Torg occurs as role-playing game released by West End Games in 1990.

Game description

Torg occurs as cinematic multi-genre RPG which at a period of its release utilized many innovative techniques. Players choose a role of Storm Knights, deliberately larger-than-epic heroes engaged within fighting a invasion of Globe, to cease it existence conquered by many invasive dimensions (known as cosms), to each one by having its have separate reality; cosms largely correspond by having popular roleplaying genres.

A title was originally an acronym for A within-home developement title: The More Roleplaying Game. Unable to locate a better title, a title wwhen adopted as the official title & applied to the game. List that were considered however rejected include Shadow Wars, Shadow Spawn, Twilight Shadows, & Endless Globe.

Notable features

Deriving enjoyment from either how else characters, devices, & environments of the various realities interact, like getting Terminator-style futuristic cyborgs risky venture alongside Dungeons & Dragons-style mages in an Indiana Jones-style pulp setting. Swimming the game by using an explicitly larger-than-life or even 'cinematic' overtone (when inside Star Wars or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as opposed to RPGs rather Vampire The Masquerade or Dungeons & Dragons). The unified mechanics formulas suitable for any setting; character attributes & gage mechanics have one sliding shell ('Xviii' might equally mean an hour of instance, the truckload of weight, renowned markman's skill, or even $4,000) & the unified method of project guide involving the d20. A stake's backstory involves 'possibility energy', which may be utilized by Storm Knights to achieve heroic effort. In the bet on mechanics the spent possibility gives the streaming video player the risk to produce even more, an extra die roll, possibly leading to greater profits. Likewise, an involved deck of cards will bring bonus rolls or even skill points & contains ideas for extra character interaction. A few one cards may be utilized instead of Possibility energy. Emphasis in groupwork & character interaction by exchange & rendering of cards. Of note at a period of its release was Torg's 'Infiniverse' campaign, an challenging attempt at creating an interactional campaign setting. Infiniverse subscribers were sent response forms, across which it can inform WEG of the progress of their campaigns. Streaming video player input actually influenced the campaign setting across a 'rumour' rules ('rumour' were introduced within Infiniverse updates, & a majority of reactions would determine whether that rumour was 'admittedly' or even non). Piece unquestionably innovative, a Infiniverse campaign at long last floundered fallowing a number one season or even therefore.

The setting

Based on data from either a cosmology of Torg, in the beginning each dimension, or even cosm, was separate from every more. Nevertheless, the ravenous respire referred to as A Nameless A single world health organization fed on the energy of the cosms created many intelligent machines called Darkness Hardware & scattered a two throughout the cosms. Wherever it landed, a Darkness Gear attached by having an dweller of the cosm, yielding him awesome power. People world health organization possessed Darkness Gear were referred to as High Lords. Through the power of his Darkness Device, the High Lord can rip open the portal to more cosms. By sending an invasion click through a portal, a High Lord may slowly remake the target cosm into a duplicate of his have when at the same time draining the target of its possibility energy. Because a encroacher's reality remade a physical laws of a beachfront, his armies were very much additional effectual within combat than the target's defense. E.g., in case a magic cosm invaded the technology-depending of these, the defenders' guns would prevent working when a encroacher would keep around access to spells for which there was there are no known defense. Therein way, incursive more cosms provided each freshly lands to conquer & wow power which a High Lord may utilise to extend his life-time, give himself recently abilities, & potentially modify the physical laws of his page cosm.

If you play or even intend to play TORG, reading a rest of this segment might spoil surprises your systems Game Master intends you to discover across role-swimming.

Amongst a cosms known within Torg, a virtually all successful & mighty High Lord was A Gaunt Human, High Lord of Orrorsh. He experienced been invading & destroying more cosms for hundreds to thousands of years prior to a game opened. Based on data from a backstory of Torg, a Gaunt Human stumbled through a cosm of Globe within his travels & was astounded per total of possibility energy available for the pickings. Alwhen for him, that equivalent total of energy manufactured it impossible for a Gaunt Human to just invade Globe as he experienced therefore several others; the energy backlash would develop overwhelmed his portal. A Gaunt Human so began forming alliances by having a High Lords of many more worlds. It would totally invade Globe touching-simultaneously, spreading a energy backlash through everthing their fronts. This invasion provided a setting for a game -- every encroacher brought his have, strikingly different realm to earth thus that different physical locations through the globe too experienced different laws of reality. A realms extant inside Torg's original edition were when follows:

