First Impressions - City of Mist RPG

TL;DR: Two gorgeously illustrated core books, with somewhat overblown writing and a game system that's the bastard love-child of FATE and PbtA. They just scream mystery and neon-noir. Clear references, a decent introductory scenario, only lacking a decent index. You can dip your toe into the water with the Starter Sets from 2019 (or 2016) if you're unsure of spending £70 on core rules. This is the best neon-noir game I've seen and it channels Marvel Netflix. Recommended.

My copy of the City of Mist RPG landed after the Kickstarter campaign over two years ago and I was instantly put off it by the sheer size of the book. Weighing in at 500-pages and over 2kg in weight, the only RPG volumes that I own that come close in scale are the original printing of Traveller T5 and Grimtooth Traps Collected Edition. Based on the mock-up pictures on the Kickstarter pages, I'd been expecting something like the Blades in the Dark or Scum and Villany hardcovers, but instead, I got an unwieldy and impracticable hardcover old-school telephone-directory sized volume. The packaging was flimsy and inadequate, but fortunately, mine escaped damage in the post. This is a book that needs to come with a complementary coffee-table so you can read it.

In the interest of fairness, I went back and looked at the campaign as I was writing this, and I accept that my own assumptions from other Powered-by-the-Apocalypse (PbtA hereafter) may have led me to think that this was digest (6x9") sized, but the images above don't show a lot of size differences between the starter kit and the core book.

Core Book (first printing) and MC Screen.

That said, the book is high quality, full colour and packed full of original art. The artwork is gorgeous and really evocative. The layout is mostly good and well structured, but I find the introductory paragraphs are in too-large a font size (a minor niggle), and the lack of a decent index in a 500-page core rulebook is simply unacceptable.

Fortunately, a more layout savvy friend of mine who had also backed the game at the same level found a solution to the scale by re-sizing the core text to crown quarto and doing a cheap colour print through an online print-on-demand provider. I used their files to get a copy of the book to read. This was under half the weight and practicable to read and use at the table.

Crown Quarto easy to handle print.

Just as I started to dig into reading the book, the creators ran another Kickstarter; this was for an adventure campaign book, plus a new printing of the core rules into two volumes, plus funding for the artwork for the stretch goal 'campaign book' from the first campaign. This didn't leave a good taste in my mouth; it was an admission that they'd screwed up the first take at the core rules and that they'd messed up the campaign finances (something I'd assumed from the packaging materials used). Like an idiot, I backed this (partly to ensure that the original campaign was fulfilled, partly because I wanted the campaign scenario book if it saw the light of day). I didn't feel especially good about this and put the book away again because I was annoyed with it again. I did consider selling the game but stepped back.

Considering how big the City of Mist Kickstarter was (1762 backers, $105k), I've seen very little of it at the table at UK conventions. Even Revelation (a PbtA themed con) wasn't showing it. I got a game in 2018 at Continuum, but that was with the original starter book, which didn't show the rules revisions that had gone on.

And yet, City of Mist continues to draw me back. There is something about the whole concept that calls to me and excites me. I think it's the combination of noir, myth and the City. The setting has Netflix Marvel type heroes whose powers come through the (sometimes unconscious) embodiment of a mythic or even fictional creature set across the backdrop of a large metropolis simply known as 'The City'. The powered characters are 'Rifts' and can see the reality of the City. Normal people are the 'Sleepers', and they will tend to rationalise powered events that they see as best they can due to the effect of the Mist.

The game takes the PbtA style playbook and twists it around a set of themes; each player character has four themes; they are either 'mythos' (powered) or 'logos' (normal). The number of each theme type affects the character - if you have four logos themes then you become normal and the Mist can affect you. Four mythos themes are you become a true embodiment of your myth, leaving your normal life behind. Each theme has a 'mystery' that you are seeking to explore (mythos) and an 'identity' that defines you (logos). If you act against these, then you mark crack or fade; do that three times and you lose the theme and get one of the opposite nature. Themes also have a weakness; if this is invoked then you get a chance to improve the theme by marking attention (experience).

The core rules start on page 246 after all the material on themes! It's partly as the game uses lots of white space and art to illustrate the book. The system uses a selection of standard moves to work from which will be recognisable to those who are familiar with similarly engined games. Rolls are made on 2D6, 6- gives narrative control to the MC (Master of Ceremonies aka GM) to make a move to drive the plot, 7-9 gives success with complications, and 10+ gives a complete success. Certain moves with certain themes become 'dynamite' if you roll 12+, which means more cool things happen.

