Dungeon World

Dungeon World is a 'hack', or modification, of a game called Apocalypse World. It has become its own game, thanks to a very successful Kickstarter campaign last year. I'm not entirely sure how to describe the game in a relatively short, easy-to-digest way, so I'll leave it to this description I'm borrowing from the game's page at DriveThruRPG:
"Combining high-action dungeon crawling with cutting-edge rules, Dungeon World is a roleplaying game of fantasy adventure. You and your friends will explore a land of magic and danger in the roles of adventurers searching for fame, gold, and glory.

Dungeon World’s rules are easy to learn and always drive the action forward in unexpected ways.  A missed roll is never a dead end—failure introduces new complexities and complications.  Life as an adventurer is hard and dangerous but it’s never boring!

Designed to be ready for you to hack, remix, and build new content, Dungeon World includes systems for changing everything to suit your group including creating new races, classes, and monsters."

I know that I find the system intriguing, and it looks like a relatively simple, easy system to use. I know that character creation is very simple, so I think I'll try a run-through of that. According to the Dungeon World PDF I have, creation consists of the following steps:

1. Choose a class

2. Choose a race

3. Choose a name

4. Choose look

5. Choose stats

6. Figure out modifiers

7. Set maximum HP

8. Choose starting moves

9. Choose alignment

10. Choose gear

I'm a big fan of paladin classes, so since there's a Paladin class in Dungeon World, let's go with that. As a Paladin, I only have one option so far as race goes, and that is Human. So, that's two steps down. As a perk of being a Paladin, I get a move (basically, a useful power) where, if I pray for guidance, even for a moment, and ask "What her is evil?", the GM will tell me, honestly. The Dungeon World book lists a number of names, so I'll take one of those - let's go with Hadrian, like the big ol' wall. 

For look, I have a few categories to go through. For eyes, I can pick Kind Eyes, Fiery Eyes, or Glowing Eyes; I'll go with Fiery. For head, I'll go with Helmet, Styled Hair, or Bald. I like armor, so I'll go with helmet. I get a choice of Worn Holy Symbol or Fancy Holy Symbol; I want a hard workin' man, so let's go with worn. And for body, I can choose Fit Body, Bulky Body, or Thin Body. I think I'll go with fit.

For stats, I have the standard D&D set - Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. In Dungeon World, I have an array of 16, 15, 13, 12, 9, and 8. I know Charisma is big for a paladin, so I'll put my 16 there, and the 15 in Strength; I want a 13 in Constitution, and 12 in Wisdom; the 9 is for Intelligence, and the 8 for Dexterity - Hadrian, like a wall, is not very speedy. As far as modifiers go, I have a -1 for Dexterity, because of the 8; 9-12 is no modifier, so nothing special for Intelligence or Wisdom. 13-15 gets me a +1 for both Constitution and Strength, while 16 in Charisma nets me a +2. My maximum HP is my Constitution + my class base, which is 10, for a total of 23; my base damage is d10.

For moves, it doesn't look like I have any starting choices, though I do get some nice ones - Lay on Hands, which lets me try to heal someone by touching them skin to skin; Armored, which removes the clumsy tag from armor I wear; I Am The Law, which gives me a chance to give orders based on my divine authority and have them followed; and Quest - when I dedicate myself to a mission through prayer and ritual cleansing, and state what I am setting out to do, I can choose up to two boons, things like 'senses that pierce lies' or 'a mark of divine authority', and all I have to do is make a vow, like Honor (requiring me to avoid cowardly tactics and tricks) or Valor (suffering an evil creature to live). 

As for alignment, I can choose either Lawful - where I can get XP if I deny mercy to a criminal or unbeliever - or Good, where I gain XP by endangering myself to protect someone weaker than me. I'm a sucker for Good - I can't even play a bad guy in video games - so I'll go that way. Finally, I have my choice of gear; I start with dungeon rations, scale armor, a mark of faith, and a weapon - either a halberd or a long sword and shield; I can also choose either adventuring gear, or extra dungeon rations with a side of healing potion. I'll go with the classic long sword and shield, and the adventuring gear - never know when rope might come in handy.

As a step they don't mention in the character creation section - at least, not in the numbered sections - there are also Bonds, ties I have to other characters in the group. It lists 4, things like '(Other character)'s misguided behavior endangers their very soul!' and (Other character) is a brave soul, I have much to learn from them'. These are tools to help tie the group together, but also create some inter-party tension.So, when it all shakes out, my character looks like this:

Hadrian

Human Paladin

Eyes: Fiery Eyes

Head: Helmet

Holy Symbol: Worn Holy Symbol

Body: Fit Body

Alignment: Good

Strength 15, Dexterity 8, Constitution 13, Intelligence 9, Wisdom 12, Charisma 16

HP: 23

Moves

Lay On Hands

Armored

I Am The Law

Quest

Gear

Dungeon rations

Adventuring gear

Scale armor

Mark of faith

Long sword and shield

So, not a huge character sheet, and relatively simple, but it looks fun to try. I hope I get to sometime.

