#RPGaDay2015 Days 10-19 catching up and working ahead

The day job is busy and we have much going on with the family, right now. So, I hope you will pardon me as I catch up and work ahead in one post. 

Day 10:  Favorite Publisher

Currently, this is most likely Pelgrane Press. I like the look and feel of their books. They do column layout and design better than most of their competition. I like many of their game lines and can use nearly anything rpg related as source material. They are also more than happy to talk to their fans and are quick to sign books for their fans at conventions. Simon and Cat are good people.

Day 11:  Favorite RPG Writer

This is a hard one for me. If I buy a book, because a specific person wrote the book, it’s because they are a friend of mine. Shane Hensley, Jason L Blair, Jason Vey, Tim Brannon, and Dave Chapman come to mind very quickly. I like their products, but I am also friends with them outside of the rpg space.

If I buy a book, because I like the game line, it’s very rare that a book I purchase is by one single person. Ken Hite and Gareth Hanrahan are a great team up.

Maybe this is a take-away for me:  look into rpg authors and discover them.

Day 12:  Favorite RPG Illustration

Favorite? Not likely. Art, in this form, serves as inspiration. To narrow it down to one image is impossible.

I will side step and give you my favorite artist:  Timothy Bradstreet. I first viewed his work in Vampire:  The Masquerade. His images became icons for the game line. His work in Armageddon is awesome. However, his Punisher MAX image covers are just as iconic as his VtM work. I think the only genre I have yet to use his artwork as inspiration for, is fantasy. I should rectify that someday.

Day 13:  Favorite RPG Podcast

I have fallen out of listening to podcasts. I grew disillusioned with what they were offering. Some gave too much non-rpg content, others added personalities or changed the line, another began covering topics I just don’t care about, and the worst wander down completely unrelated, unnecessary rabbit holes. However, if you are looking for recommendations, you could do worse than start with Podcast at Ground Zero, PLay On Target, or Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff. The latter two have been nominated for awards in the rpg industry.

Day 14:  Favorite RPG Accessory

The Internet.

Nowhere else can I potentially play with friends across the globe, work directly with contributors, bounce ideas off friends to make sure I’m not going down a rabbit hole myself, or address concerns of fans. I can research my next game session, find images that outline the layout and history of a castle to include in my game, run name generators, and find new players for my games.

Dice rollers included, no dice tower needed. Cool battle maps can be found or built. Free scenarios for that new rpg you just purchased are there for downloading and using.

For me, it’s just as much an accessory as the next “tool.”

Day 15:  Longest Campaign Played

This is likely Lowell Francis’ Freakish Band of Adventurers or a Vampire:  The Masquerade game that I ran. Both went 3+ years, playing every other week.

Lowell’s was a game of continent travel, righting rights, releasing gods back into the world, and a game where one (?) character was a full blooded human (mine). There was a rakasta, elves, half-demon, aperkitus, and a wizard who was not all there, even if he did look human – in addition to my character.

The vampire game spanned years in game time. There were three players and an occasional fourth (who didn’t fit in the mix) who fought Nephandi, Sabbat, Inconnu, Angels, Highlanders, and everything else that the Internet could source in the mid- to late 1990s. The game ended with the end of the world and the characters joining different sides to support.

Day 16:  Longest Session Played

It has been decades since I played one that would qualify. There were long nights playing Vampire:  The Masquerade from dusk until dawn and overnights of D&D. None stand out for me this many years later.

Day 17:  Favorite Fantasy RPG

Of a company I work for? Either Dungeons & Zombies or Spellcraft & Swordplay. They have the same author, but it depends on whether I want a ton of zombie options or just zombies.

Of a company I don’t work for? 13^th Age. I don’t run it as is. I drop out the relationships ideas. I find them tedious and intrusive to my game style. What I do like is the mechanics. They use the same skill types as Spellcraft & Sorcery. The combat feels very gamey to me and completely in style of as characters build experience, their abilities increase with more than just feats or another cool thing. Damage increases, options increase, and if you’re looking for a game where you can min-max your heart out, you can likely do it with this one.

Day 18:  Favorite Scifi RPG

Sorry, Dave, it’s not Conspiracy X. Although, Con X is my favorite modern game with a sci-fi bent to it.

My favorite sci-fi game is WEG Star Wars. Of sci-fi game, I ran this one the longest. If you look around the Internet hard enough, you can find a .pdf of material either from the game, or rehashed, to make a new product.

Eclipse Phase is a close 2nd. I think I need to run a campaign or two to see how the fun level compares. 

Traveller, Fading Suns, and Dark Heresy are also worth checking out.

