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Torg RPG+Infiniverse newsletter (volume 1 included) H Torg Drama Deck The Living Land The Nile Empire Aysle The Cyberpapacy Nippon Tech Orrosh Space Gods Tharkold Worldbook I Delphi Council Terra Toyoko Citybook Los Angeles Citybook Berlin Citybook The Lightning and the Lizard (PDF inc in 20903) The Destiny Map The Possibility Chalice The Forever City The Cassandra Files Queenswrath The Godnet High Lord of Earth Full Moon Draw Pixaud's Practical Grimoire Kanawa Personal Weapons Operation: Hard Sell The Land Below Crucible of Pain Kanawa Heavy Weapons City of Demons Cylent Scream Kanawa Land Vehicles Infiniverse Update Vol 2 Storm Knights Guide to The Possibility Wars Creatures of Aysle Character Collection The Temple of Rec Stalek Centray Valley Gate Creatures of Orrosh Creatures of Tharkold Ravagons No Quarter Given When Axioms Collide The Gaunt Man Returns Infiniverse Update Vol 1 High Lords Guide of the Possibility Wars Cleric's Sourcebook Infiniverse Update Vol 3 War's End Torg 1.5 (hardcover) Torg 1.5 (softcover) Torg Accessory Pack Torg Introductory Pack A More Perfect Union H
Torg RPG (Playtest rules) 201514 The Demon Invasion Graphic Trade Paperback
Infiniverse (volume 1, WEG) campaign newsletter (#2-40) H Inviniverse (volume 2, OGP) campaign newsletter (#1) H Fiction: City of Pain Dark Realm, The Dragons Over England H Interview with Evil Mysterious Cairo The Nightmare Dream Out of Nippon Storm Knights H Strange Tales from the Nile Empire H in 20501 Stormshooters and Troubleknights Comic: Torg (issues 1-4) 1) Did the Torg Accessory Pack (20902a) come with new covers.. the description s ays "The books have the updated purple covers"? Yes they did, purple covers 2) I seem to think that "A More Perfect Union" was released as a print product f irst at gencon 2005? Yes there was, there is a print version dated August 2005. I'm 99.99% sure this was released at Gencon 2005 at the same time as the 1.5 version.. If anyone has em, I'll be looking to buy the following... 1) All the fiction books in one lot.. not desperate for this but would be nice 2) Torg 1.5 20902 (softcover) 3) Infinverse Newsletters- vol 1 no 32, vol 1 no 33, vol 1 no 40
Torg: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars Torg: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars Playtest Review by Robert J. Grady on 04/ 08/02 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A cinematic, eccentric, epic, multi-genre, imaginitive game. Simply unique. Prod uct: Torg: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars Author: Multiple authors Category: RPG Company/Publisher: West End Games Line: Torg Cost: $10.00 Page count: 142 Year published: ISBN: 0-87431-300-7 SKU: 20501 Comp copy?: no Playtest Review by Robert J. Grady on 04/08/02 Genre tags: Fantasy Science Fiction Modern day Horror Espionage Conspiracy Postapocalyse Asian/Far East Superhero
Torg is a multi-genre RPG about the invasion by Earth of by evil High Lords and their alien realities. Torg is an action RPG, inspired by Hollywood blockbusters . The enemy realities are worlds, but they are also genres. I. Contents Torg originally came in a boxed set, containing the Rulebook, an Adventure Book, and a World book, plus one Drama Deck and a special Torg die (a red-and-blue mo ttled D20, highly prized by Torg enthusiasts). The art varies in quality, from m ediocre to striking. The Rulebook cover is a passable glossy of a bionic future punk and a Catholic priest, with an evil face lurking the clouds. The back cover has the memorable phrase, "The storm has a name..." These books are all of stur dy construction. The books have a nice, dark, attractive font. II. Capsule in Brief The Rulebook is divided into two sections. In the Player's Section, Chapter One is Creating a Character. Torg's default is a template-based system; assign some skill points, and go. This section is brief. Chapter Two is The Basics. While it does go into much detail, it does a good job of explaining some of the Torg mec hanics, a language all their own. Chapter Three is the Drama Deck. Since card pl ay is a unique feature of Torg, this beats some explanation as well. Chapter Fou r is an introductory solo, the Lizard and the Lightning. The Gamemaster Section is divided into thirteen chapters, beginning with On Bein g a Gamemaster, a thorough treatment of the Torg rules, some background on the w orld of Torg, and a section on creating new character templates. The Worldbook is an indispensable companion. It's a combination gazeteer of Core Earth and the Realms, and rules supplement for the Realms. The Adventure Book has two sections. The first is a primer on running Torg. The second part contains a sample adventure (Before the Dawn) that introduces the me taplot, as well as various adventure seeds. Torg suffers from some organization problems. Some rules appear only in the Play er's Section or only in the Gamemaster's Section. The first part of the Adventur e Book should probably have been integrated into the rulebook. There is no index . Several Realms in the Worldbook introduce new skills. The sample adventure is abysmal; besides being highly linear, it features