Re: FMA Fantasy etc.

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> From: David Brewer <db-ft@westmore.demon.co.uk>
> To: FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk
> Subject: FMA Fantasy etc.
> Date: Friday, December 13, 1996 12:05 AM
> 

I have and own Raven Fantasy from Harlequin Miniatures and belive it is
a
good game, but the editing is horrendous.  I have a few problems with it
as far as mechanics and scale goes, but it does have some very good
ideas.
 Especialy about pre-game stratigic planning and magic.
Don't know anything about Chipco rules.

> Some of the essential concepts in FMA seem to me very, very,
> grounded in the psuedo-modern style SF gaming genre. I don't really
> see any equivalent of a SG squad or DS platoon in the Tolkien-esque
> fantasy genre. Perhaps a DBM-esque element could substitute?
> 
> It could be worth a shot. Or stab. I'm not so sure about all those
> chits littering the board.

I agree that some of the FMA concepts are talored to SF, but the basic
system would be a very sound basis for any type of game, including
fantasy.  The varible die system is a good way to show differences in
ability without alot of modifiers, and the opposed die roll keeps both
players in the action.	I think the big problem, as far as combat is
concerened is how to show varing degrees of success when one unit
smashes
into another.  

> GZG is a wholly SF enterprise. The only obvious gap I can see is for
> a lower-level skirmish game (where the basic game token is a single
> person, not a squad) and one "Jungleland" has been on the cards for
> sometime. Or one could focus more tightly and create the FMA-RPG.
> 
> Jon also carries a range or two of anime and comedy ("nuns with
> guns") figures, so that might be a fertile area. Jon is a well-known
> anime nut, so much so that I'm surprised he doesn't supply a
> Japanese army for StarGrunt consisting of uniformed schoolgirls...
> 
Didn't know that Jon was into anime, and I thought I had nothing in
common
with him.

BTW, ROFL  
> ...or new alien race: the Ka'Wai.
> 
> So a comedy knockabout game would help support some of his wares.
> 
> What other fertile SF genres are there? Car duelling? Unfeasable
> Giant Robots?

Giant Robots ala....Mecha.  Well Heavy Gear by Dream Pod 9 is the best
Mecha game I've ever played, it would be very hard to beat.  Come to
think
of it HG has alot of the same concepts that FMA does except it is
exclusivly D6 based, but you gain dice for skill levels.
Hum.....

> --
> David Brewer

JNoll