Star Wars: Edge of the Empire

So, as I said, I'll be starting with a character from the Star Wars RPG published by Fantasy Flight Games, called Star Wars: Edge of the Empire. As one might assume from the name, it focuses on those who live out on the edge of civilization, either in the shadows, the underworld, or just at the edge of civilized life. There are no Jedi character options; there is a Force-talented Exile specialization, but nothing more. Here's a link to the character sheet.

According to the core book, there are ten steps to character creation in Edge of the Empire:

1. Determine Character Concept and Background
2. Determine Starting Obligation
3. Select Character Species
4. Select Character Career
5. Select Specialization
6. Invest Experience Points
7. Determine Derived Attributes
8. Determine Starting Motivations
9. Choose Gear and Description
10. Group Chooses Starting Ship

I'll be skipping step one, because I'm not creating a fully fleshed-out character, just playing with mechanics; for the same reason, I'll be skipping step 10, because there's no group.

So, on to step 2 - starting obligation. Edge of the Empire (EotE from now on) characters each have some kind of obligation, representing something the character owes - to others or himself. These are things like Addiction, Blackmail, Debt, Oath, Favor, or Obsession; I'll be choosing Debt. My starting Obligation amount is determined by group size, but let's assume 10 fr now. I can take more Obligation to add more XP or money (for equipment) later.

Step 3 is species selection. Star Wars has a lot of alien species, and there are several unofficial supplements adding to the species in the core book, but in the core, there are only 8 choices: Bothans, Droids, Gands, Humans, Rodians, Trandoshans, Twi'leks, and Wookiees. I have a hankering to play a lizard-man type, so I'll go with Trandoshan. This will determine my starting Abilities: Brawn 3, Agility 1, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Willpower 2, and Presence 2. My Wound Threshold (how much damage I can take) is 12 + Brawn, my Strain Threshold (how much stress I can take) is 9 + Willpower. My starting experience is 90 XP. As a special ability, I start the game with 1 rank in the Perception skill. I also have a Regeneration ability, letting me regenerate additional damage after resting or while being healed, and I have Claws, which lets me do additional damage in hand-to-hand combat.

Next, I choose my career. My options are Bounty Hunter, Colonist, Explorer, Hired Gun, Smuggler, and Technician. I want to be able to fight, but I also want to have skills outside of combat, so I will go with Bounty Hunter. This determines my starting skill options, eight in all - Athletics, Brawl, Perception, Piloting (Planetary), Piloting (Space), Ranged (Heavy), Streetwise, and Vigilance. Now, of these eight skills, I get one rank in four of them.  I'll delay that until after I choose my specialization.

Within the Bounty Hunter career, there are three specializations - Assassin, Gadgeteer, and Survivalist. Now, I don't want to be a murder-fiend or a space hillbilly, and I like the idea of a guy who can repair and modify his own gear, so I'll go with Gadgeteer. This gives me access to four more skills - Brawl, Coercion, Mechanics, and Ranged (Light). I can get one rank in two of these. I also get access to the Gadgeteer Talent Tree, but I'll go over that in more detail when I get to step 6. In the meantime, I will make my skill picks - Brawl, Piloting (Space), Ranged (Heavy), Vigilance, Coercion, and Mechanics; with my species rank in Perception, I have seven skills now.

Now, in step 6, I get to spend the 90 XP I started with as a Trandoshan. I can spend this on several things - I can buy characteristics at 10x the purchased rating, bought sequentially; I can buy skill ranks at 5x the purchased rank, bought sequentially (no higher than 2 in character creation); I can buy talents, which vary in cost depending on their place on the talent tree; and I can buy new specializations at 10x the number of specializations including new specializations. I can only buy characteristics at character creation, so 'll buy some of those. Agility is an important characteristic for both shooting and piloting, so I'll buy that up from 1 to 3 - that will cost me 50 XP (20 for the second point, 30 for the 3rd). I'll buy 1 rank each in Athletics, Piloting (Planetary), Ranged (Light), and Streetwise; that will cost me 20 XP. I'll spend my last 20 XP on talents; I'll buy the whole top tier of Gadgeteer talents - Brace (lets me brace a weapon more effectively), Toughened (+2 wound threshold), Intimidating (I can take strain to make my Coercion tests easier or those of others harder), and Defensive Stance (I can take strain to make attacks against me harder). That's 90 XP.

Then I determine derived attributes. These are my wound threshold, strain threshold, defense, and soak value. As a Trandoshan, and with my Toughened talent, my wound threshold is 17. My strain threshold will be 11. My defense, divided up into melee and ranged, are both 0, as I have no armor. My soak value is equal to my Brawn rating, which is 3, and might be augmented by armor.

