[Torg] Hi all

[Benjamin Grant]

I just wanted to note one observation, one truth that's not new but worth
revisiting from time to time.

A lot of folks think that you would only run TORG when you want to roleplay
the possibility wars.  If that's the only time you used TORG, I could see
someone *not* playing a butt load of it over the months and years.  However,
there are two other much more numerous occasions when using TORG makes
perfect sense.

Firstly, keep in mind that you can run a multi-genre game and simply use
your own worlds and cosms, that may or may not even have Darkness Devices,
High Lords, or even the ability to transform cosms.  For example, I ran a
game over a period of time where multiple cosms existed, but the only way to
travel between them was a cosm gate - and different cosm gates linked
different cosms, creating a webwork of travel lines to hop from cosm to
cosm.  These gates were by and large public knowledge once
summones/found/created, so regular trading routes between the cosms existed,
with some cosms participating in cross cosm governments such as empires or
federations.  Since there was no way to transform or invade another reality,
this simplified matters.  Not that residents of one cosm didn't try to
sometimes invade another, but they had no option of changing the cosm they
were invading.

Anyways, that's just one example of running a multi-genre game using TORG,
without having to run the Possibility Wars.

Even more common, the vast majority of games run are set in one world/cosm
in one genre.  TORG must not be a good choice for these games, right?
Wrong! 

The fact of the matter is, that TORG is (IMO) the premier RPG system to run
any cinematic game in at all!  Regardless of whether you are interested in
the Possibility War story, regardless of whether you are even doing
multi-genre, TORG can be used for almost ANY RPG need.  The proof?

There are two proofs - the first set of proofs are the sourcebooks.
Orrorsh, Aysle, Nile Empire, Core Earth - the all feel *very* different,
almost like gaming in each world is like a different rpg altogether.
Although the four axioms are a good start to genre and world
differentiation, the World Laws and the supporting rules make each cosm
completely distinctive and unique.

The second proof is my own experience.  After using TORG for, what is it,
two decades already? Close? - I have created at least two to three dozen
cosms for various games and purposed, each with its own flavor and world
laws, from alternate fantasy, to Hellraiser and Nightbreed, to Swashbuckling
adventure, and much much more.  And I have found, over and over, that with
the right choice of World Laws one can create not just a generic setting
appropriate to the genre one wants to run, but a specific flavor which is
exactly what one wanted for one's game, whatever that may be.

And it should also be pointed out that the mechanics of the game, apart from
the genre and cosm stuff, are detailed enough to be very flexible and
comprehensive, but general enough to be used quickly in game without it
holding up the action - and although some charting is done, there are only a
few core charts needed.

We talk a lot on the list - almost exclusively - about TORG as used to run
the possibility wars story.  But that use of TORG is only scratching the
surface of its full potential.  I am a collector of RPGs (over 250 books and
over 100 systems at last count) and have been playing and GMing for decades,
and I can confidently say that TORG is (IMO) quite simply the finest RPG
yet, eminently suitable for any purpose.  

I just wanted to post this, for the record, since it hasn't been said for a
bit.

Thanks

-Benn Grant
eFix Computer Consulting
benn at 4efix.com
603.283.6601