a silly German damsel in distr ess popping up in dinosaur-occupied Los Angeles, and doesn't capture the flavor of the Realms very well. It's also quite difficult for beginning characters. III. Torg Mechanics Characters have the Attributes of Dexterity, Strength, Toughness, Perception, Mi nd, Charisma, and Spirit. Human average if 8, with an upper bound of 12. This ma y see flat, but Torg uses an exponential scale, such that every 5 points marks a tenfold increase. PC's have an average Attribute of 9 and 3/7. Each template ha s a Tag Skill, rated at 3 adds, and may distribute 13 adds among other skills (u p to 3). A Skill has a related Attribute, to which it is simply added when gener ating a result total. To perform an action, the player generates a dice total, by rolling D20. A natur al 10 or 20 entitles the player to another roll. The total is compared to a char t that generates a Bonus Number; the Bonus Number is added to the Attribute or S kill. If the result total equals or exceeds the Difficulty Number, the action su cceeded. In cases where a degree of success is needed, the margin of success can be read on a chart that will give a result of Minimal, Average, Good, Superior, or Spectacular. Combat and other situations use the margin of success in other
ways. There are two kinds of characters. The first are Ords, normal characters. The se cond are Possibility-rated characters, which includes the player characters, imp ortant NPC's, and the villains. Possiblity-rated characters are defined by the R eality skill and Possibility Points. PC's begin with 10 Possibility Point. By sp ending a Possibility Point, the character is entitled to add another open-ended die to an action total. A Possibility can also cancel some damage. Finally, they are used to fuel some abilities. Characters earn Possibilities throughout the a dventure, and receive an additional award at the ened. Possibilities are also us ed as experience points; they may be spent between adventures to learn or improv e skills. Besides Possibility Points, characters also have the Drama Deck on their side. I t is used in two ways. First, there is the initiative line. Each round, a card i s drawn. It determines which side goes first, as well as describing special cond itions. For instance, "V: Up H: Flurry" means the bad guys go first AND get a fr ee roll-again, but the good goes get to make two actions apiece. The Deck is als o used as a tool for the players to influence the game. Each player keeps a hand of cards. These cards may be Hero Cards (may be used as an additional, free Pos sibility Points), Adrenaline cards ( 3 DEX, STR, or TOU for one roll or event), or Subplot cards (which may introduce relationships with NPC's, provide helpful clues, or allow special actions like Martyr). Players use their cards in conjunc tion with Possibilities to create humongous action totals, allowing the kind of super-action found in Hollywood blockbusters. For instance, a character shooting at a jeep might, by spending a Possibility, using a Hero card, and Adrenaline, eagle-eye the engine and disable the jeep in one lucky shot. Cards are regenerat ed between Acts. Additional cards may also be gained by taking Approved Actions. While most games treat sand-throwing, intimidation, or fake-outs as matters for GM judgment, Torg takes an exhaustive, innovative approach. Besides the standard attacks, Torg allows you to Maneuver, Trick, Intimidate, or engage in a Test of Wills. These can have the result of making an opponent lose a roll again, act a s Unskilled, or on a supreme roll, suffer a Player's Call, suffering the worst p ossible outcome of the character's intent. These Interaction rolls are sort of a bridge between the Charm and Persuasion rules and Combat. In Torg, it is not on ly possible, but desirable, to attempt to tire out or trick your opponent, just like the movies. Besides the immediate benefits, which can be significant, the I nteraction rolls appear as Approved Actions on the Drama Deck. If a character su ccesfully performs the Approved Action, the player draws an additional card. Combat is basically a skill contest. If you hit, your same roll as used as an Ef fect Total, and the result points are read against their Toughness as damage. Or ds take more damage than Possbility-rated characters; the in-game explanation is that an infusion of Possibility energy makes someone more able to escape death, while the basic effect is another version of the Mook Rule. One quirk of combat is known to Torg afficianos as the "Glass Ninja Effect." In short, because it i s so hard to hit a high DEX character (such as a ninja), when you do hit, your r oll must very high, translating into a large damage total. Splat. Some gamers re gard this as a fatal flaw, others as not a problem, and many come up with their own House Rules and fixes. The core book cover a variety of weapons and equipment from various technology l evels with admirable ease. It also includes the house Magic and Miracle systems. Some players may find the mechanics overly complicated. However, Torg's unique b lend of narrativism and number-crunching can be very satisfying. IV. Torg: The Possibility Wars
