RBRB: Pleasures of the Harbour - RPG Review
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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2024
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Hired to solve a kidnapping, the Player Characters discover they've been pulled into a dangerous plot. Here are my thoughts, criticisms, and tips on this Wuxia mystery adventure.
Download Pleasures of the Harbor for free on the Osprey Games website: www.ospreypublishing.com/medi...
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To download my modified Player Map, go here: drive.google.com/file/d/1TyA1...
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Guest Starring Jack the NPC
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Seth, do you use worldAnvil? Would it be useful for Traveller?
Bruh.
How to turn a TTRPG into an MMORPG 😮
First sponsor in my entire life ever that I might maybe possibly actually get...
I just started using it in the last couple weeks. And yes. Certain things you can easily track and organize are NPC Contacts/Allies/Enemies/Rivals that the players roll up during character generation or just othe NPCs in general. Worlds in your game. Any factions/corporations/Militaries all of that can be easily linked and organized.
Would World Anvil be useful for your videos? Like, if you're describing an area, or making a handout, could you craft them using WA then post the image instead of what you normally do?
Not really. My maps and handouts are normally crafted or manipulated through Photoshop, which is far better for that type of thing, such as this video where I removed the location tags and sea cave in a way that matched the original map's colors and art style and left almost no sign of manipulation. World Anvil isn't a map-making program.
Jack: "...A whole city dedicated to gambling and pleasure.....This is my home..."
Seth: "...it is full of assassins...righteous killers... and a growing number of blood thirsty hungry sharks...."
Jack: "....guys lets move somewhere else...."
Welcome to Wusha Noire; Where everyone bleeds in some form....
Seth's review of RBRB got me to fall in love with this game... And now I will return to writing an RBRB adventure to have published for it.
With any luck, Jack will have a reason to get back into a comfy costume.
After watching Blue Eye Samurai this stuff gives me such desire to play/run a RBRB game
Interesting to see a review on this. Ive read both this and Hearts of Wulin, but the biggest barrier is my players don't really have as much genre knowledge past Crouching Tiger and good rpg sessions are built on a few cliches.
Show them The Man With The Iron Fists.
I think it kinda hits all the right notes without being TOO wacky.
Could be a great chance to introduce them to some media
@@JohnQ5 That movie looks great! Thanks for the suggestion.
We give a suggested viewing list in the book, and provide a crash course viewing (which suggests Magic Blade, Bride with White Hair, and Reign of Assassins----which covers a good range of sources across several decades). I find it is very individual though with players. Sometimes it is about exposing a player to the right wuxia movie for them@@Bbruin420
RUclips channel "Wu Tang Collection" has tons of old school classics of the genre. Find some you like and pass on to potential players
I actually love 'ticking timebomb situations' It is a standard of when I GM. The antagonists have a goal. They wont wait for the players to chill around. My common metric is actually units of rest. Every time players do some rest, clock ticks. So many ticks objective achieved.
I find it works really well to create both a sense or urgency and accountability without being railroading. It isnt lose if not done. More a case of 'manage your resources and consider choices'
I feel like you fell out of my algorithm. I thought, “wait. Seth has to have had something.” You did.
Welcome back
@@SSkorkowsky I've learned so much from you. Big fan. Made me feel better about things I already did and improved my game even more by giving me tips for any off rule book adjudications. Plus I enjoy the content.
Thanks for the video, Seth. I don't play this system nor do I use modules, but I've been having a blast going back and listening to all your old reviews because it feels like a huge idea well. Plus so many of your tips and criticisms can be applied universally to make any session better.
Same here. I watch his reviews whether I care about the game or not. I like that when Seth has an issue with something, he actually finds a way to deal with it.
I really can't get enough of Jack's costumed antics!
I am so glad you covered this one. I love RBRB!
Since we're talking Osprey games, I hope you cover more of them. Especially Paleomythic. It'd be hilarious to see Jack as a caveman.
I didn't know Osprey was doing RPG modules. I'm a huge fan of Frostgrave and Gaslands, so will need to check it out.
New Seth video: good day!
I love that you are looking more into RBRB. I love RBRB and Wandering Heros of Ogre Gate and there is almost no video content for them or any other wuxia / jianghu table top games.
I can see that Jack really does go all in with his character.
Excellent review as usual. I don't think my players would ever figure out what was going on, unfortunately. These Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades stories are intricate and delightful. Jack was awesome as usual.
Thanks for all the player maps and play aids you create and give us, Seth. It takes some time and effort to do these things.
