Game of Thrones

[Tyrant]

Man,
I am Soooo looking forward to running a game in that setting.
The map is easy to get, there doesn't seem to be too much magic to give one a headache, and the Hero system is idealy suited for this low magic fantasy style.

Anyone else thought about running a game in George R R Martin's setting?

Tyrant

[Old Man]

Might not be as easy as it sounds--there's a hell of a lot of intrigue and politics in that series, and a distinct lack of non-human foes south of the Wall. But if you've got intelligent players who actually don't have to be led around by the nose, this wouldn't be a problem.

Also, while it's been low magic so far, there are hints that it isn't going to stay that way. But then again the guy averages one book every two years, so your campaign might be over before you have to worry about any of that.

Excellent, excellent books. Wish the guy could write faster, but I won't mind as long as he eventually finishes with no drop in quality...

[Tyrant]

Same here!
I was on the G RR Martin website earlier.
He's still working on the fourth book.
Now again, if the series keeps up the level of quality we've come to expect, I don't mind the wait. But there's still 2 more books after this. I just hope he doesn't punk out and decide that he's had enough before the series is finished.

That would p*** me off to no end...

[Old Man]

Actually there's three books left after this one. Book 4 was supposed to be "A Dance with Dragons", but it got pushed back to 5; Feast for Crows is up next. I forget what the other two books are supposed to be called.

In other words, the series probably won't be finished until 2009, assuming GRRM maintains his current pace and doesn't see fit to add any more books. This is why I usually don't buy in to fantasy series that are yet unfinished... but AGoT was sooooo gooooood...

[allen]

Originally posted by Old Man
Actually there's three books left after this one. Book 4 was supposed to be "A Dance with Dragons", but it got pushed back to 5; Feast for Crows is up next. I forget what the other two books are supposed to be called.

In other words, the series probably won't be finished until 2009, assuming GRRM maintains his current pace and doesn't see fit to add any more books. This is why I usually don't buy in to fantasy series that are yet unfinished... but AGoT was sooooo gooooood...

Ah, Old Man, you are not alone... I too don't usually start reading a series until it's over, but Game of Thrones was really good (and I don't even like "epic" fantasy very much). And the next two were just as good... which was hard to believe, given my experience with other series in the same genre/sub-genre.

I also read somewhere that the series was <i>at least</i> six books... have you heard it's definitely six?

allen

Ps. I find the time GRRM takes to write the books to be comforting. I mean at least he's not just hacking them out.

Pps. There's a novella in the latest issue of Dragon Magazine (<i>Arms of the Kraken</i> I think it's called). I believe it's an excerpt from <i>Feast of Crows</i>.

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by allen
Ah, Old Man, you are not alone... I too don't usually start reading a series until it's over, but Game of Thrones was really good (and I don't even like "epic" fantasy very much). And the next two were just as good... which was hard to believe, given my experience with other series in the same genre/sub-genre.

I also read somewhere that the series was <i>at least</i> six books... have you heard it's definitely six?

allen

Ps. I find the time GRRM takes to write the books to be comforting. I mean at least he's not just hacking them out.

Pps. There's a novella in the latest issue of Dragon Magazine (<i>Arms of the Kraken</i> I think it's called). I believe it's an excerpt from <i>Feast of Crows</i>.

Definately 6 books. The first three a five year break. Three more books.

[allen]

Originally posted by MisterVimes
Definately 6 books. The first three a five year break. Three more books.

Hallelujah

[MuscaDomestica]

Slight spoilers

I thought it was going to be 7 books, Feast of Crows was added later because the five year span was too interesting to be backstory... Which should be good, no major character deaths in this book.

I am not saying I want my characters to all live and be happy even if they act like idiots but there was a point in the third book where I put the book down and immediately started asking friends and posting on boards to see if it started to go a little better for the characters... because I was about to stop reading the book after that scene (It should be obvious which scene it is... and I would like to give the Martin points for doing something that shocking.)