Then I determine my starting motivation. There are three main groups to choose from here - Ambition, Cause, or Relationship. I see my hunter as an ambitious fella, so I'll go with Ambition. There's a sub-table for each of the three, and of my choices on the Ambition table, I'll go with Expertise - my Bounty Hunter wants to be at the top of his field in skill.

Finally, I can choose gear. I start with 500 credits, which is, frankly, not much to go on. I can get 1,000 more if I add 5 Obligation to my total, or 2,500 if I add 10 Obligation. I'll live on the edge and add 10, so I have 3,000 starting credits. I don't need a hand-to-hand weapon, I have claws. I do need a blaster, though; I'll grab a blaster rifle for 900 credits. I'll buy a handheld commlink for 25. since I'm a Gadgeteer, I need tools; I'll buy a Tool Kit for 350. Utility Belts are cool, so I'll take one for 25. Backpacks - not as cool, but good for carrying things, so I'll take one for 50. I want a Datapad for 75 and a Hand Scanner for 100, to help me find bounties. Since I'm a bounty hunter, I'll buy a pair of Binders (basically handcuffs) for 25. That brings me to 1,500. I want some armor, too, so I'll buy a set of armored clothing for 1,000 credits. Finally, just to make sure I'm prepared, I'll buy a holdout pistol for 200 and a pair of stun grenades at 75 each, for 350 more. That brings me to 2,900 credits spent; I'll leave a little left over in case of bribes. This would also be where I flesh out my description and personality, but that isn't what I'm doing here, so I'll leave that for a time when I'm actually creating a character for play.

I said I would leave out the ship choice, but the book recommends three - the Firespray System Patrol Craft (what Boba Fett flew), the YT-1300 Light Freighter (the same model as the Millenium Falcon), and the Wayfarer Medium Transport (relatively large, but unarmed, good for bigger groups). So, that leaves my character as follows:

Bossk Jr.
Trandoshan Bounty Hunter (Gadgeteer)
Brawn 3
Agility 3
Intellect 2
Cunning 2
Willpower 2
Presence 2

Skills
Athletics 1, Brawl 1, Coercion 1, Mechanics 1, Perception 1, Piloting (Planetary) 1, Piloting (Space) 1, Ranged (Heavy) 1, Ranged (Light) 1, Streetwise 1, Vigilance 1

Talents
Brace, Toughened, Intimidating, Defensive Stance

Species Abilities
Regeneration
Claws

Statistics
Wound Threshold 17
Strain Threshold 11
Defense 1/1 (from armor)
Soak 4 (from armor)

Equipment
Blaster Rifle
Holdout Blaster
2 Stun Grenades
Armored Clothing
Tool Kit
Utility Belt
Backpack
Handheld Commlink
Datapad
Hand Scanner
Binders
150 credits

And there we go.

Getting Back On The Horse

I've been kind of quiet on the gaming front, what with my other blog over at The Inner Limits, but I have been thinking I'd like to get back into gaming discussion. I thought a good way to start out would be to create a character for each of the RPGs I have available to me here in Texas. I did something like this a while back, a year or two ago, and it seems like a relatively simple way to get my head moving towards a gaming frame of mind without going totally nuts - after all, work has been keeping me pretty busy, and I don't want to overtax myself.

I don't know if anyone reads this, but if there is anyone checking, here's a list of the games I have available, first in print, then on PDF. If you have preferences for what game you'd like to see a character from first, just let me know.

Print
D&D 4th Edition
13th Age
Star Wars: Edge of the Empire
Deathwatch
Rogue Trader
Hellas: Worlds of Sun and Stone
The One Ring
Iron Kingdoms RPG
Eclipse Phase
Leverage
Smallville
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
Reign
Legends of Anglerre
The Dresden Files
FATE Core
All Flesh Must be Eaten
HeroQuest

PDF
Part-Time Gods
FantasyCraft
FATE Accelerated Edition
Adventurer, Conqueror, King
Hillfolk
Barbarians of Lemuria (Legendary Edition)
Dark Heresy
Dungeon World
A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying
ICONS
Mass Effect d20
Mistborn Adventure Game
Wild Talents 2nd Edition
Nemesis
RuneQuest
Silver Age Sentinels
3:16
Hellfrost
Totems of the Dead
Trail of Cthulhu
Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition
Yggdrasil

If there are no objections, I'm thinking of starting with Star Wars: Edge of the Empire.

!3th Age and Innovation

While I am no longer in St. Louis, and no longer a grad student, I am still interested in gaming; while much of my writing time is taken up by my other blog, The Inner Limits, I do find time to read up on RPGs a few times a week. Most recently, the one I have been looking through is called 13th Age. It's a d20 system variant, which means it has a lot in common with 3rd Edition D&D, but it also has a number of features which remind me of 4th Edition; it seems like an effort to take some of the best parts of both and blend them together. I haven't played the game yet, so I don't know how well it accomplishes that, but it looks good on paper.

