I will have to look into wholesale pricing on these. My first desire would be a really nice set of chessex dice. Yeah, not old school but personally, one of the dings against those original sets were the dice. Since we have in house printing capability that helps hold down the pricing. The problem might arise if we start adding on a lot of those "maybes" I mentioned.

Oh, and BTW, Linda thinks I am crazy. I write squirrel books was my only response.

The boxed set angle really appeals to me. Do you have a source? Link?

For many people, the simple book format doesn't quite register as a "game"; "games" come in boxes, and a boxed set may be more identifiable for someone presenting it to an interested newcomer as a gift. All supposition, but that's what registers in my brain.

!i!

Here's the link Bill posted on my site:

http://www.actualprint.com/trayboxes.htm

I have a few more saved on my home comp.

I am worried about that one since they are only 14 pt boxes.

And just so we are clear guys, if we go box set it will most likely push the price up. Just the reality of the components cost here.

I will send out some emails on wholesale prices for dice. I like Chessex. Any others?

Well, if not Gamescience, Chessex is pick #2. Crystal Caste or Koplow might be worth a look.

OK, as promised, I've been rereading Song of Roland and going through Iridium Lite. With kids and family and that, I haven't gotten as far as I'd like, but here's two things I wanted to throw out:

Karma: Is there a way to make this feel more in tune with the entire "Chevalier" idea? I mean, you could rename it "Fortune" and be done, but they do sort of push the game in a more cinematic direction, which may or may not be a bad thing, depending on the level of grit or narrative input you want.

Classes: Are we limiting protagonists to largely Knight-type characters, ala Pendragon? With modifiers for Frankish or Saracen blood, and the interests in which they follow? Or are you thinking more of strongly protected archetypes, such as Chevalier, Minstrel, Counselor, Clergy?

Thoughts?

I was originally thinking of renaming and retasking Karma to "Fame". In this way we would differ from Karma by:
1. Accruing through a mechanism tied to Code. Code would be those defining features of the individual. So, Roland might have Rogue, Prowess of arms and Honor or some such. When he performs a roguish act he would be awarded a Fame point. However, in addition, if you do something epic or that gains you fame, you would gain a point. Perhaps even have monsters awarded Fame points for slaying them. Sure, you killed a Goblin but that garners no fame but the Medusa! 3 Fame or what have you. Just spitballing here.

2. Have Karma become much more focused in what it can do. Bonuses to hit, damage, rerolling and maybe social influence. Take away a lot of the narrative control aspects of the mechanism as it stands now.

As to classes, I was envisioning the loose system we have now. However, some things to think about are:
1. Only a Priest will be able to channel the power of God.
2. Knights will be dedicated to a service and through that possible gain power, influence and even access to skills otherwise left unavailable.
3. Sorcerers will be able to cast magic.
4. You can change classes but then you give up the power you left behind. I am torn on this since a Priest it makes sense, but a Sorcerer...not so much.
5. Iridium Lite is, at best, uber weak niche protection. So, a Sorcerer could eventually learn a weapon as well as a knight but a knight would never learn to cast magic...or would he? Should we allow that? Nothing in the system would stop you...setting could screw you hard....

Another idea: Make Fame a balanced stat ala Clash's games. So, we would have Fame and Infamy. If you are a knight, you learn to cast magic you gain an Infamy point. If you are Rogue, you might live int he Infamy realm but this does not make you "evil" necessarily. Hmm, interesting thought.

So, back to the point, I see IL as a system that allows a lot of wandering in terms of "class". I do not know that we need to have strongly typed classes. I appreciate that it can be a factor in old school games but this is not necessarily old school. Also, Malagigi was handy with a sword and not a typical DND wizard.

So, what do you think?

a) I'm all for removing the more narrative control aspects. I thinking being able to burn "Fame" or "Renown" for social influence would be excellent.

Well, I think with the source material, perhaps the niche protection doesn't need to be as strong. But it would be nice to have the initial powers.

So...

Knight/Chevalier--Warrior of renown, able to use his reputation with a sword as easily as the sword itself.

Priest/Cleric/Imam--Channels the power of God/Allah

Sorcerer--Like Maugris, they possess the powers of enchantment.

Thief--See Elegast. Be you lowly burglar or noble robber, you take what's not yours.

Minstrel--A fighting troubadour, equally at home with blade or song. You chronicle heroes--and may be one yourself.

Now, what about bonuses for the various regions or allegiances from which you hail? This could assist


You know, in reading the Matter of France, it occurs to me that there certainly isn't a lot of niche protection therein. There is sort of a convenient aptitude to characters when it serves them. It certainly makes me reconsider how strong niche protection would have to be. I still like basic classes as a guidepost, but believe there needs to be that crossover allowed.

I'm wondering about skills vs. stats, but I'm not sure how deep I'm ready to go in on that yet. Still noting, still reading.

So how about this. Fame is something you can win through combat. So, defeat a knight or best a thief or out smart a wizard and you get some amount of Fame like XP used to be for monsters in old school games. However, you can also get it for performing a great song, winning a contest of wits or acquiring a magical sword. In fact, I have thought of the importance of weapons like Durandal and think they should have their own Fame.

I like the classes. There is a provision in IL for careers. Essentially, they are:
1. Beginning skill pools
2. a means of differentiating powers. So, a priest can channel the power of God. If he loosed Favor (and we may make this a mechanism to replace Fame for a priest) with God he becomes a layman, untouched by the hand of God.

So, I think your descriptions would work.