Thread by @DGivaca

It's a sunny day, I have some free time, and several new RPGs to be read.
Sounds like #aGivacaReadsRPGs time.

The Shadow of Yesterday it shall be.

🧵

Happy to see Fritz Leiber mentioned as one of the influences. I really like his stories, and he isn't mentioned as often as he should.

Also, really interesting to see a game that states exactly which previous RPGs inspired which mechanics.

2/x

I like how the 3 Pools of this game are refreshed only by fictional triggers and not by mechanical triggers that have no necessary tie with the fiction.
Having one purely reactive ability for each of these Pools also seems like a neat idea.

And now I'll be gone for lunch.

3/x

That was a long break 😅
Interesting to see how similar the ability ranks are to FATE's and ones - each one has a number and a noun.
Also, just noticed there was no mention yet to the dice it uses, which is unusual. Something like a 4 guarantees success tho? 🤔
4/x

Despite having seen only one example Secret, they seem pretty great. Straight to the point, tied to the fiction, no mechanical juggling.

Keys were the only thing I knew before, and I just love the concept. Mechanics that inform the themes you're interested in exploring? Yes!
5/x

Good to see a game that recognizes that a character is mostly developed during play, and not beforehand. That ties to my style - start with some basic idea, explore my character's personality/ background through play.

Using advances to establish starting power level is nifty
6/x

I don't get it. Why turn XP to advances, instead of having those costs at XP basis? Quite an unnecessary step...
On the bright side, really like the dynamic between the 2 example characters, and the starting vs. advanced version of each. The goblin looks like a demon dog 🤔
7/x

I've taken small glimpses of the next chapter, and since it's about the actual game mechanics, and filled with stuff I wanna comment on, I'm gonna leave this here for today and resume tomorrow.

Got a Starfinder session to play in, too.

8/x

Starting Resolution chapter now, and I finally figured out the dice. The roll is 3 fate/fudge dice + ability modifier.... and I don't have any fate dice at home. Goddamit.

Also, seems like in TSoY conflicts are resolved in a single dice roll. Will need some getting used to

9/x

Now I understand why having +4 guarantees success. Since success is having anything higher than a 0 (-3 +4 results in a marginal success, at worst).
Why are there 8 steps in the success level chart tho? That's too granular jeez. And it doesn't have mechanical effect...
10/x

Advantages/difficulties are dealt with a mechanic very similar to DnD's Advantage (bonus/penalty dice), which is interesting given how much older this game is. And the Gift of Dice reminds me DnD's Inspiration, but like, actually well done, since everyone can give them.
11/x

There is a breakdown on the structure of declaring an action rolling for it, which can be useful for starting players (games often don't do this). But the most important thing to focus on, for me, is the fact that the stakes must be clearly stated. What will be gained/lost?
12/x

Ability Checks are divided into 3 categories, which are pretty familiar to me from One-Roll Engine games. The differences between them seem pretty irrelevant, only that one should always consider the success levels, even of the defeated party.
13/x

Everything was fine, until I reached a whole subsystem for more granular conflict, which works blow-by-blow instead. This ain't easy to parse, will probably take long to understand completely. Basically it seems like a matter of taking damage until someone get's their way
14/x

easy right? but then you can only take defensive actions while changing intention. and there's a difference between perpendicular and parallel actions (??) which changes the way how damage is dealt. And if the conflict has more than 2 intervenients, it becomes worse...
15/x

the thing with this complex structured subsystem is that there are quite the great ideas in there. Defensive actions that grant bonuses in future rounds, a nice and simple damage track, the constant struggle between resisting or giving up while the outcome isn't harsh...
16/x

but one thing is certain. If I wanted to introduce people to this game, or play a one-shot of it, I wouldn't use this Bringing Down the Pain part. It would require a whole round of explaining totally new stuff, and a completely different mindset to approach it.
17/x

the rules for weapons/armor apply for anything that could help deal/ avoid harm, not only physical, since the conflict system is universal.
It's the kind of equipment which can be bland or interesting, changing success levels in more or less specific circumstances
18/x

oh nice, this one sounds interesting: when you get a 7-transcendent result, it's like the most epic thing ever, which can be described by the player at will. BUT, that character will disappear from the campaign in the following 24h, since her story is over.
19/x

Next is abilities/secrets/keys, I'll leave that to another day (there's only so much that can be said about those). According to ToC, there's still a GM and advice section, but mostly it's setting stuff remaining.
Also, it has to be said, this game does examples really well
20/x

