Just finished reading A Game of Thrones and thought (with some minor tweaking) the Conan RPG might make a good fit for George R. R. Martin's gritty fantasy world. The book was fantastic and I'm starting on the sequel A Clash of Kings now... I'm surprised there hasn't been an RPG for this series (A Song Of Ice And Fire) yet ---just a board game and card game (both from Fantasy Flight Games), IIRC.
George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series & Co
- Thread starter Iron_Chef
- Start date
Actually, I think there is one coming out:
http://www.guardiansorder.com/games/got/
Don't know anything about George R. R. Martin's writings myself, I've just seen the game being discussed on forums.
So the books are good you say?
http://www.guardiansorder.com/games/got/
Don't know anything about George R. R. Martin's writings myself, I've just seen the game being discussed on forums.
So the books are good you say?
They aren't pulp, that's for sure. I love pulp, too (it's all I seem to read anymore), so it was a little hard wrapping my head around this vastly more literary work. In fact, after the prologue I didn't much care for it and was constantly confused by the setting and sheer number of character and subplots. That lasted for about the first 50 pages (when I realized that Ned and Eddard Stark were the same character, LOL, as Martin fails to point out his nickname). After that, things became clearer and I started to enjoy it more. By the time I got to page 300, I was hooked, and by page 500, I couldn't put the damn book down until I'd finished it. It took me a week to get to page 200, then I finished the other 600 pages over the weekend, rarely bothering to get up from the couch it was so unbelievably good. I'd highly recommend it. Giant 1000 page multi-book monster epics tend to turn me off, but this series is the exception.
Another fun series is The Seer King, The Demon King and The Warrior King by Chris Bunch. Those are all written in the first person, so they read much faster. That's basically a fantasy version of Napoleon's invasion of Russia.
Another fun series is The Seer King, The Demon King and The Warrior King by Chris Bunch. Those are all written in the first person, so they read much faster. That's basically a fantasy version of Napoleon's invasion of Russia.
bolen said:
Yes. There's just the three books in Bunch's "KING" trilogy. And frankly, they're all I recommend from him. The rest of his stuff is drivel (and mostly sci-fi, at that). But I enjoyed the hell out of the KING series. It's not on the same literary level as A Song of Ice and Fire, but it sure beats the hell out of most of the junk that passes for fantasy these days. Plus, it's super-sleazy, LOL, with lots of pornographic sex scenes, f-bombs, intrigue and gory army battles. The fairly gritty setting is pretty well developed, too. Good enough to game in. In fact, my DM basically ripped off the first half of The Seer King for our first 3e D&D adventure back in 2000 (mixing in "3 Days To Kill" from Penumbra), and it was fantastic. I never read the book until January of this year, so imagine my surprise to see one of my favorite d&d campaigns as a novel, LOL. My character was even fairly close in some ways to the hero of the novel (the lechery angle and fighter class, at least). :wink:
The fourth book "A Feast for Crows" is done and in production and the fifth book -" Dance with Dragons" is half way done according to George RR Martin!
Word of warning - the middle part of book 3 "A Storm of Swords" is similar to the beginning of "A Game of Thrones" - I think Martin even agreeded he wanders a little bit too much - but if you push through, the ending more than makes up for it! This is a great series that may not be pulp but it is mature fantasy.
Word of warning - the middle part of book 3 "A Storm of Swords" is similar to the beginning of "A Game of Thrones" - I think Martin even agreeded he wanders a little bit too much - but if you push through, the ending more than makes up for it! This is a great series that may not be pulp but it is mature fantasy.
Wicked Tinker
Mongoose
I met Chris Bunch at a con once and I asked him why his "King" books were so pornographic. He just smiled (by the way, he looks like someone you'd see buying hustler at the 7-11) and said, "Because that's what people do." If that's really what people are doing, then damn, I'm missing out on a lot!
Iron_Chef said:
I agree - Conan works very well for modeling a Game of Thrones setting as well. I'm currently using Conan for a feudal setting much inspired by A Game of Thrones. It provides an appropriate level of grit. Also, within Hyboria, Aquilonia lends itself well to such games.
Azgulor
Yeah, the Game of Thrones series is a great set of books. I even played the CCG for a while, but it was kinda hard to find opponents. As for using Conan RPG in that setting, mmmm, I dunno. AGoT is a very political setting and there wouldn't be much adventuring, so I am going to wait and see what GOO does with it; I've been waiting for that for a long time actually.
