text discourages gun violence but that there is a freakishly complete gunlisting... I don't really know that I have a problem with bad writing, but I am curious if this is a good list, or just something superfluous. And lastly, why is Ronald McDonald being carried away by police in body armor?

Quote from: beejazzI get the feeling it bears some similarity to Hellraiser...

Hellraiser is more Kult

Now I'm a fanboy of the game, so I'll just say....YOU MUST GET THIS BOOK.

Regards,
David R

Brevity is great, but what I need is vast vast quantities of info. Fanboy-rave away... what is it exactly that I should buy this game for?

the madness meters do nothing whatsoever.

unless players actually roleplay their insecurities, which they should do anyway.

a lot of the rules are not very effective in UA even though the game has some great, if achingly cool, ideas.

Years ago I swapped Kult for Nephilim because Kult was too dark for me.

It was however a good game. Nephilim was just unplayable.

Hope you don't mind linking to tBP. Here's something by a fellow poster:

http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/How_to_Run:Unknown_Armies

A damn good AP:

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=109355

Visiting the official site, may help:

http://www.unknown-armies.com/content_comments.php?id=2534_0_3_0_C11

and while you're there check out the rpgnet Plot -in-a- line -thread.

Regards,
David R

I tried to like UA but I found it lacking in mechanical oomph.  The madness meters look to me like an overdone version of CoC Sanity.

The rumours section in the beginning of the book is solid gold for freaky plot ideas.

I checked out that Unknown Armies site. You mean to tell me that Atlas Games needs donations to keep that site operating? Disgraceful.

UA has a very simple and clean open-ended skill system. It's my favourite part of the game. Characters pick their main skills, rather than putting together an exhaustive list, and the skills are calculated at the level of effectiveness under life-threatening pressure, which means you rarely need to modify them.

The madness meters do come up in play, and do have a mechanical effect. They can cause characters to freeze up, go berserk, or flee wildly in a stressful situation if they fail a test, and they build up notches that can eventually turn them into sociopaths.

It's really easy to play an ordinary human in Unknown Armies, which is something I really like about it as a game involving high weirdness and magic. The magic systems are bolted on, and can be stripped out without any work. As well, PCs don't have to be slinging blasts and worshipping Kali to be mechanically effective against sorcerous foes.

I didn't want to try to do an exhaustive review. But I agree with the previous post. The game is odd, but it runs smoothly. Even if you ramp the power level all the way up, the characters are not superheroes.

The only issue I have wth the game is a player group issue, rather than a game-as-written issue. "Unknown Armies" in a lot of groups seems to be shorthand for "sick, demented shit." Part of that is my fault for running a bunch of sick, demented shit. But I have a fun set of seventies adventures, as the PCs attempt to support or thwart Evel Knievel in his bid for godhood. My preferrence would be to play these lightly, without Dillenger's giant penis grafted onto a radio-controlled monkey. But if I say No Electric Knob Monkey, no one wants to play. I guess I've only myself to blame . . .

Quote from: pigames.netI checked out that Unknown Armies site. You mean to tell me that Atlas Games needs donations to keep that site operating? Disgraceful.

It is disgraceful . I wasn't aware of this.

Regrds,
David R

Quote from: PseudoephedrineUA has a very simple and clean open-ended skill system. It's my favourite part of the game. Characters pick their main skills, rather than putting together an exhaustive list, and the skills are calculated at the level of effectiveness under life-threatening pressure, which means you rarely need to modify them.

Really? The open-ended skill list is actually one of the few things I've heard complained about.

QuoteThe madness meters do come up in play, and do have a mechanical effect. They can cause characters to freeze up, go berserk, or flee wildly in a stressful situation if they fail a test, and they build up notches that can eventually turn them into sociopaths.

Ah, so largely temporary morale effects with the potential for long-term damage?

QuoteIt's really easy to play an ordinary human in Unknown Armies, which is something I really like about it as a game involving high weirdness and magic. The magic systems are bolted on, and can be stripped out without any work. As well, PCs don't have to be slinging blasts and worshipping Kali to be mechanically effective against sorcerous foes.

Yeah, it's always cool having the option of playing less crazy stuff... even alongside the more crazy stuff.

So, having said all that about the magic system, how easy or hard would some of these rules be to port into other games and systems?

Quote from: signoftheserpentthe madness meters do nothing whatsoever.

unless players actually roleplay their insecurities, which they should do anyway.

a lot of the rules are not very effective in UA even though the game has some great, if achingly cool, ideas.

Explain, please.

Quote from: David RHope you don't mind linking to tBP. Here's something by a fellow poster:

http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/How_to_Run:Unknown_Armies

A damn good AP:

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=109355

Visiting the official site, may help:

http://www.unknown-armies.com/content_comments.php?id=2534_0_3_0_C11

and while you're there check out the rpgnet Plot -in-a- line -thread.

Regards,
David R

Thanks! That last one looks awesome.

Quote from: beejazzThanks! That last one looks awesome.

Yeah but apparently they are asking for donations to keep the site going. As I mentioned I wasn't aware of this and it's not really something I approve of esp since it's the official site. Don't get me wrong, there's loads of good stuff there, but it does leave a bad taste...

The one thing most folks who do like the game have issues with, is that it's pretty hard to set up a game. There are no hooks or start up points. I thought you may like to see what some folks are doing with it.

Regards,
David R