10-24-2013, 03:33 PM
Welcome to my next game-log! (Glog?) This one will focus on my entry into Harlequin's offering of Legends: Crown of Chaos 26
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![[Image: coccov.jpg]](http://www.harlequingames.com/images/coccov.jpg)
http://www.harlequingames.com/legcoc26.html
Note, at this time the game hasn't started. If you are interested in playing, contact Harlequin Games so they can give you the details.
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Where to begin? My first impression upon signing up and being shown all the rules and setup information is that Legends is OLD. It has been around for a loooong time. It was upgraded to Legends II a loooong time ago, and I venture to say that this current offering from Harlequin Games should be considered Legends III. This is old-school PBM gaming at its finest, with extensive technical updates for the modern era.
The rules themselves are over 300 pages long. And each game is served up in the form of a "module" which refines and adapts the basic rules to fit a certain storyline. In this case, the module is Crown of Chaos, and this looks to be game #26 -- of that module. Considering that a game of Legends can take 2 years or more to finish, that is a considerable feat of PBM staying power. Indeed, some of my teammates had expressed surprise that there is much activity in the PBM world outside Legends. This game has served a fairly large core base of players so well, and for so long, that they have formed a virtual island in our genre.
The module content serves up over 200 pages of additional rules and context. This is a lot to take in for a new player! But fear not -- there is a well-worn path for newbies to take in getting up to speed. Like some other PBM games, Legends lets you bite off just the size and type of position you want to take on. Newbies are encouraged to start the game as a small party of heroic characters, who can take on adventures and actions that advance the story line, win loads of loot, and lay the groundwork for possible power plays later in the game.
More advanced players (or masochists like myself) can opt for larger starts. You get a population base, like a village or nomadic tribe which can form a socio-economic production base and a small army. In the case of this particular module, I am starting with a town, but more on that later. You also get a cast of individual characters -- 8 in my case -- who are the personalities running your little empire. They are far less powerful that the epic Conan-types that the newbies start with, but hey, you've got an army.
This highlights one of the defining characteristics of the game -- the co-existence and complement of individual characters and large groups of population. There are 5000 characters in the game -- most of them are non-player characters. Your own characters can go on to influence them, bribe them, kidnap them, kill them, resurrect them, etc. This interplay between characters looks like a huge part of the game.
But to conquer territory and defend against the barbarians at the gates (some of whom are other players!), you will need soldiers, mounts, weaponry, ships, fortifications, training, gold, and anything else you can imagine. That's the other "huge part of the game". And as a new player, you get to choose what type of role you're most interested in. Crown of Chaos has roles for individuals (in the form of loyal groups of citizens, free agents, minions of chaos, etc), larger holdings (like barons, which start with a town, or nomadic tribes), and the highest power positions (like dukes, which lead a team of barons and citizens, and the mysterious Chaos Lords who join forces with no one.)
From there, players can interact, team up, or clash on the basis of factions, religion, race/species, mutual interest, and perhaps inevitably the end-game backstabbing. Victories can be won by individuals, teams, etc, and can also come in the form of special titles or achievements. So even if you don't want to become the Imperial Overlord, there are many pathways to victory within the storyline, and you can focus on whatever aspect interests you most.
And that storyline? It is deep. More on that later. I have to cut this post off for now, but will return with some details on my "onboarding" process and how I came to join a team...
*****************************
http://www.harlequingames.com/legcoc26.html
Note, at this time the game hasn't started. If you are interested in playing, contact Harlequin Games so they can give you the details.
*****************************
Where to begin? My first impression upon signing up and being shown all the rules and setup information is that Legends is OLD. It has been around for a loooong time. It was upgraded to Legends II a loooong time ago, and I venture to say that this current offering from Harlequin Games should be considered Legends III. This is old-school PBM gaming at its finest, with extensive technical updates for the modern era.
The rules themselves are over 300 pages long. And each game is served up in the form of a "module" which refines and adapts the basic rules to fit a certain storyline. In this case, the module is Crown of Chaos, and this looks to be game #26 -- of that module. Considering that a game of Legends can take 2 years or more to finish, that is a considerable feat of PBM staying power. Indeed, some of my teammates had expressed surprise that there is much activity in the PBM world outside Legends. This game has served a fairly large core base of players so well, and for so long, that they have formed a virtual island in our genre.
The module content serves up over 200 pages of additional rules and context. This is a lot to take in for a new player! But fear not -- there is a well-worn path for newbies to take in getting up to speed. Like some other PBM games, Legends lets you bite off just the size and type of position you want to take on. Newbies are encouraged to start the game as a small party of heroic characters, who can take on adventures and actions that advance the story line, win loads of loot, and lay the groundwork for possible power plays later in the game.
More advanced players (or masochists like myself) can opt for larger starts. You get a population base, like a village or nomadic tribe which can form a socio-economic production base and a small army. In the case of this particular module, I am starting with a town, but more on that later. You also get a cast of individual characters -- 8 in my case -- who are the personalities running your little empire. They are far less powerful that the epic Conan-types that the newbies start with, but hey, you've got an army.
This highlights one of the defining characteristics of the game -- the co-existence and complement of individual characters and large groups of population. There are 5000 characters in the game -- most of them are non-player characters. Your own characters can go on to influence them, bribe them, kidnap them, kill them, resurrect them, etc. This interplay between characters looks like a huge part of the game.
But to conquer territory and defend against the barbarians at the gates (some of whom are other players!), you will need soldiers, mounts, weaponry, ships, fortifications, training, gold, and anything else you can imagine. That's the other "huge part of the game". And as a new player, you get to choose what type of role you're most interested in. Crown of Chaos has roles for individuals (in the form of loyal groups of citizens, free agents, minions of chaos, etc), larger holdings (like barons, which start with a town, or nomadic tribes), and the highest power positions (like dukes, which lead a team of barons and citizens, and the mysterious Chaos Lords who join forces with no one.)
From there, players can interact, team up, or clash on the basis of factions, religion, race/species, mutual interest, and perhaps inevitably the end-game backstabbing. Victories can be won by individuals, teams, etc, and can also come in the form of special titles or achievements. So even if you don't want to become the Imperial Overlord, there are many pathways to victory within the storyline, and you can focus on whatever aspect interests you most.
And that storyline? It is deep. More on that later. I have to cut this post off for now, but will return with some details on my "onboarding" process and how I came to join a team...
