Hello, and welcome to the weekly.
Scroll podcast brought to you by the adventure.
Archive, my name is Ryan and I am Kirby.
Hello. And this is your second time
co-hosting with us in a couple of weeks.
Yeah, that's very funny. I love it.
Do it again sometime. Yeah, absolutely.
So for those who don't know this Kirby is of disaster, tourism
games. Definitely go check out all of
that stuff. What's the most recent thing?
Someone can can find a viewers shit?
I guess Guild is coming out in the next week or two so you
know, we're on the wire with that.
The PDFs should be hopefully being sent out in the next week
or two. As long as all the proofs are
Final and good. And then we've got a Mothership
Adventure getting published in early April with Space, Penguin
ink, which will be really awesome and some other stuff.
But yeah, yeah, so I check chicory out a disaster.
Tourism dot games, right? Yes, correct.
Yes, there we go. So so You actually suggested the
gamer doing today. We are doing dead halt from Zion
where? Yes somewhat.
Yeah, okay, I'll jump into it. I pick this game up at my LGS
like, a year ago. A year and a half ago, I think.
And I haven't read it since I read it the first time, but I
remember when I read through it and I had not had a chance to
play it unfortunately either. But what the first time I read
through it, I was like this is just such a cool Cool game.
Such a cool world. Everything I was just like, I
want to I just I don't have a lot of opportunities to play
with people, but I just want to play this fucking game.
It's so cool. It's such a unique.
I was talking about today with another friend.
It's such a unique take on like a Noir, a weird, like Noir
futuristic. I don't really know how to
describe it from my perspective. Genre goes but yeah.
Anyway it's just I just love the game, it's really cool and I'm
excited to find more people that will love it so I can play with
them. Yeah.
Yeah it was I mean as soon as we were talking about you know what
game we're going to pick for this week throughout a couple of
Minnesota's. You brought this one up.
I brought it up. I I looked it up, I was like oh,
this this looks really fucking cool.
This looks really, really neat. So so he said fuck it.
Yeah. Let's go ahead and do dead Halt.
And I'm glad we did. It was a really, really fun
reading. And like you said, I'm excited
to get into this. Like hey, like you said I don't
You know how to describe like late 90s, pretty Y2K neo-noir,
like it's just it's interesting, it's got that weird, like,
cassette futuristic but also like retro-futuristic at the
same time, this weird combination, there's a couple of
movies. I was thinking of that kind of
fit that same Vibe. One of them was terminal with
Margot Robbie and Simon Pegg which is a great movie that but
that has like a that same kind of weird like old and new and in
between In kind of setting that I read just think it's such a
cool world to live in so yeah it's cool that this setting is
like that. Hmm so let's I don't think we're
spotlighting anything today. So why don't you just hop
straight into this? So this is dead halt.
I say you have the physical copy of this, right?
Yes, I do it is it is a pretty look at that gold foiling on.
That is a pretty book. Got a really nice little cover
and gold gold ink on the back and yeah it's nice.
Got a nice thick thick paper on the cover.
It's a nice book. Very nice book.
Nice. Yeah.
As soon as I saw that it was still like you could buy a
physical copy on each page. I was like yeah we're just going
to go ahead and get that so yeah.
So, yeah, and then it's fun. It's always fun when you read a
book or watch a movie or something like that.
And then, like the title makes an appearance.
So, like I was reading through Reading during here, then we get
to, like, what? Dad all means.
It was like, ah, you know, that's a great name for this.
I really, really enjoyed it. Yeah.
So the cover for those in a podcast land is pretty is pretty
sparse but I really like it. It's just a white circle with
dead halt written near the bottom of the circle and then it
says a role playing game by his own we're clean.
Smooth. I like it.
Like I said, the the print version with the gold is, is
really beautiful and this is the dead halt users.
Guide the illustrations in this are great.
I really really enjoy them all the way through.
Yeah, I absolutely love the art in this book.
Looks like it's by Miranda cider Emerson Brown.
I'm Ben, Ben Doran, very good stuff.
I like the, I like the copyright thing at the beginning, which
cracks me up little bit, says this manual is copyrighted and
contains proprietary information.
No part of this. Publication may be reproduced
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by
any means electronic mechanical photocopying recording floppy.
Disk is set selectron to VHS LaserDisc film, uh, DCd DCd.
ROM mini DV. Punch-card zip disk
microcassette hit clip minidisc or otherwise of the proper
permissions on are cracking me up a little bit.
I like that. Yeah, I think is on we're
actually I really like their stick because I think even on
their Twitter account they they kind of like our this like
corporation. Like it's not like a person,
right? They kind of act as like an
actual like entity which I think is just a really great way to
just run your business like From that.
Especially when this is the primary game you're putting out.
You kind of like lean into that character.
Very cool. Yeah.
And, you know, and we'll talk about a little bit later too but
there's there's like an adventure book for this or like,
Y2K, I can remote is called. But there's another Zine for
this and then there's a website that's just got of interrupt
Adventure after Adventure. So there's a lot of content for
the game which is really fantastic to see.
You know, that was discourse to bit ago about just make more
shit for your game and it's nice to see when someone has Already
done that. So getting into it ziens about
40 pages long. I will say right off the bat no
hyperlinks kind of kind of hurt my heart, a little bit, you
know, or bookmarks or inline hyperlinks or really any
navigation, tools whatsoever and in like a tech kind of setting
happy new year, 1999 that is yeah, that is what the other
ones called. I will say that, that is really
disappointing. It would be nice to have
hyperlinks in this and there are.
But there are links out to other things those on our website.
I think at the end with the Creator's is up like that they
have links to their Twitter pages and stuff.
So links are in here. But hyperlinks and inline
hyperlinks would be would be really nice.
But broken down in four parts. We have the learn to play
section, which is about half the scene Tales from the Bar which
is about character creation and whatnot.
The charts which is all the things that you need to play and
then Adventure arcs in the back which are great.
But you know on the week these girl we don't read the
adventures by the fucking book yourself.
Yeah, getting right into it. I really love this.
Did we talk about this? I don't remember who if it was
you and me or if it was me and Hunter we talked about like
having Little piece of narrative in the beginning is a lot better
than like, a, how to play an RPG.
Yeah. Oh, no.
Was that we were talking about that with with slipgate the
slipgate? Yeah, that's what I thought.
Yeah, so I love that a lot better because it doesn't
everyone knows how to roll fucking Dyson.
You're gonna explain how to do it anyway, so I don't really
give a shit and secondly, it's just nice to have a narrative.
That really puts you into the mode because a lot of times with
a lot of these narratives, you can instantly understand And
like the setting and things like that.
So this is one that I think is really really great.
And I'm going to go through and read this right here.
It says this the year is 1996, Y2K hasn't happened yet, so
everything is still quite. All right, the leaves on this
autumn day, have just changed colors.
The streets are littered with flecks of orange, yellow and
brown, the Berg is still and basking.
In wavering, Golden Light from the Setting Sun, Help Wanted is
scrawled in thick, black ink on an Old Sandwich Board, six
steps. On reveal, the hidden face of
the hotel's entrance. A warm red glow comes from the
stained glass squares, bordering the large Oaken door, the
lobbyists patterned with a deep red, Hicks hexagon carpet and
swirling Olive. Wallpaper an empty reception
desk. Sits in front of a board of
room. Key tags on the large worn
desks. It's an old blocky, computer
terminal to overstuffed Velvet. Chairs surrounding gas fireplace
as a shelf set into the wall. Between them filled with
battered books, to the right is a thin door way above which
amounted. Black placard REITs, the fall
Bar Seven stools, sit in front of the Long Bar.
A quiet Metal Man Behind the Bar slowly cleans a short glass, the
mirrored wall behind him is lined with row upon row of
glittering liquor, welcome to the hotel.
It's a great piece and aired it right there.
I love it, you know? And I really feel like when I
first read it, I was like oh, because there's like a hit in
there that get you because you're like, you feel like it's
1996. You think, you know, what's
going on, you walk into a hotel? There's a help wanted sign but
then when it goes a quiet, metal man behind the bar which is like
one of the last lines and figures, like wait a minute.
Like this is not, this is this is a bit different and I just
you know, like we said with some gate like that is such a Better
way to start a book then to be like, this is a role-playing
game is this, this is what a poly agonal dice is like, you
know, really, really great way to go.
Yeah, I totally agree. I think that it could have been
a dozen other other things and I've seen them in a dozen other
ways, but just like with slipgate.
I think that reading this, especially if you're the
Gamemaster running or in this one, the HM which I'm going to
save For later when we actually talk about it.
The you you read this first and you're already just like sucked
in into the feel of what's Happening even while you were
reading it. And I was just sitting here
looking at the text and listening to you read it.
I was feeling like I was sitting at a table and somebody was just
like immersing me into the into the setting and I think it's
such a great way to start a book.
Yeah, I mean, it couldn't couldn't agree more it again.
We loved it in. Lift gate, we love it in this.
This is definitely, you know, a really in my opinion, the
preferred way to start a Zine to start a book to start.
Anything like just give me some narrative, get me a murse.
That's what the point of RPGs is.
Anyway, let's get into it. So, yeah, I like this cover here
straight up. Just good morning coffee mug.
Right there. Wish I had some coffee right
now. Mom, I do like that.
The index Pages here are in, like floppy.
Asks that's what the that's a whole page.
Looks like a big floppy disk, and almost like a label on the
desk, it breaks down the learn to play and then introduction at
the bar action, items, actions items enemies Monsters the
elevator and Floors, Magics, defying death.
Well would also be nice on this page is, if all of these little
sections were hyper linked to that section, that would be
really great navigation to further break down, you know,
and eat. And you know if each page has a
link back to Yes, and the chapter that would be ideal.
But at the very minimum of the hyperlink section of the index
would be great. And, you know, even more so to
be really nice here, but it's not, and we will continue.
So I really enjoy the the layout.
It reminds me a little bit of the layout and Mothership 10
Edition is what they want to call it, just like the black
white, the bars. I don't know.
If you got the same vibe, Yeah, and it.
Yeah and although it's only 40 pages, it's dense.
Yeah. Like there is it's a small pond
and they pack the text in, but not in an unreadable way.
It's a very legible things are broken up cleanly, but they
really pack it in like a pack of details and it's good, right?
And it's not, it's not to columned, it's all the way
across so you can get a lot of, you know, lose that.
That you know what's it? What's it called?
The trough or something, the middle of the page, but but it's
great. So obviously we're not going to
read all of this but because because like I said it's it's a
it's a pretty, it's pretty dense read.
But again as we said not in a bad way but starting off here,
introductions at the bar, that holds a role playing game, which
players create maintenance crew members to explore and complete
jobs within a megalithic hotel. I love the premise of this
fucking game because it can be anything you wanted to be like
it really can because, you know, as we get farther on, you know,
we'll get into how, you know, what the floors are and how they
can be, but the force can be literally anything.
So, starting it off this way. Is interesting, too, because it
also tells you right off the bat that this is an RP, heavy
narrative Focus game as opposed to a mechanically have a game.
Like this is not feel like a combat game in a Min, which is
polar opposite to what we did last time.
I'm yeah. Yeah.
For sure. It's very much just a bit just a
little bit. Yeah.
So start a session of the players walking into the fall
bar and sitting down across from the charismatic, cybernetic
bartender known as drain. This is where we will get our
first sense of who these characters are how they might
react to this circumstances in the hotel.
So they may feel at home. I did notice a couple times
through There are a couple like a lot of commas where I might
use and, or other than that, just like there may have been
like four or five times. I was just like, so this is one
of them that I noticed and this isn't just like this just, you
know, this is where we will get our first sense of who these
characters are and how they might react to the circumstances
in the hotel. So make them feel at home.
Had to read it twice, it's completely correct.
But I had to read it twice as a game master or as We may refer
to the hotel manager as you're referencing the.
HM you played arraign, will strike up, you play as terrain
and will strike up a conversation.
That will mold, who the player characters are encourage a
dialogue between the players in order to form an idea of who
their crew member may be during this dialogue, the May begin
filling in their ID cards. So what would you like to drink?
Would you like to eat or drink something?
What is your name? What would your last profession?
What are your hobbies? How did you end up in the hotel?
What is your relation to each character?
How did you meet? I love this kind of character
creation this like active character creation and I think
that it's something that really is lacking in a lot of games
especially in games that are more narrative focused now, This
isn't necessarily your character is evolving over time but or I
mean it could be but it's this kind of like development isn't
necessarily like these questions aren't going to be asked later
on in the campaign, right? Or whatever.
But I just think that a lot of these, a lot of games require
you to have all the information before you start, and I like
that. You can listen to a character
talk about something they want or they have and then you can be
like, it can inspire you to have an idea too.
Answer the question on when you return and that can keep going
around like that and the characters can kind of be
developed together during the actual game play, which I think
is really cool. Yeah, I love this.
You know, the the one of the games that I think I've seen
something under similar to this recently is Frontier scum, has a
really fun way of making your skills where it's more.
Like here's like a memory you had or like you did this thing.
What did you learn from It. And I feel like this kind of has
that same similar Vibe. Can I how you decide where like,
you sit down in a bar and start having a conversation with the
people around you and you can learn who you are, while
learning, whoever it is and it can all like adapt.
And I can imagine sitting around being like, Oh actually, you
know what? Instead This and instead that
and then everyone just kind of like gets that feeling of like
who they are, what they, what they are, what their motivations
are. And then especially like this
feels like a almost like a mechanized 0 session, which,
which is a great thing to have. Yeah, very cool.
So I then the next paragraph like spells that all about.
Let the conversation evolved building off of the changing
narrative and incorporate each player.
As a hotel manager, you are encouraged to advise them on our
characters, prior to walking in hotel.
If she loved rugby, perhaps her strength or speed attribute is
high. If they were a telemarketer,
perhaps they have a high knowledge or Constitution score.
