cocolebelge
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Posts: 13
Joined: Sat 10 Jan 2015, 21:04
Location: Brussels / Belgium

Questions about the settings

Mon 24 Sep 2018, 15:28

Hi there,

First sorry for my English as I am Belgian (french).
I have not yet bought Tales of the Loop yet but with our group we are probably  going to dive into the Loop (regarding a few things).

As mentionned in the tittle I have a few questions about Tales of the Loop and also Things from the Flood.

First and easy question: 
I understand Things of the Flood is the sequel of tales of the loop and you can play your characters from the Loop as adolescent. Any idea what is the age range in the new book? 15-20 years old? Can you play Young adults?

About Tales of the Loop

We were talking with friends yesterday about the possibility of playing Tales but one of my players is  really reluctant about playing a kid but loves the setting or at least he loved Stranger Things. So I thought and I know it's not really the philosophy of the game that perhaps he could play as an adult (as you could find in Stranger Things or Dark). Theoretically I would guess it's possible?
I think I could tweak/homebrew official rules. But do you think this is feasible? I have not read the adventures yet (as mentionned  I do not have the book yet). Would it be possible to insert an adult character with a little tweaking in the Campaign (with his own agenda, life, problems …).

I have read a lot about Tales of the Loop beeing Stranger Things in RPG. But from what I understand it's not really the case as the "horror" aspect is absent of the game. Are there options (in the book) to add such an aspect to the game? 
And lastly I have been talking today with my local vendor about the "metaplot". As he told me there is a metaplot in the core book but that its is not really developed . Is it the case in the other extensions? (there were no books left in the shop for me to check, he sold quite a few during the Week-end :-) )


Thank you 
 
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The1TrueFredrix
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Re: Questions about the settings

Mon 24 Sep 2018, 23:17

I would be wary of trying to play an adult in TftL or the upcoming TftF. The system details domestic or “normal, life at home scenes” contrasted with scenes that involve “problems” but not combat. I would worry that a player playing an adult in a situation would be inclined to do what adult PCs do in other games - hit someone. And actually there is no mechanic for that. 
Effekt - A fan podcast celebrating Swedish RPGs including, but not limited to: Alien; Coriolis; Forbidden Lands; Symbaroum; and Tales from the Loop. Featuring discussion magazine episodes and Actual Play recordings. https://effektpodcast.org/
 
cocolebelge
Topic Author
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat 10 Jan 2015, 21:04
Location: Brussels / Belgium

Re: Questions about the settings

Tue 25 Sep 2018, 15:23

I would be wary of trying to play an adult in TftL or the upcoming TftF. The system details domestic or “normal, life at home scenes” contrasted with scenes that involve “problems” but not combat. I would worry that a player playing an adult in a situation would be inclined to do what adult PCs do in other games - hit someone. And actually there is no mechanic for that. 
Thank you for your answer. In the meantime I bought the PDF version before enventually buy it in hardcopy in french. I think that indeed ("saddly"? at least for my player) it is going to be very difficult to play/introduce an adult in the adventures/mysteries that are provided.
Talking about them I feel a little disappointed and in general also about the book. I am probably the sole human bean in the universe that is not WOW about this game. Nothing is baddly done. The pdf/organisation/graphics/illustrations are top noch!!! WOW. Love the fomat of the book about 200 pages. I have difficulties with overwhelming huge books. Now I am really disappointed about the campaign and the fact that the mysteries are not directly linked to the Loop itself. I miss the feeling of conspiracy/horror that you have In Stranger Things. The link between the mysteries is thin and with one character I feel a little too busy in less than a year plotting... The mysteries are not bad itself. They are ok. The last of the 4: I Wagner is the one I like the most. There is a very small feeling in of what could have been an episode of Black Mirror. I miss also the 80's anecdotes/feeling in the mysteries itself. Nothing dramatic as there are tons of things/material to add to dive into that period.
Few other little things bugs me a little ( like the fact that AFTER the Showdown adults won't ever believe kids. "C'est un parti pris" . don't know how to translate that in english :-) )
The Loop could have been more devloped also. I would love to play a real campaign centered on the Loop itself. I don't really know what to do about this game as I would like to love it. There is so much potential here. I guess I will wait for the extension to come out to enter the Loop. For future players be aware that this RPG is very different from the great STranger Thing series.
 
Iben Stark
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat 06 Jan 2018, 16:54

Re: Questions about the settings

Sun 07 Oct 2018, 13:34

While I love Simon's artwork and the rpg, I am not interested in running the game with children characters, and knowing my players and their histories, several of them would have difficulties with that.

So like to op, I am looking to houserule adult characters. Personally I don't think it will be too much trouble. A lot of the rules for the kids can easily be adapted to adult characters. The main change would need to be character creation, as the # of points equal to your age will not work.

I plan to restrict the characters to adults from the town, no employees of the loop. I will also make sure my players understand the setting and they will be playing ordinary folks, ie local farmers, parents, teachers, doctor or police officers, not special agents or action heroes.

Initially I was disappointed by the lack of information about the truth behind what is happening with the loop but after speaking with Simon on Twitter, he explained it was deliberate, to allow you to have your own truth in your game. I am good with that.
 
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owenmcg
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Re: Questions about the settings

Mon 08 Oct 2018, 09:37

I definitely think that Tales from the Loop is not for every RPGer. I have run it with two different groups and one struggled (although both really enjoyed it). The group that struggled were used to fighting their way out of most situations and that is simply not an option in TftL. For me, this is the beauty of the game. Players (and GMs) have to come up with more nuanced ways to solve the mysteries.

I would agree that there is no direct horror outlined in the book, but there are two top secret experimental facilities on the island (one scientific, one military). It's totally possible to write in a demogorgon style creature that is either a robot/cyborg/creature from another dimension etc. I think that is the beauty of the game, it leaves almost all of this up to the GM and the players. I wrote a brief Mystery where the principle of the school had teamed up with a scientist/biologist to brainwash the children in the school one by one. It was quite dark and the finale had some fairly heavy horror elements in it. Just because the game has kids as the main characters doesn't mean you have to censor the material.

Again, the fact that adults never believe the kids stories rings true with being a kid in the 80s (and plays on that trope from every 80s movie). It is totally possible to have adult NPCs who assist the kids every now and then, but they should be too busy trying to solve their own angle and not involve the kids; which in turn makes the kids more determined to do things by themselves.

The Mysteries outlined in Our Friends the Robots are better than the ones in the core book in my opinion. But I would encourage that you make your own to suit your taste. I always lean towards darker and more sinister material.

I wouldn't run this with a group who were already cynical about the idea of playing as kids. If your players generally always want the option to kill/attack people then this probably isn't the game for them. Although the rules do actually support the ability to fight. It is plausible for a strong kid(s) to overpower an adult, you just have to think around the usual all out attack approach :)

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