Has anybody played "Spirit of the Century"

[The Monster]

Re: Has anybody played "Spirit of the Century"

 

I've played it a couple times, and as a rules-light system, it depends greatly on the creativity and involvement of the players and GM. For Pulp, I consider this a strength, because so much of Pulp is about flavor and verve, rather than mechanics (I say this as one who's been running a very successful Pulp Hero campaign since the days when it was Justice, Inc.).

Our group has actually adopted SotC for a horror scenario we'll be running at Dragonflight this year. Horror has a lot in common with Pulp, being more about flavor and atmosphere than hard-core mechanics.

[Barton]

Re: Has anybody played "Spirit of the Century"

 

I just picked it up and am currently reading through it but so far, I believe you are correct in that it would probably run better as a one shot rather than as a campaign. I don't have as severe an opinion as to it conveying the Pulp era though.

 

I don't know who ran it for you but it seems like it would be really dependant on the skill of the GM since, as you state, it is very rules-light. The GM would have to be good at "winging it."

 

Weird, because having played in your pulp games, I could see you running a good game of this.

 

The problem with Spirit is that it REQUIRES good players and good GM for it to work. So-So players and/or So-So GM would doom the game to be bad. A more rules "heavy" system helps fight this IMHO. I am NOT a fan of rules light systems.

[Susano]

Re: Has anybody played "Spirit of the Century"

 

For what it's worth, the people who make SOTC are local to the Baltimore area (they are in Frederick MD) and we're trying to get them to attend and demo at Hero Con.

[The Monster]

Re: Has anybody played "Spirit of the Century"

 

The problem with Spirit is that it REQUIRES good players and good GM for it to work. So-So players and/or So-So GM would doom the game to be bad. A more rules "heavy" system helps fight this IMHO. I am NOT a fan of rules light systems.

This is true, it requires certain skills & attitudes among the people involved. But pulp, probably more than any other genre (except perhaps horror), requires a certain mindset and skills among the players & GM, regardless of the rules. And poor GM or poor players can ruin any game.

In general, though, I agree with you - rules-light systems generally strike me as little better than 'make some stuff up & roll some dice,' for which I need not spend $15++ to learn how to do. I think SotC is at the bottom of my tolerance for rules-lightness, but it does seem to do what it's intended to do - provide a fast, pickup-type game for pulp adventure. I wouldn't use it for a campaign, or for anything but a one-shot adventure where I wouldn't be able to rely on either teaching better rules or knowing that most of the players already know those better rules. For regular and sustained use, I like more crunch. SotC is an arrow in the quiver, not part of the regular ammo load.

[nexus]

Re: Has anybody played "Spirit of the Century"

 

YOUTUBE REVIEW: Game Geeks #23 Spirit of the Century by Evil Hat Productions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIvR3LflFuQ

 

Hmmm...

 

 

QM

 

Huh, I use something sort of like "Aspects" with Hero. I called them Quirks and they're things the player selects that can either grant them hero points (if negative) or be activated for a hero point if the provide a benefit.