Just tried out Tam H ye gods amazing CalypsoCompendium. Never experienced anything like it. I thought it would be complicated but it so flowed. Surprisingly, at least for me, than even Miso. I think Ill be using a combo of it (for characters) and Miso (for the world) but the CC really just boiled down the apocalypse engine into something that I can just hold in my head without looking anything up.
That is my Tired Old Man Gaming benchmark for a game.
Also hope to find or make a pocketmod out of it.
Damness and Wow.
Now if I can only get his Pythia Oracle to work too!
https://exposit.github.io/katarpgs/lite/calypsocompendium/
Monday, June 18, 2018
Just tried out Tam H ye gods amazing CalypsoCompendium. Never experienced anything like it. I thought it would be complicated but it so flowed. Surprisingly, at least for me, than even Miso. I think Ill be using a combo of it (for characters) and Miso (for the world) but the CC really just boiled down the apocalypse engine into something that I can just hold in my head without looking anything up.
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Marking this too. 📌
ReplyDeleteReading this now, looks promising, am I the only one cringing at the assumed gender in the text?
ReplyDeleteI don't mind.
ReplyDeleteEnglish has two inflected genders. She could have used It which would have made the character seem less alive or They. They could have referred to all characters you'll ever make or all the characters everyone will ever make but that would be hard to rein in.
I've spent some quality time with Calypso, and I agree completely. Also, random pick lists are your friend. If you get an app that will let you edit your lists as you go, it works with Calypso really well.
ReplyDeleteNor did I notice. Former Spanish teacher here; a language that is completely infected and hindered by gender. My students screamed to find its logic. There was none.
ReplyDeleteJanet Mayfire an app like?
ReplyDeleteOvy Ortega I use this one: play.google.com - Random Pick - Apps on Google Play
ReplyDeleteiOS prisoner here! But have access to many many random lists- how do you use them in Calypso?
ReplyDeleteMy first time seeing this mashup. Very cool!
ReplyDeleteTam has a remarkable aptitude for mechanics and clear, easy to use layout.
ReplyDeleteChad Robb it is BEAST! Chad do the art and let’s get it on Drivethru!
ReplyDeleteMan, you guys are making me blush! Glad to hear people are getting some joy from it. :)
ReplyDeleteRe gender -- I tend to play male characters and I guess my brain just defaulted to "he" then. I'd probably use "they" or alternate he/she if I rewrote it today.
I have a pocketmod template around here somewhere, I'll see what I can do! Would probably be useful now that I'm much more experienced with DW/pbta to give it a good dusting off. I also want to add some better advice for using pbta Moves with it.
If anyone needs help getting Pythia running, just let me know! I know it's not the most intuitive of things -- I actually wrote it as a way to learn Kivy and I think it shows.
Tam H I have a bag of holding full of questions. I am glad we reconnected.
ReplyDeleteI am a wee bit confused about currency, the "why" section and if traits and tags are connected. Like if you choose a trait MUST you choose from the tags under it for said trait.
Also, I need more difficulty moves, MORE!
Finally any chance at a Volume 2?
Lastly, why Calypso?
I don't understand secrets. You don't activate them like keys?
ReplyDeleteA sample of play would help me. And pregen characters.
I could totally create some art.
Chad Robb what helped me was looking at Calypso’s so-called parents- LadyBird RPG and Powered by the Apocalypse. Keys are for xp to me and Secrets are like D&D’s feats. Again I my humble.
ReplyDeleteput this file in the reading queue, thanks!
ReplyDeleteP.S. please english speaker friends have mercy of people that speak other languages ;)
gender neutrality is easier in english but not in other languages (in italian and spanish grammars for example we have basically no neuter gender, can you imagine that?)
XD
English just has "it" (neuter) and "they" (plural) which makes me a little queasy but I am dragging my butt into the modern day.
ReplyDeleteSecrets are essentially feats, yep. They allow you special benefits in play, that's all!
Why Calypso? ApoCALYPse SOlo. Also Calypso is a female name and so is Lady Blackbird. I thought it was quite clever.
"Currency" is just a meta-earned Hold, essentially. Say you're rolling to break down a door, and you roll 10, choosing currency. You ask the Oracle, "hey, is the bad guy about to shoot the hostage?" but you can spend 1 of your success hold to make the answer "no" (or "no but" or "yes but" or whatever you feel fits). Say you instead roll a 4, oops. You get 1 Failure Currency you can spend to later reroll a die.
Yes, you purchase the Trait first, then Tags under it, just like LB!
"Why" is just an optional way to add non-self-generated color to the fiction. Like, say you're going to break that door down. Okay, I decide my red die is "Luck" and my white die is "Skill". If I roll and get 7+, and red is higher, I got lucky, and I'll narrate that. If the white is higher, I'll narrate being skillful. Same with a fail, only if the red is lower, then I was unlucky, and if the white is lower, my skills weren't up to the task.
Whew. I am bad at examples!
If you want more Dramatic Moves, you can really use any GM Moves -- DW has a bunch that'd work great.
I might do a second edition; I was considering updating it now that I'm much better at LaTeX and putting in a bunch of examples! Chad Robb Maybe at that point we can look at art, too? And I can post up a few of my own characters and some APs soonish, if that'd be helpful.
I'm not sure why I haven't before, ha. Weird.
Tam H so are the tags tied to their traits or can you mix and match. I find the buffet style much more appealing.