The setting is this: sometime in the Near Now, on an Earth basically like ours, alien invaders strike. The United States experiences huge areas of blackout and technology "dead zones" as bipedal dinosaurs attack. Indonesia falls off the map , Egypt gets invaded by shocktroopers and tanks, and France turns back the dial to the Middle Ages and the era of Papal supremacy. Earth has been invaded by the High Lords. Each High Lord is a supervillain of supervillains, armed with a Darkness Device. The Darkness Device is actually an evil entity that takes the form of a powerfu l artifact appropriate to its home reality. The High Lords receive great power. The goal of a High Lord is ultimately to become Torg, a demi-god with full comma nd of his Darkness Device. To accomplish this, he must drain the Possibilities, the lifeblood of Reality. What High Lords do is to open interdimensional gates t o other realities. They then invade, bringing their reality with them. The invad ed reality fights back. Stelae, special devices designed to absorb and store Pos sibilities, connect the invaded Realm to the invader's reality. As Possibilities run low, and belief shifts from the original reality to the invader's, the area is transformed. The transformation is physical, as trees spring up in industria lized areas or castles turn into modern offices, but it is also metaphysical. Re ality is defined by belief. In some realities, magic is possible. In others, tec hnology we consider "impossible" is commonplace. But such an invasion requires careful planning. A surge of Possibilities can des troy poorly placed stelae, while the invaded reality has millions of souls ready to oppose the invader. Furthermore, the clash of realities causes the forces of Reality to create champions. People Transcend, becoming Possibility-rated, able to alter destiny to their will. Many of these become heroes, a threat dispropor tionate to their numbers. Torg is a game of legends; these Storm Knights serve a s a focus of the resistance, while also inspiring ordinary people to believe and fight back. While the invading realms blanket Earth with a new reality, it is possible to de fy the new reality. People can create "contradictions." The Possibility-rated ca n even create personal bubbles of their home reality. But over time, the world t ransforms to the new way of being. Each invader brings their own version of reality with them. Most of these are re cognizable variations or fusions of cinematic genres. They are: The Living Land - Blanketing much of the former United States and Canada, this i s a land of primitive reality and spiritual omnipresence. The invaders are the E deinos, bipedal reptiles who revere Lanala, Lover of Life, through their panenth eistic, ecstatic faith. Technology doesn't work here; neither does magic. But th e edeinos are capable of a wide variety of miracles, including prayers that turn pain into joy, or create weapons out of living things. The edeinos loathe "dead things." Their leader is Baruk Kaah, High Priest of Lanala. Like many High Lord s, his ambition lead to corruption, making him an easy tool for the Darkness Dev ice. Besides encouraging Baruk Kaah to use and handle "dead thing" (like Earthly tools or stelae), this Darkness Device has also perverted Lanala's ecstatic fai th into a religion of war and arrogance. The Living Land is sort of a cross betw een "Land of the Lost," "The Herculoids," "Jurassic Park," and "The Gods Must Be Crazy." The Nile Empire - A colorful fusion of pulp adventure and Egyptian myth, the Nil e Empire is a near-Earth reality, Terra, similar to our 1930's. The Pharaoh Moeb ius was a costumed arch-villain. A resurrected Pharaoh of a legendary time, he a cquired a Darkness Device in his quest for mystical artifacts. Rather than conqu ering his home world, like most High Lords, he simply disappeared, and turned hi s attentions to other realities. His twisted realms feature Tommy guns, masked v igilantes, weird science, Egyptian magic, and the miracles of Egyptian myth. Thi
nk of the Pharaoh as a supervillain who won. However, some of Terra's heroes dis covered what had happened, and found a way to follow him to Earth. These Mystery Men are reminiscent of early Golden Age superheroes. The Nile Empire is Flash G ordon meets Indiana Jones, with echoes of "The Shadow," "The Rocketeer," Weird T ales, "The Dark Knight Returns," and the Golden Age Green Lantern. Fans of Adven ture! should feel right at home. The Cyberpapacy - With reality at his fingertips, Jean Malreux, the Pope of Avig non, set about putting the world under the rule of his Church, and perverting th e stern Catholic faith of his world into something that better suited his purpos es. Another Earth-like reality, Malreux's invasion plunged France and her neighb ors into a new Dark Age, complete with an enthusiastic Inquisition. But in the e arly days of the Possibility Wars, some heroic Storm Knights confronted Malreux. In the process, Malreaux was connected with Earth's mythic Dreamtime as well as a cybertech reality. He transformed, and his Darkness Device propogated the cha nge. Embracing cyberware as the Lord's gift, he rules over the Cyberpapacy, a re alm of Middle Age theocracy