Publishers don't often make a "player version" of their maps (though it has improved lately). I've occasionally edited GM maps so they could be used on vtt or even printed. It's a real shame that a lot of adventures have deliciously beautiful maps that the players may never get to see.
Sometimes, if the provided map is too much of a pain to edit, I'll recreate the map so I can use it for both.
Which is so annoying because it's much easier to both produce such maps and make them available. Just remove some layers since the map is almost certainly a digital file with overlays to begin with. And if there isn't space in a physical book, put the player map up online.
Thanks, as always, for the excellent review and the modified map.
Jack cannot relate to Heartless Dagger because his legion of former lovers are all on the best of terms with him and he has a rotating brunch schedule with them.
I had never even heard of RBRB or Osprey Games before your "6 TTRPG Rules You Should Steal" video, and now I heave three of their books (RBRB, Sigil & Shadow, and Hard City) and am looking forward to more (Tomorrow City, The Terror Beneath).
Love the videos.
As someone who speaks Mandarin, “ao” is pronounced “ow” (as in “cow”) - not a complaint, just letting you know, @SSkorkowsky - love your content, as always!
Is that "ow" as in "how now brown cow?" Or the other sound as in 'slow, show, snow, know, or bow' (not to be confused with bow)?
@@blshouse “ow” as in “cow” - sorry, should’ve specified further 😅
Does it mean blue like in japanese?
@@herman1francis Chinese is a tonal language, so how you say a word (vocal inflection plus things like context) depends on what the word actually is and what it means
@@theears995 is this called ao in mandarin? 青 and does it mean blue?
Very interesting locale and twisted plot. And a great review with your usual bonus additions!
you know, i find it particularly cool that seth isnt making slant eyes or trying to make a chinese accent for jack the npc
He's just a cool guy on a cool outfit, i like that
Early on I decided that Jack would always be consistently Jack no matter what the game setting was. At the time I didn't think it was an important decision, but I've been grateful for it ever since. I'll go to weird lengths for his outfit, but he's always just Jack.
Thanks for the great review Seth!
Thank you for an awesome game!
Thanks! @@SSkorkowsky
Seth, I enjoy your videos so much that I did not skip over the ad.
This is the first time I have to stop watching for spoilers. I was happily watching when I remembered my friend has bought this on your recommendation.
Seth posts, I upvote, the world keeps turning. Thanks for the vid!
OMG!!!! Your dice are GORGEOUS!!!! I'm, most definitely, getting a set! ✊🏾❤️💛💚✌🏾
Always excited to see a new Seth video!
I like your reviews and how you are able to find the weak points of an adventure and give tips to correct them, all while praising the game. It's the most comprehensive type of criticism.
I would love to see you do for these what you have done for "The Twin Headed Serpent" and "BTSHT 365".
Always love a new seth video
Man, been a while since I've seen a World Anvil sponsorship, and can't recall the last time I've seen you do a sponsorship bit.
You should be classified as a national treasure for all the hard work and dedication you put into our nerdy pastimes!
It is a shame that there is no additional book(s) to RBRB... it is so well written, the artwork is so fitting and they got an award if I remember correctly.
Osprey or Bai and Davis, do another book and incoporate Jack the NPC!
Edit: based on Seth Skorkowskys answer
From what I understand Osprey let Bai and Davis keep the rights to the game. So any future stuff would come from them. I believe they said they were tooling around with an expansion book, but don't know the details or if that's still in the works.
@@SSkorkowsky thanks for the answer. Interesting, it would be cool. That also explains how Jonathan Hicks can make suplements to his Those Dark Places.
You can also check out the wuxia games that Brendan Davis puts out himself as Bedrock Games that use the same core rule system: Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate, which emulates more fantastical wuxia and Strange Tales of Songling, an investigative horror game based on Chinese weird tales. They are good games in their own right, but could also be good for stealing ideas for RBRB.
@@Baulderstone1 I will check them out, thanks for the information!
Would love to see Seth do more secondary games on glass cannon. Traveller is great, but cyberpunk, delta green, the dark eye, mythras, garlands...anything 😁
That adventure sounds hysterical
This game system seems really interesting, and your reviews are great as always, though if I could say one thing it would be nice to hear more detail about which paths of the conflict your players chose, how you responded as game master to how the story developed for you, and how it all worked out in the end. Small details, especially about the unique game systems/settings like combat, wushu descriptions, or narrative development can be invaluable in running it for ourselves.
