Quote from: RPGPundit;521919If campaigns literally collapse under the weight of that particular design element, I would say yes, the game does succeed or fail (in this case fail) on account of it.

RPGPundit

Pundy is right (a phrase he no doubt sees as self-evident). The problem with Continuum is that hardly anyone has played it (not nobody, hardly anybody) and the reason for that is despite the brilliance of its concepts the administrative burden makes Ars Magica look like Risus.

Quote from: D-503;522354despite the brilliance of its concepts the administrative burden makes Ars Magica look like Risus.

Wow! This line really scared me.

If it's true, playing Continuum must be like this:  :banghead:

Quote from: Claudius;522358Wow! This line really scared me.

If it's true, playing Continuum must be like this:  :banghead:

I genuinely struggle to see how one could run a long term Continuum campaign without software support and serious work on the part of every participant.

Not saying it's never happened, but the RAW require massive bookkeeping by everyone. Pundy is right on the money here.

And that last sentence there is another one to put fear into your heart.

Quote from: D-503;522354Pundy is right (a phrase he no doubt sees as self-evident). The problem with Continuum is that hardly anyone has played it (not nobody, hardly anybody) and the reason for that is despite the brilliance of its concepts the administrative burden makes Ars Magica look like Risus.

I already do my fucking taxes, thank you very much.

Don't get me wrong, the setting is astoundingly good. And the system could be really great, if it was just a little simpler to run somehow.

And I speak from experience; about 10 years ago I ran a brief campaign (maybe 5 or 6 sessions before it collapsed under its own weight).

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;522511Don't get me wrong, the setting is astoundingly good. And the system could be really great, if it was just a little simpler to run somehow.

Phrased like this, I completely agree. Though I'm at a loss as to how the system could be streamlined without losing the crunch that makes the setting so great.

QuoteAnd I speak from experience; about 10 years ago I ran a brief campaign (maybe 5 or 6 sessions before it collapsed under its own weight).

Was your campaign Continuum on its own? Or did you bring stuff in from the Narcissist continuation?

No, it was continuum alone; it was before Narcissist even existed, if indeed it does today?

Anyways, yes, that's the sad part, I can't figure out how to simplify the running of the game without losing a lot of the features of the game.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;522747No, it was continuum alone; it was before Narcissist even existed, if indeed it does today?

It's been released in version 0.7 PDF, but the in-house playtest version is apparently little to nothing like the now out dated 0.7 (at least, according to Wikipedia. Sloppy research, I know).

QuoteAnyways, yes, that's the sad part, I can't figure out how to simplify the running of the game without losing a lot of the features of the game.

Hmm. Perhaps a brainstormed hack of the system could be put together?

I'm sure with enough effort it could be, yes.

RPGPundit

I've been running a game of CoNTINUUM for about 6 months now, and it's going really well.
I've got two groups. One in Australia in 2015, and one in Germany in 1825. Both are having a lot of fun, and here's why.

This game rewards one type of player much more than another.

Among the many ways to divide gamers, one may divide them by whether they're goal-oriented, or sandbox players.

While I have *nothing* against goal-oriented types, I tend towards running sandbox games. And players that enjoy a slow-boil, character based game where the lives of their characters is the whole point of playing... those are the types that I've found really get a kick out of Continuum.

A large amount of that stems from the system of the game. It requires just as much book-keeping as you've probably heard. My players see that as part of the point of the game,and part of the reason they like it so much.

I started the game with some friends of mine, and one by one they've left the game, to be replaced by others who are really enjoying it more. Pretty much for the reasons I outlined above. My original players were all from my Pathfinder game, and really like the D&D ethos where everything is defined for them and they really only have to understand the situation enough to know what to hit next and with what. I like that too, which is why I run Pathfinder.

But Continuum scratches another itch.

It really lets me as the GM settle in and grow a world that spans space and time, base that on history, and then try to break it. And the players motivation is to stop me from doing so in the smartest way possible. Not the most violent (though that's often the same thing).

Here's an example - I have a player who is exploring the Dreaming skill. She's having a great time with that, and I've got her being mentored by a Dreamer from about 100 years in the past. What she doesn't know is that her character is destined to become her mentor's mentor and best friend. All this is not only possible, but in the context of Continuum it becomes immensely rewarding.

People who need a game to really pop are going to find that kind of thing boring. And that's fine. Cause I find that there's nothing more exciting than well established characters that have struggled with decades of life, suddenly with their backs up against the wall, no ammo and a well coordinated gang of self-centered history-hackers trying to wipe them from the face of the earth.

Here's how I run my game. I use a mind-mapper to map the relationships between the events and the NPCs. Mind-Mappers are great for a lot of tasks, but for Continuum they're indispensable.

After that there's the little things, like using Roll20 for the character sheets. I had a sheet coded that lets the sheet deal with the rolls.
And we use GoogleDocs for the tracking of time travel.

So yes, software makes the game much easier to play. Not that I see that as any justification for nay-sayers. We all use tools for our games, whether they be minis or iPad sheets or whatever.

I'm hoping this game continues for many more months. I have lots of stuff to take my players through, and the idea that eventually they might become one of the 176 humans who get to define the borders of the very history of Earth itself is something I'm really looking forward to.

Along the way they can peel back the secrets of the universe and maybe even earn the trust of those outside this living museum enough to be asked to leave it and enjoy the fruits of their labors.

I've had more fun in the last few months of this game than in three years of Pathfinder, and I urge those of you who like games that reward planning and thinking to find a group and give this a go.

If you want to try something in my game, there's room in both groups for one or two more. Look for me in Roll20. I'm the only person in there running Continuum.

huh...so...is this necromancy or time travel?

I've never minded thread necromancy. It just feels more efficient and sometimes churns up interesting forgotten stuff.

If they want to simplify the concept they should base a time travel game on the adventures of Bill and Ted.

JG

Quote from: James Gillen;807173If they want to simplify the concept they should base a time travel game on the adventures of Bill and Ted.

JG

Which really does do a better job of time travel that most any other movie involving it that I can think of. Such as the bit with saying "well when all of this is done, we'll go back in time and put the keys right... here..."

Quote from: Daztur;807214Which really does do a better job of time travel that most any other movie involving it that I can think of. Such as the bit with saying "well when all of this is done, we'll go back in time and put the keys right... here..."

That is actually pretty similar to the way they handle dimension walking in Amber Diceless.  

JG