[19:06] <+Brandon_Radke> Ha, yes, of course. I’m Brandon Radke, head writer for Lettuce Inn Games, and today we’re here to talk about our game “Blood: Path of the Shinobi”
[19:06] <~Dan> [19:05] <+Brandon_Radke> Blood: Path of the Shinobi is a story-and-character driven table top roleplaying game from Lettuce Inn Games. The game’s protagonists are the Shinobi; rebel freedom-fighters striving to secure a future for themselves and the people of their land in a world dominated by two competing ideologies of authoritarian domination.
[19:06] <~Dan> [19:05] <+Brandon_Radke> Blood is set on a continent called Riku, a broad landscape ripe for hosting all manner of trials and tribulations. To the west is the temple city of Loha Prasat, the Steel Temple – a city of inflexible religious dogma secretly ruled by a subterranean cult of demons.
[19:06] <~Dan> [19:06] <~Dan> [19:05] <+Brandon_Radke> Blood: Path of the Shinobi is a story-and-character driven table top roleplaying game from Lettuce Inn Games. The game’s protagonists are the Shinobi; rebel freedom-fighters striving to secure a future for themselves and the people of their land in a world dominated by two competing ideologies of authoritarian domination.
[19:06] <~Dan> (Please continue. 🙂 )
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[19:07] <+Brandon_Radke> The Shinobi are bands of guerilla fighters caught between the two, persecuted by both, and more than willing to use the strengths of either to their advantage. The stakes are nothing short of genocide for the Shinobi, and the hopeless enslavement of Riku’s peasant caste in a future bereft of champions.
[19:07] <+Brandon_Radke> But just who are the Shinobi, and how did this conflict come to be? In Riku, history has become a woefully inexact science, and the tattered remains of the ancient past have been lost to time and memoriam. What is known, is that in the long-long-ago, before the rise of the two great cities, mankind was a vibrant race spread across the whole of the continent.
[19:07] <+Brandon_Radke> Then came the cataclysm. What is was or its cause is a lost piece of the puzzle. However its result was clear – it brought the old world to a violent close, and scoured much of civilized life from the land. However some of humanities best and brightest arranged a heroic survival effort, and managed to construct a small fleet of massive airships known as the A
[19:08] <+Brandon_Radke> Some of the ships were acquired by corporate entities, while others were held by theologians, philosophers and academics. The fleets took on board a crew they felt suitable for rebuilding a shattered world in the aftermath of the cataclysm, and rose into low orbit to wait out the devastation.
[19:08] <+Brandon_Radke> When it seemed safe and clear to return to the land below, the two fleets descended. But when they began to rebuild civilization in their respective images, they found that not all of humanity had suffered the same fate.
[19:08] <+Brandon_Radke> Groups of tribal kin, living wild and free in the ruined expanses of Riku persisted, having forged for themselves a simple and complex culture of free thought and experimental mysticism.
[19:08] <+Brandon_Radke> The cities each decided that these folk were a direct threat to their undisputed mastery, and a campaign of extermination began against the “shadow folk”.
[19:09] <+Brandon_Radke> This is where players step into the game of Blood. Nine clans, or “Lineages” have evolved from those first shadow folk, and persist to fight the corrupt powers-that-be for the most valuable substances ever to exist: freedom, life, and liberty.
[19:09] <+Brandon_Radke> Blood is a stripped down, complete-but-concise RPG. The focus is on characters and the storyline, not on statistics and technicalities. The system is basic, and is designed to be easy enough for gamers of all experience levels to easily pick up without having to read a 400-page manual.
[19:09] <+Brandon_Radke> Our core game guide is only about 130 pages – but it provides everything a prospective player or Gamemaster would need to fully understand the stage of our world, the players filling its roles, and how to make that experience exciting and unique for their gaming group.