It's good to see that others are picking up on AGoT, its one of my favorites right now, and everyone I tell about it falls in love with it.
It's good to see that others are picking up on AGoT, its one of my favorites right now, and everyone I tell about it falls in love with it.
urdinaran said:
Penumbra had a good d20 political adventure sourcebook, Dynasties & Demagogues, with political character classes, feats and even a debate "combat" table. Unfortunately, it never saw much use in my game, although we did play through the sample adventure and quite liked it (nice easily recycled noble villa map, too).
I don't see why Dynasties & Demagogues classes/feats couldn't be adapted to Conan RPG fairly easily, and they would work for A Game of Thrones or any other d20 based political game. The problem with most RPG systems is that they are almost all combat based... Except HarnMaster, because everyone is terrified of getting into combat in that system, LOL, because of the extensively nasty and realistic combat system. So, everyone in Harn desperately tries to avoid any kind of fighting, lest they be slain, maimed or mutilated... even if you survive, you could die of infection in your wounds! Come to think of it, HarnMaster would probably be a more ideal RPG system for A Game of Thrones... :twisted: The system setting, HarnWorld, is also much closer to George RR Martin than Robert E Howard.
Wicked Tinker said:
I think we meant that's what people do when they get the opportunity... Not all of us are so lucky, LOL. I enjoyed the porno aspect of Bunch's KING series for its novelty in the first book, but it grew tiresome later on, particularly in The Demon King, where it seemed every other chapter was a sex scene with lines like "Put it there, my brave Damastes!" :roll: Still, I did love that series, warts and all (such as the naivity and stupidity of Damastes throughout the trilogy -- like we couldn't all see the turn of events coming or how the emperor fueled his spells). :wink:
Just finished reading the second book of A Song of Ice and Fire: A Clash of Kings. It was fantastic! Starting on book three now: A Storm of Swords.
I hear book four: A Feast For Crows has been delayed from July to November, and split in half because it was too many pages. So now the series will span seven books instead of six. The two halves of book four will each take place simultaneously, but will each concentrate on what's happening in different parts of the world.
For details, check out http://www.georgerrmartin.com
I hear book four: A Feast For Crows has been delayed from July to November, and split in half because it was too many pages. So now the series will span seven books instead of six. The two halves of book four will each take place simultaneously, but will each concentrate on what's happening in different parts of the world.
For details, check out http://www.georgerrmartin.com
Trodax said:
Wow! This deluxe August release of the d20 RPG based on A Game of Thrones looks great, but costs $99.95, LOL (twice as much as Conan, but you get much more: 576 pages, 20% art vs. text ratio, dustjacket, foil hardcover, silver edging, limited edition, high quality sewn binding, plus a free Game of Thrones specific GM's Screen as an extra bonus only with the $99.95 pre-order). It's also dual-stat for d20 and Guardians of Order's "Tri-Stat" system, though that just gets in the way and wastes time/page count for someone who doesn't play that system... I've never had any interest in trying it, but trying to get me to change systems is like trying to pull teeth from a dragon, LOL. I just don't have the time or inclination it seems. Variations of a system I use (like Conan or this upcoming Game of Thrones d20) I can handle, but aside from d20, the only other system I've ever run with enthusiasm was HarnMaster (which seems a much better fit for Game of Thrones than d20, regardless of tweaks) and once upon a time, Palladium (but I got cured of that!). :wink:
There's a cheaper version of Games of Thrones RPG coming out in October from Sword & Sorcery, but it won't be dual-stat (d20 only) and won't feature all the bells and whistles of the deluxe limited edition (no silver edging, foil, dustjacket, high quality sewn binding, etc). There was a 500 copy signed by George RR Martin edition, but it sold out.
The RPG will serve as a player's/GM's guide and general resource for the setting. It only covers the first book in the series in detail, but includes some stuff from A Clash Of Kings and A Storm of Swords, plus some never before seen information from the author. All text was read and approved by George R.R. Martin and is "official."
