Grognardia has put up two more parts of the LotFP box set review. III covering the Referee book is here, IV covering the Tutorial is here.
My question to you: What do you think about the Example of Play?
There's a thread on RPG.net asking "Why would one choose this game over any of the other retroclones out there, particularly the ones that exist as free PDF's? Aside from just style and production values, what makes it a better choice for those that like it?" Go answer that one here!
... by the way, 7 more boxes sold since that last announcement...
My question to you: What do you think about the Example of Play?
There's a thread on RPG.net asking "Why would one choose this game over any of the other retroclones out there, particularly the ones that exist as free PDF's? Aside from just style and production values, what makes it a better choice for those that like it?" Go answer that one here!
... by the way, 7 more boxes sold since that last announcement...
(cross-posted from grognardia)
ReplyDeleteNew experiment:
I have a player who has rolled many times in our AD&D/3.5 hybrid and now wants to be a DM.
He asks questions along the lines of: What about sailing ships? Are there rules for that? Or "How do I get the players to start the adventure?"
I hesitate to point him toward either the 3.5 or AD&D DM guides since both seem like they're likely to make DMing seem way more complicated than it actually is at least just to start out) and I'll have to keep saying "well you don't HAVE to do it like that..."
However, LOTFP may hit the sweet spot: broad enough to cover everything a DM may feel they "need" to know, but narrow enough for it to not seem overwhelming.
I'll let you know how it works out.
I like the last example of play in the Tutorial.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, I pitched your boxed-set to Don at The Sentry Box in Calgary, they use Warpath games as one of their distributors, and Warpath has your products.
I also showed them my copy, and Don thought the production values were very good.
Hopefully they will put in an order.
The factors that matter to me are a) it's the first of the "retro-clones" I've seen that isn't a slightly modified transcription of rules I already own, and b) the differences are in line with the sort of game I like to run.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm in the camp that finds the referee and tutorial books superfluous, but I already have my own very definite ideas about how to run games, so I'm not the target audience for those.
We've played some of the other retro-clones, pathfinder, etc. This game is quick to setup and play. The character sheet, and the organization of the rule book which references the sheet and the pages the rule are found on, is just plain brilliant! We just dropped in and started playing. Its not simplistic, but it is very simple to get in and start playing. Quite frankly, we haven't used the tutorial at all because we have been busy playing the game itself. Hmmm...we've been playing...lot of that here...very happy with the purchase!
ReplyDeleteI guess your game might be one that you could drop to total newbie and it might be possible for him or her to get what roleplaying game is.
ReplyDeletePersonally I might prefer other retroclones for other reasons but your game might be the best "seed game" to spawn new gaming groups.
Nobody showed me the ropes on what is roleplaying game, it was the excellent Finnish edition of Red Box that I used as base to figure it all out.
The Tute book is the only 'how to' I've ever read that makes complete and total sense. I would (and will shortly) give this book to a complete nube without a second thought.
ReplyDeleteAs for the example of play being too long... When you get the gist you can stop reading, if you want to keep reading you'll be rewarded with some great LOL moments. I would say that someone who had only ever played World of Warcraft would definitely benefit from the complete read-through.
The tutorial is excellent - from example of play, to tutorial dungeon etc. It is all aces, and have showed it to my group to read who are all seasoned vets.
ReplyDeleteThat said, all the other product fulfillment issue complaints that arise from some corners, frankly are to be expected.
I did a breakdown of the value prop delivery of the Lotfp would be potentially in advance here that spoke to this.
But, that is the product development hat I wear that is very much sort of a helm of opposite alignment; is very difficult to take off! Someone remove curse, please.
You hate the idea but the tutorial makes sense as a Web supplement. It's a read-once thing, not a rules reference. You'll lower the print/shipping costs and ergo the sticker price, your most common complaint. Once it's digitized, you can open the example of play to community suggestions, revise and expand the text, annotate, link to videos of old school play, basically keep it a living document and bridge to the OSR online.
ReplyDeleteAnd presto, the original print run's a collector's item.