If he was a door-to-door Salesman, he may have a
briefcase full of knives as his item or computer repairman may
have a micro computer so smart and like it even talks later
about how like the items you might have with.
You can be an item that you have in the game.
So like the idea of like a door-to-door Salesman having a
briefcase full of knives and then that becomes an item in the
game for you is really, really smart.
Yeah. And I really like, I know
there's been some discourse on the tweeters recently which I
try to avoid, but I mean I don't discourse but I read it about
Out bullets and paragraphs. You know what?
Just use them. Smartly and both are fine but I
really do like how the whole kind of explanation of terrain
is very small. It's not bullet pointed.
It doesn't say like metal man has this.
Does that like you learn so much about them in a very in like a
very little bit of words and like a charismatic cybernetic
bartender is enough for me. That sounds fantastic.
We already know he's Metal Men and now he's charismatic.
He's the bartender, he runs a hotel that all you need in, it
took like two lines. Yeah.
So it says at this point this is how you begun character
creation. Your encourage people's quirks
and Oddities, and the session to get fucking weed with this game.
I don't know why you wouldn't, there's an ID card, which we'll
get to in a little bit. I love that you can just it's
super easy. It's a very light as far as a
character. She goes.
You can print them out. Out there in the book.
But you can also go to Zone where dotnet and print out more
of them, which is really fantastic.
So I like that. There are a lot of resources
plugged into the game and then it says, now the crews been
formed during will offer them a job and set aside some gold or
equipment to get them on their way and then that's it.
So, you learn right away, you are going to be the maintenance
crew of a giant hotel in 1996 with a cybernetic bartender.
You sit down how Drinks figure out who you are.
Get some gold go about your business.
Great love the premise. Yeah.
It's such a cool introduction page because it gives you so
much information about the hotel in a in rules which I think is
really, really great. And the bullet points versus
paragraphs discourse, I tend to lean more towards paragraph but
that's more, I think. I think that that this course
may be more focused on adventure writing specifically, but I
could be wrong. I also try to stay away from
this course now that I'm a smart person, but I do think that this
was it was just written, it's written, extremely
intelligently. And in the way that they raise
the rules about how this game starts and what you, what you
need and examples just in that. Also give you details about the
world. Like, it's just, it's really,
it's just so good. Oh, well, And and it
continuously reinforces the points as it goes.
Right. So we have it we have the index,
right? And then we have a paid to the
beginning of the chapter that breaks down that chapter
further. So you know what's coming into
it. And then at the bottom of this
page that is giving you all through character creation,
there's another large black bar across the bottom, that
literally breaks it down. Again, the goals of sitting at
the bar before traveling on your adventure is thus complete crew,
member IDs develop character, backgrounds, understand the
personality is decide that thematic objects.
They brought in the Tell Lauren their aspirations.
And your, if you question the Curiosities about the hotel,
give them a job and offer a reward for going beyond the fall
bar. It's you do not question at any
point reading, these rules, what you're supposed to be doing or
how something works, they're written very well.
Very concisely with all the information you need are the
nothing are constantly reinforced with examples of play
with list like this. It's just, it is really
intelligently written. Yeah, layout like this I think
is extremely important to As far as like accessibility goes and I
know we're missing hyperlinks for the accessibility aspect,
but I do think that the way that it's done, what you just said
is, and I'm really important part for accessibility, not only
for people who may struggle with, like reading more dense
page like I do with my ADHD, it's very hard for me to read
long blocks of text. So if I wanted to read, what is
the introduction at the bar? I might scan this quickly and
see if anything sticks. Shout at me and then see that
block at the bottom and see, oh shit, I can just read that get a
good idea of what I need and then I can go back to that
later. If I really want to sink my
teeth into like more details about, why are the players?
What is Ness, what's an example? What?
Like stuff like that? You know what I mean?
And when we get to the next page, there's more examples of
that. But that's, and that's another
thing with game. Masters to is being able to
quickly flip to that section after they've already read it
and go, I don't need, I'm not going to read this entire Page
again, I'm just going to look at that black box because I already
remember most of that stuff in my head and that will trigger
those memories from the things that previously read.
Like, it's great, it's great layout.
Well, not only that, as you said, like again, I have really
bad ADHD. It's hard to stand and read a
lot of text. I don't understand why people
don't like bold text. I think it's fantastic.
I use it all the time. Really helps my brain.
I think there is a solid amount of Bowl text on here.
For all the important stuff, like, maintenance crew, members
jobs hotel in the first line are all Bolded text.
I think those are most important parts of it.
The first line in the next one's starting a session with the fall
bar, and the charismatic bartender.
Perfect line later and talk about hotel.
And hm, ID member cards, and then all of those questions in
the middle, art boulud. And then the first line of the
next part is bolded and is, and that's all on black and white
text. I also like, it's not quite pure
black, I feel like it makes it a little bit softer on the eyes
and the get dressed, but it is black and white.
And then, it's got the black. The bottom it route again.
It is enforcing not just now in the rules but in the layout the
important parts and what you should be focusing on and have
incredibly readable way and I'm usually a Seraph guy, but I feel
like this sans-serif font is very readable, but and that's
just page one guys like it. Long story, short, great fucking
layout. Super readable intelligently
written like it made it really easy to read and parse this when
I've read other games where I've had to go back and read a couple
sections on our way. Again, I've never had to really
like for the rules or anything had to go back and reread any,
this and was able to parse it and and and remember it, and it
was really good. So forming the crew.
So getting into the attributes of your players, you are making
a crewmember. They are unique.
There are five attributes. Don't need to dig deep into
them. You know what?
They are strength, speed, Focus, Constitution and knowledge.
They're all exactly what you think they are.
But there are, there is little breakdowns in the bottom with
examples and everything. After again really well done.
Going on, the next page, compiling an ID card, we love
us. A numbered list for character
creation and an explanation of that really, really fantastic.
So breaking down an ID card is a credit card sized character
sheet that keeps track of your crew members attributes, items,
progress in the hotel. Everything I would love to make
these laminate I'm like an ID card and then just pass out,
like, what erase markers or something?
Yeah, yeah, that would be really fun, especially with the little
lanyards or a little clip on thing.
If you want to come try and like LARP this a little like this
would actually be very fun to LARP it like a convention or
something because you already be in like a hotel and you can like
clip it on your thing and that, yeah, you you have to go get
your ID badge later, that the thing that was your name again,
you find it out onto the placards on the table board
cardboard and It's at a bar. Yeah that would be fun.
It would be really fun to sit down and do the whole first part
as a zero session and then come back the next time to have your
lanyard or your clip badge, and your name tag and like
everything right there. I'm so cool.
So number one, choose your character's name for me that's
always last because it's already a part for me I don't care what
it is. Number two, Origin, the traits
and crew members gain from your background.
Again this is a part that would be really nice to have like
inline hyperlinks where it says As a lot of, there are a lot of
like page shoot 20s page, this page that for it and to be able
to click page, 222 actually go straight to.
That would be really nice. That way you can just go to this
one page and then have a quick reference to any individual part
of it. But, you know, again, I'm not
gonna do bleep links on my life there.
It's, it's not there in a lot of, in a lot of books.
So, it's very nice things. Actually, that's to is your
origin. 3 is York, work again on page, 220.
It's a unique benefit from your origin attributes.
So origin plus 3, which is interesting.
And this isn't always the same for each one, but each origin
will have a different base orientation of attributes.
They are inherently good at like humans.
Start with a base of one in each each player.
Then has three more points to spend on upgrading attributes.
Take note, human crew members. Start with four points to spend
on attributes, due to their Origins Quark instead of the
standard three. I like that.
Like each Like each will get to what?
We'll get to the organs and explain a little bit, but it's
nice and then you get a couple to build more into yourself
which I really enjoy. There's a whole section on
items, there's armor will get into that.
There's armor value which is speed.
Plus your armor item, your current wounds which I love
using the word. I love wounds and harms that of
HP damage wound threshold, which is interesting, which is the sum
of your attributes but con counting, as for And again,
we'll get into that a little bit, the amount of gold, you
have the mods which are on page 344 your job tally, which is
jobs equals plus one pip. So basically every time you
complete three jobs, you get another pip to use and then a
character portrait and I really love what they did on the next
two pages, from the next page. So, again, examples of play,
they give you a character Friday.
The rat Folk, Right crew after Miranda's, last character
devolved into a cybernetic Madness, they made Friday the
right folk, they use a lot of magic to help the crew after the
third job Miranda had allocated extra pit for her knowledge
attribute and Friday. Also enhanced strength from the
turbo TurnKey Machi game during a battle of the vending machine.
So not only does it give you an example of the character sheet
ID front and back, right. It also everything that we said
at the top that is numbered one through 13.
When you look at this example, character sheet, it's labeled by
number. So, it shows you where the name
goes, where the attributes go. What the wound threshold is
everything. I like that because it actually
makes the character sheet not have to be any bigger because
you don't have to write wound threshold name, like any of that
stuff on it. It's super simple.
So if you just explain what each one is in here, you don't have
to reference what this little pointy up.
Arrow thing is because you know, it is Is your armor value later.
So it keeps the ID small clean and also, as far as a layout
sent makes it really easy to understand.
Okay, that's where I put the mission separate.
Put this, I've got to put that again more.
Super, super, super clever Leo. Yeah.
And I just love that saw the picture of the Rat Focus.
So good with a little magic wand.
Yeah. And it says ID cards were
formatted to be easily scribbled down on a note of scrap paper,
but are also available as on where dotnet no reason not to
put that again mention again, right under the ID cards,
really, really clever there. So that is a characterization
that getting into what action rounds are.
There are two types of beings with them.
Until there are crew members and denizens crew members are the
players and protagonist. Denizens are everybody else.
And they specifically, say, Dennis answer not necessarily in
Conflict. They can help or not help, or
might sometimes be enemies, but they could eventually be friends
to it's one giant hotel. No one has anywhere else to go.
I really love that. It's really nice to Two.
Again, this doesn't feel like there's combat in it, but it
doesn't feel like a combat game and I really like that.
It literally says, like there is no monster manual.
There is nothing like that because anyone you run into at
any time could potentially be a friend?
Like they are what they are. Yeah, awesome.
Deciding turn order basically. And I love this.
I love this style of initiative. Basically it says you don't need
a role for you don't need to do anything, do it.
Makes narrative sense and as long as everyone gets a turn,
there you go. Yeah, I loved it.
The, the whoever walks in the room, first takes the first
bullet. Like it's just that SOB.
It's obvious that that's the way that it should work.
You know. Somebody sees a thing.
Then why would somebody else want to pick it up first?
If it's the interest and you saw it, It's just that it makes
sense, and I'm a big fan of no initiative, especially even in
more, have combat heavy games. So but yeah, I love.
This is great. Yeah, I think I think choosing
and I like that. It says, if everyone is is so
much that left the crew. Collectively choose, who actress
the game reinforces over and over again.
And we talked a little bit about this before the stream started.
He'll like the way in which a game is written will really
influence whether consciously or subconsciously the way in which
a game is played. So so when this game
specifically keeps talking over and over again about the crew
and working together as a crew and like sometimes people friend
sometimes our enemy but everyone could be helpful.
I went to crew like it really, really encourages even even the
way that character creation works as a group, do it together
really encourages? That concept of you are a crew,
you are a team you're working together.
There's no, like, you're not trying to min-max and win and,
like, all this other stuff here, doing everything and it's really
well done. Um, you know, and to the
initiative I play too many games of a different game written by
various magicians that live on either side of the country near
the water that all walk in. Be the first one to walk in.
Say I swing at the bad guy and then they want to roll
initiative but I didn't roll the highest so I don't get to swing
it. The bad guy that started the
initiative. You know what I mean?
So, it's It's nice when games don't worry about that and let
you just play what makes sense narratively.
Um and I also like this next section, we don't worry about
movement, all that much in dead halt, wherever a crew member,
whenever crew member takes an action, they may move
appropriately and really it just like if they're trying to run
down 50 flights of stairs. Now, the front of the building
might be a little bit too far, be reasonable.
And the hotel, managers job is really just to make them be
reasonable and that's about it. I will nothing happen.
Roll off with the HM that I just think that's that's great.
Like why you know like sometimes it's like the the the GM can can
make the make the decision but I like that.
It's almost reinforcing even though it's the game master or
the hotel manager versus the player, it's still kind of
reinforcing that we're all in this together.
It's not just one person, making the rule and you answering, you
know, it's like, well in this is in this chance.
Let's just flip a coin and see what it's like, you know, not
like that. I really do.
Yeah. It says, when in doubt have a
player, mhm. Roll a D6, the winning role,
will dictate the outcome. Like you said, it's really
enjoyable and there's things. As there's there's other games
and none of them are going to come to mind where it is.
Like like roll a D6 High pick high or low or roll like flip a
coin, roll fate, roll something like that because it's just like
if no one can come to a disagreement to an agreement.
Fuck it. Let the dice decide and just
keep going. Like you said, it's I really
enjoy it. It's nice.
Great piece of art here. I don't think we've been talking
about the illustrations enough through this entire thing.
It's a very rarely a Paige goes by without a really nice
illustration. And this one at the top is
great. It's a whole picture of a crew
is got I think pretty much everybody.
It's got the the I'm going to say them all wrong.
Now, we'll same right a little bit but there's like a toad
person. A rat folk.
There's the I think they're called the blank slate.
The the failed clones. There's what amounts to a like a
quasi demonic. I don't, I don't want to say t
thing but like a demonic character, which obviously,
that's what I would play human. Don't forget?
We don't remember. This one is and then a computer.
So we'll get to those a little bit but it's a great
illustration of of what the whole crew could be and it's
nice. It's just nice.
And I feel like the art style also fits in really, really well
with the layout for just being like, you know, black white and
gray and it fits. So this is a bunch of.
It is a whole page of examples of play.
Yeah. Oh my God, I love this page.