Day 19:  Favorite Supers RPG

The World of Darkness. No, seriously. It is or at least, that’s how most folks I know play it. Which is fine if you are looking to run a game where the setting is more supernatural than superhero.

I think the best rules out there are for Mutants & Masterminds. I haven’t played many supers rpgs:  old DC Comics, old Marvel, Hero, and M&M. M&M is the best for my money. The math works out the best for me and in a game wherein you can potentially play the upper limit of power, you need that. Maybe, one day Beyond Human will fill this roll. For now, it remains vaporware. Don’t worry, I’ll keep bugging George to publish it. J

The superhero game I want is Gotham Central:  players as human cops taking on super villains. Maybe one day I’ll do it and do it right. Mutant City Blues may be the way to go with this one. The game includes a chart of how different powers are related. That builds in another clue structure to the game. It also uses GUMSHOE which is clue driven.

Day 20:  Favorite Horror RPG

I’ll stop right there. This one is going to be special.

Slayer's Gauntlet

I took a break from #RPGaDay2015 to type out my latest campaign idea. This idea was inspired by the first 50 seconds of the following advertisement for Gauntlet:  Slayer Edition.

Don't worry, Dave. I re-scripted my video. I will re-shoot it this weekend. 

Slayer’s Gauntlet

High Concept:  Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Gauntlet/Diablo

The Pitch:  The characters discover a deceased friend accidentally opened a portal to a demon realm. Now, they must suit up and fight their way through dungeons and armies to stop a demon prince before he brings Hell to 21st century Earth.

Overview:  The characters are all college students or have good reason to all have lives that revolve around the same college or university. They are friends, through classes, majors, sports, clubs, or high school friends. All of them are well aware of the supernatural world and have a clue how to handle themselves, even if it means knowing when to run away. One night, they stumble onto a dead friend and it leads them to Hell and back. Can they stop a demon prince’s plans to invade Earth or will they fall victim and rise as one of the dead to serve in the demon prince’s army?

First Arc:  The characters stumble into the situation and must decide what to do and how to do it. During their investigation into the situation, they could discover the deceased student’s Instagram feed showing what the student was doing. They then move on to investigate the Book of the Dead and what the missing page is for. As the characters move through the motions, more demons enter the Earth plane. If the characters falter in their decision to fight the demons, students come to them for aid and assistance.

Second Arc:  Their research leaves no doubt as to what will happen if the portal is not closed. They must go after the page from the Book of the Dead. They can do some research into this demon prince. The research reveals potential realms within his demense. However, there is no indication as to which one the demon prince calls home. The research also reveals a wife, Astarte, and her minions are among the dead. The characters go through a montage wherein they gather arms and armor, spell books and written incantations. Will it be enough?

Arriving at the portal, the characters discover a demon spellcaster with an honor guard. He has cast a spell to make humans not notice the demons and their activities. The characters can discern this through speaking with other humans, perhaps the tough campus security guard or even one of the characters could be affected. They could also overhear the demon speaking to the honor guard about how it needs to cast a larger version of the spell tomorrow. They will need as many virgins as they can gather for a sacrifice. The power from the virgins will allow the demon to cast his net over the entire city. As soon as they can cast the spell tomorrow at midnight the following evening, the armies can start marching upon Earth, enslaving humanity. The characters’ only choice is to wade in and slay these demons while the portal into Hell shimmers in the background.

Entering the portal, the characters find themselves as a stasis point. Hallways, doors, and stairs lead away from what appears to be the inside of a castle. Studying the room reveals it is the central traveling chamber in this Hell. The characters have three main path choices from which to choose. They will need to fight and clear each level of this dungeon-like Hell.

If this is a long-term campaign, the characters are in for an old school dungeon crawl. They will need to fight through each major path in order to find the demon prince (Diablo, Gauntlet, The Temple of Elemental Evil). Each path will feature different elements. The final one features undead. There should be no doubt to the players that each level is harder, but also that there are simply too many pathways to go down. They stick to the major pathways in an effort to more quickly find the demon prince. After all, why would a demon prince scurry along in darkened, hollowed places instead of striding through the halls of his own realm. Along the way, they may discover allies who also wish to end the demon prince’s rule (e.g., humans stolen from Earth and enslaved, races from other realms who are also here to end the demon prince’s rule).

If this is a short-term campaign, the characters will need to fight creatively, pitting demons against each other, and using the element of surprise. After all, what demon underling would expect a band of human warriors to bring the fight to Hell.

If this is an one-shot, the characters find themselves in the castle of the demon prince. They will need to move quickly and decisively if they want to win the night and stop the hordes from invading Earth.

