Tonight's Against the Darkmaster game is shaping up to be fun. The players asked the Last True Dragon for one favor before he expired forever, and used it to teleport more than half a dozen elf slayers into the depths of a horrible spawning pit-slash-fortress controlled by the Darkmaster's fleshchangers. They intend to surprise assault the place from within and give the human servants of the villains a chance to change sides. #ttrpg #rpg #againstthedarkmaster

#RPGADay2023 Wohl eher in Richtung komplex als einfach, aber N- #osr -talgie verklärt so manches.

Wie gesagt, #Rolemaster / #Spacemaster waren damals eine Weile unser Jam.
Entsprechend muss ich mich schwer beherrschen, zurzeit wird die dt. Version von #AgainsttheDarkmaster / #vsDarkmaster schwarmfinanziert. Die wilden "Open End Würfe" und die Criticals waren schon megacool!

Good luck and enjoy.

#MERS #MERP #PNPDE

https://www.gameontabletop.com/cf2131/against-the-darkmaster-deutsche-ausgabe.html

https://rollenspiel.social/@AetherEgo/110944046330194684

@thorgrit I wrote a whole series of posts about #AgainstTheDarkmaster https://dice.camp/@buzz/110114084516404514

I am almost certainly never going to play this and I feel like I was done with #MERP (the system this draws inspiration from) about 35 years ago, but this book is so darn pretty I couldn’t resist 😻 #AgainstTheDarkmaster #TTRPG

Beyond all of this, it's just a really good, contemporary take on MERP, i.e., MERP as if it were designed by people who have been paying attention to game design in the 21st century.
#vsd #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
13/13

Oh, and let me show you what a Skill entry in vsD looks like. That's it. Succinct and full of the rule info the GM needs. Sorta like the Factors lists in MG and BW. I love it.
#vsd #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
12/

Oh, there is also an option to run the game with no PC magic, which basically replaces the casting classes with the Sage class, who's whole schtick is just knowing lots of stuff.
#vsd #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
12/

There is also a War subsystem which allows PCs to participate in large battles, but zoomed in on their corner of the siege. Each battle gets a Menace Rating, which is like Disposition in BW that the PC actions can wear down. The more you wear it down, the more likely your side claims victory.
#vsd #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
11/

Journeys and camping are a whole sub-system. One of the coolest facets are Safe Havens. As characters journey, they can make rolls to "find" a Safe Haven near their current position. The Haven is then generated using a table that determines its Master, Defence, Place, and Special Feature. The Haven is added to the map and counts against the total number of Safe Havens in the campaign. I.e., there will a be point when there are no more Safe Havens to find.
#vsd #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
10/

There is no currency to track. PCs have a Wealth Level, which determines what items/services they can afford.
#vsd #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
9/

But! What's cool is that the group as a whole defines the list of Achievements. And there are two options. The group can either make a single list that applies to all PCs, or they can make class-based lists, with a few "applies to everyone" Achievements tacked on. So, a rogue Achievement might be, "Your cunning or dexterity opened a new path when all seemed lost." A champion's might have, "You worked hard or suffered hardship to help your companions."
#vsd #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
8/

The system uses classes and levels. XP is gained by accomplishing Achievements. E.g., "You traveled to or explored a location you’ve never seen before," or "You discovered secrets of an ancient past, or recovered ancient artifacts or treasures." These will sound familiar to MERP/RM players.
#vsd #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
7/

Playing to you Passions generates Drive, which is a meta currency for altering rolls and such. Spending Drive also pushes the PC down their Heroic Path, i.e. earns them Milestones which provide advancements. If the PC dies, they can pass on some of their remaining Drive to the player's next PC.
#vsd #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
6/

PCs in vsD have Passions, which are sort of like Beliefs from BW. They usually have three: a Nature, and Allegiance, and a Motivation. E.g., "I will follow my companion and master Eoin wherever our path will lead us." There is one Kin — the Firbolg, aka giants — that have a fourth Passion, Doom, which is foreknowledge of how they will die.
#vsd #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
5/

Oh, any anytime a PC uses magic, they risk drawing the attention of the Darkmaster. The darker the magic, the more likely the attention. This can range anywhere from "The Darkmaster is now aware that you exist" to "Servants of the Darkmaster show up in two rounds and try to kill you." The Eye of Sauron and all that.
#vsd #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
4/

The Darkmaster has a signature artifact, imbued with power and tied to a prophecy that points to how they might be defeated. The Darkmaster also has servants who enforce their will; your group chooses what types of creatures they are. The Darkmaster has a Dark Place that is their seat of power. They have powers, like inspiring fear, tempting the free peoples, cloaking the land in eternal winter, etc. They can also Taint a PC's soul, possibly corrupting them.
#vsD #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
3/

The hook of this game is that your group of PCs will lead a campaign to defeat the Darkmaster, i.e., the signature Big Bad of the campaign who has brought evil and darkness to the land. There is a whole chapter on creating your bespoke Darkmaster, with tables to roll on and everything if that's what you want to do. Think Sauron and the like.
#vsD #AgainstTheDarkmaster #rpg
2/

I want to talk about why I really like #AgainstTheDarkmaster (or #vsD.

It's a retroclone/remake of ICE's Middle-Earth Role Playing (MERP). It is intended as a long-form campaign game, i.e., it is not a murderhobo/dungeoncrawl game.

Aside: The main reason I took a look at this game int he first place is because, in the ludography and on their site, the designers name-checked Burning Wheel, Mouse Guard, and Pendragon as inspirations. That deserved my attention.

https://www.vsdarkmaster.com
#rpg
1/

Yo nunca jugué a MERP más allá de un par de intentos cutres en los alborísimos de mi vida rolera (¿sería en el 99?), así que para mí el factor nostalgia no tiene un gran peso aquí. No obstante este juego pinta resultón y el criterio de la gente de Other Selves acostumbra a seguir la "rule of cool". En fin, que a nadie le amarga un dulce. La semana que viene ponen a andar el croufando y habrá que echarles unas perrillas.

#rol #juegosderol #AgainstTheDarkmaster #ttrpg

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103100116/against-the-darkmaster-edicion-en-castellano

Yo nunca jugué a MERP más allá de un par de intentos cutres en los alborísimos de mi vida rolera (¿sería en el 99?), así que para mí el factor nostalgia no tiene un gran peso aquí. No obstante este juego pinta resultón y el criterio de la gente de Other Selves acostumbra a seguir la "rule of cool". En fin, que a nadie le amarga un dulce. La semana que viene ponen a andar el croufando y habrá que echarles unas perrillas.

#rol #juegosderol #AgainstTheDarkmaster #ttrpg

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103100116/against-the-darkmaster-edicion-en-castellano