There is a Possibility of a Pen and Paper Project Eternity RPG

[keiichimorisato98]

I recently asked on the Project Eternity Kick Starters page at the possibility of a Pen and Paper RPG inspired by and set in the world of Project Eternity. what inspired me to ask is two fold, 1) i was watching a show on a youtube channel called Counter Monkey, which sparked my interest in the world of Pen and Paper RPG's. 2) Sine the guys at Obsidian are huge fans of Pen and Paper RPG's as well as CRPG's and WRPG's i thought there was a possibility of this happening. 

This is the response i received Hello Keichi,

Thank you for your interest in Project Eternity. At the moment, we are unable to comment on your question but it is entirely possible.

Thank you for your support, 
Maria

What do you think? are you as excited for the possibility as i am?

[melkathi]

 are you as excited for the possibility as i am?

 

Nope

 

Project Eternity hasn't released yet and thus has not yet been able to show me how it is truly unique or at least preferable over countless existing settings.

Besides that, I haven't been able to get a proper gaming group togethe rin yeas so even if it turns out to be awesomesauce, I wouldn't be able to play anyway.

[Amentep]

I'd be interested; of course I'd be more interested once I'm more familiar with how PE will be in the game.  But I like PnP stuff too.

[Gorgon]

It sounds good now, but then you remember how every session ended in a huge argument about a particular outcome or ruling. Also, I don't know if I would be up for that again without the services of my mom for refreshments and cleanup duty.

[Falkon Swiftblade]

It would be incredibly easy to create a table top version of this since they're already working with 2d maps in the game. Just add hex overlay to the maps and make some cards or something and easy pen and paper game.

[melkathi]

Who needs maps and hexes for pen and paper games?

[Walsingham]

It's all in the mind.

[melkathi]

Thanks Wals. I think I'll never sleep again, too terrified that some crazy brainsurgeon turned modernist artist will come at night, open up my skull and draw a hex grid on my brain.

[Walsingham]

Thanks Wals. I think I'll never sleep again, too terrified that some crazy brainsurgeon turned modernist artist will come at night, open up my skull and draw a hex grid on my brain.

 

You should be so lucky. I predict ME cracking your skull with a toffee hammer, and sprinkling plastic goblins all over your hippocampus like pistachios on icecream.

 

And now I want icecream.

[melkathi]

There's worse fates.

I am known to like goblins:

http://melkathi.deviantart.com/art/Goblin-amp-gambler-381120322

and worse:

http://melkathi.deviantart.com/art/Goblinesque-359822029

[Sensuki]

It wouldn't be hard to convert the PC rules to tabletop on your own either.

[melkathi]

It wouldn't be hard to convert the PC rules to tabletop on your own either.

 

Thats what generic rpg rules are for, right?

[Walsingham]

There's worse fates.

I am known to like goblins:

http://melkathi.deviantart.com/art/Goblin-amp-gambler-381120322

and worse:

http://melkathi.deviantart.com/art/Goblinesque-359822029

 

I like the drawing.

[rjshae]

It would be incredibly easy to create a table top version of this since they're already working with 2d maps in the game. Just add hex overlay to the maps and make some cards or something and easy pen and paper game.

 

I'd imagine a PnP version may need some simplification of the mechanics. You can do a lot of background calculation in a CRPG to determine things like radii of effects or damage results, but it may be much fun for the GM to do that.

[Semper]

what rjshae said. plus they already said that they're creating the rules with heavy cpu calculation and real time in mind. there's no simple dice rolling in the background where the mathematics is simple and fast for a pnp session. we're talking about percentage and a range of 1-100+ for almost everything. to transform this into a pnp compatible game you have to rewrite the whole rules system from the ground up. i heavily doubt that this'll ever happen.

 

what you recieved as official response is just business talk. words without substance.

[melkathi]

Percentages (read: the 1-100 range) is not a problem though. There are enough systems which use exactly that. There are after all more ways to run a pen and paper game than the d20 system.

 

If a pen and paper version is made, and I feel its too early to be certain of it or to rule it out entirely, then most likely a small team will addapt one of the prelevant concepts of pen and paper rules to fit the spirit of the game. The important thing will be to create a ruleset that do the setting and its unique ideas justice, not to simulate every calculation the computer may be doing.

[Walsingham]

what rjshae said. plus they already said that they're creating the rules with heavy cpu calculation and real time in mind. there's no simple dice rolling in the background where the mathematics is simple and fast for a pnp session. we're talking about percentage and a range of 1-100+ for almost everything. to transform this into a pnp compatible game you have to rewrite the whole rules system from the ground up. i heavily doubt that this'll ever happen.

 

what you recieved as official response is just business talk. words without substance.

 

Be fair. At least they had the simple manners to reply.

[Calrabjohns]

Barring an official PnP RPG, what systems would you guys use (if so inclined) to use the PE setting as it's known to us so far? Or alternately, what do you think will end up being the best system to adapt (more speculative with less need of knowledge to entertain a thought---the lazy man's version )

[melkathi]

Without having played the game I find it hard to decide. just because of popularity I wouldn't be surprised if someone tried to makea  d20 version. And it may actually work, seeing how PE will be a class based game.