Unlike other PbtA games, this one feels like the love-child of Apocalypse World and FATE. Each theme has power tags. If you can narratively invoke the tag, then it gives you a +1. Of course, there's the usual power gaming risk but the MC just needs to squash that. You can also draw upon Story Tags; these are tags related to a specific theme (e.g. On fire, Dark) which can also be invoked both for or against. Finally, you add or subtract statuses. These are tags that usually denote damage, countdowns or other scaling effects. Wounds are a prime example of this. It's very effective and free-flowing.

There are two moves that stand out to me as a little different. The first is 'investigate'. When you roll this, each tag gives you a clue; an open question that you can ask the GM. If you get 10+ it unlocks additional questions you can draw on. You can save Clues (as a status, for example 'Interview with Syrus the Bouncer-2') and bring them into play later as a flashback to that scene if another question springs to mind. The other one is 'change-the-game'. If you succeed at this, you can create a story or equipment tag, or create/alter a status. You narrate what you do (for example to help) and then if you are successful you have a tag that can help or hinder to draw on. This is how you help other characters.

There's also an interesting option called 'Stop.Holding.Back.' which is an invocation of your mythos powers. Characters with more logos (normal) themes find this easier, and it is the move you make if you want to take your powers to another level. It's the classic hero scene where they overstrain and do something fantastic but it significantly impacts their powers (for example they can't draw on them or lose them or change them). Power comes at a cost.

A subset of moves, the Cinematic Moves, invoke the neon-noir feel. These range from a voice-over monologue to start the game, to downtime montages, flashbacks and then an end-credits scene. These would be particularly effective in campaigns.

The book delves into the City, describing districts in generic terms. It's surprisingly effective. Calling something 'Downtown', or 'The Industrial District' actually works well to get that dark, rainy, grimy neon-noir feel. There are plenty of non-player characters and mythoi described. Some of the underlying nature of the City is also outlines.

Guidance is given on creating plots and story arcs and leans heavily and an iceberg layout to structure cases by location and actions. Generally, it's a good framework, but the players will break it. There is no introductory scenario, although there are several available (including for free) on DriveThruRPG and the website.

The text can be a bit flowery; it does tend to be very descriptive. Overblown maybe, but the rules sections are better. It could just do with something to pull it together.

So, in conclusion; this first printing is a gorgeously illustrated book, with somewhat overblown writing, a game system that's the bastard love-child of FATE and PbtA and just screams mystery and neon-noir. It lacks easy to reference rules summaries, an introductory scenario and an index. And it's too big and heavy.

However.

I loved what I read enough that having skimmed the free PDFs of the second printing that the publisher sent all the original backers, I decided to upgrade when I saw a copy of the deluxe set reduced at Gameslore in the damaged stock. It had a minor dent to the slipcase[1] but was reduced 30% or so. I sold my original.

The Deluxe Slipcase Second Printing.

The second printing splits the books into two smaller hardbacks. The Player's Guide has the themes, character generation and core rules. The MC Toolkit contains the setting, scenario building and campaign materials. They're still full size, but much more handleable. Summaries of the rules have been added and a decent introductory scenario (which links to the one in the new 2019 Starter Set). The contents pages are more usable. They're altogether better books. The writing still has the same weaknesses with a tendency to be overly descriptive but I'm really pleased with these.

The elephant in the room?

The 2019 Starter Kit is great. It contains everything you need to get into the game and nice materials like the status cards you can use with dry wipes. You can even do limited character development. Rather than spend £70 on the core books, spend £8 on the PDF. Print it if you want a hard copy. It's a perfect taster for the game. Or get the free 2016 Starter Set; the rules are essentially the same (although they evolved before the game was properly published). But be warned; if you like noir and narrative games, this could be a slippery slope.

My 2nd City of Mist game at Revelation 2020.

I committed to run City of Mist at Revelation 2020 (see my post here), and ended up running two different scenarios for two different crews. I used the 2019 Starter Set Characters, laminated at A3, with drywipes. One scenario came from the Starter Set and felt very classic noir investigation. The second drew more on the supernatural and came from the forthcoming campaign book 'Nights of Payne Town'. I've come away from the convention inspired by the game and I really want to run the campaign. I will definitely play this again.

