So, has anyone played Song of Ice & Fire RPG Game of Thrones Edition?

[Connorsrpg]

Whoah, what a mouthful for a name. Perhaps that is why I don't see it here?

I have had the book for some time. I read it some time ago and loved the take on d6 dice pooling (with bonus dice acting as replacements). But I put it aside only to visit it again recently.

I was looking at the different skill systems and I got to reading the book again. I loved it a lot. I would love to try it out some time. So, basically, I would love to hear from anyone that has, along with some specifics on how the rules work.

As a side note, I am working on a system that ports in SIF's Abilities and Specialties into Savage Worlds in place of SW's Attributes, Skills (and it messes with Wild Dice a little too). So far, so good. I have converted some of our PCs, but yet to playtest. (Anyone interested - see my website in my sig).

 

[Cor Azer]

It's been my system of choice for a couple of years now.

I've had no major issues with the rules mechanics, although some of the descriptive charts seem out-of-whack with what's achievable via mechanics.

The tricky part is balancing encounters - both combat and intrigue can easily be dominated by highly specialized characters (abilities of 6+, even 5s with extremely focused benefits).

The response then, like in the books, is to remember to occasionally hit PCs where they're weak.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

I'll run my second session of it on Friday. From the first on I learned how powerful an armored fighter is. A single wolf had no problem hitting him, but only could bite him with a 18 on 3d6.

 

[Cor Azer]

I'll run my second session of it on Friday. From the first on I learned how powerful an armored fighter is. A single wolf had no problem hitting him, but only could bite him with a 18 on 3d6.

Bite him, or bite him effectively?

ASoIaF RPG follows the idea that armor makes you easier to hit, but harder to hurt.

And as an aside, abilities like the wolf's knockdown are great against heavily armored characters - you get higher ground against prone people and they need a Greater rather than a Lesser action to stand.

 

[Nojo509]

I've played ASoIaF, but I don't know if they changed the rules for the Game of Thrones edition. Maybe they included the errata.

In any case, we found that combat heavy types (knights, for example) had little challenge in combat vs. NPCs with the rules as written.

Only PCs and "the most important" NPCs get to move their damage into Injuries and Wounds. I was the knight, and I got tired of the party watching me destroy mass numbers of NPCs, so I asked the GM to use Injuries and Wounds for all the NPCs.

Bad idea, combat slowed to a crawl. So maybe just expand "important" NPCs a bit, or take one Injury only, or some other buff, but don't go all the way.

On the other hand, it was one of the most memorable campaigns I'd ever played in. Our house really took it on the chin, but we kept coming back for me.

 

[Cor Azer]

Note there are three types of NPCs:

Primary Characters are built just like PCs, have Destiny and Qualities, and may take Injuries, Wounds, and Frustration. Generally, these are characters are important across an entire chronicle.

Secondary Characters are good in one specific area of the game. They can take Injuries and Frustration, but not Wounds, and they don't have Destiny (although some may have Qualities). They are important to one scenario.

Tertiary Characters are your mooks. Somewhat competent in one area, they're only dangerous in numbers , when led by someone skilled, or against the truly inept. They cannot take Injuries, Wounds, or Frustration, and have no Destiny nor Qualities. They are generally only important for a single scene.

A good scenario will provide a mix of the three to support all challenge levels.

 

[Cor Azer]

I've played ASoIaF, but I don't know if they changed the rules for the Game of Thrones edition. Maybe they included the errata.

Most errata. Some dropped.

Most changes are for clarification, although some Benefits and Drawbacks were updated to reflect more info gleaned from more recent books - mainly the supernatural stuff like Warging and Greendreams.

For what it's worth, for those who don't have the Game of Thrones edition of the rules, Green Ronin supplied the new Destiny and Qualities chapter for free as a PDF.

 

[Nojo509]

Note there are three types of NPCs:

Primary Characters are built just like PCs, have Destiny and Qualities, and may take Injuries, Wounds, and Frustration. Generally, these are characters are important across an entire chronicle.

Secondary Characters are good in one specific area of the game. They can take Injuries and Frustration, but not Wounds, and they don't have Destiny (although some may have Qualities). They are important to one scenario.

Tertiary Characters are your mooks. Somewhat competent in one area, they're only dangerous in numbers , when led by someone skilled, or against the truly inept. They cannot take Injuries, Wounds, or Frustration, and have no Destiny nor Qualities. They are generally only important for a single scene.

A good scenario will provide a mix of the three to support all challenge levels.

Wow, we never knew about these three types. Is this new with the Game of Thrones edition, or did we miss it? The secondary character sounds like what we were looking for.

None of these terms are in my index (ASoIaF, Pocket Edition).

 

[Cor Azer]

Wow, we never knew about these three types. Is this new with the Game of Thrones edition, or did we miss it? The secondary character sounds like what we were looking for.

None of these terms are in my index (ASoIaF, Pocket Edition).

They're mentioned in the Narrator's chapter in the Adversaries and Allies section. I can't say if they're in the Pocket Edition, but they're in the original edition (which is what I have).

 

[Nojo509]

Thank you. They are there. We never noticed them, or at least I never did. And after I opened my big mouth, the GM made every NPC a primary one.