and cyberpunk technology, peppered with sorcery and demons. Malreux is a wicked Antichrist, a deluded would-be-messiah who is actual ly a pawn of evil. Aysle - Fantasy reality. Not a D&D knockoff, this realm nonetheless supplies the requisite elves and dragons. Aysle is a disc-shaped world ruled by humans, popu lated with oppressed, jaded dwarves, violent, chaotic giants, and aloof elves. A ysle features such unique touches as Secular Dwarvenists, Renaissance-era techno logy, and a strong Scandanavian flavor. The High Lord is a special case. Once, t he evil Uthorian invaded Aysle, wearing his Crown of Darkness. Light and Dark ba ttled. In one decisive battle, Uthorion killed Queen Ardinary's champion, then c onfronted the Queen herself. Rather than simply kill her, Uthorian sunderered hi s spirit and took over her body. Impersonated the Queen, he claimed victory, and set about placing all of Aysle under his rule. But during the Possibility Wars, he was drive from Ardinary's body. Ardinary, a good-hearted and honorable ruler , is now technically the High Lord. She won't use the Darkness Device, but is re luctant to call back her forces until things are set right. Meanwhile, Uhtorion has taken a new body, a Viking warchief, and is still scheming to reclaim his pl ace as High Lord. Think "Willow" meets "Braveheart" meets "Excalibur," with touc hes of "Beowulf," "Lord of the Rings," and "The Three Musketeers." Nippon Tech - Most invasions on Earth began with spectacular bridges decending f rom the Heavens. Not so in Japan. There, a secret army of businessman, gangsters , and spies arrived well in advance. When the invasion hit, no one noticed a thi ng except some odd weather. But something had happened. Nippon Tech is a megacor poration, one that ultimately controls most of Japan, and a disturbing amount el sewhere. In a short amount of time, Japan's technology skyrocketed, along with p ollution and crime. Meanwhile, the Yakuza are on the move, allied with mysteriou s ninja. Nippon Tech is a non-magical, non-spiritual realm of intrigue and techn ology. But in the corners lurk the discontent and the secrets of the Martial Art s. Think "Rising Sun" meets "Robocop," with dashes of Akira and the ninja movies of the 80's. Finally, there is Orrorsh- the realm of Victorian Horror. Another Earth-like wor ld, in Orrorsh's history, there arose an Empire that ruled the world. Redcoats b rought order and civilization to the darkest corners of Gaea. But then something happened, something horrible, and the world become plunged into a living nightm are. Behind it all was the Gaunt Man, a name synonymous with evil. Gradually, th e Empire crumbled, leaving only a fortress-like enclave of civilization on an is land called Victoria. The rest of the world was lost to murder, terrors of the n ight, and diabolism. Worse, one of the Victorian's own unleashed evil onto our E arth. The Victorian marched, hoping to undo what they had wrought. But they had been duped. The Gaunt Man was behind it all. Orrorsh is a realm of Victorian col onialism. Most of Indonesia and surrounding have been pacified by the Victorians
or lost to unspeakable horrors. The Gaunt Man is the High Lord's High Lord. It is he who provided the others with their monstrous Gospog shamblers and the drea d Ravagons. It was he who orchestrated the unprecedented joint invasion of Earth . Think "Dracula," "Frankenstein," "The Stand," and "Heart of Darkness." Ultimately, each realm must be defeated. To do so, the heroes must find a way of defeating and removing the stelae, while avoiding destruction by the High Lords and their minions. V. Playing Torg Character creation is pretty straightforward. The most difficult part is acclima ting players to a game system that is moderately complex and frequently idiocync ratic. Also, as an out-of-print game, many mechanical problems remain unfixed. S ome players may not know what to do with Possibilities and cards at first, but t hey are vital to survival. Thanks to the Internent, Torg is still fan-supported and even occasionally (I ha ve heard) played. The best parts are the odd genre collisions, like ninjas versus Cyberpriests, or a gang of Ayslish dwarves trying to thwart an Egyptian crime boss. Torg aspires to a heroic scope, and largely succeeds, despite some mechanical shortcomings a nd occasional inconsistencies. Torg Gm's have the task, and the privilege, of wr iting house rules and updating source material. Torg is more than ten years old. It's quirky and orphaned, but still interesting. West Eng Games continues to sell Torg rulebooks and the remaining sourcebooks at bargain prices. Other items can be harder to find, but nearly all the Torg merc handise can be found somewhere on the Internet. Torg game fiction includes the original trilogy (palatable game fiction), Out of Nippon (great, great Nippon/Orrorsh crossover, City of Pain (awful, awful book about Berlin, a clumsily introduced mixed zone), Strange Tales of the Nile Empir e (great stuff), and more. Torg begs to be converted, but the complexities of the setting are such to make it a monumental undertaking. And you'd have to figure out something to do with t he Drama Deck, it's just too cool.
