Troll Lord Games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXsFNPO_ ... r_embedded
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Richard McBain

Trolllord Games

Convention Coordinator

Executive Director - TrollCon, Winter Dark
richard@trolllord.com

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ALEA IACTA EST - THE DIE IS CAST

Whenever that technology get's below a grand heck yeah! What a fantastic device for visual aids, especially if the narrator is piloting the thing to run a game.

Imagine Aihrde with a touch map you could bring up setting material on. For now though, I still love good old analog paper.

Not for me, it is not.
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If it matters, leave a message at the beep.
Serl's Corner

Yeah...saw that demo. Very cool. I'd love to have one of those! If they can get it to be cost-effect, I think it would be great.

Would be nice if a gaming store could have a back room with a couple of them set up for people to use
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"There are two kinds of people in the world: those with guns, and those who dig." - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I can picture game rooms with a couple of those tables set up for use (Renting).

The problem with the whole RPG on a touch-surface concept is that its only valid for a type of gaming that has a very limited appeal. The overwhelming majority of people simply do not want to play what looks like an over-complicated boardgame, whether or not a computer does the complicated calculations and provides little animations. I am of the opinion that trying to create a hybrid of the Digital and Pen & Paper experiences is a dead end. Personally, I find miniatures-based play far less interesting and exciting than narrative-based play, and if I want a digital experience I'll just play a game on my computer. Plus, there's absolutely no way I'd ever install an expensive piece of computer equipment so that players can smear potato chip grease on it and spill beer all over it!

In my opinion, the future of gaming (if we mean expanding the player base beyond what already exists) means creating a game that:

1) Isn't called an RPG, so it doesn't have the stigma of D&D associated with it. People should think of game play as a kind of story-telling party more than a game per se.

2) Is Descriptor-based rather than number based, because most people do not want to do any math to have fun.

3) Involves a set of very simple guidelines that employ real-world terms, knowledge and common sense rather than jargon and complicated rules.

4) Is simple enough to be playable while drinking.

5) Is tied to a concept/genre that is inherently cool or sexy.

6) Doesn't try to compete with computer games in things that they will always do better (combat-heavy gameplay, for example).

Of course, I think such a game would be hated and lambasted by the existing RPG player community, especially if it got popular with people who weren't previously gamers.
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The Engine of Oracles: Creations For Gaming
http://engineoforacles.wordpress.com/

It looks complicated. I wouldn't have the patience to learn how to use it.
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"You're not going crazy, you're going sane in a crazy world."

- The Tick

Youre usually out in front of this, chief, but someone posted this a month or more back. You got scoopsored.

Seems like it might be better for some of the euro boardgames, in the Settlers of Cataan mode, or perhaps some of the smaller scale miniatures wargames, or even a cardboard counter type board war game, than for an RPG.
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Sir Dachda McKinty,

Margrave and Knight of Portlandia
Castles & Crusades Society

dachda wrote:
Seems like it might be better for some of the euro boardgames, in the Settlers of Cataan mode, or perhaps some of the smaller scale miniatures wargames, or even a cardboard counter type board war game, than for an RPG.

agree, for boardgames and war games, if you think that want spend alot money to play otherwise inexpensive games. My poorly painted miniatures and badly made terrain still look better.

double-c wrote:
Whenever that technology get's below a grand heck yeah! What a fantastic device for visual aids, especially if the narrator is piloting the thing to run a game.

Yeah maybe when that happens, if ever.

Sorry, just doesn't do it for me! {Where the hell's me walker...}
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Eulaliaaa!!! Give those rapscallions blood and vinegar, wot?!

Be sure to check out Jim's artwork for sale:
http://jimhollowayart.com/id5.html

Cool. Don't see it as that useful for an RPG other than cool factor...but for some of the wargames I play...people would be auctioning off body parts for that table.
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The obvious will always trip you up FAR more than the obscure.

Baron Grignak Hammerhand of the Pacifica Provinces-

High Warden of the Castles & Crusades Society

clavis123 wrote:
In my opinion, the future of gaming (if we mean expanding the player base beyond what already exists) means creating a game that:

1) Isn't called an RPG, so it doesn't have the stigma of D&D associated with it. People should think of game play as a kind of story-telling party more than a game per se.

2) Is Descriptor-based rather than number based, because most people do not want to do any math to have fun.

3) Involves a set of very simple guidelines that employ real-world terms, knowledge and common sense rather than jargon and complicated rules.

4) Is simple enough to be playable while drinking.

5) Is tied to a concept/genre that is inherently cool or sexy.

6) Doesn't try to compete with computer games in things that they will always do better (combat-heavy gameplay, for example).

Of course, I think such a game would be hated and lambasted by the existing RPG player community, especially if it got popular with people who weren't previously gamers.

I think there's a game very close to thus, and it's called Trail of Cthulhu.
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Drug of choice...coffee

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I dunno - I mean it's cool and all. I probably thought about something like this 20 years ago, sitting in my bedroom and saydreaming about computerizing D&D. But now that it's here, I don't think so. I like notebooks full of notes, I like real dice and maps, and if I use figs (which I do about 50% of the time) I want those to be real, too.
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LD's C&C creations - the witch, a half-ogre, skill and 0-level rules

Troll Lord wrote:
Lord D: you understand where I"m coming from.

How can you cheat on your die rolls with this computerized RPG.

Hrolfgar wrote:
How can you cheat on your die rolls with this computerized RPG.

Just like kids do these days, cup your hands around the result and lie your ass off.