twisty on 5/9/2012 at 12:37
That looks truly wonderful. I don't play table-top RPGs -- don't have time -- but I could easily spend some time reading through this. It looks so well thought out and a real labour of love.
KeeperAndralf on 5/9/2012 at 16:17
I will start by saying that I am not a huge fan of RPGs, on the whole. Since the golden age of PC adventure games has passed, I have been forced to adapt to other modalities to satisfy my adventure cravings. For the past year, I have lost myself in Lord of the Rings Online. I can't speak for WoW, since I never played it, but I can still say with assurance that LotRO has got to be the best MMO out there atm. The graphics are stunning, the locations are enormous, and everyone raves about the storyline. Rest assured, my heart will always belong with The City. The idea of a Thief RPG sounds tantalizing, but I fear this would be too difficult to actualize. For one thing, we could not have hundreds of Garretts running around. That would be very strange. And who wants to play without Garrett?
Until Garrett returns, for those who like the idea of RPing Thief characters, consider joining LotRO. I have started a kinship there for this very purpose, called The Keeper Council. It is a fully-functioning kinship on the Firefoot server. So far, I am the only Thief fan in it. I would really like for that to change. If you would like to look into this, I am pleased to announce our new website, (
http://keepercouncil.guildlaunch.com) http://keepercouncil.guildlaunch.com. I would really like to get some Thief fans on board, especially to fill officer spots. This is the closest I believe we will get to a Thief MMOG. LotRO is an excellent game on its own, but bringing Thief into LotRO would make it that much more interesting.
kaprou on 6/9/2012 at 00:04
Quote Posted by twisty
That looks truly wonderful. I don't play table-top RPGs -- don't have time -- but I could easily spend some time reading through this. It looks so well thought out and a real labour of love.
Thanks!
I recommend looking at page 4, where I suggest how to adapt the game for groups. Page 8-9 have 10 adventuring motives for characters of each faction. Pages 10-12 have a sampling of dark secrets to make your character more interesting. Then on 62-65, there is a conflict generator, mission generator, and list of rare treasures. These are designed to go together so you can quickly whip up "Thief" style missions based on artifacts by interpreting the results of random tables and drawing inspiration from magic items.
I think if people are looking for inspirations for Thief style characters, or making fan missions, all this would be useful.
Thanks for checking it out!
Yorkist on 6/9/2012 at 02:55
Kaprou,
A lot of stuff to take in. You clearly spent much time and effort on it and I think it's very impressive. I will read through it and get back to you about my thoughts.
kaprou on 6/9/2012 at 02:58
Quote Posted by Yorkist
Kaprou,
A lot of stuff to take in. You clearly spent much time and effort on it and I think it's very impressive. I will read through it and get back to you about my thoughts.
Great! I look forward to hearing what you think.
Tannar on 6/9/2012 at 19:50
This looks fantastic! I wish I had time to play it. Congrats on creating and releasing this and thanks! It's another fine addition to the Thief community! :thumb:
Quintus Descendant on 22/9/2012 at 22:41
I've had experiences with RPGs before, so here are my first impressions. /cracks knuckles
The mechanics are simple and straightforward, which I found a pleasure to use while building my first characters. The occupational templates, however, I feel could use more fleshing out; an optional talent for each, or perhaps suggestions of talents from other templates to emulate, would have been interesting to see. However, I may have missed over a section that mentioned such an idea, as I am still studying the PDF. Languages could also be better fleshed out; what is Woodsie and Forgetongue, for example? I'm assuming Pagan pidgin and Hammerite "old speech", but some ideas for the less lore-savvy would be great. And no mention of Brillian or Prinkish?
The grammar and wording was good, but there were a few slip-ups. Be careful of run-ons and using too many conjunctions; run-ons make the reading tiring to process. Conjunctions unnecessarily pad sentences and give the reader further sense of fatigue. It also sounds a lot like you're stammering when this happens, and when someone is trying to learn a new RPG system, being as clear-cut as possible helps.
Overall, I give it a 3/5, maybe a 3.5/5 at the best. What you really need right now is another proofread, some clarifications and a general dash of polish.
kaprou on 26/9/2012 at 03:10
Thanks for taking a look!
The occupational TALENTS are not templates. They are talents you can take so you have the skills of the occupation. Or, they are for NPCs who don't need more.
I was aiming straight for the feel of Thief, rather than the deep trivia. I do not have all the background details (like Brillian or Prinkish). I figure people who are going to run a game like this will either be so well versed in the detail that they'll put in their own, or just want a suggestion for some languages besides the default. I will certainly think about your suggestion for adding more clarity there.
I'd love to have a copy editor! As you may notice, I am only moderately successful encouraging people to look at the game, much less assist with that sort of work. I appreciate your efforts as the only review with an eye to content so far on this piece. I've put it out there several places, but it is not of interest enough for people to take a look and respond thoughtfully. Since I can't and wouldn't sell the game anyway, it's hard to justify paying money to refine it to the level you suggest.
It is discouraging to see my little game score so low on your rating. Still, that's what happens when you put your stuff out there. Not everyone will like it. I hope you at least get some enjoyment out of the fluffy bits I made up on artifacts, adventuring motives, and that sort of thing. On the bright side, it's free.
Quintus Descendant on 27/9/2012 at 05:46
On Talents: I apologize, I looked too quickly through that section. Thank you for the clarification.
On the rating: I got a lot of enjoyment out of your RPG, actually, as it is helping me generate character ideas that better fit the Thief universe than what I could have come up with on my own. The fact your first version also got a 3, in my books, shows you have a great deal of potential upon improving and touching up the game. Your fluff was lovely, the mechanics weren't hard to grasp, and all the PDF needs is just a bit of polish.