A GAME OF THRONES RPG PRE-ORDER/PREVIEW SITE
http://www.guardiansorder.com/games/got/
If only I was actually playing RPGs these days, I would be out of my mind with excitement for this book (just as I was for Conan, being a huge fan of the books, short stories and setting in general). Even so, after checking out the preview, I'm sorely tempted to order a copy for myself, just in case I ever get back to playing again (probably in my old age at this rate!).
omegar said:
Yeah, that's the best part of the series. Anyone can live or die at any moment, and all kinds of unexpected (usually horribly bad) things tend to happen to most of the characters. This series is simply the best fantasy series I've ever read (better than LotR, Conan, Thieves' World, Lankhmar, Elric, Kane, Shannara, etc.). It's just so damn well written, and the way its written -- allowing you to see the same (or at least interconnected) events through the viewpoints of multiple characters is amazing. You really get inside their heads and make up your own mind as to who's good, who's bad and who to root for.
I'm halfway through reading A Storm of Swords now and loving every page! Tyrion, Bronn, Drogo, Jon Snow, Jaqen H'Ghahr, Sandor Clegane, Eddard, Robert, Renly and Arya are my favorite characters so far in the series, but I'm starting to warm up to Jaime now that book 3 gives us a peek inside his head. Sansa is so stupid she drives me crazy and I'm not a big Catelyn fan (she was so mean to poor Jon Snow in book 1, that I've never forgiven her, LOL).
BTW: Here's a link to an ongoing discussion of the Game of Thrones RPG (including discussing the merits of whether to buy the deluxe $99.95 version or not) over at ENworld:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=136559
There are two prequels to A Song Of Ice And Fire written by George R.R. Martin. They take place about a hundred years before A Game of Thrones and are titled The Hedge Knight and The Sworn Sword. You can find them in the first two volumes of the Legends anthology.
Be careful ordering "Legends" online. Amazon lists three different versions (you have to check the "table of contents" from the online excerpt of each book to make sure it's got the George RR Martin stories in it!):
1) One version of Legends contains all 11 stories (including The Hedge Knight).
2) One version of Legends has only 4 stories (not including The Hedge Knight).
3) The companion to this other version is idiotically titled Legends II (note that it's the Roman Numerals "II", and not simply Legends 2). It contains 4 stories (including The Hedge Knight).
4) The sequel to The Hedge Knight (The Sworn Sword) is in Legends 2 (not Legends II).
This is one of the most confusing and stupid decisions by a publisher I've ever seen. So just be very sure which version of which book you're getting if you want the George RR Martin stories! :shock:
Also note that there was a graphic novel version of The Hedge Knight published. It is also available on Amazon in a first and second edition. The only difference between the two editions is "collectability" and the second edition has some extra sketches of the characters in the back as a bonus. That and maybe you save $5 on the second edition (because the first is out of print).
Be careful ordering "Legends" online. Amazon lists three different versions (you have to check the "table of contents" from the online excerpt of each book to make sure it's got the George RR Martin stories in it!):
1) One version of Legends contains all 11 stories (including The Hedge Knight).
2) One version of Legends has only 4 stories (not including The Hedge Knight).
3) The companion to this other version is idiotically titled Legends II (note that it's the Roman Numerals "II", and not simply Legends 2). It contains 4 stories (including The Hedge Knight).
4) The sequel to The Hedge Knight (The Sworn Sword) is in Legends 2 (not Legends II).
This is one of the most confusing and stupid decisions by a publisher I've ever seen. So just be very sure which version of which book you're getting if you want the George RR Martin stories! :shock:
Also note that there was a graphic novel version of The Hedge Knight published. It is also available on Amazon in a first and second edition. The only difference between the two editions is "collectability" and the second edition has some extra sketches of the characters in the back as a bonus. That and maybe you save $5 on the second edition (because the first is out of print).
Just finished reading The Hedge Knight and The Sworn Sword. Both very good, but not as good as the main books.
You do get to see House Fossoway split into its Red Apple and Green Apple branches, which was a question I didn't mind being answered after wondering why they were split like that in the main books. There's some other interesting bits scattered throughout, and of course, you get to learn a lot about being a hedge knight as opposed to a sworn sword (which is merely a hedge knight in the service of a landed knight or noble house).
By the way, I read that the upcoming Game of Thrones RPG will use material from both these short novels.
You do get to see House Fossoway split into its Red Apple and Green Apple branches, which was a question I didn't mind being answered after wondering why they were split like that in the main books. There's some other interesting bits scattered throughout, and of course, you get to learn a lot about being a hedge knight as opposed to a sworn sword (which is merely a hedge knight in the service of a landed knight or noble house).
By the way, I read that the upcoming Game of Thrones RPG will use material from both these short novels.