The parts of 13th Age I find really interesting, though, aren't really tied to the system. There are three separate areas I like involving character creation that make me want to find a group and start playing - maybe even running a game, once I feel comfortable with the system. First is the idea of One Unique Thing. In 13th Age, your character is special; he isn't necessarily a world-conqueror or the greatest wizard ever, but he or she is unique. Thus, each character has one unique characteristic about him (sorry, I use the male pronoun by habit) that makes the character special. Examples from the book include 'I am the only halfling knight of the Dragon Empire', 'I am a human child of a zombie mother', or 'I see truths in shadows that others cannot'. Each of these helps to define the character - and in some cases, the world around him (why is the first example the only halfling knight?). It isn't something that helps out in combat, but it does give each character something different from every other character.

Second are Icons and relationships with them. In 13th Age, there are 13 Icons - extraordinarily powerful beings with varying goals - whose power puts each of them in an uneasy detente with the others. Some are good, like the Great Gold Wyrm who blocks the gates of Hell and trains paladins, while others are evil - the Orc Lord who just wants to demolish civilization - or somewhat ambiguous, like the Elf Queen, who is queen of not just high elves and wood elves, but dark elves as well. Because these beings are so powerful, and because so many of them are at odds with several others, they do not go against each other directly, but rather tend to employ champions and adventurers to aid them. These are the PCs. In 13th Age, each character gets 3 points to put in relationships - either positive, conflicted, or negative - with icons. The number of points determines the strength of the bond, and at the start of each session, each player rolls a die for each relationship point to see if there is something interesting occurring between them - whether this is a squad of elven rangers in service to the Elf Queen showing up and offering aid, but only in return for a favor later, or the local ranking servant of the Great Gold Wyrm looking on your character with favor (or not). This means each session has the potential to change the world around you depending on your relationships, which I think sounds fun.

Finally, where D&D, and many other games, use skill systems to determine what out-of-combat things a character is good at, 13th Age uses backgrounds. Each character gets 8 background points, and can put no more than 4 in a background; each background is essentially like a skill package, something like 'legionnaire of the 17th legion' or 'corsair of the seven seas', and can do things that would be expected of a person with that background - a legionnaire would be able to follow orders, march, fight in formation, construct a camp, and other soldierly things, while a corsair could use rope, climb, sail, and probably threaten others. If you can make a case to a GM for why your background should help you in a situation, then you can use it to help out. I like this because it means that my fighter, who has a past on a pirate ship, no longer has to spend all his skill points in things like Use Rope and Sail while missing out on things like Endurance or Athletics, because each background can cover a wide variety of things, and your degree of competence is determined by how many background points you assign to a background. I don't know if it would work well in all games that use skill systems, but I like how 13th Age has put it to use.

I haven't had a chance to play an RPG in a while, but 13th Age really makes me want to test out those metaphorical muscles again.It probably helps that the game was designed by people who were heavily involved with both 3rd and 4th Editions of D&D, and that instead of just following a formula they have instead come up with some very creative and interesting ideas. I look forward to the chance to try this game out sometime in the near future - or, if nothing else, steal the ideas outlined above for another game.

Discussing MMOs: Guild Wars 2

There's been a bit of a delay on this one, which I apologize for, but mostly it is because I am both studying for my PhD exams and playing this game like crazy. So I warn you that I am not the most objective source on this game. I remember playing Guild Wars 1 quite a while ago, but only vaguely. Without further ado, I'll get to work.

Guild Wars 2 is kind of an MMO in that it has the large amount of players per server, but it has no subscription fee - all you have to do is buy the game. So once you own the game, you can play when you want, leave, come back, and as long as you still have your copy of the game, it won't cost you anything. Don't get me wrong, they do have a real money conversion thing going - you use real money to buy gems in a game store, and you can use those gems to buy extra character slots, bank space, clothing dyes, or armor skins, among other things - you can even convert the gems into in-game money. While this may seem like a way to make player pay extra money to buy more character slots and such, I should note that the gems-to-game-money conversion goes both ways - you can buy gems with in-game money, as well, so make enough money in the game and you're good to go on gems.

Character-wise, there are five races - the Norns (big, burly Viking-type people - literally, Norns are like 7 feet tall at their shortest, and over 8.5 feet at their tallest), Humans, Sylvari (a race of plant people, some of whom are bioluminescent, so they glow in the dark when it is nighttime), Charr (big, scary, cat/hyena people), and Asura (tiny - 3-3.5 feet tall - mad scientists). Your race, whatever you choose, has no mechanical effect, aside from some subpar abilities you can acquire as 'elite' skills; race really only matters for story purposes. Each race has a series of questions to answer in character creation, and these questions help determine the direction of your personal story.