There's not a lot to be said about Abilities or Secrets. The flexibility of the first is pretty nice, and I'm always grateful when I don't have to remember a whole list of skills. Secrets look similar to what I know as Esoteric Disciplines or Martial Paths in Reign.
21/x

Keys look similar to the Passions I first saw in Reign (Motivation/Duty/Passion), but these have the advantage that really allow a player to have a say on the kind of story they're interested in, and advance their character at the same time.
22/x

Higher XP earning for worse odds is rather well done, and the idea that you can Buyoff a Key gives almost the same control over the story you wanna explore for your character as the Key itself. And you don't have to sacrifice character advancement to do so.
23/x

Reaching the Story Guide chapter, it's packed with advice that might be obvious to some, but is useful for more inexperienced GMs, or coming from very different systems. The suggestion to make every adventure touch a Key and something else of every player is a good one.
24/x

Kind of on the fence regarding the author's suggestion to use stuff players are going through in real live as inspiration for the session. There surely are people that wouldn't love that, and it's totally reasonable.

Key Scenes are closer to traditional way of earning XP.
25/x

Building beasts is pretty easy (only 4 abilities, small pools and some Secrets), but I wish there was a method to easily build NPCs too.

And now I figured out why the XP is translated to advances: so that the GM can set the campaign pace by adapting the XP/advance price.
26/x

Was hoping for more GM guidance tho :/

On the other hand, the very short Tips and Tricks chapter brings up really important stuff to remember, personally I would always suggest players to re-read those pages before a session. And it's probably the most funny one until now.
27/x

After 2 weeks of break, working on a new TTRPG project, I'm picking up The Shadow of Yesterday again, to go over the setting chapters.
28/x

The concept that there are no monsters or gods, and that every problem and event happening does so because of mankind, seems very similar to the one in Unknown Armies, and is always an interesting concept I'd like to explore.
29/x

The species in Near are some of the most interesting that I've found in fantasy RPGs. While they have vastly different lifestyles, which explains the differences between them, there are ways one species can become another during their life. And no major stereotypes.
30/x

On the other hand, I would like to see a nation where Humans wouldn't be looked upon as favorably as elves, goblins and ratkin. As it stands, humans are regularly better seen, which seems boring.
The Species-specific Keys and Secrets are some of the best in the book, tho.
31/x

The 1st land comes with a neat magic system, with several "schools" for different stuff. Was already wondering where magic was in this book.
At first sight, it looks like a costly investment to be rather good at magic tho, since only with Secrets you get to the great stuff.
32/x

The 2nd nation brings up another magic system, which reminds me of Ars Magica's one, but more odd. I would need to see it in play to wrap my head around it. There are words that can be pronounced as verbs, to command, nouns, to summon, or modifiers, to change circumstances.
33/x

And then there's a whole thing about stealing these magic words by hearing someone use them, so it's actually a lot riskier to use than the other magic system. On the other hand, it's also less costly, but you need to steal several words to become a flexible magician.
34/x

Looks like each nation comes with some sub-system. Nation number 3 is all about poisons, and for a game that seemed relatively rules-light, these are incredibly complex. One has to consider the difference between undistilled and distilled poisons for checks, effects, ...
35/x

Or maybe I spoke too soon, no sub-system in sight for nation 4, sadly. It has some metal-forging, a couple musics for bard-like people, and an interesting "world-inside-a-world" that mostly seems to reject any kind of metal. Basically, a florest-tribes place.
36/x

Close to the end of the book, one nation left. It has some kind of spirit-magic, which always fascinates me. 3 kinds of spirits, in different degrees of living/death, and a plethora of pre-established social ideas about messing with spirits, which gives some moral depth.
37/x

So, I've finished The Shadow of Yesterday, time for some final thoughts:
- I really wanna bring this to the table, but it doesn't seem great for one-shots, which is what I mostly GM
- it's a pretty good light-weight system, if you don't consider all the sub-systems
38/x

- This game must have influenced Reign, since they have similar ideas: how nations are structured, with a deep cultural identity; Secrets look like Disciplines/Paths; the several sub-systems, ...
- this game doesn't shy away at all from s*x and similar themes 😅
39/x

Next month will be time to pick a new game, which might be tricky since I'm moving back to uni at the same time.
Probably Everway, I wanna see if I can read it in time to bring a session of it to Rolisboa, end of October.
Until the next #aGivacaReadsRPGs time.
40/x

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