Summary: Two gorgeously illustrated core books, with somewhat overblown writing and a game system that's the bastard love-child of FATE and PbtA. They just scream mystery and neon-noir. Clear references, a decent introductory scenario, only lacking a decent index. You can dip your toe into the water with the Starter Sets from 2019 (or 2016) if you're unsure of spending £70 on core rules. This is the best neon-noir game I've seen and it channels Marvel Netflix. Recommended.


--
29 February 2020

[1] If you are interested in damaged stock from Gameslore, they'll send you pictures of the issue if you email them.

Update Oct 2021: I have also reviewed the City of Mist campaign book, Shadows & Showdowns, on this blog.

Like Father, Like Son?

Like Father, Like Son?

Revelation 2020 - the fourth rider

Ready for Revelations.

This weekend brought the fourth iteration of Revelation, the 'powered by the apocalypse' themed convention which we originally threw together as a spur of the moment 'wouldn't it be good?' thought.

Although the convention is completely pre-booked, Elaine, Graham and I rendezvoused in the event room of the Garrison Hotel around 0830hrs to set up, and we were finished before nine. We enjoyed catching up with people until the kick-off at 1000hrs.

Slot 1 saw me running 'Shark Tank' for City of Mist. This was the basic investigation from the 2019 version of the starter set, and I used the same pre-generated characters that come with the set, printed and laminated at A3. With the slot being a short one, we needed to focus to bring the investigation to a conclusion in the time, but the players delivered in spades. My highlights included Graham's heavily combat orientated monster hunter trying to negotiate and threaten a smooth-talking loan shark and instead of walking out with a gift of $20,000 to 'keep his DoJo afloat and help the neighbourhood’. I also loved Andrew W's teenager using her imaginary friend to drain the room of water, thwarting the plans of the shark god rift who had plenty of water-based moves. The system worked smoothly, but feels more like a traditional RPG because of the case structure.

Slot 2 I sat out, as our GM was ill, but only Keary and I were affected so we had a good old natter and some beers. We took some boardgames but mostly ignored them, which was good as Elina muttered dark words about them being inappropriate. The Moonshine from Abbeydale was pleasant as ever. Dinner was a trip to KFC with Graham and Keary.

Killing Her Softly (City of Mist).

Slot 3 brought a different case, 'Killing Her Softly', for City of Mist. We had five players rather than the four in the earlier game, and the party was a bit more disjointed, at some points almost splitting in two in the same location! There was a definite clash of styles of investigation. However, the climax when Penda's Father Job took the full brunt of the main threat's attack knowing it would likely kill him (and God would resurrect him to face the Devil again) was awesome. The final explosion into violence and overkill from the Monster Hunter, left the party shocked, with issues to resolve, as the curtains fell. Another fun game. I do like the system; it nails noir and Marvel Netflix style gaming. This scenario embraced the supernatural far more than the previous one. It is the first of one of the threads in the forthcoming 'Nights of Payne Town' campaign.

A brief stop in the bar was followed by bed and a good night's sleep.

Woke early and was in breakfast at the start, then returned to my room to do some preparation for The Sprawl in Slot 5. This was mainly pulling questions together to ask the players as I'd opted for a more co-creative route than the game usually offers. The setting was Mars, in the future, in the main colony on Valles Marineris. The UN had arrived to audit the incumbent colonial authority and things were about to change. I was a bit nervous in the fact that I was going to have to wing it, but I wanted the players bought in.

Slot 4 was my only session as a player, with Guy Milner's second run out of Masks at the convention. I'd been a bit nervous of this when I booked, as I feared it may be too close to City of Mist, but my concerns were unfounded. The game is wonderfully built around the relationships of teenage superheroes. I'd picked 'The Beacon' as an option, and the first power visible was a bow and trick arrows, so I had to create Lila Barton, Hawkeye's daughter. My fellow players were great, generous and creative, and we had great fun. Steve's character was enamoured with the villain thanks to mind control, and that gave us plenty of fun with the texting between the hero and villain, and the conflict and doubts of the team as to whether he'd join us. We told Nick Fury to eff off when he disbanded us, and had a crazy teenage party in Clint Barton's abandoned flat. The powers of the characters were almost incidental and my poor knowledge of Marvel's canon beyond the MCU and Netflix didn't let me down. Kudos to Guy, fantastic game.

