Comments | gametime: Thy Vernal Chieftains

steve_hix in gametime

Thy Vernal Chieftains - a review

Jan 31, 2009 16:29

Thy Vernal Chieftains (TVC) is a set of storytelling rules by Paul Czege, author of My Life with Master and Bacchanal (a game I'll be comparing to TVC later in this review). TVC is extremely readable, with an approachable tone and clear descriptions of how play proceeds; however I found myself confused about how one particular element - Traits and ( Read more... )

2009, review

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mashugenah February 1 2009, 18:52:06 UTC

Have you read The Canticle of the Monomyth? This game sounds a bit like a specialist version of that game (one that's actually comprehensible by ordinary mortals too!)

TBH, this game sounds like a game which I'd plunder for ideas on how to run a campaign better, rather than something I'd be too interested in in its own right.

Thanks for posting this review; I am intrigued and will probably pick up a copy for my own interest. :)

steve_hix February 2 2009, 03:53:07 UTC

Oh yeah, Aria: Canticle of the Monomyth. I own 'Worlds' and Morgue's given me 'Aria Roleplaying' on extended loan.

In-fracken-penetrable.

But I love it. I love the scope of play that seems possible with it.

mr_orgue February 4 2009, 00:11:47 UTC

On permanent loan, in fact.

If, one day, you decide to give it back (to free up shelf space perhaps) then so be it; but I can't see myself ever asking.

I want to read Worlds sometime though.

steve_hix February 3 2009, 00:35:55 UTC

What points of comparison do you see between Thy Vernal Chieftains and Canticle?

mashugenah February 3 2009, 03:10:40 UTC

Embarassingly, I can't recall in detail what was going through my mind when I posted previously. :/

In general, it seems like Canticle is setup to try and follow world-level plot threads as embodied in the players' characters. Vernal seems the same, only "country scale" - it seems like a specialist application of some of the same ideas.

I say this acknowledging that I last bounced off Aria nearly 5 years ago (and previously in about 1997) and have never read the Vernal Chiefs. :)

In much the same way, I tend to see Nobilis as the "uber" version of games like Nine Worlds... with the same caveat. :) I bounced off Nobilis, and have only skimmed Nine Worlds.

steve_hix February 3 2009, 05:15:11 UTC

I see your point now, especially in the Nobilis to Nine Worlds comparison.

The world-building and -affecting stuff is nowhere near as mechanically codified in Vernal Chieftains as it is in Aria/Canticle.

steve_hix February 3 2009, 05:16:01 UTC

It is however way more comprehensible (than Aria/Canticle).

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