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Post by lee1006 on Dec 28, 2015 5:10:23 GMT -8
Hi there, I've been reading up a lot about ME recently and it looks fantastic, I just can't seem to work out whether or not it will be suitable for my small group (hoping it is - and I will be playing Solo if not). We mostly play board games so RPG is quite new to us. So I have a few questions hopefully you guys can help with: Can a few of us (let's say 4 - I've read you need 6-10?) play this without a GM, just following the stories laid out in the adventure books? Or is a GM necessary. I wondered if you could tailor the solo version for more players? How long (how many sessions) will it take to get through one of the books (I.e Mall of Doom) - is there enough content for a good few hours? I suppose that will do for now. Thanks in advance  |
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Post by SavageGM on Dec 28, 2015 18:53:50 GMT -8
Hi there, I've been reading up a lot about ME recently and it looks fantastic, I just can't seem to work out whether or not it will be suitable for my small group (hoping it is - and I will be playing Solo if not). We mostly play board games so RPG is quite new to us. So I have a few questions hopefully you guys can help with: Can a few of us (let's say 4 - I've read you need 6-10?) play this without a GM, just following the stories laid out in the adventure books? Or is a GM necessary. I wondered if you could tailor the solo version for more players? How long (how many sessions) will it take to get through one of the books (I.e Mall of Doom) - is there enough content for a good few hours? I suppose that will do for now. Thanks in advance Hi, welcome and thanks for checking out TME! Yes you can play with 4 players through one of the adventure books. Just tweak it some and cut down on the number of mobs or when to check on random encounters. I personally have never played it without a GM so that's something I'm unfamiliar with but I'm glad it can be played that way. Mall of Doom can take many (5+) sessions depending on how the party plays. If they like looking in every nook and cranny. I actually would start with the Society of Excavators free adventure The Crevice or one of the small one session adventures in the One Day Digs line. Then move on to one of the adventure books. If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I'm sure all of the regulars will do their best at helping you out. Thanks again and welcome to The Mutant Epoch! -Brandon |
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Post by lee1006 on Dec 29, 2015 16:35:40 GMT -8
Thanks for your reply Brandon I had already ordered the Hub Rulebook and Mall of Doom, but I'll get one of the One Day Dig books as well then. Great news that we can play as a small group. Very excited. Quick question regarding Solo play: will I need to create the suggested number of characters for the book I'm running or is there a way of adjusting the encounters, or creating a tougher solo character or something? I'm not against multiple characters but don't quite fancy book keeping 6-10 chars for myself. I could probably handle 3 though in all honesty I'd prefer one - but only if it's feasible. Thank you for your time. |
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Post by SavageGM on Dec 29, 2015 16:49:39 GMT -8
No problem, happy to help. If you'd like to make your character rank 2 or even 3 I think that could be a good adjustment if you don't want to handle many characters, which I completely understand. 3 rank 3 characters could do well I think mixed with cutting down mob numbers. I would roll the number of creatures and always half that number rounding up. I think that might work. Let us know how it goes! Also the One Day Digs are pay what you want PDF adventures on Drivethrurpg and Rpgnow.
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Post by lee1006 on Dec 30, 2015 13:11:26 GMT -8
Excellent - Thank you! Well, the books have arrived today so I'm going to spend New Years familiarising myself with the rules. I will do as you suggest, 3 rank 3 characters. Though I'm not exactly sure how the ranking system works just yet. I think if or rather 'when' one of my characters dies I might just roll another one and have him stumble upon the old corpse, scrounge a few bits off him and join the rest of the group, so there will always be 3 and I can continue with the story. I'm not going to get too attached to any of the characters heh, I just want to explore the world of TME and see how the game plays and story unfolds - then hopefully I can introduce it to my friends Thanks for your help and encouragement. I'll let you know how I get on. Oh, just one more thing: In the likely case I really enjoy playing solo are all 3 of the current adventure books multi-path and therefore solo-able? And are any of the other books Solo-able? I think over time I'll collect all the published books anyway - love the artwork and theme. |
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Post by SavageGM on Dec 30, 2015 17:37:22 GMT -8
Yep, all three adventure books are multi-path and can be played solo. FYI the Crossroads Region Gazetter is an incredible book. Never before have I seen such an exhaustive setting book with so much art and maps. Highly recommended by me and I'm sure most of the people here on the forum.
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toddk
Junior Member
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Post by toddk on Dec 30, 2015 17:48:42 GMT -8
You could make 3 'tweaked' characters, one a Freakish horror mutant, one a cyborg, and one a skill master type character. They have recognized that they are relatively unique and powerful, and decided to gang together to make a name for themselves.
The fun part is there are only three of them, and they will be outnumbered wherever they go.
(Yes, I made a Freakish Horror mutant that had a 'few' of his rolls 'fudged'.)
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Post by lee1006 on Dec 31, 2015 9:15:16 GMT -8
Thanks guys. I will check out Gazetter - to be honest I'm hugely impressed with the Hub Rulebook and Mall of Doom, so I'm excited to see some of the others.
I like the idea of those characters, certainly seems as though I'll have to beef them up a little - what determines a characters rank? Is it simply a boost to certain stats after a scenario or do you have to spend XP points or anything?
Apologies if that's a silly question, Entirely new to RPG systems. I'm sure the rules will cover it all but I'm not that far into it yet and just getting ahead of myself!
I read the background and a fair bit of the character creation last night. Blown away by the random tables and depth of character. Unlike anything I've seen before.
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toddk
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by toddk on Jan 2, 2016 2:07:31 GMT -8
Thanks guys. I will check out Gazetter - to be honest I'm hugely impressed with the Hub Rulebook and Mall of Doom, so I'm excited to see some of the others. I like the idea of those characters, certainly seems as though I'll have to beef them up a little - what determines a characters rank? Is it simply a boost to certain stats after a scenario or do you have to spend XP points or anything? Apologies if that's a silly question, Entirely new to RPG systems. I'm sure the rules will cover it all but I'm not that far into it yet and just getting ahead of myself! I read the background and a fair bit of the character creation last night. Blown away by the random tables and depth of character. Unlike anything I've seen before. In the Hub Rulebook, page 34, it covers rank advancement. You get experience from defeating critters, loot found, plus GM rewards. Trading goods from town to town does not count. Once you have gotten to a certain total amount of experience, you look on table TME-1-21 on page 34 to see what the new stats for your character are. |
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Post by lee1006 on Jan 2, 2016 5:40:23 GMT -8
Yeah, I just got to that bit last night. So basically when you kill a creature, you write down the EF points it grants, add them all up and split between PC's right.
Now do you apply the rank benefits at the end of the session or 24 hours in-game time?
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Post by aardvark892 on Jan 17, 2020 9:01:17 GMT -8
Lee, Welcome to the community! When you apply the rank increase is really up to you. It's traditional in RPG's that leveling up can only happen during "downtime", which is to say when the adventurer's have some time off at a local town. A few GM's require the characters to have some time to train up with all their new experiences. Some, like me, let them level up as soon as they hit the right number of XP. It all really depends on you. Just about any player would tell you that the reward of leveling up is pretty special, so don't treat it too off-the-cuff. Go with whatever works for you.
Tim
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