Better Angels—anyone actually tried it yet?

[Zaq]

So, Better Angels just released their core rules PDF about a month ago (it's at arcdream.com, for those interested). I was part of their Kickstarter, so I've been excited to play it for some time. I've got a potential group starting to get together before long, but we haven't actually decided which game we're going to play yet, so we might not end up playing BA just yet. Still, I'm looking forward to when I do get to play.

Has anyone else played BA, or at least heard of it? If so, what do you think? I'll probably get roped into GMing it (in my groups, it's usually the case that the one who suggests an unfamiliar system has to GM it first), so I'm a little worried about that, but hey, it's a learning experience all around. It kind of reminds me of a more serious version of Kobolds Ate My Baby, but that's just from reading it, not playing it yet. Still, the whole "we don't track what you do so much as how you do it" and "these choices you make at chargen don't make certain actions easier; they make them possible" aspects seem Koboldian to me, at least on the surface.

So, what are your thoughts? Has anyone even heard of it? Have you made any cool character concepts I could use as NPCs? Do you have any play experience? What do you think?

[erikun]

I have not heard about it.

My first impression at the concept is "Why not play Mutants & Masterminds?" My second is "Why not play World of Darkness?" I think the biggest questions I have are why would I play Better Angels over one of the above systems, or even a generic system, and what Better Angels does to keep the game steered towards the comical-supervillain aesthetic. I mean, you're talking about a game where characters are possessed by demons and act like villains. Is there anything to discourage people from just running around and actually being evil?

[Totally Guy]

I try to follow the RPG scene on Kickstarter and this still happens. Never heard of it.

Oh, I've just looked it up. (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/arcdream/better-angels-a-hell-of-a-roleplaying-game-by-greg) It's nearly a year old. Greg Stolze though, he's on my list to check out.

From the fiction: "Esther Minges"? Is that not a very rude word elsewhere?

[Hiro Protagonest]

I have not heard about it.

My first impression at the concept is "Why not play Mutants & Masterminds?" My second is "Why not play World of Darkness Mutants and Masterminds?"

FTFY. :smalltongue:

But Exalted would also fit pretty well. Deathtraps and monologues stave off punishment? Infernals!

[Raum]

So, what are your thoughts? Has anyone even heard of it? Have you made any cool character concepts I could use as NPCs? Do you have any play experience? What do you think?I have it and I want to like it. The concept is interesting and having someone else create and play your demon gives it a unique character. Sadly, I probably won't be able to talk anyone into it - it's not written clearly enough to pick up easily.

[Rockphed]

From the fiction: "Esther Minges"? Is that not a very rude word elsewhere?

It is either so rude nobody uses it, used so infrequently in print I have never seen it before, or just plain not a word in the parts of the US I have been in.

[Water_Bear]

From the fiction: "Esther Minges"? Is that not a very rude word elsewhere?

There aren't that many of us in the states who know what it means, and even then the fact no-one has heard of it means it doesn't seem very offensive to those who do. It's like how you can say "Bloody 'ell" on children's shows; it's just something endearingly foreign rather than even remotely scandalous.