Why reboot, what was ‘wrong’ with 2nd edition?

It’s not a matter of right and wrong.  Many people play Cursed Empire 2nd Ed and get a great experience from it. So in any sense that matters, there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with it.

What we did notice was that a lot of people shied away from Cursed Empire because they felt it was too complex.  We got feedback from those who tried to read it with a view to running it, that they couldn’t get the hang of the rules: they got the feeling there was a great game-world in there, they just couldn’t get to it.  Art and the way a game-book looks is also important – we can pretend it’s not, but it is. People can be turned away or brought in by the art and layout.  The art for 3rd Edition brings the feel and flavour of Thargos much more vividly to life: it still has a dark, somewhat gritty feel, but now the full-colour art makes it more of an accessible world.  With that in mind, and the fact that roleplaying game-play has changed a lot over the years since 2nd Ed was out, it was felt a reboot was in order.  The aim: retain the game-world, build on the background and story that people loved and simplify the game-play.

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If I’ve got 2nd Ed can I use the characters and stuff I’ve generated for 3rd Ed?

Part of the core mechanic in 3rd Edition is d100 based, so you’ll need to convert some stats and stuff, but yes, you can transpose characters from 2nd Ed to 3rd Ed.  All background and game-world based material remains as it was in 2nd Edition, so anything you’ve developed based on Thargos will be a  straight fit.  Once you’ve read through 3rd Edition, we’re hoping you’ll see how easy it is to generate characters that bring your vision to life, so you’ll be able to quickly regenerate the characters you have. All currently published material is valid for background and world detail, but the mechanics will need to be changed.

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What’s new / different in 3rd edition in terms of mechanics and game-play?

First and most obvious is the change to having only 3 stats for the characters.  Yep - 3.  Core stats are Might, Mind and Mysticism. They are ranked 1-20.  Main game system is still d100 based.  We’ve changed the crit system to add a d20 Crit Die that can modify both a miss and a hit with skills / combat. It creates a way to produce both crits and fumbles for combat and skills use.

Magic is still powerful and dangerous, tiring to use and hard to learn. It is not based solely on the runes but include spell-lists based on which school of magic you follow.  There are rules for using the runes and you can still play a rune-based game for magic. Character gen now follows a ‘life path’ system where you choose a life path for each stage of your life prior to entering play. Each offers access to different skills and the possibility to generate fears and phobias, friends and enemies.  Combat is split in to two compatible systems so you can mix and match: one is single blow, fast and simple, the other is more complex and involves multiple actions per combat round.  Combat is still pretty deadly.  We’ve added a ‘Tension Dice’ mechanic to ramp things up in scenes to encourage role-playing.  The rules have been streamlined to allow the Master of Tales (MT) to focus on telling the story in the games, and the players to focus on their character – who they are and what they want to do. The whole core book has been laid out for ease of use and easy access to the info you need – with less rules, everything is easier to get at.

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If I didn’t like 2nd Ed why will I like 3rd Ed?

That depends what you didn’t like about 2nd Ed!  3rd Ed is more streamlined and easier to get in to as far as the rules go.  Cursed Empire has been made generally more ‘user friendly.’  The background is still as deep and complex, and will be added to as we go: It’s all there for the MT to get what they need to run games.  The focus is very much on telling stories through running games, and role-playing characters that want to build renown in a very dangerous world.  You’ll still either like that or dislike that about Cursed Empire. 

Is it just another generic fantasy ttrpg, and if not, why not?

This is a tough one to answer without sounding like a salesperson.  Cursed Empire has a detailed background and some races / cultures that you won’t find in any other game, but is also has some familiar fantasy concepts.  Any ‘fantasy ttrpg’ has to have some things in common: it’s the genre.  Cursed Empire, like all rpgs, is simply a tool to tell stories and run games.  It will be up to those using the game to give it their own personal feel and flavour.  The history of Thargos, the people, the culture and the religion, all have a feel that is unique to the realm.    There are magic users, warriors, priests, rogues, assassins, merchants and many different Households, Temples and factions. These are not unique as a concept, but how they are realised in any game is what gives it a feel all its own.  Yes, it’s another fantasy ttrpg.  And yes, there are things unique to the game in both background and games-mechanics, that make it its own beast.