Game Geeks #117 Houses of the Blooded

Game Master Kurt Wiegel reviews and educates viewers on role playing games.
This week, Houses of the Blooded BY John Wick
http://housesoftheblooded.net/

Game Geeks
http://gamegeeksrpg.com/
Host:
Kurt Wiegel
Production:
Rob Mattison
Game Geeks © PugKnows Productions

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• game
• geeks
• role
• playing
• rpg
• Wiegel
• Mattison
• Houses
• of
• the
• Blooded
• John
• Kirk
• adventure

[allluckyseven]

John Wick has a series of videos on which he describes various aspects of the game and the reasons behind them on his Youtube channel, LordStrange

Also, the tag, compel and invoke icons shown near the end of the video are upside down!

[pugknowspro]

I goofed on the Icons, must have scanned them upside down... Apologies around.

Rob

[DanielSolis81]

Nice review, but the aspect icons were upside down! :P

[pugknowspro]

I wish I could say I was testing you. :)

Rob

[KitFoxtrot]

I don't know that any other system would do it justice. My wife and I were involved in doing the editing for the game, and the system was constructed specifically for the style of the game and the type of themes that are expected to play out.

If you used another system... you'd lose all of that. Invoking your opponent's weaknesses, forcing them to succumb to their fatal flaws. Calling upon servants, building and controlling your domain and using the resources against your foes.

[KitFoxtrot]

You're part of a race called the Ven - slaves to an older race which has since vanished. A civilization has been built, with anything and anyone not part of your culture being considered 'outside'. The civilization is slowly beginning to decay, and you're involved in high politics and intrigue. The game's specifically designed that the GM/Players can add to the game any elements they wish. Some people have converted Legend of the Five Rings, others have done their own thing.

[Iluminatiflex]

I've loved houses of the blooded, I've been running a Campaing of it for over two years now and I absolutely agree with this guy. it's a very interesting game, you have to pick the right players for it tough. people who likes politics and tragedy (people very hooked up with a song of ice and fire would like this game very much), not a game for everybody but I dont belive there ARE games for everybody. buy it and enjoy it.

[ChuckHenebry]

A crucial aspect of the game is the way that its subsystems play into one another. To maximize your take of resources from your landholdings, you're encouraged to take a spouse; but the romance system gives you an incentive to strike up a torrid affair along the lines of Medieval courtly love. And all that gives players cause for revenge and duels of honor.

[ShubertCVGC]

I actually found Houses very easy to get into. You can make characters in half an hour and start playing without any kind of prep whatsoever. It might be a tiny bit more work for the players since they'll want to come up with interesting aspects and story ideas, but it's a hell of a lot less work for the GM who can literally show up to the table with nothing and create an excellent story.

[LordSathar]

For some reason whenever people mention HotB, I think of Blackadder.

[azirk83]

I honestly thought HotB was nothing to write home about. I make that quite clear in my responses to Wick's video diary for the design of the game, many of his ideals I don't really cotton to.

The Ven themselves are quite silly and pretentious. I couldn't bring myself to like the race enough to play the game.

Check out all the Greek tragedies sometime, characters don't need crippling flaws to be tragic. Most of the good tragedy is self-inflicted and due to circumstance, not prowess related

[markol44]

hey Polish handbook cover 7th sea why?

[KitFoxtrot]

In comparison? I liked W:tA, and wanted to play a good, solid game of it, but most players see 'Kill The Wyrm' and turn their brains off. If you ran W:tA like you'd run HotB, you'd have the different Septs, Tribes, and Packs slowly undermining and backstabbing each other, and the Wyrm threat would be a footnote in the game, used only once in a blue moon. I'd love to have been in a W:tA game like that. Don't know anyone who would run it that way though.

[KitFoxtrot]

I don't know if it would work for that. A lot of what is expected in the game can't work with D&D. A lot of the D&D attributes, skills, and powers would completely undermine the flavour of the game and what would be expected.

[aderier]

Tonight on freaks and geeks they played D&D. the show is ofcoruse 10 years old and based in the early 80s but still its niceto see it somelove of gaming.