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Post by branderwydd /|\ on Jun 21, 2008 17:56:36 GMT -5
anyone go? what was your experience? i have gone two years in a row now (the only two, i think). picked up the FBI product, but have not yet read it. last year no one ran T&T, so this year i ran a session using last year's 'riverboat adventure' for a group of three. everyone seemed to enjoy it, but otherwise not a lot of traffic. in fact, there wasn't much traffic at the store in general. bad year due to the economy? something else? how'd everyone else fare?
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Post by Toad-Killer-Dog on Jun 21, 2008 21:42:53 GMT -5
unfortunately I don't live within fifty miles of a game store.  Just out of curiosity what was FBI's free game supplement this year? |
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Post by branderwydd /|\ on Jun 22, 2008 9:38:08 GMT -5
this year FBI released another small booklet that is quarter condensed rules, quarter pregenerated characters, eighth GM adventure by ken to escape a treasure with monsters pounding at the door, and eighth rick super-mini solo of shepherd turned wanna-be adventurer. the adventures i have only browsed, so they may be more involved than i have summarized here. it looks like a nice intro to t&t that is more than sufficient to run quickie games at an event like free RPG day.
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rlotze
2nd Level Troll
Posts: 79
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Post by rlotze on Jun 22, 2008 15:39:18 GMT -5
I haven't read the newest booklet yet, but I did give it a quick flip-through.
In the free rules it says "this is made especially for FreeRPG Day on June xyz, 2007." It the same rules from last year and not updated at all - even the date! Looks pretty lame. And the FBI ads on the back page look like photocopies of photocopies. Not a good presentation. The adventures might be great though. I've got to find the time to give them a real good reading.
Regarding FreeRPG day in general:
Our gamestore is very large (7,000 square feet) and very busy, every day, from opening until midnight (and we're a somewhat small town - go figure).
However, FreeRPG day didn't go over so well. The offerings really weren't all that great. The D&D 4e stuff 'sold out' in a couple hours. The rest of the items were still there around midnight.
I went in the morning and was told "you can only have one item". When I was there at 10:00 at night they told me that I could take one of everything. I did, and after flipping through everything, I've got no urge to go buy any of it.
ugh
I was hoping that something would excite me.
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koraq
4th Level Troll
Posts: 355
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Post by koraq on Jun 22, 2008 23:15:59 GMT -5
The kit from FBI this year had some production issues, yes. It mentioned 2007 twice and still was a bit hard to read due to odd formating of some tables. The rules are very usable and complete, though. The GM adventure is kind of short, but showcase the game well. The pre gens were formatted so you couldn't just cut out your character, because it might "overflow" on the next page. Minor problem, though. The solo was very uninspired and ultra short, but since Rick actually writes [sic!] that he ran out of space and wrote a filler I guess it's ok. I ran the GM adventure in my local game store and one of the players was also playing the D&D adventure, and played with me for 10 minutes and then ran away and did something for 10 seconds and came back. He smiled a lot when we finished up and I think he liked a game where you actually got to do something almost all the time.  The other stuff looked really nice, I think. A short version of the character generation for the new Traveller, a short Harn piece that managed to show the excellent maps and an impressive summary of the Harnmaster combat rules in very few pages. The Game of Thrones booklet looked good, and the adventure for Trail of Cthulhu (Which I also GM'ed) was very meaty and fun. The stuff from Troll Lord looked really enticing as well. The Paizo and Castles & Crusades stuff was the only stuff that were left in significant quantities today. |
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Post by Toad-Killer-Dog on Jun 23, 2008 4:55:11 GMT -5
Thank you for the information, unfortunately FBI once again fails to present itself in a good light. It's times like this when I really wish there was a local gaming store in my area, but I just don't think there is enough business to be had. I have always loved FBI, from T&T to City-Book, Nuclear War and Grimtooth's Traps, but I don't think that FBI does itself justice as a game company. Of course the "Mom and Pop" feel of companies Like Flying Buffalo and Chaosium is a part of their appeal. I only hope both Flying Buffalo and Chaosium are around for years to come. The big companies seem to have lost touch with the real soul of gaming, but maybe I am just an old fogey.  |
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machfront
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
"Let's go dark!"
Posts: 2,147
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Post by machfront on Jun 24, 2008 14:38:59 GMT -5
Waitaminutewaitaminutewaitaminute!....
You're telling me that FBI released last years Goblin Lake adventure and quick start rules...again? They didn't even make a new one? Wow. What kind of planning is that?
*applause*
Good job again, guys. You just keep on shooting yourself in the foot. It's only funny the first couple of times.
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Post by mahrundl on Jun 24, 2008 15:31:00 GMT -5
Machfront,
As far as I know, FBI did have a new item for this year's Free RPG Day. But I don't know what was in it - Free RPG Day doesn't happen here. Not that I've seen, anyway.
I think that what Rlotze and Koraq are saying is that it looks like they may have missed changing a few dates in the rules, but the non-rules content is new.
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Post by branderwydd /|\ on Jun 24, 2008 15:43:08 GMT -5
yes, this was a new GM adventure, new solo. only the rules summary seems carried over - and really, why shouldn't it be? same rules this year as last year....
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machfront
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
"Let's go dark!"
Posts: 2,147
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Post by machfront on Jun 24, 2008 16:56:32 GMT -5
Oh, alright. Well that's good.
Now of course I'm upset that I missed out.
Hopefully I'll be able to snag it online somewhere somehow. Noble Knight is doing...something in regards to Free RPG Day on Wednesday. Maybe it'll be available with whatever it is Aaron is doing.
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Post by Toad-Killer-Dog on Jun 24, 2008 21:01:50 GMT -5
yes, this was a new GM adventure, new solo. only the rules summary seems carried over - and really, why shouldn't it be? same rules this year as last year.... Oh' well now that I feel a bit of a fool, I'll just be quiet. Of course this also make me wish there was a game store in driving distance that participated in "Free RPG Day". Ah' Well. |
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Post by mahrundl on Jun 25, 2008 5:32:18 GMT -5
Oh, alright. Well that's good. Now of course I'm upset that I missed out. Hopefully I'll be able to snag it online somewhere somehow. Noble Knight is doing...something in regards to Free RPG Day on Wednesday. Maybe it'll be available with whatever it is Aaron is doing. You realise that there may be some stock available through Flying Buffalo, don't you? Certainly they had some left last year, for the princely sum of $2, so there's some chance there will be copies left this year too. For $2, it's almost certainly a good deal. If you want to explore this option, this may help... |
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rlotze
2nd Level Troll
Posts: 79
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Post by rlotze on Jun 25, 2008 8:35:27 GMT -5
Ken St. Andrew was offering signed copies for $3 (including shipping). Probably still as some available. You can always ask. kenstandre@yahoo.com
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Post by mahrundl on Jun 25, 2008 15:19:32 GMT -5
Rlotze,
I think that Ken has sold all of his stock. But I could be wrong.
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koraq
4th Level Troll
Posts: 355
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Post by koraq on Jun 25, 2008 15:50:17 GMT -5
Read closer guys. It's not the same package as last year. According to the FreeRPG Day rules you're not allowed to do that. Rick forgot to change the year in the text, that's all. Take a look at the FreeRPG Day website and you'll see he's not even alone... It was a nice package this year. I think Goblin Lake was awesome, and this years GM adventure was good so if you got both... |
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