Sword Worlds

[Blue Ghost]

Welp, I got me GURPS Sword World's book the other day. The whole Nordic thing seems interesting. I'm not sure why this book is going for over one-hundred smackers on Amazon. I'm not really sure what to make of it. Like all GURPS Trav books, it seems to fill in a lot of intentionally left blanks from the CT write-ups (specifically Mithril).

I'm not really sure why I'm posting here. Does anyone have any thoughts on this book?

*EDIT; clarification here, I bought my copy from Steve Jackson Games for $17, shipping included. That verse a used copy going for $135 on Amazon.*

 

[far-trader]

... I'm not sure why this book is going for over one-hundred smackers on Amazon.

Greedy hopeful sellers

Trust me, I've seen that price, and similar on other "rare" Traveller books for years now. On Amazon, eBay, etc. The same books and the same sellers. They never sell them*. But they keep hoping some suck... er, "collector" will happen along with more money than they need and snap it up.

* Well, mostly never, I have also seen positively obscenely silly amounts of money paid for "rare" collectible Traveller... and other... junk. Not by me or to me, though I've bought and sold some at very healthy prices, and worth it. One item I couldn't bring myself to sell for the going $100plus bids was Atlas of the Imperium. I really couldn't see it being worth more than the $15 or $20 I paid for it and sold it as a BIN for that amount. And it went fast.

There's also an eBay auction I've been following for years of a similar nature for a computer. I think it's an antiquated piece of junk. I wouldn't call it a collectible model by any stretch. But the seller seems to think they have the Lost Ark of the Covenant or something. Asking a ridiculous amount of money for the BIN or opening bid. And nary a bid or buy nibble. For years now. It boggles me.

 

[Whipsnade]

Does anyone have any thoughts on this book?

BG,

Aside from being excellent in many aspects, it's superb from a "sandbox" standpoint. Hans Rancke, Rob Prior, and Paul Drye - one of my favorite RPG authors - did an amazing job in using, explaining, blending, and even changing canon so that they could produce the book.

You've got a subsector-plus of worlds, most of which nicely detailed with maps. You've got history, economics, personalities, and cultures. You've got equipment, vehicles, and ships. It's a ready made sandbox just waiting for your campaigns, adventures, and one-offs. If you've run out of ideas for those, it's got scads of campaign and adventure seeds too. It's a "sandbox" just waiting for your game.

If I were pressed to point to a "weak" section it would be the Astron Project and it's only "weak" relative to the rest of the book. There was so much that went into the book that there wasn't enough room to handle such an idea. Even the three authors I listed couldn't do justice to a campaign involving 100-parsec colonization project in the few pages available.


Regards,
Bill

 

[Blue Ghost]

far trader

Yeah, the only time I recall spending gobs of money was on an old edition of the "Wind and the Lion" soundtrack (60 bucks), only to have it reissued a year later for 19 dollars. Cest la vie.

 

[spinwardpirate]

I'm not really sure why I'm posting here. Does anyone have any thoughts on this book?

No, but I do have thoughts on human nature. People will pay odd prices for things. My wife once owned a PAL copy of the Russell Crowe/Sharon Stone film The Quick and the Dead. It was the special overseas release, the one with "the sex scene." Just as Gladiator hit the height of its popularity, we sold it on ebay, and got $530 for it.

 

[Sturn]

Not sure why it is going for $100. I bought my copy less then a year ago for $10 at the Gurps website. Brand new from the publisher. It still is labeled in stock for $9.95 and allows you to make the order.

I don't play Gurps, but it's an excellent fluff book.

 

[Blue Ghost]

BG,

Aside from being excellent in many aspects, it's superb from a "sandbox" standpoint. Hans Rancke, Rob Prior, and Paul Drye - one of my favorite RPG authors - did an amazing job in using, explaining, blending, and even changing canon so that they could produce the book.

You've got a subsector-plus of worlds, most of which nicely detailed with maps. You've got history, economics, personalities, and cultures. You've got equipment, vehicles, and ships. It's a ready made sandbox just waiting for your campaigns, adventures, and one-offs. If you've run out of ideas for those, it's got scads of campaign and adventure seeds too. It's a "sandbox" just waiting for your game.

If I were pressed to point to a "weak" section it would be the Astron Project and it's only "weak" relative to the rest of the book. There was so much that went into the book that there wasn't enough room to handle such an idea. Even the three authors I listed couldn't do justice to a campaign involving 100-parsec colonization project in the few pages available.


Regards,
Bill

Thanks Bill. Your Traveller wisdom is always a great help, and seems to know no bounds. The Mithril section is interesting. It seems well defined, but like the gold rush in Sacramento it seems like someone jumped my claim (I got this hankerin' now to go visit Sutter's Fort in old Sac all of a sudden...).

For a collection of a dozen or so worlds, this is one thick reference book. Hopefully I can get through it the next couple of days for some writing inspiration.

 

[Theophilus]

Not sure why it is going for $100. I bought my copy less then a year ago for $10 at the Gurps website. Brand new from the publisher. It still is labeled in stock for $9.95 and allows you to make the order.

I don't play Gurps, but it's an excellent fluff book.

I agree completely, I don't play Gurps, but I grabbed Sword Worlds and Interstellar Wars just for the background "fluff" an Sturn call's it. Makes me wonder if I should get some of the Alien Modules for there "fluff" value.

 

[Whipsnade]

It seems well defined, but like the gold rush in Sacramento it seems like someone jumped my claim...

Blue,

Yup, that's the price we always pay for books like Sword Worlds. "My" Winston was "lost" thanks to a single sentence in GT:Ground Forces for example.

When something gets published, it becomes fixed and there's a "loss" of "wiggle" room for the GM. When a book is excellent, like Sword Worlds, that "loss" is more than offset by the many gains. When a book is mediocre, like Behind the Claw, that "loss" is all the more galling. Of course, just where the line between "loss" and "gain" is drawn will depend on the person in question.

You can ignore Sword World's Mithril, no one says you have to use it. But replacing that Mithril with your own version can be tough because the SW Mithril fits the rest of the SW materials seamlessly. After all, the two were written together.

So, some amount of tailoring is always necessary and whether that tailoring is worthwhile is, again, up to the individual.


Regards,
Bill

 

[Khan Trav]

Okay guys, I just ordered it and then I see this post. I play CT in the spinward marches mostly centered on Regina/Regina using the information found in The Traveller Adventure for my world and setting info. I had a player who voiced some interest in the Sword Worlds but I had no reference material so it never went anwhere.

 

[richard gorman]

It's a great book for detail. Almost all the GURPs books are superb for this and great value for your money. It's noticeable for instance how much more depth and flavour Sword Worlds has in comparison to the recent Mongoose Reft Sector release. On the other hand, being nitpicky, the Nordic paradigm is stretched to breaking point at times. Overall great stuff though and it would have been lovely if this had been the start of a series of Marches subsector/district write ups. Only thing that would have greatly improved it would have been some detailed scenarios in the vein of the 'Traveller Adventure'. Might have needed a whole other book for that though. Mind you I'd have started collecting...