Page so much and more RPGs need to have this.
It literally is like, all the various ways that something
could come up and how you could adjudicate it, a situation
arises or the crew collectively. Chooses a crew member to act
example. Mallory is leading the party.
She walks into a room full of right folk.
She acts or rookie. Here's a grinding of gears at
the end of the hallway, they act or Sam steps on a loose tile and
falls through the floor. He acts the loss adventurous,
he's the players, harass, the 19th Floor console, she acts,
it's Great. The next block, the most
thematic room, Brax afterwards. Next one, after the crew acts
enemy acts and the next one, lastly Denizen to act.
It's a whole breakdown of how a round goes with examples.
So just Zone, we're killing it here.
It's really good. And I also want to say
something, very small. That is not really often touched
on, I don't think is, and it's very Minimal very minimal is
using all various genders and pronouns, when you're doing
character examples, is just it's great.
Oftentimes, a lot of people now, we'll just use they for
everything which is fine and great.
It's, you know, it's gender neutral.
But it's just also really cool to see an intentional focus on
making sure that they try to include as many as possible in
their examples and not just flatly writing they or he or she
Or everything, you know, which is something.
I had a bit of an issue with with free Leagues games is that
they went the hard opposite and went just all she.
I think in, at least, in Tales From The Loop, I have to check
the others. But for like, all of the, the
game master rules, it's just she for everything which is fine,
but I appreciate that a lot, even though it's such a small
little thing. I think it's really important.
Yeah, it's fantastic to see. I like I don't I don't mind
picking one for rules and sticking with it, but I really
like that in examples. Like you said that there are and
and it's consistent throughout I think Mallory and record them
come up again throughout their Tech.
So it's really nice but like the fact that like you can, the
other thing too is in characterization and never said,
like pick your pronouns. But again, we're talking about
the way which Things are Written.
And how things are written. There's an implication here
without having to spell it out entirely.
That, that is part of the game too.
Which is, which is really cool thing to see.
I don't think it's really that small of a think.
I think it's clearly an intentional choice.
That is a good. Nice choice to see from Saint
where that is. That more people should be aware
of. So completely agree.
Yeah. Alright, so that is that, was
that the next are the various actions that can happen and
these are interesting. The floor is beyond the fall bar
roadblocks. May arise to overcome these
challenges, the crew only needs a handful of six sided dice so
we find out it is a nice pool system.
Great, you don't need to explain to me, what a dice pool system
is that the beginning for me and I understand this, we appreciate
that. You didn't tell to resolve a
situation crew members may act attack or use Magics love again,
the use of bolds even even this little, I don't even know what
to call this thing right here. This little Block in front of
like acting, I guess, maybe it could just be like a A bullet,
what's up? It's her sir from from the Old
School, Ms. Da like Das. Oh, that's right.
Walk because for Turner or whatever is daus, I love it.
I love it. I love the use of God, the
layout, like despite the loss of hyperlinks.
It's not gonna be a lot of your bonus points or the way this
layout is. By the time you get to the end,
the the use of bold, the use of italics the use of Black and
white. But with bars like I love all of
these things because the readability and accessibility is
fantastic again. I do both of us have ADHD.
It makes it hard to read a lot of block text and this makes it
so fucking easy. Thank you.
So acting allows any crew member to overcome an obstacle or
attempt a feat. They would like to perform to
act first have the crew member State the action.
They would like to perform Example maintenance that you, I
would, I want to break down that door by kicking it.
In second decide what to attribute is most applicable to
the situation, the amount of dice, a player roles as equal to
the amount of Pips they have in that attribute easy-peasy.
Here we go, Hotel manager, that will use your strength attribute
maintenance, awesome. I have three points in strength
and get to roll three dice. Welcome easy, so fucking easy
third count. How many knocks are achieved and
refer to the table below. Any, any dye that rolls a 4 or
above is a knock one, two, and three are mrs.
Bolded centered, thank you, easy.
And then it gives you a list of 0 to 6 on how those knocks work.
So 0 failure, the hotel manager will narrate what goes wrong and
how it - negatively affects. Tasks on a one.
Partial success, jota manager narrates, a successful action
with negative side effects. Full success is to write to Max.
Yeah, full success, the action stated occurs.
Without complication, 3, striking success, the player
will narrate how they complete their action for gleaming
success. The player will narrate their
action and add any reasonable small action.
Heroic success, the player will narrate their action as well as
choose another player to take an action and six wondrous success.
The player will narrate their action.
Take a small action as well as choose another player to take an
action and a small action. Interesting, what do you think
of this? So I like this, I think that if
I was if I had written it, I would have probably only done
for but then again, it's kind of they're leaning on the One
success is one sick you know kind of like the one success is.
It's a success thing so I can't really fault them for just like
leaning on it. And the chances that you're
actually going to be rolling, six dice for a while are pretty
low. So there's kind of a weird, you
know, in between thing for me where like I feel like it's
going to it's not going to be a very high chance at first that
you're going to be rolling more more than probably five dice.
So what But still, I think it's very cool.
Yeah, I feel the same as you. Exactly.
I feel like it works 100% works but I do feel like it's a lot
and I feel like I yeah I get it, I get it.
I like it. I think it works.
It's totally fine. I'm sure playing would make a
lot of stuff more parent and as you said the odds of getting a
five and a six or pretty small because honestly like the odds
of you even Getting to roll. Six dice is crazy.
The odds of all six being above a for mathematically, are very
small. Yeah.
The only question then and it's just a question.
That's not something I'm going to answer.
Is if it's that small of a chance, do you really need those
big extra things? Right?
So that's what I'm. That's what I'm kind of saying
is and even Christian mentioned like a mega success in their
comment there. I would and I'm not knocking the
game, no pun intended. At all.
But if I was going to change this I would probably make like
one success would be a partial success and then I make two to
three success or I would just make three successes a like
gleaming success and then make 5 successes her oh wondrous ago or
maybe six success is a wondrous success.
So just have so just so it's like easier to parse at at a
glance when you're playing kind of thing.
Then again, I haven't played the game yet.
I know you haven't played the game yet, so there's no way we
can actually judge that on an actual play level.
But upon upon reading it. That's what I, that's kind of
where I would go with it. Yeah, yeah.
Like you said, I completely agree.
I just think that, you know, that within something like pvta,
right? You get failure mixed success in
full success, right? I don't mind there being a
little bit more because even within that, you can go because
even PBT a has realistically five options, right?
So you can have Have like a like a snake eyes, super fucking
failure, a failure, a mix access, a full success and then
like a double six Ultra success, right.
But you don't really get to the ends.
Like you really just focus on the 30th.
So I think I think between 3 & 4 would probably make it just a
little bit easier because honestly, I feel like I would
need this page as a reference, for sure.
Yeah. And if you like the rest of the
game doesn't really require that.
So this just feels like it's a little bit more.
Or again, well, they want to play while I want to feel it.
Yeah, yeah. I just do you think what?
L what, L Al's has said in chat as well is I think really
valuable to is that, the game is pushing for the players to be
successful. And I think that that's just a
good way to write your game too. And I think maybe that's the
goal in this entire thing is to show that perhaps but overall it
is like it was so like if I don't want to do it this way, I
can just Yeah, change the numbers a little bit.
Absolutely. I mean, that's the, you know,
that's a great thing about tabletop role-playing games, you
can tweak it to make it work. It also though is really
interesting, one of the things that's added in here to is some
action economy stuff as opposed to just a success because it's
not like you're just get to succeed it, you get two on four,
five and six. There's more action economy
which is an interesting place to put it.
I don't. Yeah, it's interesting place to
put it, so So, at for again, you get your action plus a small
action at five. You get an action, and another
player gets a whole action. And at six, you get an action
and another player and a small action, and another plate, gets
an action, and a small action, it creates a lot more action
economy, which is interesting because that's more times of
players can continue to try to do things.
So again, I really We're not knocking.
As you said not really knocking this, I really want to play it
really feel because I feel like it's more than just a success in
the Latin the end not success. I feel like the expanded action
economy could make things really really interesting and yeah Aunt
but for a really what it is is a non-combat game.
I would use the shit out of something like this.
In more combat kind of games though, because I know you can
Imagine something like this in a game, like, like slipgate where
your success is not only increase what you do, but your
fellow players additional successes and stuff.
So, I did want to mention one more thing that I really like
about this though, is, I like that.
There's a flip at two and three where the action stated occurs
without complication and then three is Player narrates.
How they complete their action? I think that's really cool
because there's that that chance that you can just slightly alter
based on your successes, your plan to put you or another
player or even the enemy or the friend that you're talking to
her, whatever in a different position or situation, then they
would have been if you had only rolled two successes.
So in now that I'm thinking about it, I'm like, okay, maybe
four, maybe for auction sort of, you know, like maybe I would
have a little bonus that can really give you something else,
like no completely agree. So, this is one of those ones
where it's really hard to parse how to feel about it.
It's more just like a discussion of like intense stuff like that,
but without actually getting it to the table because it really
is does, is it, does it work super well or is it slightly
over designed? You know what I mean?
And that's a question that the dice will tell you at the table.
So this is another reason really want to play this game.
The, um, all right, so attacking allows the crew to attempt to
harm or destroy another being attacking creatures or beings of
them hotel is ill-advised, but sometimes may be the only
option. I like that again, it tells you
this a the combat game, but if you want to, here you go and it
gives you attacking on arms attacking with improvised
weapons and attacking using weapon.
I like that unarmed and improvised are important here
because you might not have a weapon because this is an iPad
game. You might just have your
briefcase or your rugby sticker whatever.
So attacking unarmed Gathering gathered dice equal to your
strength attribute role and every not causes a wound.
I like that. There's no damage nice.
It's just a success is a wound. There you go.
Um attacking with an improvised weapon, if the item is wielded
gather dice equal to your strength, if it's thrown its to
your speed at a bonus. Decided by the HM for the items
such as plus 1 or plus two dice. So like it's going to be
different if you're throwing like paper ball or like a ninja
star like you know it's it and I like that it allows the HM to
again be a fan of the player because notice how it says a
bonus that never says a bane. Yeah you know I mean like the
worse is base and the better the better and then attacking using
weapon gather diced equal to the attribute.
The weapon relies on add the Pins, bonus dice roll, check out
the weapon malfunctioned and every not causes wounds equal to
its wounding value again. I love that because on unarmed
no no no potential failures or anything like that.
Improvised. No potential failures or
anything like that but an actual weapon has a possibility of
malfunctioning. Your hand furthering that
concept of the way in which the game is written like will Like
encourage the way to play the game, your odds of you shouldn't
attack and if you attack with an actual weapon it could go bad
for you. I love that.
It really encourages the game to or the players to not
necessarily fight your way out of everything.
Yeah. For sure.
It gives her right. It gives a great example play
here with good planning. A crew member May gain an
advantage over situation while you laze items and prizes, add
additional died or roll to me that rule says negotiate.
Like, what, what happening more die?
Can I eat get out of the GM? You know, like do I get a little
bit more? Can I do this?
Like, well, you know, if I, if I have The High Ground can I get,
you know, one more die? I like to bring pizza next week.
Yeah and then we get into items. So crew members and dead, halt
must use the objects available to them in order to thrive than
the hotel. These atoms are anything that
the players may find receive or create an item could be anything
from a screwdriver or floppy disk to a sword.
Fabled to be the only way to slay the mecca, lizard
terrorizing floor, 34, it's just so good.
I already got an idea for an adventure right now.
Like I'm just leaving just working at your Okay, cool.
Let's do that one. That sounds great.
The players are encouraged to be creative with the things they
find and should be rewarded with advantage and role-playing
options for out of the box. Thinking, again, be a fan of the
player, you know, there's a list of iconic items in the gosh upon
section. I love that this gosh upon
because it has to be because, of course.
Yes. And then there are three types
of objects items, weapons and armor items are As intended are
used as intended are thematically will give a
crewmember Advantage. So if you're I do like the
example, I want to Jack into the console and reprogram it.
My goal is to make it act hostile to any others that exit
the elevator onto this floor. I also take out my hobby
computer that I set up real quick to Aid in my programming,
and the hotel manager says that will be using your focus and the
hobby, computer will give you a clear Advantage here, add an
extra body roll. But armor and weapons are
important, as much as again. We've talked about if you
actually get into a fight the protect.
You every crew member can wear one piece of armor.
That's it. All you need to worry about.
It's noted on your ID card, where we talked about earlier,
any better armor replaces one you already have.
And when a crew member takes wounds subtract, the armor value
from it before adding to your wound total.
So armor is soaked. Yeah.
Yeah, and then weapons. I it's interesting that the
weapon stat block, is the most complicated thing in this game.
I think. Yeah.
I think it is. Yeah.
So, weapons are only used when attacking each unique.
Weapon has a weapon profile. Containing basically their own
ID card. It's got an attribute used to
wield it, the bone stays adapt. To your role, an ammo capacity,
a wounding value and a malfunction threshold.
So the example here and again, I love that.
It's got the the stat block for the weapon but without like,
writing out attribute bonus dice.
Whatever it just numbers it to, you know, what they are.
So you don't need to worry about it later.
So, there is a slicer rifle, which looks like a badass Nerf
gun, laser thing, like it just looks sick.
So top left is slicer rifle. And then number one, Bottom left
of the card. Is it just has focused because
that's the attribute use. And then number two and it says
plus and then there's two blocks here, so I assume that's two
Pips, so that's two bonus dye added to your role.
And then right next to that, it says wv3.
So the wound value is 3. It says Mt 1.
So the men, the malfunction threshold is one which I feel
feels low and the top, right? It's got five little bullet
outlines so I that is the ammo capacity.
For the slice of rifle. Great little card.
Yeah, the cool-looking gun. It's a dope gun.