[19:09] <+Brandon_Radke> More details for the game of Blood, including a breakdown of the nine largest Lineages, a three-part short story which paints a stark and dark portrait of our world, and the entire first chapter of Blood can all be found free-of-charge at our website: (Link: http://lettuceinngames.wix.com/blood)http://lettuceinngames.wix.com/blood
[19:09] <+Brandon_Radke> Whew! One page never seemed like so much text!
[19:10] <~Dan> 🙂
[19:10] <~Dan> (Oh, please give us a (done) when you’re finished with your introduction and after any extended answers. 🙂 )
[19:10] <+Brandon_Radke> Oh, and *done*
[19:10] <~Dan> Thanks, guys!
[19:10] <~Dan> The floor is open to questions!
[19:11] <~Dan> So would you consider this a multi-genre game?
[19:12] <+Brandon_Radke> Absolutely. Making sure there’s room to incorporate a number of genres was a driving goal of ours at the start of this. (done)
[19:12] <~Dan> So the magic and demons are “real”, and not, say, technological simulations?
[19:13] <+Brandon_Radke> I guess I could expound here – since we wanted a ninja or Asian theme for this game, that doesn’t mean we won’t explore other cultural genres in future games – we plan to build sort of an interconnected world with a series of games.
[19:13] <+Brandon_Radke> “Real” is a relative term…
[19:13] <+Brandon_Radke> But yes, magic, demons, spirits, and even mythical monsters are all “real” parts of our world.
[19:13] * ~Dan nods
[19:13] <+Brandon_Radke> As well as sci-fi style tech that stretches the boundries of what’s “real”
[19:13] <~Dan> I just mean that in some games, the “supernatural” isn’t really supernatural at all.
[19:14] <+Brandon_Radke> There’s definitely room for both in our world. There *is* tech that could be used to generate the same magical effects, but largely the supernatural component of our world is its own world in its own way.
[19:16] <+Brandon_Radke> One of the big pieces of our gaming universe is how flexibile it is, and we give our players the tools they need to answer questions like that for themselves. Though we provide a comprehensive world with definitive answers, we like to encourage people to DIY their stories and “cannon” material.
[19:16] <+Brandon_Radke> (done)
[19:16] <~Dan> And in this game, at least, the PCs are all ninjas?
[19:17] <+Brandon_Radke> That’s right, but we break it down into this idea of “interpretations of what a ninja can be”. The idea of the loner in black leaping across rooftops is such a narrow view of what Shinobi can really be. Enter our Lineage system, which offers a wide pallet of ninja-colors, if you will
[19:17] <+Brandon_Radke> All of which can be viewed free of charge at our website.
[19:17] <+Brandon_Radke> (done)
[19:18] <+Brandon_Radke> (though I’m happy to expand on the Lineages)
[19:18] <~Dan> Are the ninjas’ abilities technological, magical, or some combination of both? Or neither?
[19:18] <~Dan> (Assuming that they have any abilities beyond “mundane” skill, I mean.)
[19:19] <+Brandon_Radke> Again, both. LOL, in fact, when in doubt, in the world of Blood, the answer is always “Both” or “all”. Its a very inclussive game, not exclusive. We like to mix and match in as many ways as we can. Sometimes our system seems to restricted, until people start working with it, and then the answer is always the same, “wow, this is *deceptively* complex”
[19:20] <+Brandon_Radke> Shinobi have access to some very classic mystical traits, as well as our own interpretations of their magic, but there’s also *a lot* of tech available.
[19:20] <+Brandon_Radke> (done)
[19:20] * ~Dan nods
[19:21] <~Dan> Can you give us an idea of the upper limits of magic and tech, respectively, in the setting?
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[19:22] <+Brandon_Radke> Sure – for example, there’s a Major Art (or primary catagory of magic) called “Mantles”, where a Shinobi takes on the characteristics of “something” else. With the Highest levels of “Beast Mantle”, a Shinobi High Master could summon a mythological animal, like a dragon.
[19:22] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Blackwingedheaven!)
