Eclipse Phase RPG, downloadable PDF Options

[Thanee]

Enjoy this great game! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

http://www.eclipsephase.com/
http://www.eclipsephase.com/cclicense

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Bye
Thanee

[Minchandre]

Looks pretty cool - I'm always a big fan of transhumanist games (another good one is Sufficiently Advanced). Would you mind summarizing the mechanics at all? Is it roleplay-heavy or dice-heavy? Can I play a regular unaugmented human or a veritable posthuman demigod?

[Thanee]

Just download the PDF, it contains the complete core rulebook. That should answer your questions and more. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Bye
Thanee

[Tanegar]

You can play an unaugmented human (a "flat," to use in-game parlance), and you can play a veritable posthuman demigod, and quite a few things in between. EP also supports uplifted animal characters and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) characters, as well as infomorphs (uploaded human minds without bodies) and synthmorphs (human minds downloaded or "sleeved" into artificial bodies). The dice mechanic is pretty simple: d100, roll-under. In other words, you have a skill, let's say Freerunning 70. You roll your d100 or, more likely, a percentile d10 and a regular d10, and if you get a 70 or less, you succeed. Doubles (11, 22, 33, etc.) are either a critical success or a critical failure depending on whether they're over or under the target. In your Freerunning test, 66 would be a critical success, but 77 would be a critical failure. 00 is always a critical success, and 99 is always a critical failure.

And download the PDF, it's awesome.

[Oehler the Black]

And download the PDF, it's awesome.

QFT (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[Blade]

Or you can play a litteral mutant octopus from deep outer space.

[wusselpompf]

is the additional stuff (like the Gm Screen and the upcoming sourcebooks) for the game also cc?

[Ol' Scratch]

Or you can play a litteral mutant octopus from deep outer space.

The very first concept that came to my mind when I was flipping through the book was an uplifted octopus/octomorph porn star. Followed shortly there after by a hardcore uplifted platypus named Mel Bourne who worked as a merc. The thing I love most about the setting so far is that neither of those concepts are actually that crazy or inappropriate. Which both tickles me and boggles my mind.

[rumanchu]

is the additional stuff (like the Gm Screen and the upcoming sourcebooks) for the game also cc?

It certainly appears so (looking at my copy). I'm rather fond of the "Hack Pack" version of the GM Screen that comes with InDesign files for easy remixing of the GM screen.

[tete]

You know although I would like the transhumanism dialed down a couple notches and the space stuff (aliens) dialed up a couple notches the setting is pretty cool and fills me with ideas to run. I'm not that fond of the mechanics just because percentiles dont thrill me but it is better than BRP and almost up to Unknown Armies so its not too bad. I think the mechanics, other than the percentiles part, are pretty good to great. Just would rather be using die pools of some type. Percentiles are just so swingy. I think overall it may actually appeal to me more than Shadowrun. I always enjoyed the cyberpunk more than the magic.

[Delta]

I'm not a great fan of the rules mechanics either (although I haven't been able to test them yet, so maybe I'll be positively surprised), but am I the only one that, when reading through the book, felt that a conversion of Eclipse Phase to the Shadowrun 4 rules would be actually quite simple? There seem to be a whole lot of similarities, and if you just divide the aptitudes by 5 it seems like you get immediately usable SR stats, for example, you wouldn't even have to change much about the skill list. Much of the hacking stuff seems to be easily convertible as well, and psionics could be converted to something like mythic adepts, I think.

[TW]

is the additional stuff (like the Gm Screen and the upcoming sourcebooks) for the game also cc?

Yes

[Kumo]

This game is great. I GM'ed twice using QuickStart Rules (downloadable from game's official website) and it was awesome.
Actually, EP combat rules are less-detailed SR4 mechanics converted to percentiles (and described in a quite chaotic manner... better in QSR). But everything works fine.

[tete]

I think calling EP combat a less-detailed SR4 coverted to percentiles is misleading and does the game a disservice. There are much older games than SR4 that are similar to the EP combat system. Personally I saw it more like their own take on the Unknown Armies mechanics, which are themselves a reboot of Call of Cthuhlu to some extent. YMMV, all in all I am impressed by the mechanics much more so than SR4.

[edit] even if I don't like percentiles (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Delta]

YMMV, all in all I am impressed by the mechanics much more so than SR4.

Really? Just what exactly impressed you so much more than SR4 did? I'm really curious, because so much about Eclipse Phase seemed to scream at me "Look at me, I'm a d100 SR4 system!" so maybe you can help me get another look at the system.

[Adam]

is the additional stuff (like the Gm Screen and the upcoming sourcebooks) for the game also cc?

