Announcement from Free League Publishing

[comped]

Originally Posted by Ewan

Hopefully the rules will allow you to build other European PCs such as British and German characters.
Really like the picture of the unit moving in the rain.

From the pages they've posted, it seems like that isn't going to be an option, or at least isn't detailed in the pages they've shown. If that is all the different branches we get... why do only the US get anything other than the army?

[Ewan]

Originally Posted by comped

From the pages they've posted, it seems like that isn't going to be an option, or at least isn't detailed in the pages they've shown. If that is all the different branches we get... why do only the US get anything other than the army?

Maybe it’s part of a Quickstarter ruleset to give backers a chance to create some characters.

[Raellus]

Given that Sweden is going to among the official campaign settings, I'd imagine that there are going to be non-US military and civilian character build options.

[Targan]

I'm pretty used to the move over the decades towards rules becoming increasingly simplified, but in a gritty, realistic setting like T2K? Those excerpts suggest it's going a bit too far towards rools-lite for my tastes. Here's hoping the setting materials make up for it.

[Olefin]

The vehicle choices are way too simplistic - and only the M113APC or the M1A1 - no Bradley's, no LAV-25, no military trucks at all? It seems like it will be up to referees and players to have the wider choice of vehicles. I hope this doesnt mean that there will be only a very limited choice of vehicles when the time comes.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by Olefin

The vehicle choices are way too simplistic - and only the M113APC or the M1A1 - no Bradley's, no LAV-25, no military trucks at all? It seems like it will be up to referees and players to have the wider choice of vehicles. I hope this doesnt mean that there will be only a very limited choice of vehicles when the time comes.

It's a sample. Either there will be more in the finished base product or, in keeping with the tenets of capitalistic enterprise, they're setting up a supplemental product (like a vehicle guide, for example).

Think of it as a teaser trailer for a movie. It's designed to build curiosity, excitement, and buzz, not tell a complete story.

My point is, don't read too much into this sample, folks. It's just a tiny taste, not whole enchilada.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Raellus

My point is, don't read too much into this sample, folks. It's just a taste, not a representative sample.

Exactly. Even the current draft material some of us are looking at (but can't share much of) is still very much a work in progress with some very large gaps. The art and layout stuff they've presented so far is really just like a movie trailer - enough to give a tiny taste and nothing more. In movie terms they haven't even completed filming yet!

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by Targan

I'm pretty used to the move over the decades towards rules becoming increasingly simplified, but in a gritty, realistic setting like T2K? Those excerpts suggest it's going a bit too far towards rools-lite for my tastes. Here's hoping the setting materials make up for it.

LOL! You run the RoleMaster system, better known as "RulesMaster." There is NO modern RPG that can carry enough "crunch" to match what you use now! I KNOW this. There are copies of Character Law, Arms Law, Claws Law, and Spells Law on my own shelf as I type this. I have this image of you sitting behind a 5-foot tall GM's Screen just to have enough space to post all the crits charts you'd need to run a decent game. From a "complexity standpoint," the RoleMaster system is NO JOKE.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by swaghauler

LOL! You run the RoleMaster system, better known as "RulesMaster." There is NO modern RPG that can carry enough "crunch" to match what you use now! I KNOW this. There are copies of Character Law, Arms Law, Claws Law, and Spells Law on my own shelf as I type this. I have this image of you sitting behind a 5-foot tall GM's Screen just to have enough space to post all the crits charts you'd need to run a decent game. From a "complexity standpoint," the RoleMaster system is NO JOKE.

An entirely fair observation . But even the very slim v1 T2K rules were FAR better suited to a modern combat RPG than the teaser rules we've seen for the new edition. I'm pretty good at honest self-reflection, I know full well that my penchant for complex, maybe even 'simulationist' rules isn't practical for most gaming groups. And certainly wouldn't appeal to the widest possible audience. But IMHO there's a balance to be struck, and while very light-on rules might well be the thing for today's new crop of TTRPGers, I suspect for those of us who were playing the v1, v2 and v2.2 rules when they were first published, the new rules system will seem cartoony.

As always, my comments on the new edition are in no way intended to put anyone off buying them and playing them. If a group enjoys them, play the hell out of them I say. More power to 'em.

[Sith]

As a Cold War historian, I want this game to be a success. However, I have this lingering gut feeling that I am wondering if others are sensing too.

This game doesn’t bring anything new to the table.

Version 1 was a new military based rpg that “felt” as if it could actually happen.

Version 2/2.2 introduced a new rules system

Version 3 introduced a new rules system and setting.

Version 4 “feels like” a version 2 redux... Cold War setting with a new rule set.

Even if the history is well thought out and incorporates “what we know now” in a way that brings a true sense of what could have been, it’s still the same basic game experience that 2.2 was.

Don’t misinterpret, I hope to be proven wrong. This is simply based on a lingering sense that I am feeling in the back of my brain... right next to all of the other useless bits of information. But I am wondering if anyone else is sensing the same thing?

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by Targan

An entirely fair observation . But even the very slim v1 T2K rules were FAR better suited to a modern combat RPG than the teaser rules we've seen for the new edition. I'm pretty good at honest self-reflection, I know full well that my penchant for complex, maybe even 'simulationist' rules isn't practical for most gaming groups. And certainly wouldn't appeal to the widest possible audience. But IMHO there's a balance to be struck, and while very light-on rules might well be the thing for today's new crop of TTRPGers, I suspect for those of us who were playing the v1, v2 and v2.2 rules when they were first published, the new rules system will seem cartoony.

As always, my comments on the new edition are in no way intended to put anyone off buying them and playing them. If a group enjoys them, play the hell out of them I say. More power to 'em.

I'm working from an open mind. I acquired Mutant: Year Zero to check them out. It has kind of a SHADOWRUN vibe to it but is very rules-lite too. I see from the posting above that they will be using a different size of die (unlike MUTANT which uses D6s) like SAVAGE WORLDS does? I'm hopeful but skeptical too, but I'll probably STILL buy the fourth (fifth*) edition to mine it for good ideas. I have taken loads of ideas from Twilight2013 (the technical 4th edition*) for use with version 2.2 (the real 3rd Edition*).

I'm still imagining you behind that 5ft GM's screen and you didn't deny having it. Do you have a window in it or do you just hang up a "GM is in" sign and narrate the image of a cold cruel world invisibly from behind that screen? at least the PCs have all their Crit charts available too...

* I hate how everyone just overlooks my beloved V2.2 Edition as the third ittineration of Twilight2000.