[19:23] <+Brandon_Radke> Meanwhile, in case of tech, characters could aquire futuristic tanks, forcefield generators, gauss rifles, holographic projectors…honestly, there are no real limits in our game, in that respect. We give A LOT of examples in our manual, but we also encourage people to build their own gear,and we provide the tools to do so.
[19:23] <+Brandon_Radke> done
[19:25] <~Dan> So do I understand correctly that the people from the orbital ships are the Big Bads in the setting?
[19:25] <+Brandon_Radke> Man, I’m so used to writing in article format, its kind of hard to boil down answers to just a sentence or two lol
[19:25] <~Dan> You’re doing fine. 🙂
[19:26] <+Brandon_Radke> Humanity is its own worst enemy. Its a common theme, and one we play with and stretch as far as we can.
[19:27] <+Brandon_Radke> The two cities are the most obvious enemies, but its really human nature that’s the greater evil. And the greater good. We like story loops like that, heh. (done)
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[19:27] <~Dan> (Howdy, Lin_Chong!)
[19:28] <+Brandon_Radke> (Unfortunately Stephen Mack is having comp problems – he’ll join us if he can)
[19:28] <+Lin_Chong> Hi.
[19:29] <~Dan> How fantastical is the setting as a whole? Are there monsters, mutants, and robots wandering the countryside?
[19:30] <+Brandon_Radke> The continent of Riku is massive – many hundreds if not thousands of square miles, with a wide range of environments. The core manual focuses on the lower/central portion where the cities and feudal lands are located, but we intentionally made a HUGE map so there’s room for every variety of crazyness we or our players want to include.
[19:31] <+Brandon_Radke> We play around a lot with the idea of negative space – space where players can customize large portions of the map/world to their whims. We don’t like things to be nailed down and cannon, and therefor unchangable. That’s not what Blood is about.
[19:32] <~Dan> Does the core rulebook include a bestiary?
[19:33] <+Brandon_Radke> The core book is only 130 pages. For anyone familiar with RPG books, that’s crazy slim. Our game is super concentrated to provide only the essentials, but those essentials truly are essential, and give you what you need to jump right into the world and start gaming. But no, there’s not a bestiary per say – that’s what our mini-expansion will be for.
[19:33] <~Dan> Do you give any monster-making tips?
[19:34] <+Brandon_Radke> These mini expansions will be around 40 pages, and focus on one specific notion within the world, like monsters and such. And yes, we provide an entire section on creating NPC’s of all varieties.
[19:35] <~Dan> Ah, well that’s good.
[19:35] <~Dan> Do you by any chance have a character sheet we can look at?
[19:35] <+Brandon_Radke> Again, while there ARE monsters and things that go bump in the night, the worst of the worst are still humans and their motivations.
[19:36] <+Brandon_Radke> Sure, we provide one on our website. I can link the page, if that works? I should mention that we’re still honing our system in many ways, and the character sheet, while nearly complete, still needs some tweeks.
[19:36] <~Dan> Sure, that would be great, re: link
[19:36] <+Brandon_Radke> (Link: http://lettuceinngames.wix.com/blood#!character-sheet/c1exi)http://lettuceinngames.wix.com/blood#!character-sheet/c1exi
[19:37] <+Brandon_Radke> As you can see, its basic, and very intentionally so. Its not a game about stats or technicalities, its about the character and the story.
[19:37] <~Dan> Let’s see here… So the primary stats are the ones inside the pentagon, and the secondary stats are around the circle?
[19:38] <+Brandon_Radke> That’s right, it works in layers. Adding a check just means you start from the middle and add outwards, as the Gamemaster calls for.
[19:38] <+Brandon_Radke> Its all mental math. You never need a chart or graph or a reference page.
[19:39] * ~Dan nods
[19:39] <~Dan> Looks that way.
[19:39] <+Brandon_Radke> Shinobi start with a 5, then add a primary, a secondary, *maybe* a perk, and a d20 roll. Easy.
