Universalis

[Paganini]

Okay guys, I'm going to have to demand a refund. The occaisoinal missing apostrophe I can put up with, but when you start misquoting Star Wars dire things must happen.

"No, Luke! *I* am your father!"

;)

But, seriously, it looks really nice. I've read the first couple of chapters. I'm taking it with me to work today, and intend to get through as much as possible in between students.

That's some heavy-duty ink you guys used, BTW. If you put the book flat on a table and run your hands over it, areas that have repated printing (like the page numbers) are harder and thicker than other areas.

Production quality is high... nice artwork, good dark print.

I look forward to playing it. It seems sort of like what FUDGE should have been. I've got a feeling that from now on my train of thought will run something like this:

"Ooh, that's cool, I should design a game around it."
"Oh, wait, why would I do that when I can just use Universalis?"

[Valamir]

Okay guys, I'm going to have to demand a refund. The occaisoinal missing apostrophe I can put up with, but when you start misquoting Star Wars dire things must happen.

"No, Luke! *I* am your father!"

;)

Yes, No...No, Yes...
Just be thankful I didn't throw the "Now I am the master" one in there...

Actually, I'm perfectly happy misquoteing pop culture...shows I'm not nearly as obsessive-compulsive as some ;-)

That's some heavy-duty ink you guys used, BTW. If you put the book flat on a table and run your hands over it, areas that have repated printing (like the page numbers) are harder and thicker than other areas.

Production quality is high... nice artwork, good dark print.

Yeah, i'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  We probably could have found some place less expensive, but given the small print run and taking it down to the wire, they did a great job with it.  The bindings alot sturdier than I feared it would be, and the cover just the right wieght.  I've heard a lot of scary printer stories, so we were quite fortuneate in that regard.

Of course, the look of it, is entirely attributable to David Hedgecock (art) and Matt Snyder (layout), as anyone who saw the play test drafts can attest to.

I've got a feeling that from now on my train of thought will run something like this:

"Ooh, that's cool, I should design a game around it."
"Oh, wait, why would I do that when I can just use Universalis?"

Music to my ears :-)

[Bob McNamee]

I've got a feeling that from now on my train of thought will run something like this:

"Ooh, that's cool, I should design a game around it."
"Oh, wait, why would I do that when I can just use Universalis?"

Music to my ears :-)

Thats what happened to my Tarot game... basically everything I wanted to do with it can be done in Uni by addingg a couple rules gimmicks.

Bob McNamee

[Paganini]

Thats what happened to my Tarot game... basically everything I wanted to do with it can be done in Uni by addingg a couple rules gimmicks.

That's pretty much it. Universalis can do more or less anything you can think of. Just pay some coins, and make it happen. The thing that makes it truly awesome is that its all a feature of *play,* unlike FUDGE, where the customization is a feature of pre-game design work by the GM.

[Tony Irwin]

I've got a feeling that from now on my train of thought will run something like this:

"Ooh, that's cool, I should design a game around it."
"Oh, wait, why would I do that when I can just use Universalis?"

Heh! Oh man! You have no idea how many times I've done exactly that since buying this book! There's something about the system just gets all the juices flowing and before you know it you're getting amazingly original new RPG ideas every single day. Until you realise with dismay that they all seem to involve spending coins to buy dice... ;-)

Production quality is high... nice artwork, good dark print.

Seeing an independant game with these production standards really inspires you to dig out all those cool ideas you once had but never bothered to fully map out. It's a beautiful little book, I'm still stunned by the integrity of the text - I thought I'd finally found a typo at one point but realised it was just a phrasing choice. If these guys can produce something like this then why can't AEG and Decipher?!

[Roy]

Tony188 wrote:
If these guys can produce something like this then why can't AEG and Decipher?!

One word ... love.  Ralph and Mike love Universalis and nurture it like a baby.  It makes all the difference in the world sometimes.

Roy

[Mike Holmes]

One word ... love.  Ralph and Mike love Universalis and nurture it like a baby.  It makes all the difference in the world sometimes.

Thanks for the kind comments guys.

Consider, however, that we took our time with it, too. Over a year. Most companies are probably trying to meet deadlines. So, if a product's production value seems low, consider that perhaps somebody was hustling to get it done. It's not easy.

That said, Ralph put a huge effort into proofing at the end, and I think it does show. I'd say that it was an excellent effort on his part, especially for a first time out. He deserves the credit.

Mike

[Valamir]

And the blame.  The ones I missed make me cringe.  And none of them are as funny as Little Fears has ;-)

[Bankuei]

I just wanted to congrat you guys on an awesome job, and I finally have settled down in my new pad and ordered my copy.  I was really happy to see all the add ons listed on the site.  Its got me excited to do some roleplaying.

Chris

[Mike Holmes]

Its got me excited to do some roleplaying.

And we're exited to hear what you do with it.  Keep us posted!

Mike

[Jason L Blair]

And the blame.  The ones I missed make me cringe.  And none of them are as funny as Little Fears has ;-)

But of the mos times...Ralph is right on this one. I'm not proud of the typos and pasting errors, but at least they're funny.

[Bankuei]

Well, my copy arrived, very pleased with the production quality of course, but also the writing is very clear and many of the previous rules issues I've had have been totally cleaned up(yayy, no massive conflict pool in the middle of the table).  I'm was also pleased that you took the extra bit of time to make all of the examples linked in story, as well as giving examples of player goals and attitudes shaping the story.  

Plus you referenced Wizards.  That's just cool.

Chris