And then it still has a 1 through 5, the breakdown of what
all of those mean. So, once again, sorry I do think
it's interesting because you said that it's the most complex
part of the game, and I think that that just continues to
reinforce this this aspect of like, combat is not always
preferred. Lets me the weapons kind of
complex. You know, not like complex and
difficult, but like they're a little more complicated than,
like just not using them, you know.
Yeah. Great.
It's wonderful. I really enjoy that again like
just continuous reinforcement of the themes of the game.
I do like so the wounding value, all right going through so bonus
dice her Square Pips next to the attribute, a role consists of
the state of attribute Pips. In addition to the bonus dice
Pips and then the wounding value is how much wounds / knock,
which is really interesting. So, weapons can hit fucking
hard, right? So, the wounding value on this
ice rifle is a 3. So every knock you get is 3
damage. So if you get three knocks
that's nine damage being put out by this.
I don't know. I owe you.
I forget how many HP or how many wounds people have at the
beginning? It's all your stats plus four
times your con like yes that's a lot because you got like this
definitely seems like a higher-end gun though.
For sure. Oh yeah.
So it's essentially the cannot function threshold, I think
being so being just one. I think that that kind of
represents that. Oh yeah.
So the malfunction threshold is a volatility the weapon if
enough ones are rolled role on the malfunction threshold.
So if you roll a single one on this weapon, you immediately
have to go to page 360. Be nice if those I blinked and
roll on the malfunction threshold table.
And then the In what capacity is how much you have.
So actually I just want let's shoot on down to page 360 which
is Page 36, but just because it's here.
So this is, you know what? Actually we're not going to do
that. There's a whole section for that
later. We'll get to that.
Oh man. I keep forgetting how dense this
game is like a third of the way in and like an hour and probably
Cruise all faster. But so then getting into so
we'll talk about malfunctions or later but basically weapons hit
hard but can malfunction really quickly and then you roll and it
could be that. So, Amazin monsters that we
talked about this when sweet-talking, a bribery fails,
sometimes a Denizen becomes an enemy and enemies and dead.
Halt, have a line of stats, a hotel, use it.
So it means have Pips indicating the dice they roll for an
attack, their wound value. Armor value.
The current wounds are one threshold and they're harming
allocations. So they also have a nice little
character sheet and I love the way that the narrative is put
into the harm on this. So harming, allocation is the
only selection we have not already covered in either
introduction that a so as an aid to role-playing and story
enemies have an allocation of body part that are harmed as a
wounds on them increase. I fucking Young love that so
much. So, the example and me here is
it looks like a, it's a cord collector.
So it's a thing all made of Chords, it's got a whip a shock
and at Angles got wound values for each.
It's got the Pips reach. It's got the wounds of one
thresholds everything. But to the right is a whole list
3, 5, 8, 10, 15, 20, 28, and 35, and then things that happen and
the example given here is really great.
It says the court collector is example.
If the enemy reaches its wound threshold, it is completely
destroyed. Right?
However, if it is only dealt three wounds, the harming
allocation indicates that a cord falls off of it.
So next, 2-3 on the side is drop scored there for over the course
of battle enemies will progressively get more beat-down
if 15 wounds are dealt in one hit, right?
So on the side there's a 3 5 8 10 and 15.
So it says The court collector, screeches out, while vibrating
glowing and expanding because at three it drops cord at five, it
expands at 8:00 and vibrates at 10 and eyes closed and at 15, it
screeches such a fucking fantastic way to narrate combat
for a bad guy. I it's so fucking smart.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think it's cool to do it
this way and normally I think I would probably be like, let me
let me narrate. Let me let me as the hotel
manager come up with my own idea because I think that, in some,
in some games with their stab locks for their enemies, they,
they may give you a detail like screeches out while vibrating
glowing and expanding. However that's just what they
wrote as the example. On the actual thing it just says
screeches and they're just basically just super simple
prompts that you can use to create your own.
Your own explanation of what is actually happening there which I
think is great. Yeah, I ate I said I think it's
super clever. I mean when you can wean, you
can go online and find tables of just like here are 10 things
that happens when you / somebody so you can narratively, do it or
whatever. This is such a nice way to have
it right in front of you. You, you don't have to use it,
you know, but it's cool that it's there and it's nice that
this got this like levels of beat down.
So I really enjoy it. I think as a as an HM it would
be fun to write up bad guys. And, and just be like, you know,
how can I create the, how can I make this thing fall apart?
You know? Um, so combat is part of
role-playing in dead halt. Don't stop role-playing just
because combats happening. Make it a minigame go for it and
enemies in the hotel also, run away.
Which is fine things can run away.
So can you? And as I said earlier, enemies,
can sometimes become friends. So, who knows?
And then we're getting into the elevator and the floors.
So this is really like how like, what's the point.
So this is the point otherwise, unless otherwise, the Matic for
the current Mission or story every floor in the hotel has one
entrant the elevator. I love that.
The elevator is a hex gated lift in the corner of the Fall.
Bar the elevator is no call buttons, but it's operated by a
small elevator attendant with a large lever and it is, the
attendant has a small orange light makes whirring mumbles to
acknowledge the crew. When told a floor to travel to,
it will grab hold of the lever and it will go on.
The elevated is intended to separate each floor into its own
individual module. So most of the time the
adventures will be one floor, you won't be necessarily floor
hopping, I guess, unless you break through the forward into
the one below it and I really love this kind of It says it's a
multi-dimensional gate in and more so than like an elevator in
an actual hotel. And I love that.
I love that you can do literally feel like you can go, I think it
won't point. It says you open the gate and
it's literally a swamp, you know, like it's so cool.
I like this the concept for the setting is just, it's just so
fucking cool. It's something that I had never
seen before. You know and I just thought it
was such a neat that's one of the reasons why I brought it up
in the first place it was like you know game aside it's just
the setting itself is just so cool and it just wants you to
play it. It's it, that's how I feel when
I when I'm reading this it just wants you to play the game.
Yeah, and it gives these there's a these four examples of like,
you know, how to do things hit. The characters are getting too
comfortable, the elevator opens to a pitch.
Black floor with eyes around every corner if they're feeling
adventurous and opens to a landscape of the castle Under
Siege. If they're trying to renovate
the fall bar, it opens to a bustling scrap yard during a
totaling junk market. And then if the characters have
all day to Journey beyond the bar, it opens to an entirely to
an entire RPG model. Another game, because why not?
Because if you really want to, you know, go to go to the keep
on the Borderlands, the elevator will open to it.
I was about to say Barrel, which may work honestly.
Yeah. And I really like the breakdown
of like, how to, how to run an adventure.
So it's when the elevator doors opens, it's beneficial to
immediately give a conflict, a point of curiosity, so don't
open it. Enough going, give them
something to look at her, something to do, and then the
elevator may bring the crew anywhere.
Allowing you to borrow setting any settings you want, which is
fantastic. It says reading Neuromancer,
send them through a section of me, hotels grifters, like and
then a bunch of other examples you getting it smart, you can do
whatever the fuck you want, which is so smart because that
means there's endless fucking possibilities.
Yes, like you never have to wait for an adventure to come out for
this because you can do anything you want.
When planning a job for your players, we suggest that you
don't ever decide what the players will experience in their
Adventures. Instead playing a session by
starting with these guidelines. Then let the players dictate the
rest, don't be a Storyteller. It is not your job to write a
novel. And then have the players, play
your characters in it, give them a goal, give them a setting, and
then let them do whatever they fucking want to do.
That is like, that is, I don't know if I would call this an OS.
Our game. But that to me is like the, like
the the, it's a core, right? The world is not balanced to
you. You have a goal, go do your
best, try not to fight because fighting is bad for you.
Like, it's yeah, certainly, it certainly is starting to sound
more and more like an OS, our game, isn't it, right?
Italy. At least has a lot of the
principles of the 0s are. The principal apocryphal kind of
bitch. So Breakdowns of this, it says
during gives them a job leading to a specific for with the
singular goal. Put a conflict in the path to
getting there. Open the elevators to a curious
floor. They may not have expected.
And in an unrelated distraction, they may choose to explore if
they choose to be distracted, let it help or hinder their
primary objective there on some conflict, on their Journey.
Give them a satisfactory conclusion to their Quest and
let them bring back the news or object to drain for profit.
You could, you could break this down, you know, take out Durand,
take out elevator. Just have this as like, how to
write an adventure, right? Literally.
Real give them a goal, right? Set them on their path, put
conflicts on their path. If they're distracted, have it
help or hurt. Their primary goal, give them
conflicts along the way. Give them a satisfactory
conclusion and then let them get back so they can get the reward.
Yeah. And even then he like they give
you these short little examples under each of those like headers
and they which is even better for like especially someone who
maybe picking this game up. It's probably not your first
role playing game, but it may be the first time you're going to
be writing an adventure or coming up with a concept for an
adventure to run as your first time running at running, one of
these types of games and the examples there, give you okay.
This is how much information I really need for this.
This is I need a little bit more information for this part.
Kind of thing. When you're when you're thinking
about how to craft that. And I think it's really well
written. Yeah, it's so well written like
it's so Extremely good. Like, I know, we're harmless a
lot right for everyone out there, but this game, as a game
is so well, written, like, despite the setting, despite,
like all the rest of it, just the amount of information given
the way in which it's presented to you.
And then the ease in which it's parsed and the reinforcement,
it's constantly given people. This this is how to write a
fucking game. Yeah, I agree.
I'm I'm slightly jealous. I'm not, it's good.
It's so fucking good. So Magics.
We're getting into Magics Magics.
Interesting. It's a little bit different.
There's a whole page here with a great graphic, great little add
on the side that says Magics a whole, like an immediate example
of play on how the magic works. And honestly, just, by reading
it, you understand it. So the the Beat machine sits in
the doorway. It holds your friend Bonnie by
the head like a rag doll in a Twisted mess of cords and wires.
Sands leg is trapped under the Heap and he has since blacked
out you stand alone on Friday. What do you want to do?
What do you do, Friday? What do we do?
Your maintenance, your maintenance, in this scenario
page 160? Yeah, I know, I'm looking at it.
33 in that section. Oh, my bad, bro.
I haven't, I'm looking at the top paragraph.
I'm trying to think what I do. My brain is fried right now.
I got four Pips in knowledge and a spell in mind.
Let's see, if the Winds of magic are in my favor today.
Six, six, five and three. Okay?
That's 20, rad, folks, Quark gives me an extra plus 2 and my
staff item gives me an extra plus 3 for 25 in total.
That's some powerful hoopla. Right there.
Can I turn off the gravity for a bit?
I don't see why not the heat begins to separate bits of its
corroded plates, start to raise off their settled positions, Sam
floats free and Bonnie is now in a jumble of weightless wires
better act quick. All this is going to come
crashing down soon. Great example of play, great way
to explain how the system works. And it basically tells you right
off, you get all your successes you, add them up together to get
a total number. So this is different than how
anything else Works, which I love because magic systems
should feel different than how everything else works.
But so basically says, attuned to the Natural ebb and flow of
the hotel. We can feel a notion of energy
within the air current of waves Beyond The Tuning range of any
radio. This is the Magics in order to
cast Magics, roll with diced equal to a crew members,
knowledge Pips, add up the resulting numbers as well as any
item or origin, bonuses strictly referencing Magics and reference
a some on the following chart, easy.
Fucking peasy and bolted for a reason.
So you instead of each success being a, a knock that will deal
damage you literally roll Pips equal to, you roll dice equal to
the Pips on your knowledge, plus any bonuses and you take the
total number, which is a really, really clever way to keep using
the same system and add in something like this.
So it gives you from I'm 12 36 plus with examples of each, and
I love how it breaks it down, and I do like the gradations in
this one. It's similar to the successes on
Knox, in the way it's broken down into gradations.
But I think with magic, I love the amount of these.
Yeah. So 1 through 3 of fizzle of
Sparks, and then a bunch of other examples, four through
eight move, a small object to foot nine through. 15.
Create a hole in a wall or shoot a ball of flame. 16 to 24
absorbent attack hurl. A bolt of lightning, create a
wall of energy. 25 to 35, freeze.
Time for a moment. Mend, anything broken?
Commander. Creepier creature.
Open a rift in the floor. 36 plus remove something from
existence rewind. A moment in time.
Open a two-way portal like warper creep.
Like I love the level of gradations in the creative,
second coach tell. Is that was that for you?
No, no. I just would say.
That's what I'm, that's what I'm fucking hotel.
I'm Doreen. Now, you you, the new drain II.
Think this is a really, really clever way to use a dice pool
system to to give you actions in Magic.
That feels like it makes sense together as if it was meant to
go together. Really, really, really smart.
I love a lot. I love it.
I think Hunter would love the shit out of this system and I
need to remember to remind him because he loves dice pull and
magic. And I just think this is such a
clever way to do both. Yeah.
And then we get to Defying death, really there.
In the system like you you just kind of don't so life in a
hotel, is tough. Each crew member has a wound
threshold which is equal to their total number of attribute
Pips Plus or Constitution times for If your wounds are ever
equal to win threshold. Roll a D6 on the back of your ID
card. Congratulations.
That body part is mangled Beyond repair.
Don't worry. No staff Personnel can die in
the hotel. As a state-of-the-art 1980s.
Cybernetics will make sure that every crew member is Back up to
Peak physical condition. When faced with loss of a
percentage of your body maintenance, crew can simply
shout Med con, and a licensed medical console or Med Khan will
be dispatched to their location. There's example, it says, a
console burst from the ceiling caught by its Servo arm, just
before hitting the floor, a Red Cross adorns.
At side as green words, flicker on its screen, would you like to
be healed too? Large red buttons below, it
screen are etched with the letters, y and n.
And if you go on the next page, that the whole half page,
illustration of the console on a Servo arm asking you for that.
I fucking love this. I think this is so clever.