Huh. Now I really wanna play a wuxia or samurai type game! Great video as always Seth
Heck yes, new video!!!
I ran this adventure for my group! We had a lot of difficulty because it was a LOT of characters and plot threads to juggle. I could definitely tell that my players were getting confused and a little frustrated. They're used to more straightforward D&D-style adventures and I didn't take that into account. I think if I were to run this again I would make like character cards for all the NPCs to hand out so they could keep track of them. I also think this adventure is fine if you discard some of the subplots. Like the plot about the mayor's ex-wife or the stuff with the rival gangs. You could do without either of those and there's still more than enough content available.
I enjoyed this but I really think that this particular system could benefit from slightly more straight-forward adventures. I know that a lot of wuxia media has huge casts of characters and zig-zagging plots, but I think that can be difficult for some RPG groups to handle. Something like a martial arts tournament would be fun. Or an adventure set AT a martial arts tournament (think: Enter the Dragon). Something a bit more basic and easier to follow for a broader audience.
Great review! This one sounds pretty good and I'm thinking of getting a copy of the game.
Sweet! I do enjoy the setting!
It is a shame that this game got no more support. Very cool concept. I was lucky enough to find it at an LGS a few months ago.
Hell yeah, more Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades! I'm only sad there isn't more published yet, because I really love what we have. Curious to see if the "more supernatural elements" supplement idea manifests.
So how did you follow things up for the rest of your campaign post-Pleasures of the Harbor? Or did Heartless Dagger's directions lead the PCs straight to the final showdown?
My favourite jack's costume!
That game looks crazy, every adventure you review has all these twists and turns!
Very different from Legend of the 5 Rings, the one asian-themed rpg I've played.
Kinda want to try this.
Jeremy is more the expert on pronunciation than me. But I always pronounced Ao Town as "Ow Town"
You can always make your own adventures for the game. Maybe publish them as well if the developers are cool with fan content
I enjoyed the hell out of running the various actors
Please add a link to your Obsidian Bat review, especially if this is a sequel. I have not seen the Bat review. Thanks.
Here you go ruclips.net/video/Ht_OEnPNl-E/видео.html
Cool to see the world anvil sponsorship. If this is a tool you use in your GM world building, I would love to see a tutorial video... I tried using it and got lost😂
I would consider trying another campaign manager. Personally I use Kanka and find it delivers exactly what I want. World Anvil came across to me as clunky and overdesigned. Using a sledgehammer to swat a fly.
Can you cover the Universal Game Engine?
Seems like a cool thing i havent had the time to explore yet.
Easy solution for the "good byes". Write a adventure yourself and then tell us all about it!
This adventure seems interesting might try and adapt the concept to an rpg that I actually play
Next RBRB module to be written by Seth!
I'm sure that's exactly what Jack meant at the end.
;-)
⚔️
Question @sskorkowsky - isn't there a risk in this kind of adventure that the characters end up feeling like pawns (as you say they are) rather than the heroes and that they just become gloryfied extras in the fight between these powerful martial arts people?
Not really. Not unless we have some seriously passive players. Figuring out they're being used by powerful NPCs should be more about what they're going to do about it. Also, the 2 powerful martial artists don't face off. Heartless Dagger doesn't come to the city. So there's no facedown between them where the PCs just watch the more powerful NPCs showdown.
Ooooof, 1 day late
Great video as always, Seth!
Soon you’re sailing your sailing will be over, comment take the pleasures of harbor.
There’s a song by Phil oaks, called pleasures of the Harbor, and this adventure makes me think of that, at least by the name .
The title of the adventure is a Phil Ochs reference. I reference a lot of Phil Ochs titles and lyrics different projects
"Good times..." 😄😄😄
I was just thinking about this TTRPG haha
Please do more DnD module reviews. Like the sunless citadel or the lost mines. I'm just curious how you'd punch it up.
Also, have you played savage worlds? Specifically, the fantasy add on or savage pathfinder?
Never played Lost Mines or Sunless Citadel. The bulk of D&D modules I've run or played were 1e and 2e.
Haven't played Savage Worlds.
@@SSkorkowsky have you played 3rd or 5th edition?
Ran them both. Ran 5e for all of 2015, then moved off to other games.
@@SSkorkowsky oh okay. Just letting you know your channel is the reason I started destroying my players sanity with Call of Cthulhu. I had my own Jack, his name is Sam. I had him look in the door in the adventure Missed Dues.
Great GM ideas again.
Nice more RBRB.
