Newbie

[Equilibrium]

Hello

I discovered Universalis about 2 years ago, I read the rules and my son and one other friend had a crack at it. We all enjoyed though my son was a bit intimidated when the spotlight was on him to perform. I think we ended up in some underwater setting where the Hybrid Human/Dolphins were waging a war against the Human/Sharks, and the Human/Octopusses were some type of neutral wise old race watching events from the side. Details apart, although we enjoyed, I was a bit confused with the rules of the game and game flow. We never played after that one and only session, mainly because I couldnt find another player - my son dropped out as mentioned, because of the pressure to perform. Let go and enjoy I say!

As mentioned, I am really looking forward to the revised edition, and I hope the rule book is a little clearer to for new players to understand. After quitting table top role playing games (after 20+ years the amount of work for one player; the GM, I decied was not worth it), I was searching for something else, and I really hope Universalis is the end of my search. I do however have 2 questions:

[1] Keeping Notes
How do you manage to remember all the details that have gone on before? What was the bar tenders name again? How much did the missile cost? Where did I say Smurdon the Brave was from? Etc

[2] Character Creation. I was wondering if there are rules (add ons) for creating a personal characer, one a player could control with a vested interest? I'm not talking anything near the sort of details found in a normal role-playing game. Just a name, history (both easily catered for), and perhaps some way of keeping track of a characters improvement.

The potential of this game is absolutely staggering, its like having every role-playing game ever made in one digest sized paperback. I for one can hardly wait for the revised edition.

Very best of luck for the future!

[Mike Holmes]

Hi Equilibrium (what's your real name, if you don't mind me asking?),

To answer your questions, first, there's mention of it in the rules, but to expand on notekeeping, you do have to do quite a bit of this. Many people have lots of ideas about what they feel is the best way to do this. A common suggestion is to have one player do the notekeeping, or two players with common resources, so that when one of them is taking their turn, the other can record stuff.

As for what to write on, I use just about anything, personally, but many people have reported that using index cards makes for a nice filing format. The most important things to record are components created, and what traits they have (yes, including names), and using note cards the idea is to put one component on each card. Also, if you have more than one person recording, then this makes it easy to share the recording resources - whenever somebody makes a new component, just pull a card from the pile and start jotting things down.

This seems like a lot of work, but it turns out that it's nowhere near as disruptive as you might think. Traits tend to be one or just a few words, so they get marked quickly.


For your second question, the answer is yes, there have been a number of people who have suggested add-ons for "Player Characters." You can find these and many other add-ons here: http://www.ramshead.indie-rpgs.com/Addons.htm

Also by searching this forum, you can find many other such ideas that'll answer both of your questions.

Thanks for the kind thoughts, and I hope you have fun playing,
Mike

[Equilibrium]

My real name is Mark

Really looking forward to the Universalis reprint. I have a few mates and a free Friday night that I know would be an excellent mix.

I think we will use Raymond E Feists Riftwar setting...right after we do Middle Earth!

[Mike Holmes]

Sounds great, Mark. If you have time, post how these games go after you play. Sounds like great fun.

Mike

[Equilibrium]

Any news at all on the revised edition?

Anything?

[Valamir]

While I appreciate the enthusiasm (alot actually), layout doesn't happen in a day.

The text was sent to layout where it was put in the queue behind all the other game projects that were in line ahead of mine including Ron Edward's latest game "It was a mutual decision".

As of early April, Universalis was next in line.

But Matt has a full time job and a family.  So it will take as long as it takes.

When I know more, I'll be shoulting it from the heavens...trust me.


Ralph