Again, reinforces the setting and it's a system in which you
really don't die eventually, you just have to, you just retire
your character because they become to mechanized, but I love
this idea. That literally in the middle of
combat, you hit your with threshold, you roll a D6 Servo
gems in rips you out of combat. It's basically I think it is for
two rounds. Gives you a cybernetic
replacement for whatever got injured and then Chuck's you
back in. I love it.
I think it's adorable. Like, I don't even know what
other word to describe it than that.
Like, it's fantastic. So the crew continues, our fight
above and two rounds. Go by, as you are recovered and
you roll on The Mod table, to get your upgrade, Mark the mod
on the back of your ID card by Crossing out the Lost lamb and
noting, its new modded abilities.
That's why there's two sheets to the ID card and love that they
give you an enhanced ability. E in a function much like an
item's malfunction threshold. Mods are prone to glitches
though. And there's a glitch threshold
on page 37 T of a modded, limb is 21.
So anytime you're able to ones your cybernetic glitches out and
it applies to any role made. While using the mods, enhanced
ability, bonus or function. I think it's great.
I fucking love this. What are your thoughts?
Yeah, I really like it. And I like that, you're just
kind of like I love that mods are prone to glitches because
instead of just dying it's almost like an injury with a
weird bonus, but it could not necessarily be a bonus just at
all like an alternate thing that you might be able to do, but
they if it just keeps happening, you're just going to keep
consistently, your character will be changing and you're also
slowly becoming more prone to just getting fucked up.
We'll just just, I think it's great.
Yeah. Again, I feel like this is a
perfect example of continuously reinforced in the concepts of
the game, right? You're not going to die, right?
But weapons are prone to malfunctions, weapons can help
you in big ways, right? You get cybernetics, which makes
sense in the, in the concepts of the game.
The Cobra synthetics will help you which is a reinforcement of
the concepts. The game of like be a fan of the
player like you, you you reach your wound threshold.
Here's a little, here's a little bonus for you but like you said,
it glitches out which feels like the the weapons which is you
give this thing that can help you a ton, but it can also hurt
you. Not hurt you but like be a - in
what will probably be fun ways? Like its just.
Oh my gosh. I love.
I just I I love it. I think it's fantastic.
So there's a breakdown. There is a narrative - for an
example of play, which can never be enough of those.
Thank you. And then, and then a numbered
breakdown of what it actually means again, God.
So when a crew member reaches a one threshold, two rounds of
actions goes by is there modded and the back of their ID Card?
Roll a D6, on The Mod table, roll, a D6 for that limb,
determined its function, and then fill in the fifth, pip on
the attribute, the mod enhanced. So you only get one for each one
and ID card already has that labeled.
So you can remember, And then write down what it is.
So if a crew member fills in there 6 mod on their ID card,
they suffer a dead halt. This is that, that that Meme
with Leonardo DiCaprio from that Tarantino movie where he like
sits up in the chair. And as I got out of that, yeah,
that's the one. We talked about the beginning.
Love seeing the titled in the game somewhere when I was
reading it. That's exactly about the my
head. I was like, yeah, that's that's
the title of the game right there.
So a dead halt is when you have modded your body or your body
has been modded to the point of your basically, E of metal, man,
now, right, you're a mental person, like you're just
completely replaced by cybernetics at glitch
constantly, so, I love that. Alternatively.
If, at any point, it character believes they are overwhelmed by
the mechanical Echoes of Fortunes will internet.
They can optionally declare themselves.
Dead halted him, come clunk heads and clunk heads, run off
into the darkness of the hotel and Arlo no longer controlled by
a player. So you become a Denizen of the
hotel, you are a clunk head cybernetic thing and that's
that's it and only Aesthetics manufacture with a hotel count
towards the mod limit. So that is really.
That is, that is the rules of the game, right?
We're going to do, we're going to do the character origin to
the stuff like that. But there is a there's a pretty
dense, but fantastic, literally like history of the hotel.
And I'm not going to read this entire thing, but I will
summarize it as I read quickly through it.
So long story short, the hotel has existed for a really long
time. And has gone through some
Renovations some in 1988, or some in 1888, some in 1976, some
a 1984. But in 1984 for trial was born
fo RT. R.
A this is a secondhand supercomputer reprogram with
state-of-the-art Das software which cracked me up.
Coursing through its veins and extended its reach throughout
the hotel. Converting the lay in converting
over the lay in a winter net for terrain, the place with his own.
Present ability is not unlike a God for an extended period of
time but ultimately for churros forgotten about and became a
hidden puppet behind the console's that interact with the
rest of the hotel. During development in the 1980s,
floors begin changing and the hotel became something else.
Fortress silently turned, the mega structure into an endless
tower of Curiosities in. The 90 is no one remembered for
trip was there. The hotel had contorted under
its design and Fortress L became a myth of it's and the
long-lived bartender derain. Begin to higher maintenance
staff to make sure that the place ran smoothly.
After all the alterations to The Fortress doing.
Some say Gad was one who at last found for sure.
Again, got as a character will talk about a little bit or
perhaps has some super computer simply ran out of memory.
But in 1992 for Tara went offline, the internal Network
winter net shut down as so did every other console that was
attached to it? Another, the next few years, the
Souls were developing Quicks our quirks and going mad.
Many of those that find themselves fixed by the seven
Network enhancement though of the hotel, begin to speak about
The Whispers, The here in the Airways and there's often those
Whispers which could be from for Trey.
That's cause the clunk heads to lose our way.
Around the hotel, de rain continues to recruit maintenance
crew who wander into the bar to help with all of the Fall.
All out of fortres conversion, a hotel into this weird wacky
place and the the consoles and clunk heads attached to it.
So that is a breakdown of the history of the hotel.
I, when I first read this, I wondered if this would be good
in the beginning and then I was like, no, I think this is the
perfect place for it because we understand for Trey, we
understand clunk heads. We understand how everything
runs. This is a perfect and fantastic
place to put The Narrative of the hotel.
And again, Setting. Dude.
The setting? Yeah, it's very good.
And it's just before you get into the actual, like the more
the depth of like the The Lure of the various Origins and
different and the denizens of the hotel.
So it's a real. I think it's perfectly for place
for. Yeah.
For sure. I and it's so it's so good.
It's so I love it. I think it's so smart, like so
well-written and narratively, just the whole setting like you
said, You just fall in love with it all over again.
As soon as you read that you just like a god, so good.
So Chapter Two Tales from the bar.
It's got Origins and denizens again, hyperlinks.
But so Origins are basically who you are, right?
It is your quirks and everything like that, and then each there
are a list of what they are, right?
So you can be human rat, folk, Blank, Slate, zon 80 Goblin
totaling or spawn. We're not going to go through
all of them. Them.
Why don't you pick one and I'll pick one and what kind of give a
little breakdown of those? Oh, there's on eight.
Easily is going to be the one. I'm going to beg.
All right. Um, I'll go with I'll go a
spawn. Okay so we'll kind of go in
depth in those a little bit to give you a breakdown of the
other ones as we go through. So humans are humans just like
they get, they get one in everything and then and then for
bonus because we're super adaptable and that's who we are.
Great graphic right, folk are right folk exactly.
Like you think they are they get bonuses and knowledge plus 2 on
Magic rolls blank slates. Another one I almost thought
about because I really Love them fail genetically modified clone
Replacements but they couldn't get the faces, right?
So they just don't have faces and I love that.
So in order to differentiate themselves their elaborately in
ornately dressed, I fucking love that and that gives them a bonus
to their armor and ends on 80. Why don't you why don't you read
through, Jean 80 and tell me why you love this on 80?
Yeah, I mean I think it's a parent but the the few consoles
built before the installation of for Char are curious Bunch
unable to connect to internet. They were never under the
control of the supercomputer. And therefore if kept their Free
Will with the Advent of the new consoles, rendering them
obsolete, many olders on 80s. Join maintenance Crews or set
off on their own has a bonus for called circuit breaker, you can
choose all mods instead of randomizing when you make your
character and it's got a very high focus.
I think. Well, I mean, the obvious reason
I picked it is because it's just, it's just the coolest one.
But I also really liked because it's another example of the
creator of the game putting themselves putting their
fictional character that they've created for their, their company
in the game. To its there's another example
up higher. I don't remember where it was,
exactly. I think it might have been in
one of the, in one of the exact, like example, texts talking
about stealing, from The Zone where Corporation and I, That
like, is a great. The fourth wall stuff is is
awesome when it comes to this kind of writing.
And I don't think any, I don't really know anybody else that
really does this kind of thing and I just think it's so cool
and to have one of the origins be kind of like the person who
wrote the game and like all that stuff tide.
And I just think it's a really cool way to write in general,
but also it's a fucking lying computer with arms and a gun and
holding a gun like it. It's just fucking awesome.
The illustration is fucking fantastic.
I love it. The cool I love when like a
computer screen is a face because it can just like be
something else. You know.
Like it's and yeah, yeah. That's a, that's a really
fantastic one. I do really love this on a tee.
I also Imagine like I don't know like tracks in the hotel where
the the console's can just like Zoom down the middle of the
tracks and stuff like that. It's great God.
Winds are there goblins? They're smart witty
quick-witted, they get flustered and capacity, totaling Czar.
Little literally, told people, the graphic has them in a very
kind of like Asian inspired outfit with the brimmed hat.
The stilted sandals and lucky toad gets plus ten dollar, cash
Bond roles and then of course I wouldn't respond because I'm
going to Edge Lord piece of shit.
So Van are the underlings of old old mr.
Scratch from the hotel's. Underbelly spawn are tough as
rocks from the Forgotten types that extend into the domain
under the hotel. Spawn can summon the collected
sport artifacts from mr. Scratches Personal Collection,
to help them win the going needs a baseball bat or two, so, it's
straight up a fucking demon and it can summon fucking weapons
and shadows what it says. I love this infernal Sue.
Veneer summon a strength, plus 2 wound, VAC wounding value to
item, and they get bonus and cons.
So they have a lot of wounds because it's four times Con in
your wounds pleasure attributes and stuff like that.
So I mean you can throw another Pippin a con Max that shit out
and and and get going. But I love the graphic here to
where it's literally this like Bad ass fucking demon but he's
wear like short shorts and he's just reaching his hand out and
pulling out this a kind of like cybernetic like bat but it also
has like a blade stuck in the end of it and I it's it's a
great illustration. I really love a lot.
That is the bat is materializing.
It is one of the most apocalyptic bat with like blades
and stuff but it's in in the middle of materializing in his
hand, which is Just really cool as an illustration.
And also the upside down crosses on the tongues of his shoes are
fucking fantastic. Oh my God illustrations
throughout this entire book are so fucking good, like, I don't
know. I'm just scratch.
I thought I recognized that so I did Google it and it is a
nickname for the, for the devil. It's the common.
Yeah, Old Scratch. Start up the fucking devil.
So yeah, I love that beneath the fucking hotel is just the
fucking devil. And this bond is kind of like
comes in and he's like, hey and then he's like, hey buddy.
Let me just sum of this artifact from your private shit.
Like I, I really love that. I would definitely straight up.
Play a fucking spawn. We've already got two other
characters. We like we just need like one or
two more and we'll just play this game.
So I'm getting into the denizens.
This is your NPCs and one out of the hotel, we'll just do a quick
Breeze through them. So, They're not evil for any
reason necessarily there's no monster manual.
There's no nothing like that. Enemies can be friends, friends
can be not. So first one, you get is derain.
And I really, I really like terrain.
I like he's such a great main character, he stands quietly
behind the bar, and he is the front of the house guy.
He runs everything. It's interesting though.
The only thing indicating drains past is the left hand.
He still hides beneath the black glove, the last remaining piece
of his Humanity. Which tells you so much.
He is a calm metal, man, that cares deeply for those, he
employs and speaks enthusiastically and
charismatically to all he meets. It's all you need to know to
roleplay this dude, right. But we've talked about how you
become a clunk head, right? And how would you become a clunk
head? You're just fucking gone, right?
So, during this guy running the hotel basically right now and
he's one left hand away from being a clunk head.
He's probably hearing the whisperings of for Tara, right?
And he's still keeping it all together.
The complexity and depth of terrain in very few sentences is
so fucking good. Yeah. yeah, for sure, especially
when you when you return to the the history of the hotel and you
think about like the fact that he's keeping the maintenance
crew and keeping the hotel running like knowing this about
him and knowing the history and what he's doing with the hotel
like what are his motivations? Why is he?
Yeah it gives you so much to like think about to assume you
can create your own story about the rain if you wanted to like
with just the little pieces you've been given like it's very
cool. It reminds me of the way that
Dark Souls rights. It's it's itemization.
And all of its history is like hidden and little bits here and
there and items and things. And I think that that little
sentence, they're so easy to skip, but it gives you so much
information about this character.
Yeah, if I ran this like numerous times, I would
definitely drop tiny derail or throughout so much shit.
Yeah, he used to have Yeah. Right?
You find his robot, soul patch is heaving, plug it back in.
So consoles we talked about consoles and what they are and
everything like that. So this is another consoles of
the workforce of the hotel. So we already talked about them
a little bit in the in the story but you know based like Jean 80s
but the ones that were attached to internet.
Clunk heads also exist, we talked about them.
They are the dead halted maintenance crew, people love
this. Illustration.
I really really love this illustration.
It shows all of the mechanized cybernetic B like the one dude
like leaning back like just all of the artifacts 10 min from
fucking Wizard of Oz with light bulbs in his head just like
right. So fucking good Gad get Kate,
get him. Kate are two of the other like
actual named NPCs because everyone else you're going to
find a bunch of clock head. You're gonna find a bunch of
consoles was always lives in a second but Gatt is interesting.
Um Gatt is working gab was working for the bartender for a
long time. One of the only true humans to
have survived as a maintenance crew for a long time.
He previously, an average business, man, esteems get found
their freedom within the hotel. A Timeless friended her and get
stopped working or because years ago, but never left the hotel.