After race, there are 8 classes, and they are all wildly different. Warriors, as might be expected, hit things or shoot them, and wear big, heavy armor - they're also very tough. Guardians are a bit like paladins - they use many of the same weapons as Warriors, but with a more mystical bent to their skills. They are also tough, but their toughness involves more activity.  After that, we have Thieves, who attack from stealth and do massive amounts of initial damage; Rangers, who have pets to assist them in combat; Engineers, who can pick and choose from an array of gadgets, like rocket boots, flamethrowers, or elixir guns, to kill enemies or assist other players; Elementalists, who use the magic of the elements, each of which has its own particular specialty; Necromancers, who create minions from dead flesh and bone to assist them in combat; and Mesmers, who use illusions and misdirection to mess with the minds of their foes. Each of the classes has an entirely different approach to things, and as I've only played Warrior, Guardian, and Elementalist, I can't comment on them all - but they fit a wide variety of styles.

After class, though, comes something I haven't seen before - weapon choice. Well, I have seem weapon choice - WoW let most classes use a variety of weapons, for example. But in WoW, your abilities remained the same regardless of which weapon you used - only the animation changed. In Guild Wars 2 (or GW2), though, each weapon has its own set of skills. On my warrior, I primarily use a giant hammer, which swings in a wide arc, hitting a pretty big area, and has several abilities that stun, knock down, or control enemies. Sometimes I swap out to a mace and warhorn, letting me club enemies over the head while using the warhorn to buff myself and allies. Or I could choose to use my longbow, which can shoot flaming areas, cause an area to light on fire, and blind enemies from a distance. Weapon skills cover the first 5 slots on your ability bar; most have a 'burst' skill, too, which builds up in combat to let you release for a big hit.

Each class has its own ways to fill up the last 5 slots on your ability bar. One slot is always a healing ability; you have several choices, but it means you always have a way to heal yourself. The next three are utility slots; for a Warrior, I could fill them with the ability to Kick an opponent and interrupt them; or throw Bolas at a charging foe to immobilize them; maybe shout "Fear Me!" and have enemies run away, or plant a battle standard to help my defense. Each class has their own array, and they're all different, but fitting to the class. Finally, there is an elite skill slot; these are for big, scary things, and are also where racial abilities come in. Norns, for example, can turn into human/bear hybrids, of human/wolf hybrids, for 30 seconds, while Charr can call in an artillery strike or grab a bazooka; Warriors can transform into a giant Juggernaut, making them stronger, tougher, and bigger. The racial elite skills are a bit underpowered compared to the class skills, but they are fun and thematic.

One of the big draw of GW2 is PvP. There are several ways to go about this in the game, and even I, who normally hate PvP, have tried most of them. For one, in each race's home city, there is an activity - for the Norns, it is the Keg Brawl, which is basically 5-on-5 rugby with kegs on a frozen lake. No killing, just smacking and scoring. Then there is single and small group PvP, which is just what it says; you can face off against other players solo or on a small team, and even compete in tournaments. Finally, there is World versus World - three servers meet on 4 maps and fight it out to control the most territory on each map. This is the biggest PvP I've seen, with literally hundreds of players per server taking part in this combat; you attack towers and castles, build siege weapons, collect NPC allies, and fight off massive groups of opposing players. It's really something to see 50 or 60 of your fellow server-mates assaulting a castle, building rams, trying to shoot down trebuchets, and generally just having a crazy time.

For those of you not into PvP, there is still plenty to do. If you like crafting, there's plenty of it - and crafting can actually really help while gaining levels, because crafting items and discovering new crafting plans gives plenty of experience. If you just like fighting monsters, they are all over the place - there are 25 zones of varying level ranges to get your monster-slaying on. If you like exploring (as I do), there's that, too - and there are specific things to discover in each zone. Points of Interest (specific places), Waypoints (places you can transport to, or restart if you die), Skill Challenges (to help earn skill points to purchase your utility and elite skills), and Vistas (specific, often hard-to-reach places that, when reached, give you a nice, quasi-cutscene view of the beautiful scenery Arenanet created, from massive ruins to mountain peaks) dot every zone, and if you get all of them for a zone, you get a zone completion bonus - usually some kind of level-appropriate equipment or crafting materials.

The look of characters are relatively customizable, as well. While you can't retain old armor looks in a 'dressing room' function, you can use easy-to-acquire items to transfer the look of one item onto the mechanical bits of a more useful one. I did this with some lower-level armor whose look I liked, but wasn't protecting me well enough as I grew in levels. You also start with an array of dyes to color your armor and clothing; everyone starts with 20 or so (determined by race), and you can find more in play, and the dyes come in almost every shade you could want. Things like pure white or black, though, are hard to find, and pricy to buy. I wish you didn't have to use items to re-skin new armor with an old look, but it still gives you far more customization than WoW does.

