Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So it's official we are getting an RPG.

Official News I posted up in News and Rumors.


Lets keep all discussion on the matter here and keep the news clear.

And I'll officially be pre-ordering that sucker.
I was a HUGE fan of the old Cyberpunk 2020 rpg so this will fill the hole in my heart.
Even if I end up never playing it, the artwork and lore will be more than worth it.
And, I'll have plenty of minis to use for it.

I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. What I do know is I am going to pour over all the new official fluff and artwork that better be in it.

I can be a bro Knight of Hospitaller?

More artwork and background, always wanted and welcomed. New miniatures should also be interesting, compatible with both systems.

Likely I'm going to pick this up, will be my first experience with 2D20.

Not my first choice for expanding the brand, but it seems to have some legs with players on the official site, so...yeay?

 Casey's Law wrote:
I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. What I do know is I am going to pour over all the new official fluff and artwork that better be in it.

That's sorta where I am. I've never actually played in an RPG campaign, so that makes me a little ambivalent, but I'm more than excited about new fluff and art.

And of course new reasons for minis.

Rusty Trombone wrote:
Not my first choice for expanding the brand, but it seems to have some legs with players on the official site, so...yeay?

Out of curiosity, what would you have preferred?

 IJW wrote:

Rusty Trombone wrote:
Not my first choice for expanding the brand, but it seems to have some legs with players on the official site, so...yeay?

Out of curiosity, what would you have preferred?

Video-game? I'd be ok with that!

 IJW wrote:

Rusty Trombone wrote:
Not my first choice for expanding the brand, but it seems to have some legs with players on the official site, so...yeay?

Out of curiosity, what would you have preferred?

Background books for each of the factions, detailing the current and upcoming Sectorials in depth.

Infinity itself is a great basis for an RPG and I really do not see the need for a dedicated RPG product, much less one done by yet another Infinity partner.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 IJW wrote:

Rusty Trombone wrote:
Not my first choice for expanding the brand, but it seems to have some legs with players on the official site, so...yeay?

Out of curiosity, what would you have preferred?

Background books for each of the factions, detailing the current and upcoming Sectorials in depth.

Infinity itself is a great basis for an RPG and I really do not see the need for a dedicated RPG product, much less one done by yet another Infinity partner.

I disagree. I think this game was begging for an RPG.
They should make specific RPG minis that can be used in the normal game, that way players can bring their carefully crafted characters into the tabletop game. How's that for forging a narrative?

 Kanluwen wrote:

Background books for each of the factions, detailing the current and upcoming Sectorials in depth.

Infinity itself is a great basis for an RPG and I really do not see the need for a dedicated RPG product, much less one done by yet another Infinity partner.

Is there really a problem with there being another Infinity partner? This means that their main focus can stay on the main game, and while I would have preferred one based on the F2F system of the miniatures game, having a partner would be a good call to avoid dividing their resources.

RPG books kind of double up as background books anyway.

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:

Video-game? I'd be ok with that!

If we see a video game, I want to see it done by a big name studio with big name funding.

And I don't just want X-COM: Infinity. If I want to play a strategic game for Infinity, I would be playing Infinity.

I've pitched the idea before of if they do an Infinity video game it should be a FPS/3PS set during Campaign: Paradiso and engage in 'faction hopping' where there are multiple campaigns all telling the POV of a faction during the conflict.

 Daba wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:

Background books for each of the factions, detailing the current and upcoming Sectorials in depth.

Infinity itself is a great basis for an RPG and I really do not see the need for a dedicated RPG product, much less one done by yet another Infinity partner.

Is there really a problem with there being another Infinity partner? This means that their main focus can stay on the main game, and while I would have preferred one based on the F2F system of the miniatures game, having a partner would be a good call to avoid dividing their resources.

RPG books kind of double up as background books anyway.

That's why I bought the Iron Kingdom books, for the lore.

 IJW wrote:

Rusty Trombone wrote:
Not my first choice for expanding the brand, but it seems to have some legs with players on the official site, so...yeay?

Out of curiosity, what would you have preferred?

A 'Women of Infinity' pinup calendar?

Eh, fiction of some sort...the kind where I can be lazy and not hafta play along. A tabletop game, for me, is plenty playful. RPG's aren't my cup of tea, though I won't hand wave others' obvious approval here.

So, so excited

I might have to drum up a play group just for this.

 Daba wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:

Background books for each of the factions, detailing the current and upcoming Sectorials in depth.

Infinity itself is a great basis for an RPG and I really do not see the need for a dedicated RPG product, much less one done by yet another Infinity partner.

Is there really a problem with there being another Infinity partner?

Yeah, there is. This isn't a company doing terrain or bases or anything like that.

This is a company doing an entire game system.