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by MuscaDomestica
Slight spoilers

I thought it was going to be 7 books, Feast of Crows was added later because the five year span was too interesting to be backstory... Which should be good, no major character deaths in this book.

That would make a HUGE amount of sense, since the next one was suppose to be 'A Dance with Dragons'. So we have a Feast for Crows as a link between the two trilogies... very nice.

[allen]

Originally posted by MuscaDomestica
Slight spoilers

I thought it was going to be 7 books, Feast of Crows was added later because the five year span was too interesting to be backstory... Which should be good, no major character deaths in this book.

I have to admit, hearing this makes me go 'uh-oh'. But I'll attempt to swallow my doubt, since the man has written three entertaining books.

*SPOILERS AHOY*

Concerning character death: For me, that's one of the definite strengths of the series. The epic fantasy of nowadays (I guess specifically, Jordan, Goodkin, et al.) truly isn't my cup of tea; but Martin uses death to bring one story in the larger one to a close. For instance, Ned Stark is central to the first novel, and when you reach the end of Game of Thrones, his story is over. I mean, yeah, it's tragic -- even Tywin Lannister's death is tragic (to me at least -- I could sympathize with the man -- and I guess I should say presumed death). Basically, some individual stories comprising the series have their own closure, and I like that.

[Tyrant]

I keep thinking that HERO would be ideal to run a game set in Westeros.

Now granted, the books aren't finished yet and we don't know everything there is about the world, but I think there's enough that I could run a game set in the seven kingdoms.

Magic would be the only hard thing to figure out. But I guess how one handles the issue depends on what time peroid the game is set. But if I were to run it, I would most likely require a high level of "increased time" and certainly "concentraton".

[allen]

Originally posted by Tyrant
Magic would be the only hard thing to figure out. But I guess how one handles the issue depends on what time peroid the game is set. But if I were to run it, I would most likely require a high level of "increased time" and certainly "concentraton".

My opinion may change as the series progresses, but if I were to run a campaign within the setting, I wouldn't allow the PCs magic. In fact, I might consider... ummm... convincing one or more players to take a Psych Lim: Doesn't Believe In Magic (or Believes Magic No Longer Exists or whatever). Mainly because, I think the "return of magic" story/plot element is one of the more interesting aspects of the story, and would like to capture that over the course of the campaign.

[Tyrant]

Hmmm,
that's a pretty good point.
Actually, I kind of like the idea of running a gritty setting like Westeros without magic. That way, when magic does play a part, it has that much more impact.

What I think will really fit in nicely with the setting, are the mass combat combat rules that Steve mentioned would be included in Fantasy HERO.

I don't know about the rest of you, but one of the MAJOR beefs I have with most fantasy games on the market today, is the utter lack of effort in comming up with playable mass combat rules. And considering how often a fantasy setting is affected by war, I find that fact all the more annoying. It grates on my nerves that such an obvious dramatic tool gets treated, if at all, like an afterthought.

I've often wanted to run a "from rags to riches" game, in which my players carve out a kingdom or empire for themselves. But because running a war is so hard in most games, we usually either have to skim over the details, which really sucks, or we have to fudge a bunch of rules that only barely work. I hate it!

But if Fantasy HERO gives me the tools I need to run mass battles in a proper way, and maybe some suggestions for managing armies, I'll be an instant convert.

Tyrant

[allen]

Originally posted by Tyrant

What I think will really fit in nicely with the setting, are the mass combat combat rules that Steve mentioned would be included in Fantasy HERO.

yessir, good point. i think you are correct... it would be difficult to capture the 'feel' of the series w/o armies on the move and clashing, and a good set of mass combat rules would do wonders.

allen

ps. although, the novels avoid describing battle scenes as i recall... the occassional flashback or character describing the events of the battle to another, but otherwise avoided.

still, i think in an RPG it'd be important to get those in there and allow the players to play an active part in the outcome.

[CleverName]

Okay, I'm going to mention d20 here.

(Pauses to put up massive ED shielding.)

I believe the next Dungeon/Polyhedron (#157) is going to have d20 writeup of Westeros.

Sould be a good resource.