Core Globe -- "our" Globe, a base reality. However given a spectacular nature and severity of the stake, Core Globe experienced slightly better technology than the real life likewise when a select few basic access to magic. Dwelling Land -- the Lost World-style jungle covering large swaths of the United States' East and West coasts + the little piece of Canada. A dominant metal money were mechanical man dinosaurs known as edeinos. Technology & magic were all however missing but a dweller experienced access to right miracles. Aysle -- the sorcerous, on line-technology realm that covered virtually all of the United Kingdom and parts of Scandinavia. A realm was similar to traditional Dungeons & Dragons settings but with slightly less powerful magic and somewhat better technology. A Cyberpapacy -- covering France, this was an interesting realm combining a mediaeval repressing theocracy with cyberpunk technology and attitudes. Nippon Tech -- the ultracapitalist nightmare society covering virtually all of Japan in which no a single was trusty & where martial creative person, computer hackers, & yakuza fought to bring down the corporate-controlled government. the Newly Nile Empire -- depending around N Africa, this realm combined a restored Ancient Egypt with pulp sensibilities. 1930's technology worked side-by-side using Egyptian sorcerous uranology when costumed Mystery Men patrolled a back street of Cairo. Orrorsh -- the Lovecraftian horror realm placed around Indonesia where the realm's Victorians considered it their White Man's Burden to protect the natives from the unspeakable monsters roaming the countryside. A greatest enemy around Orrorsh, but, was a enemy in: a realm would attempt to seduce Storm Knights to the side of Wickedness.

When a game progressed, supplementary realms were added: Space Gods/Star Sphere/Akashthe -- a high-technology spacefaring society away from Chariots of the Gods that had visited South America centuries before. A Akashans experienced their have compound empire of alien races which can be added to the game. This realm introduced advanced biotech & psionics to the Possibility Wars. Tharkold -- house of the race of magic & technology-applying demons that got enslaved their globe's native mortal people. In a game, a Tharkoldu orignally planned to invade the Soviet Union however an Globe psychic defeated the two. It late established the little realm inside Los Angeles. Terra -- non an incursive realm however like a house cosm of a encroacher from either the Nile Empire, this was a other straightforward bonding resins realm while forgoing the ancient Egyptian caparison & magic.

Players may project characters for even even any one realms, & then the person of adventurers will contain the magician, the fuzz, the lamithe hunter, the extr-hero, the cybernetically-enhanced arms-runner, the dwarf mineworker, the sestet-foot dinosaur priest, or the beetle-prefer alien by using a bad temper, and any one characters may sooner or later see swordfighting, kung fu, wizard, or nethacking.

Drawbacks

When a breadth of Torg was one of its virtually all exciting features, it too stimulated important problems. Because of the scope of the game & its incorporation of therefore several skills, it became unmanageable. Besides expensive -- every of the above realms was detailed around its have sourcebook, & numbers of punt system were relegated there too. For example, in case a character wanted to utilize magic in any however a virtually all rudimentary way, a streaming video player required to have the Aysle Sourcebook. Psionics were covered in the Akasha sourcebook, martial arts in the Nippon Tech book, extremely powers in the Nile Empire & Terra's, & cyberwear/bionics in the Cyberpapacy's. Although in case your systems Cyberpapcy character wanted to hack a Net, we required eventually an additional supplement for victims system. When this allowed the class action to choose their game in any counsel it wished, it mass produced it hard to keep higher sustaining all the system. This especially since long-long-run campaigns tended to lead to cross-genre characters like the mage by owning the bionic eye or even an FBI professional world health organization learned karate.

Game history

Torg at first achieved the select few profits around a sodden market. Even so, various factors like unfortunate quality control around freshly products, a big total of compulsory gage poop to buy, & involuntariness to utilise the Internet as a medium, intended that by 1994 simply two or three hardcore fans remained. Various attempted sales of a property & failing tries at revising & resurrecting the game ensued. When of 2004, Torg is once more under ownership of West Prevent Games (although WEG itself is under recently ownership) & the fresh version is under development.

From either an announcement by WEG's todays creator on the official Torg forums:

"To that end, we are beginning our "countdown to the freshly Torg" event at GenCon 2005; at this event we will have at least two products designed for established Torg fans, but which will hopefully be approachable enough for new people who would want to get started in the grandeur of the Torg universe early.

"Forswearing yielding bay away, this is the beginning of a grassroots effort for humans excited & thinking just about Torg over again. People wait for next month's 2nd edition may acquire a easily-tested models & the universe quick for multi-genre action, & fans world health organization obviously are along for the ride through the coming season might study supplementary just about the secrets & mysteries of the Torg universe than it've ever known prior to."

In addition to the upcoming second edition ("Torg Two.Zero"), WEG released Torg Revised & Expanded (dubbed Torg 1.5), in order to invigorate interest among longtime fans and to generate interest in backstock of first edition Torg merchandise. This book was released in May of 2005 as a PDF file, and was slated to be released as a limited-edition hardback in June of 2005, though the release date was subsequently pushed back to July and finally released in August. A limited run of leftover softcover editions, printed for distribution at the 2005 Origins RPG convention, were also made available on WEG's website.