What do you think?
Rate this book
Itras By
Itras By ist ein surrealistisches Rollenspiel in einer Stadt voller seltsamer Begebenheiten, ungewöhnlicher Orte und skurriler Gestalten.
Itras By. Der zurückgelassene Traum einer Göttin.
Auf den ersten Blick erscheint die Stadt wie eine Kulisse auf einer vergilbten Fotografie. Ein Schnappschuss aus den Anfängen der Moderne. Straßenbahnen, Hüte, die ersten Automobile, Stummfilme in Schwarz-Weiß. Doch unter dieser Fassade können wir das unvorhersehbare Murmeln unseres gemeinschaftlichen Unterbewusstseins vernehmen. Die Monster in den Kellern unserer Psyche.
Itras By. Der zurückgelassene Traum einer Göttin.
Auf den ersten Blick erscheint die Stadt wie eine Kulisse auf einer vergilbten Fotografie. Ein Schnappschuss aus den Anfängen der Moderne. Straßenbahnen, Hüte, die ersten Automobile, Stummfilme in Schwarz-Weiß. Doch unter dieser Fassade können wir das unvorhersehbare Murmeln unseres gemeinschaftlichen Unterbewusstseins vernehmen. Die Monster in den Kellern unserer Psyche.
- GenresRole Playing Games
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
2 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 8, 2017
Itras By, by Ole Peder Glever and Martin Bull Gudmundsen, is a roleplaying game about the surreal existence of the inhabitants of Itras By, a city with a storied past in a fantastic land. The first third of the book is an overview of the city, its districts, some locations, colorful characters, and bits of its past. After the overview comes the game itself, with character creations, play, and the GM sections.
It was easy to forget that the book is translated into English because it is so well written, both the fictional and the instructive passages. The overview does an excellent job of balancing brevity with details, and there are dozens of story seeds throughout the first 80 pages.
The game focuses on character and surrealist narrative. There is no subsystem for combat and there are no stats for the characters. The character creation process is well-organized, leading you to create your character from concept to background to personality and connected NPCs. I especially like that characters are given “Dramatic Qualities” and “Intrigue Magnets.” The narratives created in the game are designed to be driven by the players and characters, so elements that might drive the story are baked right into the character at the time of creation. There is no formal character sheet, so when you are done, you have a collection of paragraphs about your character.
Most of the shared fictional space is created by simple conversation without mechanics. The only time mechanics kick in are through a special set of cards (printed in the back of the book and available for download). The conflict resolution cards are meant to be used sparingly, only once per scene at the moment of greatest dramatic tension. There are 8 possible resolutions, each one designed as a “Yes, and” “Yes, but” “No, but” “No, and” response to the scene. Your character will usually succeed in her goal (75% of the time, in fact), but usually some twist will be added or demanded. How the cards are interpreted is left to the player that drew the card.
The other set of cards are designed to create a surrealist experience during playing. There are 24 cards, and each one forces the narrative in unexpected and surreal directions. Since the surrealism beyond these cards is left entirely to the players, it is nice to have this mechanic to drive the theme home. Each player can draw a surrealism card only once per game.
It’s an elegant system and promises to be a fun experience. Characters are designed to tell the exact kind of story the game creates, and the mechanics are perfectly designed for that same end.
On the whole, I really like the game and would love to get it to the table. My only concern is that it seems like play would be most enjoyable when all the players have read the overview of the world in the first third of the book. It’s so evocative and the world is just complicated enough that explaining things to the uninitiated might be a little difficult, especially if you want them to have the same enthusiasm you do. Of course, getting other players to read 80 pages of a rulesbook is no mean feat.
At first I was put off by having to play the game in someone else’s world, but I came to see the wisdom in creating a world particularly geared toward surrealism. Players can of course create their own worlds if they want, but even then, having Itras By as a template is tremendously helpful. Most, I suspect, stay in Itras By because it gives the players everything they need.
It was easy to forget that the book is translated into English because it is so well written, both the fictional and the instructive passages. The overview does an excellent job of balancing brevity with details, and there are dozens of story seeds throughout the first 80 pages.
The game focuses on character and surrealist narrative. There is no subsystem for combat and there are no stats for the characters. The character creation process is well-organized, leading you to create your character from concept to background to personality and connected NPCs. I especially like that characters are given “Dramatic Qualities” and “Intrigue Magnets.” The narratives created in the game are designed to be driven by the players and characters, so elements that might drive the story are baked right into the character at the time of creation. There is no formal character sheet, so when you are done, you have a collection of paragraphs about your character.
Most of the shared fictional space is created by simple conversation without mechanics. The only time mechanics kick in are through a special set of cards (printed in the back of the book and available for download). The conflict resolution cards are meant to be used sparingly, only once per scene at the moment of greatest dramatic tension. There are 8 possible resolutions, each one designed as a “Yes, and” “Yes, but” “No, but” “No, and” response to the scene. Your character will usually succeed in her goal (75% of the time, in fact), but usually some twist will be added or demanded. How the cards are interpreted is left to the player that drew the card.
The other set of cards are designed to create a surrealist experience during playing. There are 24 cards, and each one forces the narrative in unexpected and surreal directions. Since the surrealism beyond these cards is left entirely to the players, it is nice to have this mechanic to drive the theme home. Each player can draw a surrealism card only once per game.
It’s an elegant system and promises to be a fun experience. Characters are designed to tell the exact kind of story the game creates, and the mechanics are perfectly designed for that same end.
On the whole, I really like the game and would love to get it to the table. My only concern is that it seems like play would be most enjoyable when all the players have read the overview of the world in the first third of the book. It’s so evocative and the world is just complicated enough that explaining things to the uninitiated might be a little difficult, especially if you want them to have the same enthusiasm you do. Of course, getting other players to read 80 pages of a rulesbook is no mean feat.
At first I was put off by having to play the game in someone else’s world, but I came to see the wisdom in creating a world particularly geared toward surrealism. Players can of course create their own worlds if they want, but even then, having Itras By as a template is tremendously helpful. Most, I suspect, stay in Itras By because it gives the players everything they need.
December 27, 2016
I haven't tested the game as such, but the book is magical, a wonderful project. I consider it, personally, more interesting as a dark surreal semi-horror nightmare RPG. There are many lighter, more cartoony or entirely absurdist/spaced out ideas that I'd happily ignore or use less in MY Itras By. The game system seems pretty cool too.
March 2, 2013
Very interesting, but as a role playing game, a review must wait until it has been tried ...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews