Eclipse Phase

[Astrella]

So I've been side-eying Eclipse Phase but I don't really know much about it. Anyone have any experience with the system?

[Lord Raziere]

So I've been side-eying Eclipse Phase but I don't really know much about it. Anyone have any experience with the system?

well its great setting, and once you get past character creation its pretty light.

its just that, character creation in the corebook is literally "you have 1000 points to spend on skills and equipment, have fun." which is y'know. problematic. because having to allocate 1000 points for no reason.

and the easier way, of the package character creation system is in Transhuman, which is a supplementary book, which simplifies it down to a bunch of skill packages based on background, faction, profession things like that its only 10 points total.

so.....depends on how much you like spending 1000 points or how much you like getting a certain supplement so that you don't have to deal with it.

but aside from that, the system handles the specific setting very well.

[Grinner]

It's extremely hard to do well.

It's been my experience that it's a pain to run, chiefly because it's so different. It also tends to magnify various issues endemic to tabletop RPGs, such as knowledge/research checks or difficulty running modules. To really use it, everyone involved should already be intimately familiar with the setting and rules, excepting the GM-only sections.

I guess it's no more difficult to play as a player than other games, aside from character creation, but the way the setting works creates so much trouble on the GM's side.

[The Grue]

so.....depends on how much you like spending 1000 points or how much you like getting a certain supplement so that you don't have to deal with it.

Luckily, the second option is mitigated by the fact that all of the Eclipse Phase books are freely distributable under a Creative Commons license. :smallbiggrin:

[Blackhawk748]

It's extremely hard to do well.

It's been my experience that it's a pain to run, chiefly because it's so different. It also tends to magnify various issues endemic to tabletop RPGs, such as knowledge/research checks or difficulty running modules. To really use it, everyone involved should already be intimately familiar with the setting and rules, excepting the GM-only sections.

I guess it's no more difficult to play as a player than other games, aside from character creation, but the way the setting works creates so much trouble on the GM's side.

Im running a game now, and im not having any huge problems, then again everyone knows the setting. Basically if everyone is at least familiar with the basics you should be ok.

[Grinner]

Im running a game now, and im not having any huge problems, then again everyone knows the setting. Basically if everyone is at least familiar with the basics you should be ok.

How much are the players using the Mesh? My problem had been keeping the game moving while coming up with answers to every little research check. I wasn't really sure how to politely phrase "Stop asking questions about irrelevant trivia", and I couldn't really make them stop, them being perpetually connected to the game's Internet-equivalent.

I also didn't want to hold up the game for Mesh-hacking sequences, so I tended to just let them go with a simple die roll. Unfortunately, that didn't really get across the gravity or complexity of the procedure.

The setting might work better for an open-ended game, in my opinion.

[Blackhawk748]

How much are the players using the Mesh? My problem had been keeping the game moving while coming up with answers to every little research check. I wasn't really sure how to politely phrase "Stop asking questions about irrelevant trivia", and I couldn't really make them stop, them being perpetually connected to the game's Internet-equivalent.

I also didn't want to hold up the game for Mesh-hacking sequences, so I tended to just let them go with a simple die roll. Unfortunately, that didn't really get across the gravity or complexity of the procedure.

The setting might work better for an open-ended game, in my opinion.

Eclipse Phase loves being a sandbox. Also Mesh Hacking isnt "holding up the game" its an integral part of it, let the hacker have their moment. As for the people constantly doing research, just ask them to stop, my PCs havent really bothered doing research on every little thing, though they are usually linked to the Mesh.

[Mutazoia]

I also didn't want to hold up the game for Mesh-hacking sequences, so I tended to just let them go with a simple die roll. Unfortunately, that didn't really get across the gravity or complexity of the procedure.

Just hit them with the Mesh version of pop-up ad spam and multiple-top click bait every time they try to mesh-google something unimportant.

[Anonymouswizard]

Luckily, the second option is mitigated by the fact that all of the Eclipse Phase books are freely distributable under a Creative Commons license. :smallbiggrin:

This. I haven't had the chance to run or play it yet (it's a little bit of a niche interest around here, as all anybody wants to play is D&D, or maybe Mechwarrior, I'll be lucky if I can get to run wuxia this summer), because the one time I did everybody decided Werewolf: the Apocalypse sounded more interesting (and then proceeded to make fun of the setting that I really like, by insisting that they were dogs, except for one guy who simply pretended to be a big, friendly, wolf-esque dog when he wanted humans to ignore him), but the fact I could read the book beforehand is why I have a physical copy of the core.

My advise is to buy the core. It's not one of the cheaper cores, and set me back £40, but it's a nice book and the one you'll refer to most, the others being more useful for character/adventure creation or just to nab the morphs out of. Definitely a good idea to get the pdf of Transhuman (although I'm one of the ones who likes the core char gen, because it's so flexible), and I'd recommend Sunward and/or Rimward, depending on where you want to set it. The others are nice, but those four are what I consider to be the basic set.

[The Grue]

Oh, hey Wizard. Wasn't I going to run Million Year Echo on this forum at some point? I should get around to doing that

[Anonymouswizard]

Oh yeah, no rush, I've got uni work and there will probably be a slight time zone clash.

I just assumed I'd missed the recruiting thread anyway. :smallsmile: