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Post by Stormcrow on Dec 30, 2022 15:27:59 GMT
Having been fortunate to have received a copy of the beautiful second edition for Christmas, and had a chance to read through, I don't doubt that if the second edition had come out first, and then the first edition was introduced as a set of revised rules, many of us would be saying things such as, "I don't like this Traits mechanism and much prefer the elegance and creativity of the rules from the original set." This is undoubtedly true.
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Post by thewarchief on Dec 30, 2022 18:01:12 GMT
Having been fortunate to have received a copy of the beautiful second edition for Christmas, and had a chance to read through, I don't doubt that if the second edition had come out first, and then the first edition was introduced as a set of revised rules, many of us would be saying things such as, "I don't like this Traits mechanism and much prefer the elegance and creativity of the rules from the original set." Possibly, but I suspect a lot of people wouldn't have taken to the game in the first place. Keep in mind that any RPG based on a particular license has to compete with previous RPGs that cover the same topic. So if 2e had come out first a lot of us would have noted that Doctor Who-Timelord or FASA Doctor Who did a better job of fleshing out characters and better reflected the abilities the Doctor and Companions had on screen. The Vortex game system is very simple with a half dozen attributes and a dozen skills. So you kinda need traits to differentiate the characters, especially when most companions on the show are "everyman" types with average attributes.
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Post by Stormcrow on Dec 30, 2022 20:28:00 GMT
The Vortex game system is very simple with a half dozen attributes and a dozen skills. So you kinda need traits to differentiate the characters, especially when most companions on the show are "everyman" types with average attributes. Which is what the second edition does with "distinctions." We may not particularly like the way the second edition does things, but it does do the job in its own way.
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Post by thewarchief on Dec 30, 2022 21:24:40 GMT
The Vortex game system is very simple with a half dozen attributes and a dozen skills. So you kinda need traits to differentiate the characters, especially when most companions on the show are "everyman" types with average attributes. Which is what the second edition does with "distinctions." We may not particularly like the way the second edition does things, but it does do the job in its own way. No it doesn't do the job. Look at the 13th Doctor's companions. Not one of them has any distinctions. Even one shot companion Katarina from 1e had some traits. Unless you or C7 are stating that 13th Doctor companions aren't distinctive, and that maybe traits were dropped to prevent older companions from outshining the recent ones? The lack of traits does make it much easier to convert 2e stuff over to Doctors & Daleks.
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Post by Escher on Dec 30, 2022 22:56:29 GMT
In the interview the head of C7 suggested the next 2nd Edition release might be "a celebration" of Doctor Who.
Looking forward to the Celebration Sourcebook.
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Post by Stormcrow on Dec 31, 2022 4:53:53 GMT
No it doesn't do the job. Look at the 13th Doctor's companions. Not one of them has any distinctions. Even one shot companion Katarina from 1e had some traits. Let me rephrase with the specificity you desire. The second edition gets the job done by using story points for what major and minor traits used to do and by using distinctions for what special traits used to do. Characters like Graham and Yaz don't have any distinctions because they're ordinary human characters. But they are described, and you're expected to use story points in conjunction with those descriptions to get those mechanical benefits that traits used to give. I believe you are confusing that which you like with an objective measure of game success. Again, I don't have to like the change to the second edition to recognize how it's used to accomplish the same tasks as the first edition, and I understand why they did it. I recognize that my preferences are just that: preferences. Subjective opinions. In my opinion, characters will tend to be created with a little more "character" with a menu of ideas to choose from than if you're just left to write a few vague notes to spend or gain story points on later. But the second edition does function with its changes, whether we like them or not, and that's the way the game is going to be published from now on. Stick to the old rules, and if you want to use something new that comes out, you'll have to make modifications.
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Rassilon
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Post by Rassilon on Dec 31, 2022 16:36:38 GMT
Please let's keep this civil and polite.
Tis the season of Goodwill.
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Post by thewarchief on Jan 3, 2023 20:41:32 GMT
Please let's keep this civil and polite.
Tis the season of Goodwill. We are still allowed to disagree, right?
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Rassilon
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Posts: 751
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Post by Rassilon on Jan 4, 2023 15:26:09 GMT
Please let's keep this civil and polite.
Tis the season of Goodwill. We are still allowed to disagree, right? As long as there are no personal attacks and it's without malice, snark, or baiting, yes certainly.
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Post by thewarchief on Jan 4, 2023 18:42:02 GMT
We are still allowed to disagree, right? As long as there are no personal attacks and it's without malice, snark, or baiting, yes certainly.Cool. Just in case it wasn't clear I have nothing against Stormcrow personally, and I am not attacking him, just his views and position, and then only in regards to this particular topic.
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Rassilon
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Post by Rassilon on Jan 4, 2023 20:59:26 GMT
As long as there are no personal attacks and it's without malice, snark, or baiting, yes certainly. Cool. Just in case it wasn't clear I have nothing against Stormcrow personally, and I am not attacking him, just his views and position, and then only in regards to this particular topic. I understand but it wasn't aimed at you personally, it's a general guide.
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Post by thewarchief on Jan 5, 2023 0:02:18 GMT
Cool. Just in case it wasn't clear I have nothing against Stormcrow personally, and I am not attacking him, just his views and position, and then only in regards to this particular topic. I understand but it wasn't aimed at you personally, it's a general guide.No problem, no offense taken. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Some RPG sites these days don't want any sort of disagreement, and I didn't want to violate any policies or anything.
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Post by Wieldar on Jan 25, 2023 20:50:58 GMT
Trait talk...
I'm going through some of the traits in preparation for a game, and it has to be said, some of the negative ones are rather similar. Eccentric, Impulsive, Insatiable Curiosity, Obsession and Weakness all do seem to be circling around the same point.
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Post by Stormcrow on Jan 25, 2023 21:59:17 GMT
I'm going through some of the traits in preparation for a game, and it has to be said, some of the negative ones are rather similar. Eccentric, Impulsive, Insatiable Curiosity, Obsession and Weakness all do seem to be circling around the same point. I see enough difference between these traits to make them worthwhile. Eccentric means you have a weird behavior that you clear with the game master. You earn story points by playing up this weird behavior. Impulsive means you go straight from identifying a problem to trying to fix the problem, without stopping to think about the problem first. If it's perfectly obvious that you should stop and think first and you make your character charge ahead, you should earn story points. Insatiable Curiosity means you always want to go places and do things that have some kind of mystery to them. When presented with such a mysterious object or place, making your character go there when it's obvious you should stop and wait earns you story points. Obsession is a special goal you work out with the game master. As a minor bad trait, you should probably earn story points by engaging in activities that relate to your obsession instead of the current objective of the rest of the group. Weakness is a physical effect on your character by some kind of external substance or situation. This is quite different from the others. Insatiable Curiosity is somewhat like Impulsive, but the motivation is different. Impulsive is about skipping the thinking step; Insatiable Curiosity is about discovering answers to mysteries. You generally wouldn't take multiple of these: too many mental quirks to keep track of. Each player can easily keep an eye out for the opportunity of one of them becoming important during the game.
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