SW Combat question

[Gryffen88]

I posted this to Ron over at The Games The Thing but got no response
I was listening to Sean on TGTT #47, Sean and Ron were talking about combat and kept saying "Gritty vs Pulpy" combat, What is the difference? I am trying (for years actually) to get players for SW and Runepunk but combat seems to be a sticky point for them (them being from D&D). Hearing this podcast made me wonder to myself what this might be.
Please explain if you wouldn't mind.
Also, as I said I have been trying to get players involved with SW and RP, can you give any advise as to how I can manage this?
Do you use house rules when playing SW or do you mainly play T20?
thanks in advance,
Gryffen88

[Jigg]

I come from over 13 years of D&D experience, and the direction it's been taken in the 3.x and 4 editions is actually what led me to SW. The combat is fast, simple, and exciting. You don't have to keep track of HP for everything...just keep up with 3 wounds for wild card characters (PCs and important NPCs) and 1 wound for extras (non-important NPCs).

I also really like using the card deck for initiative, it spices combat up and makes it a little more realistic...especially with the ability to hold your action. Also, pulling a joker is added fun.

Hopefully your players will see the light. SW and RunePunk are really fun systems.

[razorwise]

I posted this to Ron over at The Games The Thing but got no response
I was listening to Sean on TGTT #47, Sean and Ron were talking about combat and kept saying "Gritty vs Pulpy" combat, What is the difference? I am trying (for years actually) to get players for SW and Runepunk but combat seems to be a sticky point for them (them being from D&D). Hearing this podcast made me wonder to myself what this might be. Please explain if you wouldn't mind.Also, as I said I have been trying to get players involved with SW and RP, can you give any advise as to how I can manage this?
Do you use house rules when playing SW or do you mainly play T20? thanks in advance,
Gryffen88

Hiya Gryffen,

First off, glad the podcast got you thinking! I’ll be glad to provide a bit of insight and perspective for you.

Pulpy combat can be viewed as cinematic- the sort of thing you see in action movies and blockbusters and read in novels and tales like Conan. It's funny because Ken Hite and I had quite a chat about the nuances of pulpy vs cinematic, but that's a tale for another day. At any rate, the sense of "pulp" is the sense of larger than life heroes facing overwhelming odds and triumphing. However, the possibility of acing that exists in the SW system maintains the necessary element of tension--the possibility that anyone/anything threatening the character has the possibility to do real damage--and keeps things exciting. Gritty damage is something in the upcoming Realms of Cthulhu that increases the danger of SW and makes the characters all more real.


Most of our settings, however, use the core SW system which has an element of the cinematic. In RunePunk, for example, an Overwrought can come out of a battle relatively uninjured, but usually not any the worse for wear. In Realms of Cthulhu, should you use the Gritty damage system, combats can be quite lethal, especially with investigators directly confronting eldritch threats- something entirely in keeping with Lovecraftian canon.

Hopefully this clarifies the distinction that I draw between the two styles of play a bit, but it has no direct bearing on RunePunk. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend using the Gritty damage system for RunePunk at all. Things could get messy.

Now, you said you wanted your players to migrate over to SW and specifically RunePunk. Very cool! How to get traditional gamers over is tricky? My old gang was very set on playing just a few systems, and I really convinced them to try SW when I told them I was developing for it quite a number of years ago. How to get them involved is to sell them on the story and your vision for the setting. I’ve played a number of games over the years where I wasn’t the biggest fan of a system necessarily, but the setting sold it for me. However, once they begin play with SW, they should be hooked. It’s not called fast, furious, and fun for nothing! Alternately, you can run them through a short scenario with some pregenerated characters. Moving them away from traditional fantasy is a good idea as well, as they won’t draw comparisons and conclusions to their old stand-by as readily. We have a number of one sheets for RunePunk available. I’ll also recommend Iron Dynasty: Journey to Red Temple. I’ve used it to introduce a number of new players to SW over the years, and it has great advice for starting GMs, is a great little adventure to run, and it has pregenerated characters. It’s my take on our upcoming steampunk fantasy setting and is available from RPGnow.

Your last question regards house rules. We don’t deviate from the core rules when you play a system except with the modifications that we make in-house to a system. In essence, our house rules become canon for the particular settings we develop. If you want to know which game I play more of personally? It’s SW. I enjoy running T20 as well, and developing for both, but I’ve got a T20 line developer that I work closely with, while I take the lead with SW. However, as we focus more on T20 variants for our properties, I cannot help but get my hands dirty. There is an old post on our website where I compare and contrast the two game systems: essentially, I view them as Marvel and DC. One is a macro system, while the other is a micro system. I enjoy both immensely, and they each have their strengths and areas of focus.

Take care,

Sean

[oldercloud]

I agree with Sean that the best way to generate interest is to run a one-shot. I recently ran a Rippers one-shot, when our D&D campaign was short one or two players. Although none of the players had ever played SW, they really enjoyed the session. They definitely enjoyed the streamlined rules, and they liked the setting.

As a first-time GM, and found SW quite easy to utilize. In fact, the players did most of the work for me! I am currently trying to sell them on a Runepunk one-shot, which, I hope, will morph into a once-a-month campaign.

[razorwise]

I agree with Sean that the best way to generate interest is to run a one-shot. I recently ran a Rippers one-shot, when our D&D campaign was short one or two players. Although none of the players had ever played SW, they really enjoyed the session. They definitely enjoyed the streamlined rules, and they liked the setting.

Yep. Anything that takes them away from comparing apples to apples setting-wise is a good way to focus on the crunch of things. Since we've released AoO PG as a freebie, that might be another direction to consider.

As a first-time GM, and found SW quite easy to utilize. In fact, the players did most of the work for me! I am currently trying to sell them on a Runepunk one-shot, which, I hope, will morph into a once-a-month campaign.

Best of luck with RunePunk! Many folks find it strange from the outside, but once within ScatterPoint's environs, have a terrific time with it.

Regards,

Sean