Could this be converted to Hearts of Wulin?
You know Seth, the solution to running out of RBRB adventures...is to write one yourself. Does Osprey have any sort of OGL?
I tried to use World Anvil a few years ago but for the life of me I couldn't figure it out. Despite being born in 97, I have the computer skills of a toad.
I can't find the link to the adventure..? The one in the description just leads me to the "Osprey Roleplaying" site. Halp..?
Sure thing. It's not the most user-friendly site. Go to the link: www.ospreypublishing.com/us/discover/gaming-resources/osprey-roleplaying/
Scroll down to Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades (about halfway down). Click that and a menu expands of downloadable PDFs
It's titled 'Bonus Chapter'. There's a color version and a B&W Printer-Fiendly version.
Or... simply click here www.ospreypublishing.com/media/ryih4wkp/rbrb_bonus_chapter_print.pdf
@@SSkorkowsky Much appreciated, thank you!
So what happens if all 10 random events are just not enough for the players to figure anything out? I guess ultimately the GM can just give them a couple more tries but I still don't feel satisfied with the randomness of it.
If they haven't by the 10th, then the 11th is the massacre.
Honestly, it would be more impressive by the 10th location that they hadn't figured it out. By then, they will have talked to a lot of NPCs and visited a lot of places. Even the Events give clues, such as questioning the defeated actors.
That's why the massacre works so well. It's not just a ticking clock, it's a proactive event that pushes things forward instead of letting the PCs sit around spinning their wheels endlessly.
Is that a real jian? If not it's a cool prop.
Guess it’s time to write your own adventure for them to publish and then do a walkthrough of.
Tried this adventure, and it fell flat with my players. It devolved into silliness, and was way too much work trying to run it. The rules for NPCs use the same rules for characters, and with only a single book between all of us, it got way too hard to prep and run without combat slowing to a crawl.
We've also got 6 players, and combat was just an eternal slog where the group dog-piled on every solo enemy, or practically fell asleep waiting for me to look up every single signature ability or counter. They also tended to forget their own powers pretty regularly.
Hi Seth! 👋
Gonna be honest, I hear the words "module with political intrigue with multiple factions" and "7 pages long" and think... oh no. And that's even before it includes any setting info for the floating city.
Best hope those 7 pages use small font.
Yeah, that tends to imply to me that it's a lot of very thinly-sketched ideas or simple cliches without much development or substance. I can always cut material out but I'd rather have it and not need it than scramble to fill out someone else's outline.
In this case the two gangs are basically exactly the same but with different symbols and stats. They're just generic street gangs running protection rackets. The Golden Crab are significantly larger than the Black Tortoise but this doesn't figure into anything.
I have my Dragon Fist. Lit Wuxia game.
This adventure sounds like it can be easily adapted to Shadowrun.
Like number 500!
Nice to know Seth finally sold out
Mmm... Tea houses yes yes very very very respectable... err... establishments...
I can't help but being just a little curious... but but... who how... did your group conclude?!!? or are they all sleep'in with the fish'ies? 🦈
yay first comment!!
I am actually a big fan of Brendan Davis here on RUclips. He's got a tiny channel where he talks about wuxia from the perspective of a translator.
Thanks. Just for clarity, I am not a translator. You may be thinking of my RBRB co-writer Jeremy
East Asian pronunciations are easy: Emphasis on the first syllable of two syllable words, pronounce every vowel, and they only have one sound each. Ah, eh, ee, oh, oo. Multiple vowels don't influence each other.
So "Ao" is "AH-oh", "Kaifeng" is "KIE-feng", and so on.
World anvil has been around for years and years, and I really, really doubt Seth never heard about it until now. This is the thing that I don't like about ads. If Seth really used world anvil I guarantee you he would've mentioned it in some of his videos years ago. The fact that he never mentioned it until he's getting paid to mention it just sort of rubs me the wrong way. I know this is how ads work and advertising and I don't fault Seth for getting his bag, but I just get tired of constantly being advertised to no matter where I go.
How nice of you to make sweeping assumptions of somebody's character based on little more than a feeling. I bet you're loads of fun at parties.
@@brainjartv7709 You know what's uni? I really am. Already been to 4 birthday parties this month because my friends like having me there. My upcoming birthday party is going to be awesome. Please quote me where I said something about Sth's character. I'll wait...
@@brainjartv7709 Sill waiting for that quote...
Seth for the love of God never let raid shity legons sponcer one of your videos it is a shit game lol