Anyone here play Genesys RPG?

[Maquise]

I was wondering if anyone else on the Playground plays any Genesys RPG. A fairly new system, it's become my favorite; I'd been looking for a decent, narrative generic system, and the narrative dice are a great mechanic, I've found. I like it a lot better than binary, numeric rolls like d20. Anyone have any interesting experiences to write about?

[BWR]

Good for SW, **** for L5R. I wouldn't want to use it for D&D or AM or WoD or HSHC or CoC or Laundry Files or......
you get the idea.

[Silva]

Is Genesys the generic version of Star Wars: Edge of the Empire? If so, is it simpler in this version? After reading SW:EotE I felt it a tad too complicated with all the fiddly dice, even if I like the concept of complications/fail forward as seen in PbtA, Fate, etc. If it's indeed simpler I'd be curious to try it, as I've seen there's an Android Netrunner book for it.

[BWR]

Is Genesys the generic version of Star Wars: Edge of the Empire? If so, is it simpler in this version? After reading SW:EotE I felt it a tad too complicated with all the fiddly dice, even if I like the concept of complications/fail forward as seen in PbtA, Fate, etc. If it's indeed simpler I'd be curious to try it, as I've seen there's an Android Netrunner book for it.

It does seem a bit intimidating when you come in as a newcomer, but give it a try. It's quite good for SW. Especially if you have an experienced player or GM that can ease you into it. It does not take long at all to get into the mindset. I can't speak for the generic version of the game, and my opinion on using it for existing settings is already made clear, but I like the SW version.

[Maquise]

It does seem a bit intimidating when you come in as a newcomer, but give it a try. It's quite good for SW. Especially if you have an experienced player or GM that can ease you into it. It does not take long at all to get into the mindset. I can't speak for the generic version of the game, and my opinion on using it for existing settings is already made clear, but I like the SW version.

I don't think I would use it to roleplay in a setting that already had a system, unless I didn't like that system (Such as Fallout). However, I think the strongest strength of the system is the ability to adapt it to any setting, without that much difficulty, so you can play in settings that don't have their own system. Or develop your own settings.

[ArcanistSupreme]

I used to play 3.P exclusively until a friend talked me into trying out EotE. I'll be hard-pressed to ever pick up a d20 again.

I absolutely LOVE the narrative dice. They force the whole table to add more description to every scene, and the idea of treating the game like a movie really fits with my play style.

[JNAProductions]

In before the Necro deadline.

My friend just picked this up, and we attempted to run a one-shot last night. It was fun, but didn't really go that well.

We're gonna spend some time today going over it more in-depth, but does anyone have a good breakdown for newbs for the system?

[Maquise]

In before the Necro deadline.

My friend just picked this up, and we attempted to run a one-shot last night. It was fun, but didn't really go that well.

We're gonna spend some time today going over it more in-depth, but does anyone have a good breakdown for newbs for the system?

Depends on what elements of the system are giving you issues. On mobile right now, but can provide more help when I get home.

[JNAProductions]

Having looked over it more, I feel like starting XP is really small.

One passage in the book (book is at the friend who bought it's house, so can't give a page number) talks about PCs having a characteristic of 4 to start, which takes at least 40% of your starting XP. And, if I recall correctly, it even says they might have a 3 too! Which would take 70% or more.

[ArcanistSupreme]

Having looked over it more, I feel like starting XP is really small.

One passage in the book (book is at the friend who bought it's house, so can't give a page number) talks about PCs having a characteristic of 4 to start, which takes at least 40% of your starting XP. And, if I recall correctly, it even says they might have a 3 too! Which would take 70% or more.

It's true that at character creation, you'll probably just have a few stat bumps, starting skills, and maybe a talent or two. I can't speak to GENESYS, but FFG Star Wars has "Knight Level Play," which gives you 150 XP extra (no spending it on stats!) and a reasonably large sum of money to play with at character creation.

If you're all new to the system, I really do recommend starting at the base level of XP, though, for the sanity of the GM. Let the GM get used to the system first so the players aren't either spanking every encounter or alternatively wiping every session.

[Rakaydos]

It's true that at character creation, you'll probably just have a few stat bumps, starting skills, and maybe a talent or two. I can't speak to GENESYS, but FFG Star Wars has "Knight Level Play," which gives you 150 XP extra (no spending it on stats!) and a reasonably large sum of money to play with at character creation.

If you're all new to the system, I really do recommend starting at the base level of XP, though, for the sanity of the GM. Let the GM get used to the system first so the players aren't either spanking every encounter or alternatively wiping every session.

And for all that is holy, stay away from the "Target drops their weapon" advantage result. It is borning and nothing kills immersion faster than everyone becoming butterfingers. What you want is "Dramatically alter the battlefield in your favor." What does that mean? Well, where are you, and how can that change in your favor?

[Maquise]

And for all that is holy, stay away from the "Target drops their weapon" advantage result. It is borning and nothing kills immersion faster than everyone becoming butterfingers. What you want is "Dramatically alter the battlefield in your favor." What does that mean? Well, where are you, and how can that change in your favor?

Well, if you’re playing a White Hat in a Western, it could be fitting to shoot the bad guy’s gun out of his hand. But again, dependent upon the setting.