ReplyDeleteOvy Ortega As a native Spanish speaker, I agree with your students' observations regarding the use of gender within the language. Lots of things are quite arbitrary, specially when you consider the fact that there are words that in their singular form are masculine, but if you use them in plural they become feminine (like water or eagle!). It's crazy.
ReplyDeleteNow, regarding the Calypso Compendium, it's just what I was looking for! There's a PbtA bundle going on in Bundle of Holding, and I was really looking forward to playing one specific game titled "Pasión de las pasiones", in which you get to roleplay a "telenovela" or soap opera. This will definitely come in handy!
I would swing between masculine and feminine. Don't use it please.
ReplyDeleteThredith Undomiel actually it's not crazy, if I remember correctly some lessons learned decades ago and spanish is similar to italian (and it is) the explanation is:
ReplyDeletethere are false masculine and false feminine words. When latin spoken by common people (vulgar latin) became local languages in many cases the neutral gender vanished for simplification, but many neuter words in latin have the singular similar to male gender and plurar similar to female gender. example:
latin for bone = "ossum" sing. neuter
"ossa" pl.neuter
the latin "-um" (sing neuter) and "-us" (sing. male) became italian "-o"
therefore latin "ossum" is italian "osso" and it is considered sing. male becasue it ends with "-o"
but latin "ossa" (neuter plural ) is the same in italian "ossa" and sounds like female singular to italian ears therefore is considered female but still..plural.
complicated? it's just the tip of the iceberg, there is also italian "ossi" (male plural) because ancient italians applied the general rule "-o" singular male, "-i" plural male and they created a male plural for bones but.. this means "bones of an edible meat".
there is method in this madness ;-)
My bilingualism hurts now dammit lino pang !!!
ReplyDeleteMan, I love Pasion de la Pasiones. I've actually used that "add +1 for each yes answer" method before and it works great! You should find everything's very compatible with standard pbta moves, just with some solo tools tacked on.
ReplyDeleteOvy Ortega You can mix and match as your heart desires. Don't tell anyone but I always give my characters way more Traits and Tags than is strictly legal. That's one of the perks to solo, you can "cheat" as much as you want!
Ovy Ortega Okay. I use the app as a substitute for the 6x6 plot points table, since I can have as many or as few items as I choose, and no risk of rolling blanks when I really need some inspiration to continue the story.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very simple app (and currently, delightfully ad and in-purchase free), that lets you create a list. You name the list, insert the contents, and can add to or delete parts of the list whenever you like. It doesn't include a random number generator (unfortunately, I have to have a separate app for that.). I also haven't seen any evidence of internal bias yet, which is nice. As a dedicated Android user, I cannot recommend a substitute for you. Good luck!
I'm just musing during the Spain match- how would one use the mechanics to create a procedural dungeon? Can you?
ReplyDeleteOvy Ortega Randomly generated dungeons exist since the first edition of D&D back in the 70s.
ReplyDeletethere is plenty of methods to do it.
Oh, it's like DW, really. Once you have the initial seed you can keep throwing things out to the oracle and the push-pull of the Moves will draw you through.
ReplyDeleteThough I find I need at least some set dressing otherwise I end up with very similar spaces, ha. I tend to use Pythia's dungeon panel for that.
I could definitely work some set dressing tables and methods in to the next version. I tend to go back and forth between "it's nice to have in one place" and "everyone already has their favorites".
Making random interesting rooms is hard.
ReplyDeleteTables boxes barrels shackles graffiti
But what about stasis pods (subtable who's in stasis?), ladders (or escalators) niches you can climb into and crawl through as tunnels...
Tam H how do you get oracles, lists and maps on Pythia?
ReplyDeleteOn the left side panel, that's where all the oracles are! There's two main stacked panels -- Mythic and Fu Oracle. Default is Mythic, so you can just click the ??? button to the right of the text entry box if you don't want to fiddle with settings.
ReplyDeleteIf "lists" is pick one from a list, it's simple, just enter a comma-separated list (be sure to put in a space after each comma) and click the buttons under the main text entry marked pick one, pick two, pick three, and so on.
Maps are also on the left hand panel, on the "Maps" tab. The default is a grid map. It's kind of resource intensive though.
Chad Robb My absolute favorite -- "someone who is stuck" or a variation of it. I use a "first impressions" generator that throws down one to three items.
ReplyDelete[In the Room] a mosaic on the ceiling, an esoteric theorum, a lichen. mold, and fungi farm
... and that's how the PCs encountered the former lair of a magic mushroom farmer who sampled his own wares too frequently.
Tam H if you want when you get the second edition going, we can do a google community based on the Compendium?
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, it’s that good!
Post moves? Scenarios? Characters? Musings?
Haha, okay! I'm not much for this social media thing but I'd be happy to try.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way, to be honest, like I made the perfect game I wanted to play (obviously standing on the shoulders of much more experienced people).
I'm going to start working out some ideas for a second edition now. I'm much more experienced with pbta (Dungeon World, mostly) so it will be interesting to see what I think now!
... also I will post some pregens and APs. Soonest. I might have to uncheat some of my characters though. :D
Tam H Naaaaaah go ahead and cheat- you can put a section on the back called- cheat codes! If you wish I could start the “Calypso Island” community.
ReplyDeleteOh, do you mind if I do it? I've never modded a google+ community before and I'm curious. I want to start a thread on suggestions/ideas, with my own to start.
ReplyDeleteTam H it’s your rodeo! By all means.
ReplyDeleteI will happily clown that rodeo 🤡
ReplyDeleteOkay, look at this:
ReplyDeleteCalypso Island
It's still very unpolished.