Lunch was followed by an impromptu raffle with kind voucher donations from Cat Tobin at Pelgrane Press and Fil Baldowski at All Rolled Up, as well as Declan with some books. We'd originally pulled the raffle as we'd not enough funds to do that and free coffee/tea, so it was great to be able to add some fun. There was the usual kerfuffle over the Golden Ticket for Furnace (Lynn and Elina, I'm looking at you)!

Slot 5 arrived and we journeyed to Mars. The questions worked well (but took a bit of time) and the character generation was marred by my printer having issues making some of the playbooks less clear. We took around an hour to do this stage, and I was a bit worried that we'd struggle with time. However, I threw in the kicker (the UN arrive, the comms and section of the colony go into lock down and BluePrime, the incumbent colonial government, start to deal with unfortunate loose ends before the UN land) and the players leapt into action. Without any legwork, they escaped the section of the colony with their bar's owner (sometime patron) and staff. Connecting up with their contacts in the independence movement and the Familias Andes, they soon planned a raid to find out what BluePrime had that was causing the brutality. The legwork on this went badly wrong when the attempt to hack in externally was discovered and a team sent to kill the group. They failed,messily, and the team ended up with an armoured ATV and three usable security uniforms.

A near textbook infiltration into the server room happened, with incriminating data being stolen and dumped publicly to damage BluePrime. There was nearly a problem when they exited due to a fire alarm they'd deliberately set, but some quick fast talking made it look like they were assessing the management's response. Unfortunately, the employees then got sent back into a burning building as the team told them that it was a false alarm. The end result was turmoil as the UN Peacekeepers took control of the colony and the advancement of one of the corps that the characters were associated with. I really enjoyed running The Sprawl, and I'm glad it worked out. I didn't get any of the setting questions you usually get because the players had all been invested in it.

And then the convention was over for another year. We've already agreed it will return because it's so different to the other conventions we organise, and dates will follow soon.

Thanks to the attendees for making it a fun weekend.

23 February 2020

Treadstone (Spoiler free)

TL;DR: Solid take on the Bourne universe but needs to hit its stride consistently. The multi-stranded plot only comes together right at the end of the season. I hope for a second season.

I've just finished watching Treadstone, the TV series linked to the various Bourne films. Set in the modern-day, with a plot arc in the early 1970s, it brings together a series of threads quite cleverly at the end. The story revolves around the cicadas, deep cover assets who have been programmed and are activated when needed. We see a little of the creation of the programme (the 1970s thread, mainly set in Eastern Bloc Europe) and what has happened since Blackbriar was blown and the programme supposedly shut down in the films.

It's fast-paced, with good action sequences and feels true to the universe of the films. However, perhaps because there were so many threads, it was hard to love it. This should be right up my street, but I'd give it six to seven out of ten. However, I definitely want to see another series as the balls that are in the air now look really interesting.

It's available on Prime Video. Recommended but don't feel you need to rush to see it. Hopefully, it'll hit its stride in a second season.

It was also fun as the eldest watched it with me and enjoyed it. Looks like it's time to get the films out with him.

15 February 2020

Curse of Strahd - S1E06: "A way to lift the Curse"

SPOILERS BELOW for The Beast of Graenseskov

The party, a fourth session at Level 2. And no, they aren't levelling up until they complete some story milestones!

Ser Alys de Rouge (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral

Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.

Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good.

Roscoe Tosscobble (a halfling Cleric of Life, a follower of Diancecht, god of medicine and healing, former hermit and companion of Ser Adon), played by Jag (Jagusti). Lawful Good.

Ser Adon of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good.

At the end of the last session, we left the party camped in a clearing about a half mile from the burnt out Gingerbread House of the Hag, Pretty Kolchya. The hag had flown overhead, promising vengeance. The party had rescued Narsden, an adventurer who had unsuccessfully tried to raid Castle Ravenloft deeper in Barovia and then foolishly tried to rob Pretty Kolchya's house. She had discovered him and placed him in a force cage to slow cook in the fires of hell for 199 days in her oven. They also rescued Anya Stojanovic, a young girl who was too much in shock to tell them more than their name. Before they had entered the cottage, the party had struck a pact to free the three Worg Omen Bearers who had agreed not to harm children any more if they were released, something which will come back to haunt them.

The morning of 5th November dawned cold and crisp with a light dusting of snow, and the party woke to the smell of burnt gingerbread. They had a slow start, and then headed back to Volchykrov Manor, somewhat concerned about the reception that they would get for the previous day's escapade of killing the vampire Koslov. All the same, they were buoyed up from finding the ritual used to cast the curse that created the Beast of Graenseskov.