[19:40] <+Brandon_Radke> The whole idea was to get away from overcomplicated games, and get right to the heart of roleplaying, playing the role of a character – and characters aren’t numbers on a page.
[19:40] * ~Dan nods
[19:41] <~Dan> With the focus on 5 steps per level, is the game able to handle creatures with superhuman attributes?
[19:41] <+Brandon_Radke> When we run our beta games, its amazing how many people who are used to stat games are amazed at how simple and efficient our system works out to be, and before you know it, we have another few converts 🙂
[19:42] <+Brandon_Radke> Yes, but “superhuman” is also relative. The max number a human can achieve is 40, so if a hypothetical monster or a piece of technology just flat out out-stats you, then obviously the solution isn’t going to be in your stats – its a choice and a plan you have to make. Its story and character based.
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[19:43] <+Brandon_Radke> Blood is definetly a game for thinking gamers – its not hack/slash. Problem solving is a huge part of the fun.
[19:43] * ~Dan nods
[19:43] <~Dan> Speaking of hacking and slashing, how does combat work?
[19:44] <+Brandon_Radke> Brutally! Lol – Combat is intentionally fast and furious in our game. Its one part realism, and one part deterant. Getting into haphazard fights can easily blow up in your face. Planning things out almost always works in your favor. I’ll explain…
[19:46] <+Brandon_Radke> So in combat you have “opportunities”, which are what we call actions. For each opportunity, you declare an attack, a defense, a spell-casting, or just a declaration of whatever you want to do in the moment. Then instead of everyone taking actions in sequence, everyone acts at the same time, as they would in real life. You have to anticipate your opponent.
[19:47] <+Brandon_Radke> Damage is pretty straight forward – we break it down into lethal and non lethal, with a track for both.
[19:48] <+Brandon_Radke> But the whole idea is that combat is meant to be dramatic and enhance the story, not something you just throw dice at and hope a bunch of numbers will carry you through.
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[19:48] <+Brandon_Radke> Its all woven into this heavily emphasized “story first” notion we promote.
[19:48] <~Dan> (Howdy, MBLIG!)
[19:49] <+MBLIG> Hi
[19:49] <~Dan> How do weapons and armor work?
[19:51] <+Brandon_Radke> Again, they work very simply. Weapons provide a flat damage between one and ten (there’s only ten level of health on each track). If you hit with an attack, you deal that much damage. What typically saves the recipient is not being hit. We also encourage Gamemasters to take liberties with dice rolls, accounting for close-calls wherever they see fit.
[19:52] <+Brandon_Radke> Armor works much the same – simply. It reduces the damage you take, but degrades with each hit until repaired. We don’t worry a lot about hit locations and crits and fails and such. That’s all part of the story, and something the Gamemaster should control for the sake of the story.
[19:53] <~Dan> I take it that degree of success doesn’t impact damage, then?
[19:53] <+Brandon_Radke> Not at all, its flatly whether or not you hit, and how your Gamemaster wants to interpret that number based on how the combat is going. Story first. At all times, story first.
[19:54] <+MBLIG> Talking 20s and 1s?
[19:55] <+Brandon_Radke> Exactly. If a GM wants to include that as an option, we encourage that, but we don’t provide for charts for crits or botches. We don’t like stats and technicalities to determine that much in our world.
[19:56] <+Brandon_Radke> And combat is always short in Blood. It rarely lasts more than a few rounds, and usually someone is dead.
[19:56] <+Brandon_Radke> Its a big theme in our game, us emphasizing how dangerous combat is, and that it should be carefully thought out, and avoided when possible.
[19:57] <+Brandon_Radke> But hey, sometimes you gotta slay a dragon or break into a prison lol
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[19:58] <~Dan> 🙂
[19:58] <~Dan> How do martial arts abilities work in the game?