Heck yeah! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[tete]

Really? Just what exactly impressed you so much more than SR4 did? I'm really curious, because so much about Eclipse Phase seemed to scream at me "Look at me, I'm a d100 SR4 system!" so maybe you can help me get another look at the system.

Well most obvious difference is in the handling of the hacking portions. While you can say the systems are similar they are about as similar as SR1 and Cyberpunk 2013.
Mainly you either have a program or you dont, the program MAY give you a bonus and the opposing system MAY give you a penalty if the GM desires but there are no set rules
1. hack the firewall, this is a simple roll under your skill check
2. do your thing vs the system finding you. This is a simple vs roll.
While they do use terms from SR (active & passive) these are more to show the types of bonuses, if any, either side will get to their roll.

Combat is another interesting beast that almost feels out of place with the rest of the rules
1. attacker rolls vs defender rolls. you want to roll under your skill EXCEPT in the case where you both roll under your skill, then the high roll wins. I believe this is because of the way margins of success are handled. The idea being that if you both did well the margin between the difference should be small. Its a real interesting way to handle the problem of both people do well so one gets screwed.
2. roll damage - subtract armor from the damage and apply it (no soak), you can also use an option where damage is fixed.

The ways in which EP is like SR (other than terminology) are the same ways in which EP is the same as 100 other RPGs. The SR4 mechanics on the other hand did not impress me because stat+skill dice pool, already done, the new matrix rules... SR1 all over with different stats. Point buy has been done (even in older SR edtions). Magic? well most of the tweaks I had seen before elsewhere, spells not having a set force was the only thing I'm not sure if I had seen before at leased not done in that way.

[edit] I still prefer dice pools to %, but I think Shadowrun is a product of trying to fix old rules that in some places just don't work well where as Eclipse Phase was designed from the ground up so the way the rules interact together is really thought out and well done. Its much harder to "fix" Shadowrun than create a new game

[Kumo]

Some things I know only from SR/SR4:
- initiative system;
- automatic/free/complex (free/simple/complex) actions;
- firearm modes;
- some details (like rules for grenades/missles).
Personally, it's OK for me - it's easier to learn these rules if they are similar. But I don't know many RPGs.

[rumanchu]

I feel that it's my duty to point out that the line developer for EP (Rob Boyle) was the line developer for SR4. (In fact, the list of credits for EP has many names that should be familiar to people on Dumpshock). That being said, I think that it's unfair to say that EP is a percentile-based version of SR; my take is that it's more of an alternate way to play a game with similar mechanical sensibilities to SR.

(In fact, I'm still mulling around some ideas for running a SR campaign using the EP rules).

[Delta]

I feel that it's my duty to point out that the line developer for EP (Rob Boyle) was the line developer for SR4. (In fact, the list of credits for EP has many names that should be familiar to people on Dumpshock). That being said, I think that it's unfair to say that EP is a percentile-based version of SR; my take is that it's more of an alternate way to play a game with similar mechanical sensibilities to SR.

I'm quite aware of that fact, which is another reason I came to this conclusion. And it was absolutely not meant as a criticism of the game or to imply to developers have been just lazy or anything like that. I just wanted to know if I was the only one with this impression, or thinking that converting EP to the SR4 ruleset would actually be rather simple, because I don't really like d100 systems that much.

[Kumo]

my take is that it's more of an alternate way to play a game with similar mechanical sensibilities to SR.

That's what I mean.

For me, mechanics in EP are better for this system than SR4 rules - they are faster (especially hacking and combat) and less action-oriented (someone even pointed that using hacking, gravity or vacuum is often much more effective against enemies than weapons). Players and GM should use their brains during game - even more than in SR.

[rumanchu]

I'm quite aware of that fact, which is another reason I came to this conclusion. And it was absolutely not meant as a criticism of the game or to imply to developers have been just lazy or anything like that. I just wanted to know if I was the only one with this impression, or thinking that converting EP to the SR4 ruleset would actually be rather simple, because I don't really like d100 systems that much.

It probably wouldn't be *too* hard to play EP using the SR rules, since a lot of the broad-stroke concepts behind the "flavor" of the mechanics are similar. The two biggest stumbling points that I can see off the top of my head to a straight-across conversion are:

a) converting Morph stats to some sort of "template" that you can apply to a character for their physical stats
b) converting Psi to fit the magic system in SR. (This shouldn't be *too* hard, since most of the Psi that players can get is more along the lines of Adept powers).

[kanislatrans]

Any word on when the core book will be available in hardback again? . (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif) do so love my dead trees

[Kumo]

Looks like second printing should be avaliable soon. Check the official EP forum.

[Adam]

We're working on the various issues regarding the next printing available. News as soon as we have it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)