Questing is another area where GW2 differs from games like WoW. Instead of having quest hubs, and having to take quests which make you run back and forth from questgivers, GW2 works in a much more dynamic fashion - in each zone, there are people who need help. When you get close to one, it will show up on your map, as well as what that person wants done. Sometimes it is killing pesky enemies, but it might also be fixing fences, or herding wayward animals,  or helping with troop morale. There are also a number of dynamic events going on in each zone - in one area, there are a string of events as you fight off an attack by centaurs, then pursue them back to their home base, fight your way in, take out the lower-level leaders, and then kill their supreme commander. If you fail to fight off the initial centaur attack, though, then instead of pursuing the centaurs, there will be another event centered on retaking the human camp. These go back and forth across each zone, and they mean you're never running back to town for the next quest - just moving around the map in a more organic fashion, which feels very freeing to me.

There are also dungeons in GW2, though they are all for 5-person groups, and while I haven't done any of them yet, I know how they work; guildmates have told me that they were a very strange experience, because there are no specific healers, tanks, or damage dealers; people can swap out weapons and utility skills often, and so can move from close combat to a ranged support role in seconds, even during a boss fight. I am told it is a very different experience from the average MMO dungeon, and I hope to check it out soon - the elimination (or at the least lessening) of the 'Holy Trinity' interests me quite a bit.

I am still very active in Guild Wars 2 for the time being, and since it has no subscription fee, I expect to be playing for a while. I'm a member of the RPG.net guild, Vanguards Grifters & Orphans, on the Tarnished Coast server; if you try the game out, look me up.

Discussing MMOs: The Secret World

After taking a weekend off (for some serious MMO playing), I'm back, though this will either be the last or next-to-last entry in this short series. The Secret World is an MMO by Funcom, and it is an MMO that is far from the norm - instead of a bright, open fantasy world, The Secret World (or TSW) is about horror, conspiracy, and what will happen at the end of the current age. It's very different from most MMOs I've played or seen. For one thing, the RPG takes place, essentially, on modern day Earth, though it is an Earth that isn't very familiar to most of us.

 Everyone's character is human, though you will certainly run into non-human (or inhuman) things during play. There are no classes, and instead of two opposing factions, they have three, each one a secret society: The Templars, the Illuminati, and the Dragon. Each society is in a fight with the others about how to approach the secret supernatural world (the Secret World of the title) and how the Earth's next age will go when the current one ends. Unlike, say, WoW, WAR, or TOR, the factions can talk to each other in game chat, and people from various societies can even group together to do difficult missions or go into 5-person instances. Guilds (or cabals) are one faction only, however, and each faction has their own chat channel where they can speak amongst themselves without the other factions knowing. Each is based in a different real-life city (London, New York City, and Seoul), which is reasonably large, has plenty of bits to explore, and even has the occasional mission.

Characters in TSW are different, in that not only are there no classes, but also no levels. You choose a faction, and then you choose two weapon categories (out of 9, from Shotguns to Blades to Chaos magic), and you're done. As you progress through the game, you put points (Ability Points, or AP) into various abilities for your favored weapons; each character has seven slots for active abilities (ones you hit buttons to use) and seven passive slots (ones that provide benefits to you regardless of what buttons you hit). How you assemble your skills (or 'deck', the term used by the game to refer to the full suite of 14 abilities) determines how your character fights. You also put a different kind of points (Skill Points, or SP) into the degree of skill you have in your weapon group; this determines what grade of weapon you can use; the higher (up to 10), the better. You keep earning experience for AP and SP throughout the game, so, in theory, you could eventually max out every ability and every skill.

While all character are human, most don't look anything alike; character creation has a fair degree of customization, with more to be added in-game soon. In addition, the clothes your character wears are entirely separate from any gear that provides bonuses to statistics - you wear what you want (bought at in-game stores), and how you look never has any impact on how effective your character is. TSW is even more lenient in this regard than superhero games like CO and DCUO; in those games, you can find costume pieces that will affect your stats, and you often have the ability to save the look of that piece even if you replace it later, but in TSW, looks and stats are totally separate. The only things on your avatar that you  will see change are your weapons; some Hammer weapons look like axes, some like sledgehammers, some like weapons from hell, but other than that, your look is entirely up to you. This is something I think other games need to do more of; item sets are nice, but I really shouldn't have to look like a clown in order to be functional (I'm looking at you, WoW and TOR).

The factions being able to speak to each other is another nice touch; it tells the player that while the factions aren't terribly friendly to each other (the Templars and Illuminati have been in a sort of cold war for centuries), they realize that the world's current troubles are bigger than their arguments, for the most part. Aside from some text when missions are turned in, and the tutorial, factions actually don't play a huge role in the game. You get a call on your character's phone whenever the faction has decided you have moved up in rank, and the Templars (the faction I play) have three missions they send you on, but otherwise they play almost no role in the game. While it is nice they aren't all over every character's business, I think I would have preferred the factions to be a bit more involved; I want my Templar to have a much different experience than, say, an Illuminati player.