[20:00] <+Brandon_Radke> Our simplified system doesn’t have much statistical use for martial arts, so what we’ve done is turned it into a “perk”, which is just an advantage for a customized character. The Martial Arts perk means you’re profiecient in a style and get a bonus to fighting in that style, but in terms of how it affects a characters life, that’s all story-based and RP’ing
[20:01] <+Brandon_Radke> So when it comes to martial arts, it really makes for style points – how you describe your character, or how the GM paints the scene as it unfolds. That’s what makes having those stats cool, anyways – a roll is just a die hitting a table.
[20:01] * ~Dan nods
[20:03] <~Dan> Can you say some more about how the line will develop?
[20:03] <+Brandon_Radke> Sure, of course
[20:04] <+Brandon_Radke> So as I’ve said, the core book is a mighty-mini 130 pages. But what we’ll be developing are these smaller, chapter-sized supliments that will go into greater detail about other ideas in the game.
[20:05] <+Brandon_Radke> Right now we’re slated for “Clan Mentality – the Book of Lineages”, “Stories by the Firelight – the Book of Campaigns”, “Dark Mirror – the Book of Magic”, and “Black Hats – the Book of Antagonists”
[20:05] <+Brandon_Radke> Plus there’s room for so many more!
[20:05] <+Brandon_Radke> …And of course, Riku is just ONE continent on a planet of undetermined size, and each continent will be its own themed game.
[20:06] <+Brandon_Radke> Our next game will be a wild west horror continent, ruled by vampires and werewolves, with humans caught in a powerstruggle, and waves of the undead filling the wastelands of a nuclear holocaust.
[20:07] <+Brandon_Radke> The cool part, is that these games are all separated by seemingly insurmountable boundaries, but all share one world.
[20:07] <~Dan> Do they all include the orbital refugees from the old world?
[20:08] <+Brandon_Radke> Can I refrain from answering the grounds of “spoiler alert”? 😉
[20:09] <~Dan> Heh. Fair enough. 🙂
[20:09] <+Brandon_Radke> Well I’ll say this…
[20:10] <+Brandon_Radke> What the old world was becomes a clearer and clearer picture with easy game that gets added to the world, until there is at last a complete picture. But that doesn’t mean the picture is “done”…it just shows the broad strokes.
[20:10] <+Brandon_Radke> *with each game, not easy game
[20:10] <+Brandon_Radke> Someday I’ll teach my stubby little fingers to dance.
[20:10] <~Dan> 🙂
[20:11] <~Dan> Will all of the games use the exact same system?
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[20:12] <~Dan> (Howdy, WonderRat!)
[20:12] <+Brandon_Radke> Same system, different character sheets, using different skills. Of course, the other games are still in development, but ideally in a wild west horror show there won’t be need for the same stats used on Riku – I mean, that’d be lame, right?
[20:13] <~Dan> Heh. Well, depends upon how generic the stats are. 🙂
[20:14] <+Brandon_Radke> Of course – and there you’ll see some overlap. Physical, Mental, Social – we’re talking pretty universal stats there.
[20:14] <+Brandon_Radke> But we really like the balance of five core stats and ten supporting stats – so we’ll be diverging from Blood at that point, and putting a more unique stat-stamp on future game’s character sheets.
[20:15] * ~Dan nods
[20:16] <+Brandon_Radke> I can’t stress enough how much it seems like 15 stats is not enough until you try out a session and start playing, and you get a feel for how the emphasis on the story really negates stat-mongering, and you just have to focus on knowing what your character can do, and being that character in the moment 🙂
[20:16] <~Dan> Nothing wrong with that. 🙂
[20:17] <+Brandon_Radke> Which was the underlying principle of Blood and all our future games. We just got tired of being blasted in the face with libraries with of materials that came with a price tag in the hundreds of dollars range – a game doesn’t need to be that complicated or that expensive to be fun
[20:17] <~Dan> Nothing wrong with that, either. 🙂
[20:18] <~Dan> You mentioned clans earlier… What impact do they have on the system?
