I had the lads around for the first playtest of the new version of Duty and Honour and wow - was that a brutal, heart-wrenching, annoying, eye-opening and fundamentally WONDERFUL experience.
First up, anyone that has printed out a copy of the game already to playtest I have to say that I'm sorry but so much of that game is utter pants and needs to be fixed. Skills that have no purpose, stats that have no purpose (stats with no purpose ffs!), missing uses for Talents and a chargen system that can simply be done better and quicker. I was stunned.
However then, after I realised that there were some fundamental problems - some seriously fundamental problems - there came the solutions. We looked at the game from the bottom up. We fixed the reputations and in so doing fixed some of the stats, which fed into a whole internal mechanic which runs on all levels and really works. Discipline means something really important now. As does Charm. Reputations are simpler and streamlined. Skills have been pruned down to things that are useful. Previous experience becomes more holistic and intuative. Money has gone but resources are still there.
And using the changes one of the guys and I played out some systems and suddenly they work.
It was a highs and lows session that ended on a massive high. I have an absolute fuck ton of work to do to make this the game that I want it to be but now I have the tools to do it. The game that appeared at the end is actually a game that I would like to run and one that I could really see myself running. Hell - it made quite a cool one-on-one game which I thought was impossible.
Maybe it was the Legos that helped!?
Anyway - expect a newer version for download sooner rather than later as I like to strike whilst the iron is hot. And I'll publically extend my thanks to Andrew and Dave. Awesome friends.
Neil
Good show!
Submitted by Malcolm Craig on Sun, 11/11/2007 - 23:58.
Excellent news.
I'll hold off on my commenting on the current version (I have a copy with numerous notes attached to it) until you have a revised version, then I'll try to integrate some of the comments I had with that.
A couple of things from my notes that night segue icely into the changes you are making:
You explain what Measures DO but there is adequate explanation for what they ARE. The section on them could do with a bit more about this.
In character creation, you mention the English, Irish and Scots. What about the Welsh?
In social classes, what about a 'professional' class? Perhaps the character was a doctor, dentist or lawyer who had to join the army for dark and mysterious reasons?
Should the 'character background' questions not appear at the very sart of character creation, rather than two third of the way through?
With languages, what do characters start with? Do foriegn soldiers have to buy langauges in order to be able to communicate with others? Or is their the linga franca amongst the military?
Anyway, that's just a few thoughts for now.
Cheers
Malc
Contested Ground Studios
Answers
Submitted by Neil Gow on Mon, 12/11/2007 - 12:34.
The Measures section has been totally rewritten.
I was struggling to find something individual to say about the Welsh and then I found a book where they play a good role and have a distinct personality. That and Zulu, naturally. I'll be adding them in.
Good call on the Professional class. Easy to add.
Another good call on the Character Backgrounds and something that become apparent last night as the answers to the questions gave some soul to the events that occured in the cards.
I'm tempted to bottle out and simply have everyone speak English in some form or another, as is presented in the source material. I have been forever scared by my first ever 'public' roleplay experience where I played a barbarian with a 15% language skill and was forced to play charades for most of the night. I detest complex language stuff!!
Thanks for the feedback Malcolm - helpful as always.
Neil
Take the King's shilling at http://www.omnihedron.co.uk/dutyandhonour/
Languages
Submitted by Rich Stokes on Mon, 12/11/2007 - 16:06.
I'm tempted to bottle out and simply have everyone speak English in some form or another, as is presented in the source material.
Neil,
I fail to see how making it like the source material is bottling out.
Actually, I have seen a few
Submitted by Mike Sands on Mon, 12/11/2007 - 18:35.
Actually, I have seen a few books where language has been a problem for certain characters. Specifically, some of the King's German Legion didn't speak English (at first, anyhow).
In the naval variant of the game this is going to be a concern, too. The Royal Navy often signed on foreigners, with the ability to learn to understand orders pretty much all that was required.
Given that, I'd suggest that all the player characters should speak English, although possibly with an option to speak it badly/with a terrible accent as a character quirk.