Missions are another interesting thing to look at. TSW is always careful to call them missions, never quests, and they have divided them up into several categories. First, each of the three main play areas has a long, involved story quest. Then, each 5-person instance has its own quest. Then there are sidequests, things you get from items spread throughout the game world that tend to be minor tasks with relatively small rewards. And then there are the main quests. The main quests are divided up into three categories - action, infiltration, and investigation. Action missions are what you'd expect - the missions consists primarily of fighting and killing, with no subtlety involved. Infiltration missions are harder (fro some) because they involve getting around and performing your task without being noticed (or, occasionally, by killing the few who do see you). From avoiding cameras and sentry drones to running gauntlets of patrolling guards and mines on multi-level constructions, infiltration missions are about being stealthy. Finally, there are investigation missions, and these are where the game shines. With these missions, you will be required to actually investigate things, often very obscure, and often difficult to figure out; there is an in-game web browser to assist with these. For an investigation mission, you might be asked to crack a substitution cypher by converting the number of the first 26 elements on the Periodic Table into letters and then translating a message; or you might need to find the password to a computer, be given the hint that it is the owner's wife's name, and, by finding the owner's company ID on his body, go to the (fictional) company website, look through the employee roster, and determine his wife from that. They are complex, difficult, and involve a lot of thought; while most of them are sadly available in cheat form, I prefer to do them the long way.

Sadly, TSW is lacking in at least one area I love, and that is exploration. Currently, there are only three areas in the game, besides the starting cities - Solomon Island (an island off the coast of New England cut off form the rest of the world), the Valley of the Sun God in Egypt, and the wilds of Transylvania. Between the three areas, there are 8 zones - 3 on the island, 2 in Egypt, and 3 in Transylvania - and they are all quite similar in theme. Both Solomon Island and Transylvania are dark, foggy, and depressing, though there are some exceptional areas like a haunted amusement park or the churchyard where Vlad Dracula is buried. Egypt, while sunnier, reminded me of a hellish cross between Resident Evil 5 and the Biblical plagues on crack. While each area keeps to its theme well - and I can see touches of Lovecraft, Stephen King, Silent Hill, and Resident Evil as influences - it really comes down to three very similar, often oppressively dark areas. I realize it is a horror game, but even in horror movies, directors realize that audiences need a few moments away from the darkness every so often or the darkness and horror stops meaning anything. Speaking as someone with depression, I can only take a couple weeks of that at a time before I need to take a break. I'm still playing, but I don't know for how much longer; the release of Guild Wars 2 (my possible final entry in this series) and the impact this is having on my generally depressed state might necessitate some time away from the game before coming back to see how it all turns out.

Discussing MMOs: Star Wars: The Old Republic

As a profoundly geeky person, I have been a fan of Star Wars for a long, long time. I have also been a long-time fan of almost every game the game studio Bioware ever made. Thus, when the two combined to create a Star Wars MMO in the (slightly advance) timeline of the hit game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, I figured that things couldn't possibly go wrong. In some ways, I was right, but in other ways, I was terribly wrong.

Character creation is one of the areas where the game is very much like early WoW. There are two sides, Republic and Sith. Each side has its own classes (though each class is mirrored by the other side), and while the species of human, cyborg, Twi'lek, and Zabrak are available to both sides, the Miraluka and Mirialans are Republic-only, while Chiss, Rattataki, and Sith Purebloods are Sith only. Yes, you read that right; no Wookiees. Also no Devaronians, Duros, Bothans, Gamorreans, Gungans, Jawas, Rodians, or any of the other popular Star Wars species. While you can meet most of these other races, you can't play as them, which I found disappointing. Each class (bounty hunters, Imperial agents, Sith Warriors and Inquisitors for the Sith, Troopers, Smugglers, Jedi Consulars and Knights for the Republic) has two advanced classes that you can choose from once you reach a certain level, which can cause some serious divergence among class types.

Each class has its own storyline, and they are one of the best parts of the game. You start your storyline as soon as you finish creating your character, and it will go through the rest of the game with you. There is always a portion of your storyline to be followed on each planet, and they range from the somewhat mediocre (the Jedi Consular, from what I've heard) to the very thematic, cool, and fun (Bounty Hunter, Imperial Agent, and Smuggler). Though your story, you will meet a variety of characters who will choose (or be forced) to accompany you on your way through the galaxy; these will be your companions, computer-controlled NPCs who accompany you on quests for an extra bit of firepower, guarding, or healing ability, as well as some amusing dialogue. At least one of your companions will be a possible love interest (well, if you're straight - if you're gay, then while Bioware has said they will add gay-friendly companions for love interests, they hadn't gotten around to it when I quit playing). Every time you speak to a character, either on your storyline or just for a regular quest, it will start a full cutscene, where you get to choose from a variety of dialogue choices and the NPC will respond accordingly. Each character is fully voiced, often by a voice actor who is fairly well-known for such work, with a lot of cameos from other more well-known actors and actresses. This is possible one of the most immersive things I have seen in an MMO, and it was worth playing for this, at least.

