Broken Empires TTRPG

[Necron 99]

I got this advert on FB for this upcoming RPG called The Broken Empires by a guy that runs a youtube channel called, Me, Myself and Die. I've seen some of his videos prior, through solo-gaming searches and stuff. Anyhow, it looked cool and I went to the website, did some reading. Decided to hit up the upcoming project site and signed up for $1 to get into the pre-VIP stuff and also get some cool dice and extras if I fund the game when it kicks off. I'm definitely interested in the game and hope it turns out to be as awesome as it sounds.

Link to the website: HERE.

Anyhow, one of the other benefits for the $1 was getting into the VIP Facebook group, and just recently, Trevor, the designer and author of the game, did a GenCon seminar discussing Broken Empires. Through some of my tech savy <cough> PC web skills, I downloaded a copy of the seminar from the private group and uploaded it to my personal YT account for posting here on 3P, mostly because I think it would be of interest to some of us, especially those interested in HarnMaster and simulation styled combat, which Trevor discusses and part of why he developed this game. The entire video is about an hour long, but it's full of good info.

Of particular interest, I like his mention of the following:

• The game is for advanced or experienced players, there is no "what is a roleplaying game" section.
• You have to learn the rules because choices in the game matter.
• Not a game for lazy players.
• Not a "story game".
• Not D&D-like high fantasy, more low fantasy that makes sense, (i.e. A Game of Thrones).
• Sim-lite combat that takes queues from HarnMaster and Mythras.
• d100 skill system that takes mechanics from Warhammer and Delta Green.
• Magic system inspired my Ars Magica.

[Ancalagon]

The game is for advanced or experienced players, there is no "what is a roleplaying game" section.

Good. Such sections are a waste of time and space for me.

You have to learn the rules because choices in the game matter.

As they should!!!

Not a game for lazy players.

Excellent. That will eliminate a lot of potential problems.

Not a "story game".

That will turn off a lot of the 5nowflakes. Heh.

Not D&D-like high fantasy, more low fantasy that makes sense, (i.e. A Game of Thrones).

That is REALLY appealing.

Sim-lite combat that takes queues from HarnMaster and Mythras.

Good stuff in both of those systems so I look forward to seeing how it plays out.

d100 skill system that takes mechanics from Warhammer and Delta Green.

Rock on with the Warhammer influence! Never played Delta Green...

Magic system inspired my Ars Magica.

This. Is. Awesome.

I made it through the first half of the video. Will finish the back half soon. Thanks for posting this!

[Ancalagon]

I watched a few more minutes after getting home from softball.

I LOVE the way he described the Godbound (aka clerics) and their piety score! Upon character creation the score is known but thereafter it is known only to the GM based on character actions... since the gawds can be a wee fickle. Great way to keep the player focused on doing stuff in character to honor his/her gawd(s)!

The more I watch, the more interested I become.

[Necron 99]

Agreed. Everything Trevor spoke about sounds fantastic, in theory. If he can pull it all off mechanically, then the game should be really good.

[Ancalagon]

Here's a new video from Trevor:

[Necron 99]

Nice, I think I saw this posted on the FB group, but didn't get around to watching it yet. Good video from what I've seen so far, will have to watch the rest later. I'm glad to see Trevor mention his favorite games being HARN, Mythras, and Delta Green, it gives me optimism that Broken Empires will be a really solid game that blends the best of those systems into one.

I also like his mention of a tier in the Kickstarter that will give the hardback book and a starter box set with a ton of stuff in it.

[Ancalagon]

Yeah, man - I can see using the starter box as a demo with my local, in-person group to see how it goes over.....

[Ancalagon]

Trevor posted another vid today in FB covering the other rpgs that inspired him for use with Broken Empires. Four games in particular had more time dedicated to them than others: The One Ring 1st ed, Ars Magica (5th edition book shown), Mythras, and HârnMaster 3rd. That's a nice batch o' gaming goodness there!

[Necron 99]

It was an interesting video into the influences for the mechanics.

I think the travel mechanics in TOR are cool and make for decent alternative to the bog standard D&D style of travel. I think both have there flaws and merits depending on the type of game the DM/GM wants to run. I would like to eventually run some One Ring as a GM. While I didn't care much for how the GM ran our session that we played in at Mythic West, I think the system itself is pretty awesome.

The preemptive favors for gaining bonuses for combat seems like a good mechanic but it only applies when the party has knowledge that the fight is coming. So in a sense, it is a bit limited in it's use.

I like the notion of zones for combat, as opposed to a full blown map of grids or hexes. Much faster for combat rounds by removing the need for counting exact movement. There are a few RPGs out there that use this sort of combat mechanic.

Success levels are currently a thing from WFRP4e. I like success levels (or the lack thereof) for gauging the depth of a success or failure.

The social mechanic, like he mentioned, is really only for very specific circumstances, still seems like a good implementation.

Character goals I'm sure he pulled from Mythras, RuneQuest, and similar games. I'm still not entirely sure how much I like the notion of preset, in-game goals for characters. I like players to be somewhat free roaming, within the limits of their alignment, when it comes to their character's goals. I guess organic is more of what I'm thinking, where their goals are determined by what they experience after the game has started and they begin interacting with the world. When I think of new (i.e. 1st level) characters having this "goal" set by their player, it feels like background fluff that the GM is then forced to implement into the adventure. When you cross the line into that sort of aspect, it starts feeling more like a modern "story game", as opposed to an adventure game. I don't know, I'll have to see how the mechanics for goals are written up and implemented.

I do like the implementation of the "supply die", I've seen something similar from prior games and thought it would be fun to use.

[Ancalagon]

New vid from Trevor: Social Mechanics