He occasionally does a task or two, but ultimately has many of
his own ventures in his mind via mainly against replacing his
body of a cybernetics gap has worked tirelessly to keep his
Humanity intact. However, the flowing Mane of
Raven feathers occurred regardless.
A story for another day Gap carries around his grandfather's
acts of which both the handle and head have been replaced many
times over. So it's literally a dude with a
raven head carrying around. His grandfather is ax
vehemently, opposed to being robot, but apparently not a bird
person and it does not tell you why.
It's interesting. Vehement Lee opposed to being a
robot right violently oppose. That thing is body replaced but
his grandfather's axe has been replaced.
It is not, it's not his grandfather's acts.
He's it says, both pieces have been replaced numerous times and
he still calls it his grandfather's acts.
So it's that's very interesting because to me that means that
he, he believes that no matter how far away Way, you you go
from your original Self. You still are that self, but
he's not willing to take that risk himself as a in his own
person. Yeah, that's what I, that's what
I read from that. Yeah, I love it.
It's funny that it Christian pointed the same thing out in
the chat. Just at the same time you were
saying that it's it's so clever dude.
Like so clever. Kate is another named character.
So Kate is 11 years old, incredibly a pathetic clearly
cut her own hair without her parents knowledge.
And one of the drains most valuable maintenance crew,
members bartender signs off on her, school's volunteer hours
for the hotel's, a weekly soup kitchen, and it seems her
teachers and parents are too lazy to check in.
They have up, she is a pistol named Furious and a digital
pocket pet name piggles. She's adamant about taking care
of piggles. And we'll make sure to feed it
while you are trying to have any sort of meaningful conversation.
Gad has a particular fondness towards Kate's blunt.
Get it done. Attitude and will always be
there if she needs his help. No matter what Kate is the only
hope Katie is only in the hotel during after-school hours and
might join up with the crew. If she hasn't got anything
better to do. Some weird little girl with a
gun in a pocket pet. Take the guns, Tom and God to
you straight out. It's great.
Last two, denizens of blips. They believed we want secure
your boat's, their little buggers scratch on the floor.
They basically like, like a jug of Jell-O on legs.
Yeah. And And yeah, and then you got
the albatross which God fucking damn this illustration.
Like I would not want to turn the corner into whatever the
fuck this is. I can't do.
It does look very Dead Space. He like it straight up fucking a
like so hardcore alien. It's insane due to its own
origin and in frequent. Sightings the albatross is
somewhat of a hotel Legend. It is an intelligent Beast that
can trick the eye flicker in and out of reality and twist words
with the silver tongue. Some say, You can see the
afterlife while looking into the blinding light emanating from
its skull While others insist that it's light is only to
distract you as it reaches out, to steal your soul.
These all might simply be rumors and even Gad has a fanatical
Vendetta against the albatross for reasons.
He never seems to explain fully. Perhaps this Beast isn't all
that bad after all like Where do I go with that?
Right? The like, is it bad?
Is it good? What is it like?
Why doesn't God like it? Like, what the fuck?
You know, it's like porch. Like what if you know, like
right? It is it is it is for it is one
of the successful, clones the blank slate, tried to be in this
is Fortress Insanity like made flesh like I love the Albatross,
it's so fucking good. So that's Origins everything.
Then we get to a fantastic graphic here of a gossip on
machine. I I love it.
I love everything about it. So this is the charts.
So we might do a couple rolls on this boat, cruise through this
pretty quickly, but this is the gossip on mods, expanding the
fall functions, glitches and then two arcs and then we're
pretty much done. So this is the gosh, Paul lists.
So the more gold the crew puts in the higher.
The chance of receiving something remarkably wonderful
when using Also pot roll a D6 than add the gold placed into
the machine to the roll. Pull the giant lever, listen to
the wildly ear-piercing noises. Watch the blinding serving
lighting Gear Up for your new item.
The gossip on allows one free play a day per crew member all
projectile weapons come with exactly five ammo.
So you get gold to buy. Gosh upon.
But everyone, everyday can take a rip on the gastropod machine.
Yeah, it's great, I love that I love.
I love items so much. It is my favorite thing about
role-playing games more than anything else more than the
storytelling more than the combat, more than anything.
I love using shit in weird ways to solve the problem that is set
before me. And the fact that they've not
only given you, this enormous list of things that you can get,
but also built in the use of items in such a fun and helpful
and useful way in the actual game rules.
Is just the best. It's just, it's so, so fucking
good. And so there's that, there's a
DVD. There's a D100 list here, right?
All of these items, but they can be found on Zone where dotnet
including descriptions and stats.
If you do want to create your own, I love that.
It's here. Do what you want with it bomb,
didn't take up the space in the book but has the website
available for you to go check it out.
And I also like that it's really because it's D6 + gold The lower
the number, the less quote-unquote helpful.
It is in the higher the number, the more helpful it is, right?
So like number one is literally a cat, a Cadet badge, number two
is a rabbit's foot, but then you start hitting like 61 is an
energy cell 95 is a growth. Ray, what are those things Romy?
What role you have a D100 or to D tensor?
Something will ya rolled 96? Oh damn.
The knowledge of what is a knowledge?
Eater got ideas, baby. I roll up.
I roll day, 87, a bumble Chuck. Fuck is a bumble Chuck.
This is like so good, but then, there's just the most random
shit on here, right? So, like, yeah, coin-operated
draganov. Like, oh, there's a roller on
the website. Yeah, we're gonna have to bring
up the website to go through that when we go here in a little
bit but curse tax all robot head, piston knee, slap track
phase pistol. I mean sort of Samuel like a
little like it's so good. It's so So fucking good.
The Pinnacle of automated gear distribution for every Hotel
maintenance crew. The gossip on machine is a
massive item vending machine that sits on the subfloor one.
Right next to the ice machine item distribution decisions used
to be orchestrated by Fortress, but now they are random.
I love that. And then there's a whole giant
like 3/4 of this page is just various items that you can get
from the gosh ball machine. Yeah.
So good. Um, so what did they say that
your 98 is in God's hand? So someone's the references
throughout this really, really get me.
What did you get in? The the, the knowledge knowledge
eater are their stats are the knowledge either on their, okay?
No one here. Their website is amazing because
it's, it's a 1990s website. So, I'll subtract to navigate
it. Oh my God.
Peter's, not even letting me go to the website.
It might, it might be. Oh my God, this website is
incredible. I can't believe, I have not
actually been on this website. Okay, you have to go to join at
the bottom. If you load the website, I don't
even have that option. And literally just says the
connection for the site is not to cure is an invalid response.
All right, let's see. So mine was the knowledge eater.
All right, so Plus for knowledge, reduces knowledge by
one, pip of anyone within 10 feet of the object, whoever
carries knowledge, eater gets plus 4.
College. And it's got a little exterior
creepy and permeates. Uneasy emotions.
Incredibly powerful. Drawing from those around it.
You might want to try. What what browser are you using?
I'm using the edge browser, okay?
I have Opera and it popped up for me, so I'm not sure if
that's trichrome. Bro lets me do it.
Yeah man Microsoft's really. Oh my God the website is
amazing. Okay well well well okay
alright. Well now I have to now we're
taking a now we're now we're now we're going to the website
people and then we'll continue with the rest of it.
So let me let me click to a kick to a website page here and go to
You got to click join at the bottom.
All right, I'm going to give the full experience here though.
Alright, so here's the website. Wow, I love this.
That's got So for those in podcast land, come look at the
go to the Zone. We're done it, welcome to the
hotel, please enjoy your stay. It's got late links to all of
the different things and then yeah.
So it's got home. History, history of the hotel,
the winter net, which is great downloads.
Oh, I'll it's booting like it's Das.
Oh my fucking god is on Wagner. My, you're blowing my fucking
mind here. So there's the gossip on
download section. If you want to go to the
downloads join, join the crew. Oh and then you can actually be
on the email list. There's a guest book.
I God this brings back so many fucking random ass like pre
Myspace trying to build out your xanga page like Memories right
now. It's oh my god.
Um so Quick quick, quick break from the game here, to check out
this website. Go to the gossip on not now.
So, here we go. It literally is just a fucking
massive list. of all of the different various, gosh pain,
Redbone the chucklehead Me, Let's Get It On.
Let's Zoom all the way in, for this eye of the beholder fist
boot. What did I say that?
I had, I had the 80s Bumble Chuck.
What? You know, the other thing too is
these are these are definitely printable as cards 100%
printable is cards. What appears to be a Jack In The
Box with its crank handle removed locked with chains and
covered in police tape. That says do not open, and at
the bottom, it says Jane's. Capital, the end.
Well, that's way too in the campaign.
And then you had what the knowledge eater.
Yeah, the knowledge eater. Really do.
It looks like a, it's one of those.
Like the wind up Jaws that clackety-clack reduces knowledge
by one pip of anyone within 10 feet of the object.
Whoever carries knowledge either gets Plus for knowledge creepy
and permeates uneasy motion. Incredibly powerful though
drawing from those around it. These are fucking amazing.
The God's hand has an insatiable need to return to the got.
It came from um this is straight-up fucking vecna's
hand. Like we're aware of this Focus
plus two wound value 5 malfunction to if it thinks
you're helping in return. + 5 verses Focus to mind control you
if it thinks you're not likes to ride on your shoulder, has a lot
of tricks up it. Well, it's just got a lot of
tricks. Oh my God, this is amazing.
And then the number one, 100 a trickster a Denizen of the hotel
locked away the gosh upon by Gad.
He immediately Escapes in his out of sight in a Flash.
It's the chucklehead. And it just says, oh, These are
amazing. This is one of the most amazing
patch of items. I've ever fucking seen it.
It's so good. You get the amount of oh my God.
It's so good. All right, so let's put you
through re by the way, in this shifts, the value score on this
game is going to move through the fucking roof is all I'm
saying. Um, okay, so continuing on so
mods, right? So you get D 64 D6 mod so 36
different options, right? So for example, if you replace
your head, it could be with a memory drive.
So, what I love about, all of these, Is that it looks like for
the most part. There is one for every stat.
And one is doubled up for each. So on head, it's to knowledge on
tour, so there's two Con on arms, there's to speed, and on
legs, there's two strengths and otherwise, there's one for every
stat. So, it's not like just replacing
your arms will give you, like, just all strength or just all
this. I love that.
You have more living likely chance, because it's two of six.
You have a one in three chance of one that is Thematic to the
thing. But head, for example, could be
a recollection cap which uses knowledge to recall, a name
event key term or info, that was forgotten.
Great. A nuclear aorta.
What if you add two more dice to your next strength.
Roll on your new clear aorta. Yeah.
I'm just trying to figure out what I would.
Even what I would even say that that is though.
Like it's your aorta that is no no I'm thinking about the
nuclear part. O, Allah, I just
nuclear-powered. It can be, it can be small and
so he knew Claire Boolean biceps on a striking success, make to
attack rolls against one target. Yeah, great.
Great. Oh, the turbo.
TurnKey is what? What?
What Friday? Had knock down any door?
Period. Fantastic.
So expanding the fall, the fall will inevitably become the base
of operations. If the players begin to delve
further into Hotel, let them spend their hard-earned gold on
the following Renovations when it's paid for drains console
will come out from behind the bar, begin to work on it.
Some X will allow for Recovery items or wounds.
One distinction is to take note of is crew means once per the
entire crew and character means once per crew member so
Renovations a weapon rack item chest a micro gosh upon an
espresso machine flesh printer. That's great.
It's nanomites. That removes a mod once per crew
so you could actually like peel back, some of your cybernetics
and give you back your flesh from the flesh printer.
Which is great. And I hacked bar console on a z
on his, on a t disc. Which unlocks on any console
origin. Which is very fucking cool.
Yeah. Also, check out the vendor Matic
real quick, though. It requires an albatross tier,
which is I love this because it's also giving you like loot
Concepts. Like like, you know, you can
look at this. Okay.
An albatross dies. It's gonna it's gonna is it
going to or it doesn't even die. What if you make it sad?
Will he make it cry? And you collected steer like you
know that's just it. Yeah it's more shit.
It's making me happy so good. It's so good.
This whole Gaming's. Me really fucking happy
malfunctions. Are another way that a story
evolves and dead halt when a malfunction threshold is reached
on an item such as rolling one or two ones on a dice roll.
When items when using item for a task, the I do malfunctions by
Rolling to D6 of crewmember finds out what their what
affects their item. Permanently.
So your items. These are I did I completely
forgot that these are permanent malfunctions on some of your
items and stuff. So You can roll again, it's to
D6. I'm gonna I'm Gonna Roll Up to
86 into it. My felt malfunction is.
All right. I want to do one thing.
I got a six in a 100 I have to re-roll cat.
That's a 6. I got a five and one so mine
becomes liquefied. And it bends and warps with use
well. What did you get?
I got form. Switched.
And that means cosmetically looks like a completely
different item. Which is awesome.
Andy, these are also good announcing rubbery household
organic. Mm, big in is my favorite word.
You only heard it ever youth like once before.
I don't even think it's an actual real-world word.
I'm pretty sure. It's not.
Oh, no. It actually is okay.
It's funny because I didn't, I didn't know that it was actually
a real orange her grow. Yeah, but yeah.
I love that word. Yeah, these are just amazing
list of things. I mean organic like made of
living breathing flesh and Bone like so good, so good and then
we got glitches. Glitches are bugs.
That modify your cybernetics. When a mod, let's just roll to
D6 and consult the table below. So same thing.
Why don't you roll up onto T6 and I roll up to 26 and see what
our cyber night, glitches. I got a 25 which means mine is
area effect. T', Alchemist split evenly among
all of the targeted party. I got 24.
So I got opposite day outcome, occurs.
Directly behind you. That's awesome.
Which is really interesting. Yeah, 53 hail fire.
All beings in the area. Take one wound.