Each character will also, eventually, get their own starship. This is determined by class, sadly; you don't get a choice of ships. While they are fun to see in a docking bay, your primary interaction with a ship will be as a resting place and the means by which you travel between planets; each ship looks different, and your companions will wait there while not on missions. Sadly, there is no customization available for your ship; every Smuggler's ship will look the same. Ships are also used for space missions, where you stop playing your character and instead pilot your craft on a space-going mission, shooting enemy fighters, avoiding meteorites, and generally being destructive. You follow a specific path for each mission, sadly, so while you can move around the screen a bit, it's basically a rail-shooter.

Being a Star Wars game, you can, of course, be a Light Side or Dark Side character. This is not restricted to your Republic or Sith affiliation; I played as my main character a Light Side Bounty Hunter, and I know a few people who played Dark Side Jedi. While some of the choices that affect your Light/Dark Side meters are fun, some can be head-scratching; in one mission, after retrieving medical supplies at the behest of an embattled field medic running out of battleground supplies, you are accosted by a civilian who demands the medical supplies for a group of refugees. This sounds like a difficult choice, but in the game, it is simple - giving the supplies to the refugees is the Light Side choice, and giving them to the medic who asked for them is the Dark Side choice. Also, of the two, only Dark Side choices seem to have a visible effect on your character; the more Dark Side you go, the paler, veinier, and generally scarier you look. Light Side choices don't have any visible effect. Also, if you want to be essentially neutral, good luck; there are some items - some of which are cosmetic, but others of which are important - which depend on you choosing Light or Dark.

Speaking of cosmetic, The Old Republic (or TOR) decided to go in the same direction as WoW with regards to outward appearance. So the armor you have equipped is the armor you see, and there are no easy ways to change that. There are certain items, both armor and weapons, which can be improved gradually as you play, so that you can keep a coherent look without wearing outdated and useless armor, but these items, especially the ones that look good, aren't often easy to find. Also, each class only has a single weapon style available to them; Bounty hunters only use blaster pistols, Troopers use either blaster rifles or assault cannons (depending on their advance class), and Jedi/Sith only use lightsabers - Knights/Wariors either use one or two, while Consulars/Inquisitors use either a single lightsaber or a double-bladed lightsaber. This means that most members of a class will be easily recognizable, because they will be wearing very similar armor and using very similar weapons.

TOR also made the decision to have groups that require the Holy Trinity of WoW - if you want to do instances (which can be quite fun), you need a tank, a healer, and 2 damage-dealers (groups in TOR are only 4 people). Occasionally a member can be substituted for by an NPC companion, bu the computer isn't very good at controlling companions in instances. I found this design decision particularly disappointing. I wanted to play a Bounty Hunter who could, for instance, jump into combat, use a flamethrower at close range, then use my jetpack to fly off to a distance and snipe. This was, however, not an option; while the Bounty Hunter does indeed have a jetpack, it can only be used in one or two abilities; no fancy jetpack-assisted out-of-combat jumps. Some of the mechanics TOR implemented for classes also didn't work well in the settings they were designed for; instanced 'dungeons' (more often than not starships, space stations, or abandoned archaeological digs) often had boss fights that required being mobile, while both the Smuggler and Imperial Agent classes had a number of abilities only available while they were in cover - which necessitated staying in one location.

As for exploration, there were quite a variety of planets to travel to. Korriban, with the ancient temples of the Sith; Nar Shaddaa, playground of the Hutts; Coruscant, jewel of the Republic; Alderaan, the planet of royalty. Each planet was designed for a certain level range, and to play through your storyline, you had to go to each planet in an order determined by Bioware. On most planets, even the ones that were hotly contested by both sides, you rarely saw players from the opposing faction - there were computer-controlled enemies of that faction, but the players were often in areas you never saw or had a reason to go to. Open PvP only really became available on the 'final' planet or two, and even then it was rare to see people engaging in large-scale PvP; most people simply queued up for instanced PvP battlegrounds. So there was a lot of ground to cover, but each planet was very monothematic; one part of Alderaan was very much like the next.

Overall, I thought the storylines and companions were fun, but it seemed that the game had been intended, essentially, as a massive single-player game, and then had MMO elements added into it later; this meant, for the most part, that the most fun parts of the game were not shared experiences, but the storyline cutscenes that, even if they were present, your fellow party members could not take part in. It would have been great fun as a single-player successor to the original Knights of the Old Republic, but I think TOR went too close to the formula of WoW with its MMO elements, and as such failed to truly distinguish itself from the leader of the pack in all the ways that make a difference in an MMO. It also didn't help that, when I began to become disillusioned with TOR, I also had massive problems with the ending of Mass Effect 3- also a Bioware game - and so, not feeling particularly generous, decided to quit both.

Next up: A Secret World