From everything I've been scooping up about this, seems like its close to a multiplayer of Joe Dever's Lone Wolf gamebook series, which got many of my hours in the early 90s as a kid without a DM for miles.

Having played A LOT of D2e:Road to Legend, I'm inclined to think that they are vastly expanding the RPG elements that happen in the app. Which follow the model of:

Issue // 3-4 options with some disabled based on party comp // resolution of issue // store reference of resolution // invoke resolution reference later.

As an example:

My party ran into an old lady on our way to our next destination. Presented with talking to her but since we had a conjurer with us we were able to get a Mana Weave rune from her, player used mana weave and began to rely on it (cuz he sucks at rolling ), a couple of quests later the mana weave blows up after a surprise event between rounds and the witch is heard cackling.

The product shot showing multiple books makes me inclined to believe that we'll see multiple interweaving decision trees that reference player materials independently from each other. Its a design decision I would make to cut down on the what I used to do in the Lone Wolf books, find a really good optimal result and work my way backward!

On 8/8/2017 at 4:25 PM, ced1106 said:

I haven't found a game that could both have replay value and a deep rich story (if anyone knows of one, please post). Many CYOA's had multiple paths, and Gloomhaven blocked off certain paths depending on choices you made, but that's just game development that could otherwise have been used as content for a longer single campaign. The problem -- so far -- is that, the more replay you build into the game, the more parts that have to be interchangeable, typically resulting in a game that is more generic, less specific, and less immersive. If you have an app or other computer assistance (I was playing around with a random adventure gear generator!), the app and a database can be used to create a lot of random but specific content that would be too much work or expense (eg. a stack of 75-100 cards just for minor magic items) with a tabletop. But, aside from the plots, the adventures could have *components* that could be used in other adventures. So the potion of whatever in one adventure could be shuffled into the minor magic item deck of the next one. Or you could use a class from the first adventure into the next. Speaking of components, I'm not seeing the plasticfest or art trove that other FFG games have, which is fine with me. At least in theory, that means we won't be spending our money on expensive components that will only be used once, and get more play value, sorta like Gloomhaven with its standees and not more expensive miniatures. Also, many gamers don't play their games more than a few times, anyway, so, at least for them, replay is unnecessary (even thought they won't admit it!).

It's not a board game, but Heavy Rain was a video game that had enough branching paths and possibilities for replay value and had a rich, deep story. On general you are correct, though. Most of the time the more story options you have, the more the storytelling itself suffers. Also the Arkham Horror LCG I would say has replay value with both how the story in a campaign goes and the ability to play as different characters. Infinite replay value, no, but like you say, most people don't play their games a ton of times, and you usually get your entertainment value after only a few plays anyways.

Based on their work on the Arkham LCG, I think FFG can pull this off and I think there will be some replayability based on, if nothing else, a party that focuses on a different set of skills. I do think you can have a certain number of branching path options for a story and retain quality storytelling, but it certainly is more difficult the more options you introduce.

The big draw for me is that it seems to be a tabletop RPG system that does not require a DM. This is a huge deal for me as it will mean getting a group together to play will be FAR easier.