[20:18] <+Brandon_Radke> It can be hard explaining that to people so used to DnD or Pathfinder, or even the World of Darkness or Shadow Run. Those games are great, but they take up A LOT of shelf space, and we realized it was just marketing.
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[20:19] <~Dan> (Howdy, Lassek!)
[20:19] * +Lassek tiptoes to the back row
[20:20] <+Brandon_Radke> Right, the “clans”, or “Lineages” as we call them, are basically just our class system. They each have their own philosophy and politics, and are intellectually distinct from one another, and more importantly, they provide complimentary skill sets.
[20:20] <+Brandon_Radke> Some are smugglers, some are assassins, some are necro-priests, some are even bankers!
[20:20] <~Dan> Necro-priests?
[20:20] <+Brandon_Radke> We came up with nine, but those are just the broad strokes
[20:21] <+Brandon_Radke> Yup, necro priests lol
[20:21] <+Brandon_Radke> I’ll explain that one…
[20:21] <+MBLIG> And bums!
[20:22] <+Brandon_Radke> One part necromancer, one part ghost buster, and all part graverobbers – we call them the Hebi Liniage, and they believe no one is allowed to take it with them, so anything in the ground is fair game. They tomb raiders, graverobbers, and generally unseemly adventuring types. Very well versed in the world of the dead, but very low on morals.
[20:23] <+Brandon_Radke> You can find all nine of the Lineages we’ve created as a “base” for the game at our site: (Link: http://lettuceinngames.wix.com/blood#!lineages/mainPage)http://lettuceinngames.wix.com/blood#!lineages/mainPage
[20:24] <+Brandon_Radke> So in game terms, a Lineage also describes what sort of magic your character uses, what sort of political or philosophical support you receive from your community, and a few special powers unique to each Lineage.
[20:25] <+Brandon_Radke> A quick note about the link I just posted – that’s just a primer. The manual goes into much deeper detail.
[20:26] <+MBLIG> You can also dabble and design your own.
[20:26] <+Brandon_Radke> Yep! We give tools and encouragement to do just that, and there will also be more expanded tools in the expansion “Clan Mentality”
[20:28] <~Dan> (brb)
[20:28] <+MBLIG> Example, Brandon made a wolf clan. They can shape shift into a wolf. They get bonuses when the moon is out
[20:29] <+Brandon_Radke> And that was just something simple I rigged up to add spice to one particular story. Again, there are no limits, just imagination and good judgment guided by our books.
[20:31] <~Dan> (back)
[20:31] <+MBLIG> And a rusty sword..
[20:31] <+Brandon_Radke> wb
[20:31] <~Dan> How powerful are starting characters?
[20:31] <+Brandon_Radke> If a rusty sword is good enough for Finn the Human, its good enough for any of us
[20:32] <+Brandon_Radke> Starting characters aren’t terribly powerful – but again, that’s relative, because the game is based on problem solving and using your head. A base character has enough stats to specialize in a meaningful way, has access to an introductory core magic, a unique clan spell, and the option to dabble in some lesser magics.
[20:33] <+Brandon_Radke> So, a base character has what they need to succeed in a properly balanced campaign.
[20:33] <+Brandon_Radke> Which is what you should expect from a starting level toon.
[20:34] <~Dan> How tolerant is the system for flashy cinematic moves?
[20:35] <+Brandon_Radke> Plus we have a system for buying your initial gear, or “Kit” in our world. Its not about buying everything a la carte, but buying packages of gear that function together, like a “burglar’s kit” or a “hunter’s kit”. And putting together a savy kit can be worth its weight in gold for a starting character.
[20:35] <+Brandon_Radke> Extremely! We have an entire stat called “Shadow” which is designed to just let Shinobi’s air it out. Let a ninja be a ninja.
[20:37] <~Dan> Can you say a bit about your gaming history and how it influenced the design of Blood?