As they came out of the woods, they saw smoke rising from the centre of the town. They weren't challenged and soon discovered that the Worgs had attacked the town the previous evening, bursting into the main hall in the manor and tearing the Boyar's twenty-six year old daughter, Cvetlana, apart in front of everyone. Her brother, Ser Cedomir had led his Hounds in a desperate attack, eventually killing all three of the Worgs as they tried to escape using the Cold Iron Axe that had been created to slay the Hag, Laegetha. During the fight, a lantern had been knocked over, burning part of the house. The slain Worgs were being burnt on a bonfire.

Seeking to comfort the maid servant who was gingerly collecting the body parts, Roscoe realised that the arm and hand of Cvetlana had turned to a green colour and the nails had changed to iron. Kel and he realised that this could be the Hag, or even the daughter of the Hag. The people of Volchykrov were in denial; they either said that she changed 'as the breath of the beasts' fell upon her or that her flesh was poisoned and corrupted as she was bitten. No-one wanted to face the fact that she could be something else.

Cross words were exchanged with Ser Cedomir, who was grieving over the loss of his sister, and it was decided that it would be sensible to seek more advice from Father Fiofan and return Anya to her family, who maintained and operated the sleighs used by the town. There was a heartwarming reunion with the girl's Aunt and Uncle, and it was that point that the party learned that her mother had been with her when she was taken by the Hag. The family had suffered yet more when all three of her cousins were slain whilst hunting the beast.

Further advice was sought from Merje, the Druid who worked with the Halan Witches. By this point, the party had worked out that the only fixed time for an attack by the Beast was during the Boyar's birthday Feast Day two weeks before when Lubomir was attacked. They realised they could look for the alibis of all the key participants in the ritual (those who had been party to the execution of Laegetha) and see where they don't add up to find the Beast. Merje then admitted that he wasn't present and had been at the Halan stone circle carrying out a ritual to bless the Boyar. He could point to alibis with those he saw before or after, but no one else was around at the time of the attack. However, the party decided they could take him at face value after they saw his hatred of the Hags when they told him about Cvetlana's fate. Merje offered to help them in any way to stop the beast and the Hag.

Father Fiofan was the next person consulted. The dwarf interpreted that the ritual would require the previous actions to be reversed to break it. That would mean the Boyar, his angry son Cedomir, Merje, Fiofan and Ruzina would need to come together to reenact the ritual. They worked out the Boyar would need to replace the Hag, but be shown mercy when the axe fell to strike. There was a brief discussion about staking Narsden out as bait, but this was soon rejected. Fiofan revealed that the Boyar was preventing his father's promises being carried out; he had been assured that his memories would be unclouded after years of faithful service by using a spell and the commitment had not been met. There was mistrust between the two of them.

The party headed to see the Boyar, who was in mourning in the hall. Kel launched into an impassioned speech about the need to act together to break the curse and completely convinced the Boyar (25/22 rolling with advantage) and he agreed. They then found Ser Cedomir to do the same. He was close to blind drunk, but Ser Adon sobered him with laying on of hands. Kel was extremely persuasive again, as Gaddock had foreseen in a dream. He agreed to carry out the ritual, almost eagerly.

A journey was now needed to the south-east, to the Vistani encampment to gain Ruzina's help. As the sun set, they arrived at the camp, full of bright lights and music. Ser Adon convinced the guards to take them to see the Raunie, the Matriarch. She bargained with him, insisting that her elder sister and Ruzina's mother's ashes be returned from the Boyar's possession if they wanted to talk to the blacksmith. They agreed to do this, but then Ser Adon launched into a passionate speech about protecting the ordinary people like the Vistani and the non-nobles of Graenseskov. The Raunie warmed to him and agreed to let him see Ruzina now so long as he gave his word to find her sister's ashes or body and return them. She revealed that the Boyar was Ruzina's father, but she had not been told. She then read the Taroka cards for Adon, revealing that the Beast was seeking power and would act cold heartedly to gain it (The Dictator).

Ruzina joined them, and she agreed to help. The party then enjoyed the fire, some fireworks, music, dancing and good food before turning in a caravan just beside the corral with the stolen horses they noticed earlier.

