Thu 29 Dec 2016, 11:37
Feedback on Tales of the Loop - first character generation
Yesterday I started my first group of players in Tales from the Loop. Four players of different ages (45, 16, 14, 13) with little or no prior experience of Stålenhag's work, but all experienced roleplayers (mainly Dungeons and Dragons) took on the challenge. I am the GM, well-read on Stålenhag's work and an experienced roleplayer and GM in many systems, but none of Fria Ligan's previous games.
Character generation went smoothly. Types were chosen quickly – Troublemaker (14 yr), Rocker (13 yr), Weirdoo (12 yr) and Hick (11 yr). The simple rules were appreciated overall. For skills, the players opted to use up to three points in skills connected to the Key attribute and up to one in other skills, as suggested (I think) in the Swedish translation. The players felt this gave more weight to the choice of their type. But some would have liked mechanical differences between all Types, for example giving unique key skill selections to Types with the same Key attribute (Jock: Move, Force, Lead + one to three more; Troublemaker: Sneak, Force, Tinker + one to three more).
All had fun formulating Problems, Drives and NPC relations. In general, all immediately grasped that story is the main point of this game, not mechanics or optimisation.
They liked the idea of only being able to keep one Item between adventures (no Item-hogging adventurers), and the prospect of their treehouse Hideout becoming a legacy to a long line of Kids when these four eventually grow too old.
The relations between the Kids themselves stand out as the most important part, and a bit tricky when characters are not obviously likable or nice. But in the end all seems well so far – some minor conflicts brewing in the gang for future drama counterbalanced by strong friendships, camaraderie and protectiveness.
I realised how easy it will be to turn these Kids into really fleshed-out NPCs once they turn 16. This was especially clear for the glue-dealing troublemaker aiming for domination of the black-market for "interesting" lost-and-founds in Svartsjölandet ...
It was interesting to nudge the younger players into the 80:ies setting. We decided this is the summer of 86, so the murder of Olof Palme is very recent, and people worry a lot about the Chernobyl radiation (no caring parent will let their Kids run barefoot this summer). Things that surprised my younger players during character generation included: there are no inline rollerskates, the knife law is not yet in force, there are no driving licences for mopeds ...
All set for starting Summer break tomorrow later today ...