Terrinoth...Why The Resistance?

Why doesn't this setting seem to stick with anyone? Or is it just this site?

There's been games in this setting for over a decade (some even good). I believe some rpg books even. Yet, it gets no respect.

GW blew up their beloved old world and replaced it with an entirely new fantasy setting that has more clout in 2-3 years than Terrinoth has in 10. The world of Warmachine is sorta cartoony like Terrinoth in that World of Warcraft way, yet it seemed to be somewhat respected for a while. I think whatever paper-thin setting Magic resides in isn't looked as down upon as Terrinoth. Heck, I'd even argue Terrinoth has more world consistency than D&D.

Where is it going wrong?

EDIT: Like our Android discussion a few weeks ago, is FFG the only company that can't get its in-house worlds off the ground?

For me it is just a forgettable and generic setting. I like the Runebound games, but those characters do not inspire me to delve deeper into their lore.

I joke that I'm allergic to Terrinoth but really I just don't care about generic fantasy, D&D included. Pretty tired of it on the whole. Terrinoth has a couple notable things (crab monsters!) but on the whole it doesn't differentiate itself much.

TFW your iconic character is...Red Scorpion.

I want backstory on Karnon. He has the best character quote across all the expansions.

'Karnon is Karnon!'

Can you name one event in the history of Terrinoth? Did the release of Runewars push the setting into a new era with fallout and consequences? Has there been any tumultuous shifts in overarching narrative?

GW ties their setting to a unified timeline with products affecting or resulting from that timeline. It creates a living history that players are participating in.

FFG releases a game and doesn't move the needle on their setting in any sort of way, much less a meaningful one.

As others have stated, it’s bland. It has no defining characteristics, some embarrassing character design in its earlier years, and, let’s face it, some bad games in its repitoire. It’s impossible to care about this setting and the appeal of most of the games in this setting are trying to be narrative driven. Those two things do not mix.

Yet none of these things are what damns Terrinoth. Most games that aren’t based on lisenced IPs are set in familiar, “just off brand” settings, but they do not recieve the same ire that Terrinoth does. No, what pushes what is usually a feeling of apathy to a level of genuine distaste for Terrinoth is that the setting has been marketed as something we should be caring about. The audacity of FFG to actually list the phrase “Set in the realms of Terrinoth” as a selling point gets a reaction, and it’s not the one FFG expects or, I suspect, is aware that they’re getting. Every time we see it, I think there’s something in everyone that says, “You’re asking me to care about your generic, recycled tropes AGAIN? Kindly get fucked.”

They seem to be abandoning their Android universe, hopefully for this reason and hopefully the death of Terrinoth won’t be far behind. The success ratio of unique, original setting in games is just too low, I really wish developers and publishers would either give up on it or look to those rare successss (like Root) and try to figure how those worked. I discussed this a bit in our most recent episode of It Came From the Tabletop. Bemoan the amount of games based on established IPs all you want, it doesn’t change the fact that you’ll care way more about the setting in one of those games when they’re done well than you will in better games with poorly developed settings.

Let’s not forget how they shit the rug by putting Dungeonquest in Terrinoth. Never forget.

The #1 way to fail at world building like this iis to tell people that you are world building and that they should be excited about it.

The #2 way is to create a wholly derivative setting with zero heart, passion, or energy.

FFG’s worlds are failures because of those and also because they are lame attempts at claiming ownership over existing genre archetypes. Arkham Files is a way to put the FFG stamp on Lovecraft games. Android, cyberpunk. Terrinoth, high fantasy. Yet they bring absolutely nothing new or compelling to any of these three tables.

Slightly off topic, but did anyone ever take a look at the Genesys role playing system? How many worlds are released for it? If I recall correctly, it was a FFG attempt at GURPS that has custom dice.

hotseatgames wrote: Slightly off topic, but did anyone ever take a look at the Genesys role playing system? How many worlds are released for it? If I recall correctly, it was a FFG attempt at GURPS that has custom dice.

I have. The generic book is rather bland, and FFG’s setting are trash, but the system is really good. But yet again, the well established IP comes through here as well, as the Star Wars books are way better. Each one had a unique mechanic that really puts the icing on the cake and makes the specific aspect of the SW universe that it’s handling really stand out.

Michael Barnes wrote: Let’s not forget how they shit the rug by putting Dungeonquest in Terrinoth. Never forget.

I'm not sure I can pinpoint why, but placing the game an unspecified fantasy setting is much more appealing than setting it in TERRINOTH.

Michael Barnes wrote: TFW your iconic character is...Red Scorpion.

A tittybitch murderhobo

Just this site .... ;-P