GM Notes: I was a little rushed for this session as work has been somewhat challenging, but I really enjoyed where it went. There's a significant chance that we will wrap up this first season of the campaign as planned next session. I had been wondering exactly how the players would re-engage with the plot, and we ended up with a very talky investigatory session which seemed to work well. All the characters had a chance to contribute and it was fun that Tom could join us from Vienna towards the end of the session. I still find the scenario poorly organised.

Curse of Strahd will return on 3rd March 2020 (the Revelation convention has extended the time between sessions).

11 February 2020

First Impressions - Tiny Epic Galaxies

Tiny Epic Galaxies - packing a lot in a small box.

With the power being out, we decided to play a board game. I gave the boys the option of Tiny Epic Galaxies and Tiny Epic Kingdoms, and they opted for the former. They'd never played either, so I think that their love of Star Wars may well have influenced the choice. Certainly the eldest started playing Star Wars theme music in his phone as we played. 

We set up quickly and started. Each player has a card to represent their empire, with tracks for energy and cultural resources. There's also a second track for the capability of your empire, which triggers the number of ships that you have available, the number of dice you can roll and the victory points that you have. The objective of the game is to win by amassing at least 21 victory points. Once a player hits that level, the end game is triggered and play continues until everyone has completed the same number of turns. This means that you can be first to hit the victory conditions, but you may not win if someone can outperform you on their final turn.

A hand of planets is dealt out to the

middle of the table for all to see, all of which have a number of victory points associated with controlling them and a unique action. Each planet is a source of energy or culture points and has a route to becoming a colony of your empire either through diplomacy or economic ties. There are two locations on the planet - the surface itself and the orbit track.

Each player also gets a choice between one of two secret missions which give them extra victory points if they achieve them.

Each turn, you roll a number of custom six-sided dice, which have a number of symbols on them:

• Diplomacy (allows you to move towards the colonisation of a planet you are orbiting)
• Economy (allows you to move towards the colonisation of a planet you are orbiting)
• Energy (allows you to gain energy if you have a ship orbiting the right planet)
• Culture (allows you to gain culture if you have a ship orbiting the right planet)
• Ship move (allows you to place a ship on a planet or orbiting it)
• Colony move (allows you to trigger an action for a planet you control)

Once you have your dice, you can re-roll them once for free, and additional times by spending energy. If you still don't like the dice results, you can convert two dice into one of your choice.

You spend the dice in any order. Each time you spend a dice, the other players can opt to spend a point of culture to follow your move and do the same thing. If you have a ship in orbit, and you spend enough diplomacy or economy points, you will get control, meaning the card is added to your galaxy card you gain the victory points associated with the planet. You can use the colony's move when the right dice face comes up. If you land a ship on the planet before it is controlled, you can also do the same, using the move as a one-off.

If you spend enough culture or energy, you can increase your empire's capability (numbers of ships, dice and base victory points).

In our playthrough, Aidan (9) won. He spotted that his secret mission was usable and grasped the idea of the follow-on moves more quickly than Nathan (13), and produced a killer last turn. Nathan was somewhat annoyed, as he thought he had the game in the bag. I came a dismal last. They've both said that they liked it and would like to play it again. I enjoyed it, as it's light enough to be fun and quick and crunchy enough to be different. Although the game is built around random dice throws, there are plenty of opportunities to influence the outcomes and to adjust your strategy.

At some point, we'll try it again with the superweapons expansion to see what that does to the feel of the game.

Recommended.

9 February 2020

Power Out

Coffee by Gas Hob...

Storm Ciara is passing over the UK right now, and has successfully taken out the power here in Wetherby. It was restored briefly, but quickly tripped out again. Fortunately, we still have gas so we aren’t lacking for heat or coffee! It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes them to restore the system. I’m going to use the afternoon to play games with the kids, read and do a bit of preparation for the upcoming Revelation convention at the Garrison in a fortnight.

9 February 2020

Blue Light Heroes

Soon after I'd posted the update last Saturday, I had a phone call from work that we had a fire. As the person responsible for Health and Safety, that meant that all plans were abandoned for the day, and I headed in. I eventually got home well past midnight and have spent most of the last week dealing with the consequences. It's not often you make the national news.

To answer the most common questions I've had this week: everyone got out quickly, safely and unhurt and we do not know the cause of the fire yet [1].

Having been responsible for a high hazard chemicals site in the past, I had a good understanding of what the emergency services do, their actions and expectations. I've exercised with them in the past (indeed, with some of the teams that arrived here), and paid off for me. However, all that preparation and training still didn't give a true impression of the sheer professionalism and dedication of the firefighters, police, and ambulance service.