That is what I like most about this game, though. The ability to turn the dice rolls into story.

[oxybe]

One of our players, when he runs, is exclusively in the Genesys system.

We've run both Fantasy (using the Terrinoth sourcebook) and Space games (Core Genesys with lots of custom material and some of the Star Wars stuff imported and tweaked) and they went well.

My take on it? It makes characters that are playable within a specific power band. I would probably put a high XP Genesys character as a low-teens D&D one. With the right mix of talents and gear you can do some pretty cool stuff.

The funky dice does take some getting used to, but the possibilities of succeed with drawback/failure with benefit can make for some interesting dynamics at times.

But my big advice? Use your strain and story points.

Like, do not be afraid to make use of them. While having none of either is a no-go, it's pretty easy to refresh and regain strain and taking an extra action here or using an ability there makes all the difference. Same with story point: they're there to be used, and while I would recommend to keep one or two banked "just in case", make active use of the rest.

Our games became much more fun when we started really making use of those mechanics and figuring out how to refresh them.

[ArcanistSupreme]

And for all that is holy, stay away from the "Target drops their weapon" advantage result. It is borning and nothing kills immersion faster than everyone becoming butterfingers. What you want is "Dramatically alter the battlefield in your favor." What does that mean? Well, where are you, and how can that change in your favor?

Huh? Every action movie ever has a dramatic moment where the hero or the villain has the gun knocked out of his or her hands and they both dive for it while pummeling one another. It all comes down to how you narrate it and play it out.

But my big advice? Use your strain and story points.

Like, do not be afraid to make use of them. While having none of either is a no-go, it's pretty easy to refresh and regain strain and taking an extra action here or using an ability there makes all the difference. Same with story point: they're there to be used, and while I would recommend to keep one or two banked "just in case", make active use of the rest.

Our games became much more fun when we started really making use of those mechanics and figuring out how to refresh them.

Amen.

As a GM, I spend Dark Side points against the players at every opportunity, and I'm well aware that I'm setting them up to use them back. It drives me absolutely bonkers when one side or the other is sitting on all of the points and not spending them.

Same with strain. Yeah, you might end up unconscious once in awhile, but the constant threat of that makes for some great moments.

[Maquise]

What settings do folk tend to play with this system, just out of curiosity?

[Rakaydos]

What settings do folk tend to play with this system, just out of curiosity?

The game I'm in right now is a final fantasy-inspired generic fantasy setting, with self aware videogame tropes occasionally thrown in.

[Silva]

What settings do folk tend to play with this system, just out of curiosity?

I don't know what people play, but the Android Netrunner setting is one of the best takes on cyberpunk I've seen recently and would love to play on it.

[Elricaltovilla]

I have not played it yet but I very much would like to do so. I have played Star Wars Force and Destiny and really enjoyed it, so a generic system would be great.

I love the dice system, and I'm hoping that I can find some people at the FLGS that would be interested in trying it out.

[Puh Laden]

I made an attempt at making three Magical Girl-themed settings. One for "spec-ops," one for "saturday morning cartoon", and one for "angels, devils, and humans, vs Cthulhu." I decided to run AD&D instead though since of the three, my players picked the "spec-ops" setting and then they all had more interest in playing normal government agents than magical girls. (I still have the custom careers and archetypes and the custom magic rules in a word-doc though.)

I DM'd a "Edge of the Empire via Force & Destiny" game once (Force & Destiny rulebook but everyone was smuggler-type who happened to be force-sensitive). I felt somewhat constrained by the setting though. It makes it hard to play force-users during the dark times and still have a meaningful story.

[ArcanistSupreme]

What settings do folk tend to play with this system, just out of curiosity?

Currently it's exclusively Star Wars, but that's at least partially out of laziness on my part. I'm usually the GM, and I'm super familiar with the Star Wars setting and haven't felt any great urge to dive into another setting.

I'd love to do some one shots in other settings if my group was ever interested in running them. Noir, horror, and mystery all sound like fun. And as a converted D&D/Pathfinder player, I wouldn't mind a fantasy campaign.

[Xalyz]

I am currently Dming a game set in a steampunk inspired wild west.

Although, i thought that the character creator was way too simple and might have gone a bit overboard making it more in-depth.

[ErdrickOfAliaha]

This is my new favorite system. As far as threats/advantage go, don't be afraid to open up to the players if none of the table effects make sense. Oftentimes when we play, "so what do you want out of that extra Triumph?" Leads to a more dynamic story. I have used this for SW, where we freely blend all 3 core books simultaneously using Duty, Morality, and Obligation and it works quite smoothly.

We have also done fantasy (Realms of Terrinoth), and I ran a one shot modern horror set in a hotel at Niagara falls (with lots of native folklore). It also worked well when we used it for Dresden. In the FFG forums, there's even a Gundam style refluffing.

Also, even though (or especially because) Triumphs and Despair don't cancel each other out, it works Very Well for "yes, but" "no,but" "yes, and but also" type situations.

I could go on, but it should be obvious that I have had enormously positive and rewarding experiences with this system in both of its incarnations.

[DMJack]

I have the FFG Star Wars cores and their career books. Have not tried Genesys yet but own it. The dice system is fun and engaging as I understand the dice are more or less the same.