Yeah, so good. And then then we get to the I
think there's two adventures in here A Good Day to Die again on
floor 71, we don't read that we don't read Adventures here by
the Fucking book and honestly by this goddamn fucking book, this
is repeat dollars on itch for the PDF.
What we found on floor 54 is next adventure and then a whole
page of like thank you. And then there is on where my
jury and Emerson illo all with. With links up to their, I
believe, it's to their Twitter pages.
And then in the back, is a really great page here.
It is the ID card at the top and quick reference page for
everything you need for Action. Rounds acting attacking a small
glossary of terms, everything. Yeah, it's yeah, fucking great.
I can get you. So so so fucking good.
I mean Oh, so Emerson is horse feed in chat.
One of the one of the the artist here, because God fucking damn
it. It looks like it.
Yeah, just so so good. The art throughout the entire
thing is fucking amazing. Yeah, they did Mommy.
So the fucking house is so good. So this second dead halt.
This is definitely. I know, it's only like 40 plus h
pages, but this is easily big enough, dense enough with enough
art to grade, and review, like a normal thing.
So we're going to go through this again and or we will go to
our review of dead halt. So let me explain how it works,
how we grade. So, we Give a there are a total
of 50 points. You can get its 10.45 different
things and this is what we decided that are the important
aspects of games, right over the book and the rules of the game
itself. So there is Art and style which
is specifically about the art that is used in it.
The style of that art and the overall artistic style of Of the
zine visually or the game visually and things like that,
right? It's a Content.
It's a quality art, as well as the quantity of the art.
It's a happy medium and then the style layout and function layout
is different than style there. If there's a stylistic choices
used in the layout, that is kind of part of style but layout
specifically is about readability because it's layout
and function. So it's about readability,
navigability the ability to Things easily hyperlinks.
You know ribbons those kind of things rule 7 crunches about the
rules of the game. Is it?
An adapted? Ruleset if so how well is
adapted? Is it a unique rule set?
How good is the rule set? And crunch is, do we feel that
there are a proprietary out of rules for the game?
Whether that's too many rules are not enough rules or just
right? Originality is very broad one.
It's a little bit of everything mixed in, with Laura and setting
and rules. Like all of those things all
together is just like how new and unique does this game feel
compared to other games? Is it just another Edge slower
dark game or is it something different and value is not only
how much the game costs, but what more you get it's your bang
for your buck. Is there expanded content as a
third-party licenses are there. What else are there websites?
Like, what else do you get when you get this game?
And we also score in relation to other games we've graded before.
More. So in the context of the 70
plus, or I think we're at like, 50 50 plus games.
We graded, there is still like a relation to those, right?
So kicking it off with art and style.
What are your, what are your thoughts?
I'm leaving up. I'm leaning towards an 8 with
this. I think that despite their not
being a Like a taught well actually I don't even know the.
I feel like I found a decent fuckers.
Yeah I guess I should say despite there being a ton of
text The art bills out the pages.
Well, it's where it needs to be, but it's good fucking art.
Like, it's just I love the fucking art in this especially
the consoles. I think the consoles are
adorable but also have this almost like malicious.
Like, like I don't know when I look at this, this picture.
I'm just like, is this malicious, is it?
You we don't know. We do now.
But no, I mean, I the overall style, the the cover of this, I
think I don't know why it doesn't have.
It doesn't feel like it has anything to do with the game at
all, but the color. It's yeah, yeah.
But it still makes me feel like it does.
Like, it feels perfect for the game, even though it doesn't
really look like. Although now that I'm looking at
it, maybe it does kind of give me that feeling of a hotel like
elevator. I'm trying to think.
But anyway, it's just. It gives you the vibe everything
in here. I'm going to give it an 8 for my
opinion because I just, I think it's, I think it's are not.
Yeah. So um, So, here's the thing.
So in context to other games, but we look at a lot.
So, right? So, like 10 is basically like an
art Punk book to the point where it's almost hard to read it,
right? Like it is, Art, is almost a
focus of the game. We're talking about things like
Merck, Borg like warplanes really far up there with a nine.
Is those kind of things. We I love art.
I love the fantastic. I think the cover honestly, I
would really but, you know, I think what I'm thinking in my
head is, actually, on the second scene is like, I would love to
see the console as cover art, but I'm pretty positive happy.
1999 has the as art that I feel would also be great on this one
as opposed to just the circle. I love how Simple and Clean the
friend is and I love that it's gold on the front.
But if there was something a little bit more into the
setting, I would be happy with it.
Here's the thing, art and style, we gave slipgate an 8-inch,
Walters illustrations are insane color, cover or like all of
those kind of things Electra, Mark, I've got a 7 and that's
what this really reminds me of black and white art, a ton of it
really well done author out. Out those kind of things.
So when I'm looking through what we give eight, what we give
sevens between quantity quality. I think the artist fantastic.
I love it and it's not necessarily A knock-on what it
doesn't have but like I love black and white.
I think it's great but color, you know, up, you know, color
dips it down a little bit. I to me personally, I think this
is right around the seven Mark compared to other games.
No, I now that you mentioned are the score.
Give her the key. You got me realizing yet because
we I mean we had been raving about Andrews paintings for
right who and like the the cover and everything is so insane.
Wow. And that's what we talk about
when we say like we try to be like, we take other games in the
context, which means also we have have gone back to previous
games and raise scores because in the context of something,
especially in the early ones, we did like added some Points in
Akron, I listed off because more games you read, the more you
realize it's something is like even better than you thought it
was. Or I think we might have even
dipped a couple scores down at times.
But to me this this feels like a solid seven.
I think the art style is fantastic.
But, you know, it's not, it's not an art book or anything like
that by any stretch of imagination.
I think that's what I think that's about.
What feels good. 7u an agreement on the seven.
Yeah. Yeah.
All right. Um, Okay.
So I'm going to be touring on layout, and function here for a
couple of reasons, right? So, we talked a little and
function, as readability the way in which is laid out so that you
can parse the information, the functionality, navigability, all
those kind of things. So immediate God, fucking damn
over several hyperlinks. Like it hurts my soul inside
that there aren't there's no, there's no hyperlinks.
There's no bookmarks. There's no inline hyperlinks.
There's no, but there are places to put them.
So, like everywhere, it's like if you need piece of
information, Nation that tells you where to find it, it'd be
nice to click on it and find it. It's just like I said in a tech
game that also has links out to a website.
That is clearly extraordinarily, well made it actually surprises
me a little bit that there aren't hyperlinks or bookmarks
in the, in the zine. All of those would be fantastic
hyperlinks on the index page and then even better get in on
hyperlinks and hyperlinks on the chapter.
Heading Pages would be with said, The Sing-Off like fucking
crazy, right? Does he's not big enough to have
a ribbon? That's not really a knocking me.
That's always been considered a bonus for me, but so obvious.
So we're automatically losing a couple points kind of right
there, but Other than that, my fucking God.
How well is this they do? Well, dude, I'm so I have the
book right here and I want to say, because do you don't have
the book yet, do you? No, no.
I ordered it on this page, right, right.
So I wanted to say something that I had noticed while I was
flipping through here is there isn't A bookmark or anything
like that. No, colored painted, right?
Yeah, what if you look at the pages that have the disks,
they're very obliging upon like just flipping through.
You're going to see this the chapters immediately and then
all that artwork is on the opposite page, which I think is
is great because it's, it's like one of the things if you want to
look for a section, you can look for the black, the giant black
square and you, okay? Stop, and then you can see,
okay, where's the The Denizen. It's at the end of this section.
So, I'm just going to flip to the end of the section.
Actually, I think that's a good way to kind of lay out the
chapters, in a way that almost feels like hyperlinks.
But like, in person, like real life, I really like Pacers.
Yeah. So, I think it's a series of
Revenge. You just pull on that.
Like, yeah. My God, this is, you know, you
know, that memory you just unlock that hurt.
My soul was like, literally getting my first set of Bible
tabs and sitting down and like tapping all of my God that hurts
my soul. Yeah, but yeah.
You know, like I said, I mean, you know, gotta duck punch for
not having hyperlinks. It's 2023 or 1919 1920, 19 news
Ryan other than that, though, strictly unlike layout of the
book. The, as you said, the chapter
headings, has are really obvious the the use of white and black,
the use of Olds black bars. Italo my God, I tell bold
italics black bars. The the the way that art is put
into the layout with readability.
There's not a lot of blank white spaces.
It's very dense but you don't realize how Dent it really is
until you finished it and realize how much information
they fucking gave you. I mean, this is one of the best
laid out books I've ever read. As far as Your readability.
Yeah, no easily. I absolutely agree with you as
somebody who I said earlier, I struggle with reading, like,
even when I'm on Adderall, it's still hard for me to read
sometimes because of how bad my ADHD is and I I can parse this
the blocks of text. I can still parse them and
something else I wanted to mention earlier that I thought
was great. That is important.
I think when it comes to using bolds and italics is only using
them the first time that they're on the page.
Yeah which is I think a big thing.
I think in the black hack they they use bold and italics a lot
in that book a lot and I like it but it's done way too much and I
think I think that it's done perfectly in this, because the
first time on the page, you see the pit, the word enemy.
It's bolded when I'm on page 12, 120.
And then, after that any time, the word enemy is there except
for in a full bolded block of text, it's not bolded, but now I
I'm my eyes are drawn to the word enemy like immediately
because it's been burned into my retinas from this page, right?
And I think it's a great way to do.
Do your your, your accessibility Writing when you're when you're
thinking about like, how to how to make your readers focus on
something, right? Yeah.
So I love that. And the other thing I loved a
lot was, especially a great example of this is on page 30
with forming the crew, where they have the strength, big
black bar measure of muscle power endurance and vigor.
That's where my eyes are going to go immediately.
When I'm making a character, what is this?
But if you want more example of what that might mean, there's a
smaller italics section, right? Beneath it, that gives you just
a little bit more of what that strength might be in case.
You're really there's something you're not sure if its strength
or if its speed or whatever you know you it helps you, you know?
I mean I just love that. I love that.
It's it's I agree. It's so incredibly the
accessibility. Almost negates, the navigability
almost. Um but so so nothing will ever
get a 10? Because Troika gets attention.
I mean daniell cell or I mean we talked about over and ago not
only their hyperlinks in England hyperlinks and literally every
like paragraph is like numbered and like it's insane and like
each and every page has links back to the chapter that
impossible nines were talking about things that are like death
in space where it's literally. It's almost this, it's like
hyperlinked of the asked color-coded by chapter, like all
of those kind of things to me, like an eight feels good for
this because if it wasn't as amazing as a layout, it would
get would I would start at a seven and start subtracting just
for just for hyperlinks and everything and not having those
This is going to be the, probably the best slay outscore
I'd ever. Give her something that doesn't
have hyperlinks. Yeah, that's what I was
thinking. Honestly, I was thinking, I
would start an innate deduct points for not having the
hyperlinks and such and then just add points back because
like of how good the layout is like, seriously so good.
It's so excellent. It's so good.
Like like, like and what we're
will beat this dead horse a little bit harder for people.
All that for accessibility sake, it's so fucking good like made
it so easy to read, okay? Getting it to rule set and
crunch. So this is specifically about
the ruleset used in the game, the rolling and all those kind
of things. So the D6 dice pool system wound
values wound like maintenance like malfunction threshold, all
those kind of things. How do you feel About the
ruleset. What do you like or are they any
parts that you don't like? So I'm I'm kind of a fan of dice
tools. I used to like them a lot more.
I don't like them as much anymore, but I still I really
like the way that this, they use it in this game.
I think it's extremely effective for what they're going for,
especially in a combat, not suggested kind of system.
The only thing I would say from and again we kind of harped on
this for a minute was the excessive success options but
then again, that's a playable, that's a playability thing.
That's something we'd actually have to play to really feel out.
I feel like the complexity of the combat with weapons is Both
a plus and a minus at the same time.
Like I think it's, it's a - from what I would give it because
it's slightly more complex than the rest of the rules, but it's
a plus because it's reinforcing the purpose of the rules.
So it's it's an interesting thing.
Like I'm I'm leaning like I'm kind of in between a seven and
an eight, as far as the rule set because it's not crunchy.
It's very easy to parse It's the rules, really reinforced and
feel like they are in the game. They kind of they they really
draw the players into it. Like it's just like with
everything else. Just everything in this game is
Just reinforces itself. It's excellent.
Yeah. You know, I think the
reinforcement part is is what's up was something that I was
gonna Bring up as the important part is that even even when you
look at like weapons, for example, how there's, like a
slight more complication to it? Really, it comes down to just
the the need for like the bonus dice, but the malfunction table
as well and things like that. It's really not.
I think it's incredibly uncomplicated in the context of
rules. Yeah.
But it's just slightly more than some of the other rules.
Because they're so easy. So it's kind of like it's in the
context of those themselves but I also don't think that there's
really ever a rule in the game. That's only ever used in one
way, but it so, like I think the only one that really is like
different is Magic, which it fucking should be.
But even the way that weapons are used, the enemy stats are
very similar with that that used and the malfunctions you get for
weapons are doubled up in the way that glitches work for your
cybernetic enhancements and things like that.
Which Is really extremely well waited and so there's nothing
that ever feels like this part was tacked on for a reason every
aspect of the rule set throughout is used in numerous
like numerous times in different ways in the same way.
So there's never a rule in it. As you read through, that
doesn't feel like it fits, you know I mean there's definitely
times are dressed up before I'm like okay I get that you're
basically that's based like a mini game.
Mmmmm, that's just tacked onto it and I'ma get sense but like I
don't feel like there's ever a rule where you just go, okay, I
could take that out and it would still work because it really
wouldn't. This is so and it's super
fucking easy. It's does pools based on the,
the, your stat values and then there are malfunctions for some
of the things. It's so easy.
It's so clean. Is it my favorite rule system?
No, I mean I've, you know, I'm a to D6 make success guy but I
love that there are mixed success has And the dice pool
system, which is really, really fantastic.