Having won through to where they think they will find the demon prince, they instead face off with his wife, Astarte, ruler of the dead. This fight will take the characters to the brink of death. One or more could die in this fight.

In defeating Astarte they discover the lair of the demon prince and rush to it. If the characters decide to face off against the demon prince, the fight is ugly. He does not hold back and nor should they. Weird magics and unholy items come to play. Did the characters bring any holy relics of their own? How will those items affect the demon prince, his powers, and those Lieutenants not already defeated.

If the characters decide to instead steal the page from the Book of the Dead, they do not get away without notice. Something will notice. If the characters pull it off without a hitch, they gain a huge lead in escaping the demon prince’s lair. In fact, with a few more successful stealth and fighting checks, they make it all the way to the portal where they discover the demon prince or his highest lieutenants await the characters.

Third Arc:  The characters face their final moral dilemma. Do they cast the spell to close the portal while they are still in Hell or do they fight their way through the portal and cast it from the other side? If they cast the spell while in Hell, they are trapped until they re-cast the spell to open it. This means casting the spell, fighting their way out of the portal room, and going “underground.” Ideally, the game ends here, but the campaign could continue into a second season exploring those options.

If the characters fight through the portal to Earth before casting the spell to close the portal, the demon prince follows them through the portal. Reality warps around the portal due to the high level of magical creatures and magic in and around the portal. The characters will need to either hold off the demon prince while another character casts the spell, closing the portal or they will need to defeat the demon prince and then cast the spell, while holding off his minions. Once they close the portal, the demons and the demon prince on Earth lose access to any sort of regenerating powers. They have no way to tap into the Earth’s natural powers as the characters’ abilities allow.

Original Outline:

1.       Setup

a.       Beginning:  College student gains a page from the Book of the Dead or some other equally horrible book. Doesn’t realize what they are doing and opens a portal to another world. Something comes through, kills the college student, leaves the body, takes the page of the book, and runs off to tell is master.

b.      Inciting Incident:  Increase of demon activity on campus. College student found dead by character/s. A small, scouting band of demons steps through the portal and attacks the character/s.

c.       Second Thoughts:  Are we the right people to do this? Other “friendly” students harmed and/or come to the characters for aid.

2.       Confrontation

a.       Ascending Action

                                                               i.      Obstacle #1:  Knowledge of what is going on. Where does the portal go? How do they close it? (research reveals they need the page from the book)

                                                             ii.      Obstacle #2:  A demon comes through and begins spellcasting to make the locals ignore the portal. People formerly looking for help now don’t know what the characters are talking about.

                                                            iii.      Midpoint with a big twist:  A demon prince plans to send his many minions to Earth, unless the characters go in, gain the page from the book, cast the spell, and potentially kill the demon prince.

b.      Obstacle #3:  Fighting through dungeon levels, trying to determine the location of the demon prince’s lair.

c.       Disaster:  The characters must defeat Astarte, wife of the demon prince

d.      Crisis:  They defeat Astarte, but lose something in the process (e.g., hit points, magical weapon, an ally). They hear demons discussing the fact that the armies are gathered and ready to pass through the portal. They are simply awaiting their prince to lead them through.

e.      Climax:  Do they fight the demon prince or steal the page and run?

3.       Resolution

a.       Descending action

                                                               i.      Climax Continues:  If fight the demon prince, they won and now have the page and must escape the demon realm before casting the spell or be trapped in the demon realm. If they stole the page and are on the run, they must escape to Earth and cast the spell before the demon prince’s army comes through the portal.

                                                             ii.      Wrap up:  Fight off straggler demons on Earth or if caught on the demon realm side of the portal, find a place to hide, awaiting the right time to re-open the portal to escape back to Earth.

                                    iii.    End

#RPGaDay #FavoriteCharacter

#RPGaDay #FavoriteCharacter

I have performed the GM task for most of my rpg career. Yet, a few characters stand out through the ages.

My first Vampire the Masquerade character was a Giovanni. This would lead to me running a full-on campaign of Giovanni (and related sub-Clans) while I was living in Memphis.

My first character in one of Lowell’s games was a Werewolf the Apocalypse character named Merik. Despite a really bad player, the game was awesome. It also showed the inherit flaws of the rule system’s combat damage mechanics. What do you mean I’m a nine foot tall werewolf who just did no damage on a 6 die successful attack roll?