But something similar to Dark Heresy could also work.

Personally I enjoy systems based on percentages, as those are the easiest for me to get my head around. And I enjoy a system to be supporting the game through existing in the background and not be the driving force of the game.

[mrlobo2014]

Barring an official PnP RPG, what systems would you guys use (if so inclined) to use the PE setting as it's known to us so far? Or alternately, what do you think will end up being the best system to adapt (more speculative with less need of knowledge to entertain a thought---the lazy man's version )

 

Since I like the OSR stuff I would use PE in a First or Original DnD rules format. I can definitely imagine using maps from Eternity in an ongoing campaign. Maybe have something similar to the first World of Greyhawk folio that was put out. You know, just a basic outline of the areas and controlling factions with some gorgeous maps to back it up?

 

What concerns me the most is the content that would be made available. Would there be spoilers for the Eternity CRPG? What would be different from the main story in the CRPG?  An alternate Eternity Universe perhaps? What type of canon material would be included or discarded? Lots of questions to think about. I think it may be easier converting from a PnP game to a CRPG game than the reverse.

 

Maybe story lines and fragments from the CRPG that aren't entirely fleshed out can be used to create scenarios for an Eternity PnP game. That way users can get some satisfaction that they are contributing and putting their own mark on the Eternity universe in a way.  But of course the main question is: Would it be profitable to release maps and fluff material for generic RPG rules?

[Monte Carlo]

It would work better as a source-book for any number of existing systems, rather than as a standalone game IMO.

 

They could use existing synergies with Paizo, for example, and release a Pathfinder PoE series.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

It would work better as a source-book for any number of existing systems, rather than as a standalone game IMO.

 

They could use existing synergies with Paizo, for example, and release a Pathfinder PoE series.

I could see that working, but some classes would need a revamp to line up with the lore of PoE, Monks in particular.

[nipsen]

Barring an official PnP RPG, what systems would you guys use (if so inclined) to use the PE setting as it's known to us so far? Or alternately, what do you think will end up being the best system to adapt (more speculative with less need of knowledge to entertain a thought---the lazy man's version )

I think maybe the world lore could be a little bit difficult to maintain as a game-master. Maybe it would be possible to let people play as one of the tribes in the setting, and limit it that way (I'm expecting that every kind of culture on the map has their own spin on soul magic. And that these are relatively short versions with a few set criteria).

 

But the ruleset seems interesting, imo. And since you can make up all kinds of half-consistent conventions for how soul magic will work, there'd be all kinds of great ways to incorporate completely lopsided party setups without having to stretch the mechanics. Different wizard setups could make wizard duels actually be interesting, for example. Without having to make up new classes from scratch, disregard the ruleset completely, or invent templates that cheat with foreknowledge, and so on. You would just fill in the blanks and be creative with what is already there.

 

I mean, I've played with some friends over the Swords&Wizardry setup. And we picked that because it had a simple ruleset that won't take ages to resolve, that still allows us to be creative with what happens in the world. But the fights are boring, and there's no real strategy to figuring out how things happen. You bash the creature, it may or may not kill you. Repeat. Cheat and give the party an advantage if they're breaking the rules creatively. Everything that isn't boring just borrows from the ruleset, but violates it completely. Which can be difficult since you have a discussion going on where players want bonuses and extra attacks instead of that they seek to do damage in this or that way, or set up this and that strategy in the game-world.

 

So the way the character builds and abilities (possibly also the ones you make up) in PoE make instant narrative sense could make those stretches a lot less problematic, imo. You would let people pick something they want, play into the character, and adjust towards that. Instead of like you do in D&D types, when you steer people into picking a path and end up with a narratively interesting but mechanically hobbled character.. that you then have to adjust the ruleset towards on the fly, etc.

 

No more "which armor should I wear to maximize my chances in every fight" either, at least from what I've seen so far. Players choose narratively sensible things, and number responsibility shifts to the game-master almost exclusively. So could be a very comfortable ruleset to use for very good role-playing sessions. It's not like you can't use a spreadsheet to calculate dodge and reaction bonuses either.

[Connavar]

The idea seems quite interesting to me too. Game mechanics and stuff aren't so difficult to find - adapt to or create. One can even relate to existing systems also through collaborations.

The important thing to understand though is that when converting or extracting a world from a game so that "new heroes" may come and "roleplay" whether this is called a board game or tabletop rpg, there must be a unique style element/reason to play. A unique reason for new heroes to emerge etc. Having 'Watchers' randomly walking around for adventuring isn't much worth dreaming of. You have played that in the "PC game". 

Generally the setting of POE has many nice elements...like animancy, hollowborn, watchers etc. That can make for a fantasy grim setting. But way more things must  emerge to cover up the "future plots" and politics for a complete world-setting, for a proper tabletop rpg.
 

[Dadalama]

I'm actually more interested in setting info. No matter what system it uses (even if it uses it's own system) I know which games I'm going to play it in. GURPS, Runequest, and Savage Worlds. I'm already building some stuff up for a Runequest conversion of the dyrwood area.

 

I mean yeah, you want rules, but I'm more interested in the inner workings of the living lands. Or the culture of the Valian Republics.