This means that their main focus can stay on the main game, and while I would have preferred one based on the F2F system of the miniatures game, having a partner would be a good call to avoid dividing their resources.

Except it's also going to be screwing up the release of miniatures as the Kickstarter is for "campaign miniatures" which are going to be done by Corvus Belli and have an exclusivity to the Kickstarter before hitting retail.

It's too early to get too irked about that as we have no clue what the miniatures will be but that is just ridiculous given we have just seen yet another roadblock of manufacturing the way CB does with Icestorm.

RPG books kind of double up as background books anyway.

That's nice and all but having a dedicated background book for each faction, showcasing the various units and giving in-depth histories of them would have been much better.

Nah, I like the RPG idea better. It's got the lore of a background book, but I can also play a game. Win win.

 Kanluwen wrote:

If we see a video game, I want to see it done by a big name studio with big name funding.

And I don't just want X-COM: Infinity. If I want to play a strategic game for Infinity, I would be playing Infinity.

I've pitched the idea before of if they do an Infinity video game it should be a FPS/3PS set during Campaign: Paradiso and engage in 'faction hopping' where there are multiple campaigns all telling the POV of a faction during the conflict.

I would also prefer an FPS (or some kind of action game, maybe TPS controlling a TAG) rather than an X-Com type, though my preference would be for team vs. type games than a single player story campaign (I guess there's no reason you couldn't do both).

That's nice and all but having a dedicated background book for each faction, showcasing the various units and giving in-depth histories of them would have been much better.

Could appear down the road, like the faction books for the L5R. A connected RPG system makes this kind of thing easier, especially for exploring non military units and general life in parts of the setting.

 Daba wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:

If we see a video game, I want to see it done by a big name studio with big name funding.

And I don't just want X-COM: Infinity. If I want to play a strategic game for Infinity, I would be playing Infinity.

I've pitched the idea before of if they do an Infinity video game it should be a FPS/3PS set during Campaign: Paradiso and engage in 'faction hopping' where there are multiple campaigns all telling the POV of a faction during the conflict.

I would also prefer an FPS (or some kind of action game, maybe TPS controlling a TAG) rather than an X-Com type, though my preference would be for team vs. type games than a single player story campaign (I guess there's no reason you couldn't do both).

Whatever game they come up with, I'd want character customization.

Frankly an rpg doesn't really appeal to me a whole lot. 1) it is counter intuitive to the relatively quick gameplay of infinity which is one of the biggest reasons I can get the stodgy veteran 40kers to play it because rpgs take a lot of time. 2) gaming sessions are irregular enough that ttwg campaigns are hard to pull off let alone something that really needs consistency & regularity to make work. 3) most of the time there's only two, at most three of us. That doesn't usually make for a good rpg session. 4) it really seems to me that with a very minor amount of work the TTWG using the spec ops rules would already be a fine basis for an rpg vs reinventing the wheel I guess.

But all that being said those who find it intriguing or appealing: get down with your bad selves

 Kanluwen wrote:

Infinity itself is a great basis for an RPG and I really do not see the need for a dedicated RPG product, much less one done by yet another Infinity partner.

I think the partnering is absolutely the right way to do it. You do what you're good at, and you hire people to fill those gaps. Many times it makes more sense to do that through partnerships rather than developing your own process with your own people. It's certainly not unique to this business, but is commonplace at Fortune 500s.

A few points without being a quote monkey:

1 - I'd be 100% fine with X-Com: Paradiso. The system is perfect for Infinity, and is a pretty brilliant representation of it.
2 - I'd be 100% for a Bootleg Pin Up Calendar. There's nothing wrong with it. If the FDNY can do a shirtless men of the FDNY Calendar, I'm okay with CB doing a pin up art calendar.
3 - I'd love to see faction books as well, but I think the RPG is a really good start.

 cincydooley wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:

Infinity itself is a great basis for an RPG and I really do not see the need for a dedicated RPG product, much less one done by yet another Infinity partner.

I think the partnering is absolutely the right way to do it. You do what you're good at, and you hire people to fill those gaps. Many times it makes more sense to do that through partnerships rather than developing your own process with your own people. It's certainly not unique to this business, but is commonplace at Fortune 500s.

Did you know that Infinity was developed growing out from a RPG run by Corvus Belli staff members?

A few points without being a quote monkey:

1 - I'd be 100% fine with X-Com: Paradiso. The system is perfect for Infinity, and is a pretty brilliant representation of it.

The problem with X-COM: Infinity is the same as what we saw with Dawn of War and 40k--or what we saw with Mark of Chaos and Fantasy:
You want to expand your potential market, not just cater to the people already invested in your item.

