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Louder than Bombs - The Quiet Year

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02 Jul 2020 00:01 #311618 by Andi Lennon
First emerging in 2013 and still steadfastly in print to...

The Morning broke softly over the shining city of New Sodom. As the all-consuming struggle with the Jackals receded into our collective memory, we looked with faint hope upon the year ahead of us. A year to regather and rebuild. A year to find ourselves and define our purpose in the absence of struggle and defiance as our pragmatic poles. A year in which to live.

We gathered to give thanks to Lilantha, watching over the lake and plotting our new dawn.

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02 Jul 2020 13:57 - 02 Jul 2020 13:59 #311619 by edulis
You sparked my interest enough to go to the website. It looks really interesting and $10 for the PDF seems like a good deal. How suitable for kids do you think it is?
Last edit: 02 Jul 2020 13:59 by edulis.
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02 Jul 2020 14:33 #311622 by Shellhead
This review gives me hope that I can get The Quiet Year on the table sometime. I bought the pdf a few years back, but I feel like maybe the physical version in the pics would be more enticing to potential players than a regular deck of cards plus the pdf.
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02 Jul 2020 18:08 #311627 by Andi Lennon

edulis wrote: You sparked my interest enough to go to the website. It looks really interesting and $10 for the PDF seems like a good deal. How suitable for kids do you think it is?


It's absolutely ideal for kids. Although our tale featured nods to contemporary politics, human sacrifice and other not very bon mots, it really is entirely a reflection of what the players bring to it. The prompts are open ended enough that any kind of story could emerge.

I also think that it might be almost uniquely suited for children in that their imagination and sense of play is less shackled to conventional notions of a game as a product. I think they'd be even more receptive to the idea of simply creating a story together. It's probably a great educational tool too, both in its capacity to inspire storytelling but possibly even more so as a way to explore creative problem solving.

And even better, once you're done with each game you can pin the map you've made together to the fridge door :)
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02 Jul 2020 18:16 #311628 by Andi Lennon

Shellhead wrote: This review gives me hope that I can get The Quiet Year on the table sometime. I bought the pdf a few years back, but I feel like maybe the physical version in the pics would be more enticing to potential players than a regular deck of cards plus the pdf.


Yeah, although absolutely optional, it does form a charming little package. I had similar considerations in mind when I opted to shoulder the stupid amount of postage to get it shipped down here to Australia. The first bite is with the eyes and for people weaned on the concept of 'an experience in a box' it might make the concept more palatable. Bear in mind what you get is a totally indie take on that though, which I think adds to its charm but is unlikely to sway someone in thrall to big box production values.
It's absolutely worth playing in whatever format you choose however.
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03 Jul 2020 02:44 #311634 by mc
Thanks Andi, and edulis for asking the question - when I am finally done with Kids on Bikes (we have this ongoing campaign that takes place sporadically that I really need to wrap up somehow), I will definitely take a look. Especially as my kids really got into the worldbuilding of the locations where they "Bike", drawing maps etc, but I rarely really use it - this might be a good structured way for them to get into that side of things.
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03 Jul 2020 02:59 #311635 by Andi Lennon

mc wrote: Thanks Andi, and edulis for asking the question - when I am finally done with Kids on Bikes (we have this ongoing campaign that takes place sporadically that I really need to wrap up somehow), I will definitely take a look. Especially as my kids really got into the worldbuilding of the locations where they "Bike", drawing maps etc, but I rarely really use it - this might be a good structured way for them to get into that side of things.


How is 'Kids on Bikes'? They have a copy at a local store I keep glancing at. Is it essentially Stranger Things, Stand by Me, The Goonies etc the RPG?

The Quiet Year also has the benefit of being perfect for one shot experiences when time permits.

One of my favourite parts of rpgs as a kid was creating maps and creatures and whatnot ....actually it still is.

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03 Jul 2020 06:27 #311638 by mc
I genuinely have such little experience with RPGs I don't know what I can tell you about standard RPG type things, but yeah, that's the idea. "Imagine you can ride your bike across the town, in the days before mobile phones". The world building involves everyone creating rumours about the town. You can definitely do one-shots with it, it's just that doing the world building and trying to keep my kids "in character" and used to driving the narrative in satisfactory ways, and trying to ensure that when they fail skill checks they don't get upset (that first session where a mysterious stranger bought an item from a store they wanted, and they couldn't convince the store owner or the dude to give it to them and he walked away with it, jesus christ) is hard work (especially for me the slightly reluctant first time GM) so we've been just doing sessions sort of ad hoc, maybe one a month or something, sometimes even when we are on a walk or something too. They like their characters and are kind of attached to them at this point. I'll be trying to wrap up the mystery of what the hell the adults are doing after curfew that has caused the time traveller to come back and try and change things in the next session or two though.