[20:37] <~Dan> You too, MBLIG. 🙂
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[20:37] <+MBLIG> I blame Brandon
[20:37] <+Brandon_Radke> Well I think we’re both massively influenced by the Old World of Darkness
[20:37] <+Brandon_Radke> ..that’s fair.
[20:37] <~Dan> (Howdy, Sam!)
[20:38] <+Sam> (Hola.)
[20:38] <+Brandon_Radke> We played a single campaign for about 15 years on and off, so we are all really tied into this idea of a story-driven world
[20:38] <+Brandon_Radke> Combat could go sideways and stats seemed to be overly defining of a character in every system we tried. Its how we ended up here.
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[20:39] <+MBLIG> Correct our story was broken into chapters. Like a book
[20:40] <+Brandon_Radke> Actually the genesis for staring this venture was partly realizing I’d written enough story notes in the White Wolf system to have writen my own gaming book.
[20:40] <+MBLIG> I started with old dnd starwars d6 then Brandon lol
[20:41] <+Brandon_Radke> We really briefly tried out Pathfinder, but the community was not really welcoming of me LOL. They really didn’t like that I put character decisions above player decisions. Again, another brick in the wall of Blood.
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[20:42] <+BlasterKyubey210> I should think about that honestly…
[20:42] <+Brandon_Radke> DnD always seemed to cut and dry, but we played around in that world too. Being able to make a game work often derives from experience and having just gone out and played as many different sorts of games as you can.
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[20:42] <+BlasterKyubey210> That is “take these experiences and use them positively
[20:43] <+BlasterKyubey210> Not a designer, just building small pieces but a thought I should try
[20:43] <+MBLIG> Correct
[20:43] <+Brandon_Radke> Yah man, any time you can take something you’ve experienced and build something, big or small, that’s a win.
[20:43] <+BlasterKyubey210> It’s a thought that came up, even if it’s “build from the ground up”
[20:43] <+Brandon_Radke> Also a bedrock theory of Blood…man, we seem to have a lot of those lol
[20:44] <+Brandon_Radke> Everyone starts at the ground level. DnD was just three guys in a basement at one point.
[20:46] <~Dan> Fill in the blank: If you love ________________ (insert RPG name), you’ll love Blood!
[20:46] <+Brandon_Radke> Oh man…
[20:46] <+Brandon_Radke> I’m gonna say “Shadowrun”
[20:47] <+Brandon_Radke> A dystopian future with a heavy mix of sci-fi and fantasy. We definetly share some common ground there.
[20:48] <+MBLIG> Sci-fi/Technology/religion
[20:50] <+Brandon_Radke> Part of me see’s relations to Star Wars as well – but frankly, I think that’s cuz I’m watching Clone Wars on the Netflix lol
[20:50] <~Dan> In what’s left of “regular time”, is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to bring up?
[20:51] <+Brandon_Radke> Just that we don’t want players to be put off by the small size of our manual. Its different than what people are used to, and that can be a turn off. But the whole idea is that its inexpensive to get into, easy to understand the system, and only dependent on you and your friends having fun with something new.
[20:53] * ~Dan nods
[20:53] <+Brandon_Radke> Its a lot like Chess, in that it seems basic and cut-and-dry, but things can get very complicated, and that’s what’s fun about Blood. Being able to get into the world, and just flat out not worrying about min/maxing your character sheet.
[20:54] <~Dan> Cool. 🙂
[20:54] <+Brandon_Radke> We think so! 🙂
[20:54] <~Dan> Anything to add, MBLIG?
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[20:55] <+MBLIG> Yeah
[20:56] <+MBLIG> The game takes you as far as your imagination can. Really puts back that character and gm relation. We encourage folks to stretch the boundaries and have fun
[20:56] <+MBLIG> If you Think it make it happen
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[20:56] <~Dan> Excellent. 🙂
[20:57] <~Dan> Thanks very much for coming by, guys!
[20:57] <+Brandon_Radke> Thanks for having us, we appreciate it 🙂
The Hardboiled GMshoe's Office 