Then, there was Ur-Traczek Qingu Adapa-apkallu the Gunslinging Goblin in Steve’s Freeport True20 game. We called him “Ur” for short. He started with an eyepatch that he didn’t need. It covered his “shooting eye”. He ended with a sombrero no one needed. Where the werewolf character was flawed at dealing damage, Ur was a powerhouse to rival any other powerhouse in the party, except for the magic users. He had more guns than teeth and didn’t believe in waiting for the rest of the party to catch up before moving on to the next room (or five) in dungeons. Ur was different for me, because he wasn’t cautious, he wasn’t worried about being cut-off from the rest of the party, and I didn’t try to be in charge with him. Not that he was a beta personality, either. He was a solo adventurer in his own world  and the rest of the party was there to back him up as needed.

He may have also been a bit of comedic relief.

That leaves my D&D 3^rd edition, half-orc. This poor boy was an orphan, adopted by humans in a very human-centric village. He was a ranger, carrying on the tradition of his adopted father. He also stuttered, unless he was in combat. The players thought it was great that here I was, playing a stuttering, nervous, shy, giant sized half-orc. I had even managed to botch up some die rolls about ranger-y things before the first real combat, which helped sell the bumbling kid act. At soon as we went to initiative, the stuttering stopped, the shyness fell to the background, and the killing machine started. I did not get many feats with the half-orc ranger, but I maximized everything I could improve. He would eventually manage to use a magic scroll to kill off a troll as we reclaimed a keep for the baron (or whomever it was). That was likely the highlight of his life. Kip ran a great game and the group was a lot of fun when they got along. Sadly, personality issues crashed our group within 3 years.

#RPGaDAy #1strpgGameMastered

#RPGaDAy #1^strpgGM

I do not remember the first rpg I GMed. It was likely D&D or Superworld (from Choasium). They would have been one-shots for my little brother. The first game I ran as a campaign was Werewolf:  The Apocalypse. Robb was running VtM, so I picked this one up. Some of my fondest campaign memories are from the all but one female group and the one was again, my little brother. He was not always available to play with us. It was after high school for me and we would often start late at night and end early in the morning. He was in high school and very active with tennis at the time.

I would go on to run other campaigns via WtA. Another great one was a four person, six episodes, miniseries of a game with an awesome climatic battle as the pups became full on warriors of Gaia. The entire thing was action-packed fun that I wish could be captured in a bottle and doled out as needed. The players were very into their characters and I was dead on with the NPCs.

I made it to second edition, but not third. I have picked up the nWoD core book, but have not done anything with it. If you are looking for a game with a lot of combat in the modern day, this could be the game for you.

When will you rage?

#RPGaDay #1stRPGPurchased

#RPGaDay #1stRPGPurchased

The first core book I remember owning would have been AD&D 2^nd edition. I may have owned the D&D Rules Compendium, but I didn’t understand it. The 2^nd edition book led to my first true gaming group during high school. I played Friday nights at a friend’s house. I could not tell you who or what I played, only that I did play and had no idea what I was doing. I was out of my league playing with seasoned veterans. They helped me learn and eventually I would leave them for a game of Vampire:  the Masquerade with a group my own age.

#RPGaDay #1strpgplayed

#RPGaDay #1strpgplayed

The first roleplaying game I played was D&D red box edition. My friend Aaron owned it and invited me over to play. It was the early 1980s and I was in elementary school. I do not remember much of the experience, emotions only, really. I had fun. It was a new experience. I had no idea what I was doing, I am sure. I played it two times, maybe three. The first two times were solo adventures with the dungeon master. The third was with a different dungeon master and my friend as another player. I did not care for that experience much. I think it had more to do with not wanting to share time with my friend with another kid I barely knew, than anything else.

From there, I discovered the Choose Your Own Adventure books. These led further down the rabbit hole for me. May father would eventually come home with a boxed set from Chaosium featuring their Basic Rules, a supers setting, a futuristic setting, and a fantasy setting. What I remember from this game was not liking the rules. The percentile system did not lend itself to a young boy wanting to play a tough fighter already experienced in the ways of war. We tried, my brother, father, and I, but it did not go very far.

To this day, my experiences with the art are what continue to inspire my fond memories. For the D&D game, it was the maps my friend created. While I would not go on to run the game myself, I would create hundreds of maps. Sadly, I never made it past drawing in 2D. Outside of geometric shapes, I never made it to 3D drawing.

From the CYOA novels, it was the covers. The colors, the movement, the characters facing danger. From Chaosium’s boxed set, I think I gained a wider worldview of the roleplaying game genre. I was raised to read and I read as often as not. The boxed set showed me roleplaying games related to novels, comics, and movie posters.

And that is where I started. Where did you start?