Most of my interaction and work was with West Yorkshire Fire Service, and they were amazing. I cannot praise them highly enough. We often have the culture of criticising our government services, but in this case, it would be completely wrong.

I have nothing but respect for the men and women of the blue lights who responded to us.

8 February 2020

[1] Not that I'd be in a position to discuss that in a public space, but we genuinely don't.

Books in January 2020

I read a lot more than I expected this month, meaning I'm significantly ahead of track on my target of a book a week this year as a minimum.

Agent Running in the Field (John le Carré)
John le Carré's novels are ones that I look forward to immensely, and I've rarely been disappointed. This one tells the tale of an SIS officer who is close to retirement being surprised and ending up with an assignment in London. Brexit is underway, and the author's distaste for the project is clear, but it doesn't dominate the story; it motivates it. Rather, it gives an excuse for a rather different tale. The story is told from a first-person perspective, much more successfully than some of le Carré's other takes on this perspective. My only criticism is that I would have liked to have seen more, but I guess it's good to leave your audience imagining what happened next. In many ways, this is more gentle than some of his more recent novels ('A Most Wanted Man', 'Our Kind of Traitor', 'Absolute Friends'), but there's a dark streak to it.

Auberon (James SA Corey)

[A novella set in The Expanse universe.]
Interesting story about what happens when someone brought up in a rigid society ends up responsible for a world that hasn't had the same background. Arriving as the representative of an occupying force, the new Governor and his wife, a research scientist, must find their path in a completely different culture. Only rated this three stars on Goodreads as it didn't really excite me; yes, it adds more flavour to the setting but it isn't indispensable.

City of Mist RPG (Amit Moshe)

I'll post further on this later.

Made Things (Adrian Tchaikovsky)

I enjoyed this; Tchaikovsky's flexibility and world-building are excellent, and this novella showed his capabilities well. It's a fantasy novel; set in a city and world where magic is common, and powerful magic users dominate. The protagonist is a young thief and puppeteer who has small, living, animated puppets that help her. She becomes drawn into a heist whose consequences change the city's power balance. A pleasure to read.

Precious Little Things (Adrian Tchaikovsky)

A short prequel to 'Made Things', well worth the time. There's a D&D scenario in this if you wanted to convert it and perhaps even an alternative character class. I enjoyed this; Tchaikovsky writes cracking short-form fiction.

A Prayer for the Ship (Douglas Reeman)

I first read this in the first year of secondary school (Year 7 to you youngsters) and haven't returned to it since. The book tells the tale of a new first officer joining a motor torpedo boat squadron operating on the east coast, and I believe that it draws off the author's experiences. It's very evocative and actually quite hard to put down. It pulls no punches about the impact of the fighting on the men involved (and yes, it is mainly men as the primary female character is pretty much a love interest), and doesn't glorify the war. Gritty, fast-paced and believable, I'm glad I came back to it. It showcases the short and brutal lives that the crews of MTBs could expect.

Blood of Elves (Andrzej Sapkowski)

The third Witcher book, and the first that is a full novel. I found it a bit unfocussed at the start, feeling more like short stories melded together. However, the narrative strengthens and focusses at the end which left me wanting more. This sits somewhere between 3 and 4 stars on my Goodreads ratings. Enjoyable but unfocussed until the last quarter, and left me wanting more.

Time of Contempt (Andrzej Sapkowski)

This is a book that meanders through its plot and definitely doesn’t feel like it has its own arc. It feels like we’ve dropped in on old friends to follow them and see what happens. Big political moves happen in the story, but we mainly see the effects on the protagonists as they are washed in the tides.

Geralt is not the main character; rather the book focuses around Ciri, his ward. Dandelion, Yennefer and other family faces circle around that orbit. The perspective shifts a lot, as threads all over the continent are pulled together.

I enjoyed this more than its predecessor, but it still doesn’t feel like the author is comfortable in the larger form.

Romance of the Perilous Land RPG (Scott Malthouse)

Reviewed here

City of Mist All Seeing Eye Investigations Starter Kit (2019)

This is the revised starter set for City of Mist and it restored my faith in the line's potential. It is very well put together, easy to use and reference and a great counterpoint to the core book (s). Recommended.

(But don't read the case if you're playing my first game at Revelation)