I also feel like I'm between, I feel like I'm between the 7 and
8 on this because I think the rules are incredibly
well-written. And like you said, there's not
anything that I could knock. There's only one thing that I
would want to get to the table and feel how it plays to be able
to feel it a little bit better. But yeah, I think IMA between
seven and eight. So, at this point, What we would
do is bring up previous scores and compare.
So slipgate, got an 80 lecture? Mark, I've got an eight.
What are things that feel like they have sevens, we deal in
lead got an eight. I'm trying to find some 7.
So we feel what a seven is like, ice beyond the Torchlight.
There were some knocks that I could have given that best of
Barry. Got an eight original Rune,
Karen got a seven then. We deal in lead got an eight
forbidden, Psalm seven Viking death squad.
Seven it while I'm just thinking of a known room Karen because
I've actually played that one or even think of like slipgate like
when we look at the come like the amount in complexity and
stuff of the rules. Yeah comparatively and that's
the thing is like, just because the game is more complex and has
more options. Doesn't necessarily mean the
rule set itself is better. It's just is the rule set.
I think it comes. Down to the rules.
Possibly reinforce themselves and I don't think it could be
written better. There's nothing in the system
that I would go. I would do this better or
differently. And the only question I have is
if the number of options for a success already too many on a
lot with slipgate was the way that the rules reinforce the
And, and the rules reinforced the gameplay and it's not just a
way to resolve something, and I think that that's something that
if we're going to go with other games as well.
I think that room care and following the Karen into the odd
model, you know, that just it's just a good rule set, right?
But it doesn't necessarily Reinforce anything that it's
doing right. Right, right, right.
The ruleset here. It does.
It reinforces everything like everything about it?
Reinforces the, the the, the setting, the play.
The the story, everything? Yeah.
I think we're both settle on a test then, huh?
Yeah, yeah, I think yeah. Yeah I think I think we
convinced ourselves 8. So originality.
I think, I mean, yeah. I mean, I think it's fantastic.
I mean, you know, but taking the entire game into into account,
like I think the setting is really, really, really great.
I think it's really clever has retro-futuristic cassette future
stuff it done before. It has has said, it has to do
setting exists, where you can do anything you want, when you go
into it. Sure.
Actually we learned we Delight has the exact same concept where
any door you go through can lead you to literally anything.
So multi-dimensional aspects of play and there's a whole Cipher
system based on jumping from you know, literally setting to
setting to setting, you know, and at the end of the day, even
something like, you know, playing escapes.
Entire concept is basically bouncing between planes will
give you different things. So is it is it not ever been
done before? Know it's been done before.
Is it still done incredibly well fuck?
Yes, it's so good. Is the.
Is there anything incredibly original at the ruleset D6 dice
pool system. It exists.
I think magic is really clever. I think, I think that's really,
really well done. So in the context of, you know,
something being incredibly original, you know, we did give
slipgate attend, probably, should I give it a 9?
We gave it a 10. I don't regret it.
I think that one of the things that really made that one, Our
unique was, the ruleset. Also really helped with the
bringing like 90s FPS into it and how well that was really
well adapted in. And there are, there are other
games out there that try to be like, FPS kind of.
But I feel like that one was so original in the way that it did
everything. So for me on originality, I
absolutely fucking love this game.
I almost wish that I could give like the whole game a bonus
point for just how well it all works together.
Together, I think that's one of the best aspects of the game,
you know what I mean? Like, I think that, um, We don't
really have a value for that. Right?
Like how well the layout works with the story works.
With the ruleset works with everything so that there's an
overall. Just really the cohesiveness I
guess is what I'm looking for and I guess all originality is
kind of like where I guess we could put that right.
Because to me I feel like I'm at the at about a 74 originally on
this which again five is considered average.
So a 7 is still a really high fucking score.
But if I was gonna give a bonus point for like I said, for how
cohesive, I think the entire thing is and how well the entire
thing is done, this is where I'd give it to.
I would do in a Seven and an eight or you at this.
So I was between an eight and a nine, but leaning towards 8,
because only, because I'm not a huge fan of dice pools.
And despite and and and PBT a style mixed successes and such I
know you love them that though, I look great, they're great.
This game is a stick but it's not my preferred, you know, I
have my own my own preferences, right?
So for that reason, I was, you know, I was sitting out of nine
as far as originality because of the way that everything in this
in this game, just like just every single aspect of it, it's
just Like a gordian knot that you just don't, you will never
want to cut apart, right? No, but then I'm like, but it's
a nice pool system and, you know, there's a couple things
that I was looking at whatever, you know, it's not bad.
It's just not my preferred thing.
So, you know whatever. Yeah, so I'm thinking I'm
leaning towards an eight for originality.
But that does not mean that I don't think this is fucking
incredible because it really credible as incredible.
Yeah, I think a decisions really, really good for this
because of everything we talked about originality, kind of, I
don't want to say it's the dumps at, but it in in, in its
antithesis of a dumpster at in that, like all of the What's the
word I'm looking for? Like all the extra bits
undefined, extra bits kind of fall into originality, where
it's like if they're, it's not as cut and dry.
So this is kind of like we're all everything we just talked
about were like cohesiveness and all the rest of this stuff can
really, really influence. And I think all of those things
all together, definitely deserve that.
I think 84, this is really, really great.
And then value, I mean, listen through the fucking roof, right?
Not only so, so important things when it comes to value.
I use the cost of the game, right?
So the cost of the game on itches, I believe is eight
dollars, right. And if you want a print version
of it is $18. I slapped I hit that button so
fucking hard. Like I definitely have a print
version and honestly is on where I need.
I need to hit you up because I wasn't sure if the pre-order
like of the happy 1999 was still a thing because I definitely
want to print version of that too.
So I'll be hitting you up to try to get that as well.
But so there is important things that matter are.
Cost of the game, right? Are there expansions are their
Adventures is their principal material are their websites?
Is there. Expanded content is your options
for more expanded content and holy fucking shit.
There's a whole goddamn website. There's a whole website of
expanded content of extra Adventures.
There's a whole second Zine. There's all the downloadables
and all that extra shit is equip solutely free.
Absolutely. Lutely free but outside of
buying the two ziens but even if you just want the second one is
he to $16 for both of those PDFs plus everything else.
Character sheets the the downloadable it's just there's
so much content for this and there's ever-expanding content
for it too. It's amazing value.
A make $8. I paid for this PDF was some of
the best $8 I've spent in the last, in this year and 18, I
think is the cost of the, of the of the print is that in my wrong
right there? Well, I got working 99 but I
don't know where I got. I don't remember which, which LG
S I bought this from so I may have gotten it on sale or
something. Oh yeah, this might include
shipping, so it's 18 dollars. Standard price of $15, plus
three dollars shipping. Boom, perfect.
Yeah, ice. I hit that button so hard.
Happy new year 1999 is also eight dollars and it is $15 with
three dollars shipping included the things as gift for 15, those
why soon three-dollar be added. So again, it'll be $18 for that
easy, easy $15, spend on that PDF.
And then on top of that, there is the Fire Winter, net, collect
collection, which is a completely free.
Download. I can't hop on this enough.
Great fucking value. I mean, when, so the very few
games that have gotten so, like, I think Merc Borg got a 10 on
value because the game is literally free.
At this point, you can download the entire, like, like black and
white version of it. But at the time, also they had
the entire they had Farrah Tory. They had all those other fucking
jeans all of the adventures with Completely free on the the when
they used to do the Merc board cult or whatever like that
casket land was also on that I think out of 10 because I think
the zine is like three or four. You can the entire everything
that you can possibly get back, Azkaban was like five bucks and
and things like that. So it was insane value.
This is right. The fuck up there with like and
value is where a lot of the scores.
Dip for a bunch of these like get a lot of sixes and sevens
which is again normal, right? But this one is is got to be at
least an easy eight eight or nine on value, I mean yeah.
The amount of content you get for this is insane.
Yeah and I think that it's something, I don't know where
where this would even qualify but I just want to like give 100
points with my ability to do so says on where for just their
commitment to the fucking bit like Like, it's the game itself,
is just so cool. Everything in the game, like
we've talked about the rules reinforce the setting, the
setting, reinforces the rules, all that stuff.
But then, you've got this person behind the name, that's
pretending to be this like Corporation.
That's also part of the game. And they have a website where
you can download all the all the all the work, anything extra,
you want to get on there. It's all printable which is
great and it's all in black and white which is even better
because a lot of times you can download PDFs and want to put
them in their color or they have tons of black shit on them,
whereas, you know, so there's a lot of black on this.
So, whatever. But but then you got the whole
website which is just just fun to be on.
They said in in the Twitter In the twitch chat that there's
hidden secrets on the website. So like now my value is going
into how much time am I going to spend looking at the fucking
source code of their website to Trent's?
Let's see if I can find secret shit on their website for no
reason other than I'm curious right.
Like that shit. Yeah.
Like it's going to be a 9 for me at least just because of how
much is there and also tacking on that commitment to the bit
and just being willing to spend all that extra time.
Making a person who buys and gets into this game.
Have, like, an experience with it, right?
Like it's not just playing the game, but you're like, joining
this, like community of people that have, like, you know,
source code is not cheating or maybe it is.
I don't know. I don't know the rules yet.
Yeah, you know, I'm between 1892, you know, the ones that I
was our other got high scores to our because of things like is
all, it's all a extra stuff, right?
So like for example like Frontier scum has a character
generator. You don't mean.
Merc Borg has a character generation a dungeon generator,
like every generator and I the sun those great.
I'm not gonna knock this for not having a character generator
because characters take 10 seconds to fucking make and you
have to like, do it as a group anyway.
But Having the website and the download will suit is equivalent
to me, like I'm between an eight and nine on this as well.
Um, and you know, I mean if the game is completely free, it
would be a 10, it's not it cost, you know, average cost for the
zine, right? Which is 30 bucks to get
physicals of both in your hand, I think.
You only got that but free stuff online on there too.
You know, they got so all those PDFs for free right?
Which I think is its For me, that's all extra because it's
like all those items in the game are you don't need, you don't
need the descriptions, you can just do whatever you want with
them, but they spent the time to make all that stuff, you know,
all that, all that, all the free PDFs on the, I just think it's
yeah, yeah, I think you're convincing me.
I'm still trying to sell your my nine here.
Ryan. We're going to go ahead and do
nine on this and I think this will be like the third's game in
a row. They got a 40 which is a really
fucking high score in the context.
Like, you know, I think that average score across everything
is between like a 36 and a 38 because as probably right around
37 and that's also because we don't really look at that games
because I don't wanna be a dick on the internet, that just rips
a fucking terrible game part. We've never Oh do that.
So we pick fucking fire and listen, this was your pick.
Thank you because this is so fucking good like the last
couple games we read. I am so happy between slipgate
and him bows and this between the rules and originality and
and just The Vibes of all of those games.
They have been absolute fucking awesome to sit down and read and
review and talk about and dig into.
And this is this one is really, really fucking good.
Like this is the kind of like amount of tech and Technology.
I want my game the setting like you said is so fucking clever.
And I'm continually going to be blown away by just like how well
it's laid out how well it's written, how much it reinforces
itself. Like again there's not a single
part. I can point to him.
Be like I don't like that. The only thing that we can even
question is if the number of successes is necessary and
honestly Then we probably won't hit five or six on those anyway
so it doesn't matter. Like it's just really fucking
good. This is this immediately also
goes on the list because we reviewed games are like this
looks really fucking good. We'll play it eventually.
This is one of the ones where it's like, I want to play it,
right? Fucking.
Now like, this is such a good fucking game.
So yeah. I mean those are my closing
remarks about dead halt or anything you had a yeah.
You want to wrap up about I mean, I think I've harped on it
enough but I just anybody that has watched this or is listening
to this episode in the podcast world, please go to Zone where
dotnet and by this season it's it's just if for nothing else
just read the book and enjoy it because it's it reads.
You can read it and and get ideas for your for your own
game. You can get ideas for your own,
your own stories, your own setting, whatever you want to
do, like, you don't even necessarily need to A the game
if you don't want to but there's just so much good stuff in this
book that it's worth so much, good stuff.
So we'll just work by like I said, even just even just the
the like how to write an adventure part.
I like that's such a, that's such a like a second, great
fucking like just and and honestly again for accessibility
and readability and for having writing your game in a way where
I have no questions whatsoever. How anything works, right?
Because there are times where I'm like, oh wait, I think this
is how it works, like they're not a single goddamn question.
Like if more people would put this, many examples of play
this, many numbered lists this many times where it gives it to
you, and then gives it to you again, to reinforce it.
But this, I'm going to black fucking box, like just This is
how to write a game and how to create a readable parsable
understandable game. If you are, even if you just
designing games, you never play this, read this.
So that when you actually physically, put your game
together, you learn something because this is so fucking good,
that's what we got. That is our episode here on the
weekly. Scroll Kirby.
Thank you again, so much for coming on.
Second time here on the show as a guest co-host, probably going
to be a regular guy. As co-host at this point more
ISM dot games check out all this shit.
Guild is coming up soon deftly want to snag that as soon as you
can you're the shit. I really appreciate you coming
on. Thank you Ryan.
I love This is been a dead halt, so on where thank you for being
a chat. Thank U for everybody that's
been here. And listening, really, really
appreciate it. You can find Kirby at disaster
tourism dot games or at DTR pgs. Yeah.
Butter it's almost like driving through a PGA but with a 90.
Yeah. And you can find us at the that
Weekly that scroll on Instagram at weekly underscore scroll on
Twitter or at the adventure archived on YouTube.
That's really well to find this Vibe and links to our podcast
are through all of the links and files for all of those places.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening.
Not sure what we're going to do next week, but when hunter gets
back, we'll talk about it. And let you all know on our
Twitter account, you've all been wonderful by this fucking game.
Have a good day, everybody. Bye.
Yeah.