A FPS or a 3PS set during the Paradiso Campaign(the reason why being that it is a static timeline, with the end result being known but every single detail is not known allowing for players to get some leeway) that is well-done would be a fantastic way to potentially catch gamers that normally would not even have looked at your stuff before.

3 - I'd love to see faction books as well, but I think the RPG is a really good start.

Faction books would have been a better start.

But maybe I'm biased because I loathe the idea of YET ANOTHER Infinity partner with YET ANOTHER "exclusive item!" and YET ANOTHER company going for Kickstarters.

 Kanluwen wrote:
Did you know that Infinity was developed growing out from a RPG run by Corvus Belli staff members?

Background and characters, yes, but on and off they've spent the last decade trying to make the existing mechanics work for an RPG without being happy with the results.

 Kanluwen wrote:
Faction books would have been a better start.

Could you explain why you think this?

Personally, I think Infinity is still too small to support seven EIGHT separate background books as a commercial proposition.

 Kanluwen wrote:
But maybe I'm biased because I loathe the idea of YET ANOTHER Infinity partner with YET ANOTHER "exclusive item!" and YET ANOTHER company going for Kickstarters.

I assume by 'YET ANOTHER company going for Kickstarters' you mean 'a SECOND company going for Kickstarter'?

I would like to see a 6mm-15mm large scale army based game. something akin to flames of war or epic armageddon personally. Tho to be honest I could see why they would stay away from 15mm. it might take away from their regular model sales as 15mm infinity would be pretty cool IMO

 Warsmith262 wrote:
I would like to see a 6mm-15mm large scale army based game. something akin to flames of war or epic armageddon personally. Tho to be honest I could see why they would stay away from 15mm. it might take away from their regular model sales as 15mm infinity would be pretty cool IMO

I was just thinking the other day how cool a mass battle game would be in the Infinity setting. I'd want it in 28mm, but being able to put in tanks/dropships/loads of troops would be really cool!

Make it hard plastic on sprues and I'd practically sell my soul for it!

 IJW wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:
Did you know that Infinity was developed growing out from a RPG run by Corvus Belli staff members?

Background and characters, yes, but on and off they've spent the last decade trying to make the existing mechanics work for an RPG without being happy with the results.

I won't go into too much detail, but I personally believe it is because they are trying too hard to differentiate the mechanics of an RPG from the mechanics they currently have with the miniature game.

 Kanluwen wrote:
Faction books would have been a better start.

Could you explain why you think this?

Sure. Background books for each faction would have been a great companion to the free rules that exist for the game. Quite often people ask where they can read the background of a specific faction, but not having a single book that you can point them to is problematic.

Personally, I think Infinity is still too small to support seven separate background books as a commercial proposition.

I think that is because you are assuming that the idea I'm having would be big hulking monstrosities like the Infinity rulebooks.

I'm thinking something like the size of GW's "Apocalypse War Zone" books. Somewhere in the range of 68-80 pages would be just about right for a background book detailing a single faction.

Ideally the table of contents would read something like:
--Introduction to the faction and its place in the Infinity universe, with a brief primer on the Infinity universe rolled in.
--A breakdown of the faction, including a description of what the Sectorials have as a role in the overall faction's background.
--Breakdown of each Sectorial and the units composing the Sectorial.
--End with some alternate color plates and alternate unit insignias and things of that nature.
--Maybe have an "Identification Chart" showing the dossier art for each unit.

 Kanluwen wrote:
But maybe I'm biased because I loathe the idea of YET ANOTHER Infinity partner with YET ANOTHER "exclusive item!" and YET ANOTHER company going for Kickstarters.

I assume by 'YET ANOTHER company going for Kickstarters' you mean 'a SECOND company going for Kickstarter'?

No, I'm meaning "YET ANOTHER company going for Kickstarters".

Not referring to just Infinity Partners in that regard. Kickstarter is too quickly becoming the 'pre-pre-preorder' of miniature gaming.

 Kanluwen wrote:

I won't go into too much detail, but I personally believe it is because they are trying too hard to differentiate the mechanics of an RPG from the mechanics they currently have with the miniature game.

Are you talking about CB or Modiphius now?

 Kanluwen wrote:
Sure. Background books for each faction would have been a great companion to the free rules that exist for the game. Quite often people ask where they can read the background of a specific faction, but not having a single book that you can point them to is problematic.

Personally, I think Infinity is still too small to support seven separate background books as a commercial proposition.

I think that is because you are assuming that the idea I'm having would be big hulking monstrosities like the Infinity rulebooks.

I'm thinking something like the size of GW's "Apocalypse War Zone" books. Somewhere in the range of 68-80 pages would be just about right for a background book detailing a single faction.

That's the size of publication I'm thinking of, not some huge hardback. The main problem I see with your ToC is that there's an awful lot of overlap with the existing books.