INTEREST CHECK - Tales from the Loop

The landscape was full of machines and scrap metal connected to the facility in one way or another. Always present on the horizon were the colossal cooling towers, with their green obstruction lights. If you put your ear to the ground, you could hear the heartbeat of the Loop – the purring of the Gravitron, the central piece of engineering magic that was the focus of the Loop’s experiments. The facility was the largest of its kind in the world, and it was said that its forces could bend space-time itself.

Tales from the Loop is a roleplaying game in which the players take on the roles of Kids ages 10-15 who escape from their boring, everyday lives to investigate strange mysteries in a speculative 1980s setting based on the paintings of Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag.

I've never played before, so this would be a learning experience for me, but I'm a huge fan of the setting and have been dying to give it a shot. Drop a comment if you'd be interested.

That's some cool-ass artwork!

That artwork is amazing! If I wasn't at my limit for game commitment, I'd apply! Best of luck!

Sign me up. Sounds like a cool setting!

Well, if you're in, then so am I (plus the bonus of another game with Santouche).

Sign me up, too!

I can't pass on a game that has art work like that. Count me in. This is published by Modiphius right? I've played Mutant Year Zero before. Is it like that?

I'm taking a shine to the "hick" class..

It's D6 based and the reviews I read indicate it is very similar, yes.

Nice! I'll start working on a character, I'm thinking of going with the "hick".

I ordered a hard copy of the book today -- it will arrive Thursday. The artwork is worth it alone.

Yes please. Why not!

I've never played M:YZ, but yes, it's based on that dice mechanic.

Airickson, 78, Squad - you're all in. I'll brush up on the rules and figure out exactly what I want to run. If another player or two jump in in the meantime, even better. Gimme about a week, I'd say, to get it up and running.

I'll probably start with one of the pre-written adventures from the core rulebook (unless I have a sudden flash of inspiration), so stay away from those for your own good if you're taking a look in there.

Dandy! You're in, Librarian.

Been curious about this system for awhile now. There's a copy sitting in my FLGS... I don't think I can handle another game at the mo, but would you consider making it public and floating the forum link, so I could be a fly on the wall?

As long as all my players are cool with it, I'm more than happy to make the game public!

I'm going to go ahead and make the game forum, just in case doing so draws any additional interest in the game. I'll send the four of you invites, but please don't submit characters quite yet. We should chat a bit about setting, and since the Kids are all supposed to be friends - or at least associates - I'd like to talk through the development of the party as a whole group. So feel free to get inspired and generate ideas for your Kid, but don't get too married to any concepts quite yet. We have a few group decisions to make first.

This looks interesting, but I think I too am at my limit. I'll also take a peek in if it's public.

Up to five players, giving this a bump to see if we can get a 6th before we kick things off.

Do you envision us doing the Swedish Loop or the US Loop?

That's one of the things I wanted to talk about with you all!

My lean is towards US. Frankly, I like the geographic setting of the Swedish loop better - all the islands and stuff - but the middle of the desert has potential as well, and obviously I'm more fluent in American culture, history, naming customs, etc etc etc.

So for those reasons, if it were purely up to me, I would pick US - I kinda shudder thinking about having to constantly type Swedish proper nouns with all those accent marks - but I'm open to being persuaded otherwise if players have strong enough opinions one way or the other.

Not knowing a thing about the rulebook, or the settings described there, my preference would also be for somewhere a little more familiar. Could it be a fictional US locale that has the geography you like? Just a thought.

The artwork IS really amazing.

Basically, the Loop is a giant particle accelerator. The setting as-written assumes there are only two Loops in the world: one on the Malaren Islands in Sweden, which is basically the "primary setting", and one in Boulder City, NV, featuring Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. I don't hate the American setting at all, I'm just a sucker for interconnected islands and getting around by boat.

There is a "hometown hack" chapter, where they talk about how to homebrew a loop for other locations. I'm open to that option, but for now, I'd probably just as soon use the Boulder City locale if it was the same to everyone else.

I guess what I'm saying is this: I'm leaning towards Boulder City, and unless players want to make a case for a Swedish or homebrewed setting (which, if you want either of those, please make your case), that's where I'd expect the game to be set.

I, too, am largely indifferent. Should we choose the Swedish location, I'm going to play the most American-Swedish kid imaginable, so it won't truly impact how I roleplay, I don't think. The rulebook appears to be weighted towards the Swedish location, but it makes generous allowances for the US location.

Note that the locations are quite specific in the book; although a GM could homebrew his/her own world, I'm assuming Santouche will want to use the "official" locations/descriptions in the text. (I know I would -- I can't imagine running a brand new system and also creating the world at the same time, even though that's exactly what used to be done!)

I will gladly comply with the US setting

US setting in the desert is totally fine by me!

Being a new player, I agree, we should be where it would easiest. My vote is for the US.

Groovy. That's a solid democratic majority - Boulder City it is.

fictional US sounds good

Alright, I put some background/setting info up on the game forum for you all to peruse at your leisure (will add some more, particularly images etc, as time allows - if you have the book and have already read it, it's all material from there), as well as started up a Kid Creation forum. See you all over there!

Is it necessary to have the books to play? I know very little of the mechanics but am aware of the general setting.

Nope! Super simple mechanics, no need to have any of the books.

Cool; any room left :)

Yessir, last spot for now! Maybe I'll open up more in the future once we see how the game plays. I'll send you an invite, welcome to the party.