Dragon Age PnP coming

[CeeKay]

Biowares attempt at global domination continues.  the seem to be investing alot into this new series, hopefully it pays off.  I wonder if they'll have this at Origins- it would be kind of fitting 

[kadnod]

It's interesting that that the first release is going to be a boxed set.  That's nifty in an old skool sort of way.   

[CeeKay]

It's interesting that that the first release is going to be a boxed set.  That's nifty in an old skool sort of way.   

defintitely old skool.  I remember buying all the D&D boxed sets back in the 80's, and then finding out after going through all of them they weren't what I needed for AD&D 

[kronovan]

This is very cool and I could see playing this with my family, provided it's not too dark. I wasn't aware that Green Ronin was involved with Warhammer Fantasy; game has quite a following in my city. I'm curious what type of boxed set they'll be. From what I read it doesn't sound like many of their games have figurines, so I can't imagine it will be sets similar to D&D Minis, Star Wars Minis or Warhammers LotR. I admittedly don't know much about Green Ronin's other games; do their boxed sets typically just include books, dice and character sheets or are they card oriented?

[Edit] BTW Is anyone here possibly interested in eventually playing this online via an RPG host system? I missed out on the 4th Ed. D&D, but I'd be very interested in playing this PnP over the Internet. Might as well get the ball rolling now.

[Turtle]

I'll play.  I'm not that interested in D&D, I just don't like that style of rules.  So if they have something interesting for the Dragon Age RPG, count me in.

[Sarkus]

We need to see the system first.  I followed Green Ronins links and looked at the "Song of Ice and Fire" RPG they are late in delivering and the system they are using for that seems pretty complicated and potentially unwieldy IMHO.  If they do something similar with "Dragon Age" then I can't see it being all that fun. 

[IceBear]

I'll play.  I'm not that interested in D&D, I just don't like that style of rules.  So if they have something interesting for the Dragon Age RPG, count me in.

I might not understand what you mean by "that style of rules", but I can't see how it'll be that different from the D&D ruleset and not be too unweildy to play.  I'm not that familiar with the Dragon Age CRPG but if it's going to use classes, I just can't see it as being that different.  One of the things that I originally liked about Dragon Age was that it wasn't going to be based on a tabletop set of rules so it could model combat much better; it's a little sad that they can make tabletop rules from it.

[kronovan]

I'll play.  I'm not that interested in D&D, I just don't like that style of rules.  So if they have something interesting for the Dragon Age RPG, count me in.

I might not understand what you mean by "that style of rules", but I can't see how it'll be that different from the D&D ruleset and not be too unweildy to play.  I'm not that familiar with the Dragon Age CRPG but if it's going to use classes, I just can't see it as being that different. 

I can't say I understand at all what you're saying here. From what I read from Turtles comments, he doesn't like D20 based table tops like D&D. As well, there's been many tabletop RPGs that feature classes that don't use D20 as a base rule set.  I just don't follow your logic and reasoning that a class based tabletop RPG will have to emulate a D20-like system.

One of the things that I originally liked about Dragon Age was that it wasn't going to be based on a tabletop set of rules so it could model combat much better; it's a little sad that they can make tabletop rules from it.

Whether you base it on an existing tabletop rule system or not, if it's video game RPG you're going to have crunch statistics and have a defined rule set in your game engine. A good example would be the skill-based system with classes in Mass Effect. Although completely different from D20 there's no reason it couldn't be adapted to a tabletop and it would likely be simpler than a D20 game.

[IceBear]

Sorry, that's not what I meant.  I was trying to figure out what Turtle was looking for - I have played a few non-d20 gaming systems so I wasn't thinking he specifically meant d20 (considering 4E D&D isn't d20 either).  I know that a class based tabletop  RPG isn't going to be d20, though I am starting to find them all the same no matter what ruleset it's based on, so I was just curious what he meant (like you are wondering what I meant ).  In all honesty, I find that the GM and group are more important to me enjoying a tabletop game than the rules.

As for the second part, I was just sad that they were going to bother doing a tabletop set of rules.  I know that at it's heart a CRPG is using rules that could be used for tabletop, but when they said they were going to properly model a bow attack using complex algorithims based on wind speed and direction and line of sight I was happy.  If they're going to make a tabletop game it's going to have to be simpler in order to be playable; I'm just hoping this doesn't mean they simplified the underlying system in the CRPG (I suspect not, but that was all I meant by that comment).

[Turtle]

Well, I don't mind classes or levels, but D&D style rules involve a lot of extra "crunch" in the rules, which are basically rules on top of rules designed to provide many little obscure ways for expansion books to hook even more rules into.

For example, compare 3rd edition to the current 4th edition, there was a lot more of that stuff in 3rd edition, so much so that being a 3E DM could become a chore, especially if you didn't have a pre-made adventure, or if you were trying to design your own adventure.

To me, it gets in the way of the storytelling.

[IceBear]

Gotcha, you like rules-lite RPG rules.  With Green Ronin pulishing it I don't think that's going to be the case, but you never know.  As for the 3E rules, I think that's more of a symptom of a mature product, but WotC did believe they had too many rules when they decided to design 4E (though a lot of people didn't agree with that which is why we have Pathfinder coming).  Since Green Ronin publish many different systems hopefully that will mean they won't need to write a kajilliion expansions to continue the revenue stream for the company.  Personally I like crunchy rules as many of my group are rules lawyers so it helps to cut down on debates at the table if things are well described in the rules.  The important thing with crunchy rule systems is to not get bogged down with the rules and let them stop the group from having fun and telling the story.  With rules-lite systems it's important for the GM to maintain consistency with the rulings and not let the players get too carried away.

[CeeKay]

an interview where they touch on some of the rules.