I will try to help you, as starting TORG can be difficult (I had to do
it when it was first published in 1990, so I know).

On 4/12/07, dirkbock <dirkbock@...> wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
>
> ever since I saw TORG in my FLGS, I have been fascinated by this game.
> I bought quite a lot of books for it, but have never been able to
> actually run it. The only exception of sorts was the use of TORG as a
> system for a fantasy game, which sadly didn't last long.
>
> But now one of my groups has agreed to take a break from our regular
> D&D campaign and try something new. We will be using "Before the Dawn"
> to fil this break with a little roleplaying life. I've brushed up on
> my TORG knowledge and am eagerly awaiting thursday next week.
>
> But as you might expect, several questions have arisen.
>
> Is This Really Possible?
> ------------------------
> The old group didn't swallow the concept of Possibilites being used as
> game device; they only saw it as a currency to buy advancements. All
> players but one spent their starting possibilities for skills.
>
> I expect my new group to be more open minded, but does anyone want to
> share experiences on this? Do you use 'incentives' of sort?

The first "mistake" was to let them use possibilities for skills
before the adventure finished. Now this is correctible -- the speed
with which it can be corrected depends on whether the players (who
admittedly are trying something new) are going to trash the game if a
few characters suddenly get fried.

Letting people get down to 5-6 Possibilities is manageable. but if
they're below 3 each (or, worse yet for them -- zero), then they have
reversed the role of players vs NPCs and need to be shown their place.
First, if the adventure indicates how the NPCs will spend their
Possibilities, ignore those instructions. Instead, use them to teach
the players why they need Possibility points throughout the game.
Watching the villain take a Wound K 3 to the face and spend a
Possibility point to knock it down to nothing is one thing; having him
follow it up with a Possibility spent to make a near miss into a
painful hit will also help.

You need to emphasize that the Possibility points kept throughout the
game are insurance against REALLY BAD THINGS that can happen. Remember
that the players aren't the only ones who get to roll again.

> The Drama of the Cards
> ----------------------
> During our TORGish fantasy game, the players didn't really get into
> the darama deck and its usage. They tried to save 'good' cards for a
> critical moment. I see the cards more as a commodity to be used
> regularly. So I plan to deal new cards to the players at the beginning
> of every session. The only disadvante I see is that cliffhanger
> endings are harder to deal with. Do they retain the cards in their
> pools or select new cards for the pool from their new hand? Any
> thoughts on this?

Don't do it. What you are suggesting eliminates the reason for card
play. Stick with the original mechanic of letting them keep their
cards between sessions, only forcing them to take a new hand between
adventures. Here's why:

What players should be doing with their cards is what I call "card
farming." I was pretty decent at it my first time playing TORG, and
I've had players who have refined this to an art form. Drama cards,
by their very nature, want to be saved. Hero cards are a little more
flexible, and you can encourage them to be used more by not allowing
the players to turn them in at the end of the adventure -- make them
use the Hero only in game or not at all.

Players should be using the "weaker" cards during the Standard
Encounters, so that they can fish for better cards for the Dramatic
Encounters, and they should be taking Approved Actions for the same
purpose. This way, every card gets some use, and cards become a part
of most scenes.

> How does this weired thing work?
> --------------------------------
> One player has selected the Gagdet Hero template. Reading up on
> gadgets and pulp powers, I noticed that a gadget does not incur an
> adventure cost like a power does. As their effects are the same, I
> think the game value of a gadget would be very similar to that of the
> corresponding power. Granted, a gadget could be taken away or
> destroyed, but does this difference really warrant the lack of an
> adventure cost?

The Nile Empire Sourcebook explains this. Gadgets have a lower
adventure cost, not an eliminated one. The idea was that a gadget
should have a base cost of two less than a normal power, but with the
added difference that the gadget itself held the Possibilities and
they had to be paid before the power could be used (this takes a lab
and a day to charge a gadget, and most gadgets could hold 10 at a
time). If the gadget is more powerful than what the character would
have if it were made a power, a good rule is to have every 3 points
extra (or fraction thereof) cost an additional possibility for
adventure cost. (It's not the exact rule from the Nile Empire book,
but it's close enough.)

> We have to evolve with the world
> --------------------------------
> What's up with this 1.5 edition of TORG? While there are lots of
> topics in the old rules which would benefit from bein clarified, I
> hesitate to invest in another version of the book as long as doesn't
> offer substantial - however subjective this criterium may be -
> improvements or additions. Its availability as PDF only doesn't help,
> actually, because I prefer reading long texts on paper instead of on
> screen, and printing it out and having it made into a real book adds
> some significant cost as well. What's in that book to make me want it?
>
> Okay, my first post has grown while being written. I assume it will
> not remain the only one, as my preparation for next week's game will
> undoubtedly dig up more questions. But in a group this silent you
> might want to endure it. ;-)

TORG 1.5 has several things that you may want to consider: limit
values for non-humans, clarifications of rules that were spread over
several sourcebooks, a more comprehensive template generation system
and a more complete section on what skills do and how they work. It's
not necessary, but it's quite good if you're as into TORG as you seem.
I'll help out when I can, though.

> Greetings
>
> ---Dirk Bock

--
Dominick Riesland, aka Rabbitball
Speaker, 5-Color Rules Committee
"When life gives you crap, make crap golems." -- Dirtamancer Sizemore
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html