It seems to my naive eyes to be at the end of things where players really get to steer things - they get to narrate outcomes and things, and you create a powered kid character ("Twelve"? "Thirteen"? ) that players control different aspects of.
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04 Jul 2020 00:18 #311673 by Andi Lennon
Mc-It sounds fun and perfect for kids. I guess when things don't swing their way it could actually be a good softball primer for later life (although having said that I have some grown ass men I play with who often still react that way).

I'm somewhat envious of your kids though. The roles were very much reversed when I was a kid trying to get my parents and brothers to play. Parents thought it was strange and possibly evil, brothers were too young to really engage. It's a cool thing you're doing for them :)
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04 Jul 2020 08:32 #311676 by Sagrilarus
Thanks for bringing my attention to this. There's so much out there that never gets a mention.
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04 Jul 2020 08:47 #311677 by Andi Lennon
You're most welcome, thanks for reading. Indie and retro definitely seems to be my thing. There's so much cool stuff in the underground space that shoots further and wider than the high street offerings. It's great to see the variety of themes and ideas being explored beyond dwarves, hitler and colonialism. Keeps me excited for the dig.

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06 Jul 2020 07:43 #311704 by edulis
Thanks for the replies regarding playing with children. I think we'll give it a try.

I just played a session of the Bremen Town Musicians RPG with my 9 and 11 year old daughters and their mother. It is a free RPG I printed off BGG that was part of a 24 hour RPG competition. Very simple rules, where the players are aging animals that are too old to work at the farm anymore so set out to make their fortune as musicians - based on the story.

It was hot and we were all in the shade in hammocks, not wanting to move much. My 11 year jumped right in, the 9 year old was a bit more hesitate and confused by the notion of role-playing. But was soon deep in character Hee-Hawing as a donkey intimidating various woodland critters.
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06 Jul 2020 10:31 #311708 by Whoshim
I modified it to make it simpler and shorter for first time players. I put together a one page (front and back) set of questions from the cards. I put in 4 sets of options from each season. Then I had the players go around taking turns, in order, from the set I created.

By doing this, it was easy to jump into the game. I was able to avoid any situations that would have been more difficult for the players (for language or content reasons).

Once people get a taste of the game, I don't think that switching to playing cards and checking a paper will dissuade them. While not everyone I have introduced it to has enjoyed it, a lot of people have really gotten into it.

It really is a great little game, and well worth the money.
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07 Jul 2020 01:42 #311739 by Andi Lennon

edulis wrote: Thanks for the replies regarding playing with children. I think we'll give it a try.

I just played a session of the Bremen Town Musicians RPG with my 9 and 11 year old daughters and their mother. It is a free RPG I printed off BGG that was part of a 24 hour RPG competition. Very simple rules, where the players are aging animals that are too old to work at the farm anymore so set out to make their fortune as musicians - based on the story.

It was hot and we were all in the shade in hammocks, not wanting to move much. My 11 year jumped right in, the 9 year old was a bit more hesitate and confused by the notion of role-playing. But was soon deep in character Hee-Hawing as a donkey intimidating various woodland critters.


BTM sounds interesting! There's a whole world of cool RPG and RPG adjacent narrative stuff out there, and much of it totally free or PWYW. Drive-thru RPG. com is an absolute gold mine and itch.io is rapidly gaining pace. There's such an abundance of ideas that break away from traditional notions of structured play out there and in a range of themes that is super inclusive. It's one of the things I remind myself of every time I start thinking that this whole internet thing was a huge mistake Hahaha. Good luck with TQY. Let me know how you go :)

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07 Jul 2020 01:46 #311740 by Andi Lennon

Whoshim wrote: I modified it to make it simpler and shorter for first time players. I put together a one page (front and back) set of questions from the cards. I put in 4 sets of options from each season. Then I had the players go around taking turns, in order, from the set I created.

By doing this, it was easy to jump into the game. I was able to avoid any situations that would have been more difficult for the players (for language or content reasons).

Once people get a taste of the game, I don't think that switching to playing cards and checking a paper will dissuade them. While not everyone I have introduced it to has enjoyed it, a lot of people have really gotten into it.

It really is a great little game, and well worth the money.


That's a great idea. One of the coolest things about this sort of game is how easy it is to mod to your heart's content. It really could encompass almost any setting or series of event prompts, and from there you're just a hop, skip and jump away from creating your own games and systems.

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