Difficult as it was for a virtuous man...

"Difficult as it was for a virtuous man to have someone killed merely for overhearing a conversation, it was even more difficult to discover that the order, once given, had not been carried out."

Guy Gavriel Kay, River of Stars 

#RPGADAY - 31 - Experience

Day 31 - the end for this year.

Experience.

I've realised that I prefer games which allow a steady flow of experience and growing competence. Games where your character goes on a journey from where they started. The recent two mini-seasons of Liminal that I played really pushed those buttons as - while I didn't get an advance every session, I did visibly move towards one. 

I like it when the game encourages you to behave in character and to role to achieve experience. I abandoned XP from gold and kills very early in my D&D Dungeon Master days, as it annoyed me because it feels like book keeping. I like the way that many of the modern systems ask pertinent questions of the session to determine experience.

Progression linked to skill use is cool, be it from failing (hello Dungeon World) or succeeding (hello BRP); linking it to the character's drives and goals takes this a step further.

And yet Traveller has no real skill progression. Growth is measured in survival, in credits and in experiences. Mundanities compared to growth of a character. But is the character the numbers and abilities, or the life the player breathes into them?

--

This has been #RPGADAY2020, thanks for playing. I hope that it's been a good experience for you.

31 August 2020

#RPGADAY - 30 - Portal

Day 30.

Portal.

Some of my favourite games have been built around portals. Faded Suns had huge, mysterious portals between the stars which no-one really understood. If I remember correctly, they were of alien manufacture, but it's been a while. Coriolis has the same vibe. Huge jump portals are used by ships to travel between stars faster-than-light. If I recall correctly, these are human technology, but the capability to build them has been lost (at least in the Third Horizon). Blue Planet uses a portal (wormhole) as a way to have colonised Poseidon, but it sits in the background as it's hard to get to and from.

I've used the same kind of concept in Singularities, but that has been more inspired by the Runcibles in Neal Asher's Polity books and some of Peter F Hamilton's work. Those and the Hyperion Cantos.

Concept art of the Sanctum Sanctorum.

However, I'm drawn back to the imagery of 177A Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, Dr Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. When I saw the portals opening to other worlds - both through windows and magic - I sat there and thought 'that would be so cool to be be able to do'. I need to work something like this into a game at some point. Would the players step through?

30 August 2020

#RPGADAY2020 - 29 - Ride

Day 29.

Ride.

Some players really find their ride important. I found this in Traveller, where the entire raison d'être for a campaign was paying for the starship that enabled them to travel across the Imperium from star system to star system. It gave me reasons for plot ('your ship has a problem you need to fix', 'someone has stowed away', 'a patron wants you to go to Dinomn to carry out a mission') but it also generated the story. Some players are of the mindset where they love to manage all the starship economics and trading, and that in itself drives the story. They chase cargos and passengers. They look for the opportunity. Gold dust for a games master.

Some games really make the ride important. In the One Ring, the journey is really significant. That's makes sense, as the two key sources for the game are travelogues. The journey becomes significant; developing your party to the point that it can handle travel well is important. In Dr Mitch's extended campaign we nearly died at least once crossing Mirkwood, and the death march across the remains of Angmar scarred our characters forever. It's fair to say that the elements have always been there from the earliest days of gaming. The early D&D modules like B2 Keep on the Borderlands had a wilderness sandbox to explore, and hex-crawling a sandbox was a thing. Arguably, Traveller codified this into the star maps of its sectors and subsectors from the start.

So the ride can be a good thing; however, sometimes it's cool just to say 'after a week's uneventful travel, you arrive safely'.

29 August 2020 

Actions inconsistent with philosophic ideals...

"Holding high office (for so many years) meant that you had done, and would have to continue doing, unpleasant things at times. Actions inconsistent with philosophic ideals. It was necessary, at such moments, to remember that one’s duty was to the empire, that weakness in power could undermine peace and order."

Guy Gavriel Kay, River of Stars 

#RPGADAY2020 - 28 - Close

Day 28.

Close.

We're close to the end of this year's RPGADAY and I'm still not convinced by the change in the format. It has definitely forced me to be more creative in my responses, but some of the words have been challenging. Then again, I've not really done this since the first one seven years ago, so who am I to complain. I much preferred Stronty Girl's Lockdown-Question-a-Day on the Tavern, because the crowdsourced questions were much closer to our hearts because they were our questions.

I love it when players get invested in their characters, and really close to them. I include myself in that for when I play and also when I'm running a significant NPC. That feeling when you hold your breath and hope that this dice roll isn't going to bring disaster on the character. The feeling when you take a decision that you know risks all, but you also know that it's what the character would do. So close that you're under the skin.

I think that this often gets easier the more often that you play a character; a four hour one-shot doesn't press the same buttons. It also helps when the character has had some form of growth; I think a steady progression of experience so that they're getting more and more competent pays off and makes you engage more. There are tricks that can draw you close to a one-shot character; strong notes in the descriptions, hooks to engage with other players and plots that draw them in, but I've always found the level of investment is less. What's your thoughts on this? Can you get the same investment for a one shot?

I think blogs like Guy Milner's Burn after Running have some great tips to drive engagement, so definitely check that out if you haven't.

28 August 2020

#RPGADAY2020 - 27 - Favour/Flavour

Day 27.

Favour/Flavour.

There's a conflict between the two images posted for RPGADAY 2020. This one says 'favour'. The other one says 'flavour'. Which shall I go with? Autocratik's blog is no use to solve this, as he's further behind than I am as I write this.

Flavour, I think.

Flavour matters. Traveller has a different flavour to Ringworld, which is a different flavour to Star Wars WEG which is a different flavour to Star Wars FFG, which is a different flavour to Starfinder, which is a different flavour to Blue Planet.

Flavour comes from many different places; I'd argue that in some games the distinctive flavour is the setting; sometimes it can be overwhelming and complex (hello Glorantha, Transhuman Space and Traveller); sometimes it can be a perfect helping of different (hello Blue Planet), and sometimes it's bland and generic and the spice comes from the MSG of the rules.

Familiar rules can be a good base to the flavour of a game, because they give comfort to players in a new setting that they know how this works. They can enable them to try something different. Being like something they like means they'll sample it.

Familiar rules can also leave an aftertaste when they don't match the setting, especially if that's defined fiction like Star Wars or Star Trek. If the rules do something different to what we expect in the setting, they jar and undermine the suspension of disbelief.

Flavour is important, and the best designers know how to season their games well.

27 August 2020

Rivers and mountains can be lost, regained, lost once more...

"Rivers and mountains can be lost, regained, lost once more. Mostly, they endure. We are not gods. We make mistakes. We do not live very long. Sometimes someone grinds ink, mixes it with water, arranges paper, takes up a brush to record our time, our days, and we are given another life in those words."

Guy Gavriel Kay, River of Stars 

#RPGADAY2020 - 26 - Strange

Day 26.

 

Strange.

It's weird having D&D (and by definition roleplaying games) going much more mainstream. Even in the 1970s/1980s peak, it was seen as something strange and different, something geeky. And now the geeks have inherited the earth. I can talk about the hobby at work, and it's not viewed as being odd or strange. It's accepted. It's normal. It may not be at the centre of the mainstream, but it's floating along, adjacent to the media that promotes it and similar paths such as boardgames.

I used to enjoy being an outsider when I ran a Mac after I graduated. It was different, it felt special; I was strange and listening to my own tune. Probably a very extended, symphonic prog-rock tune, but I had a clique that knew and understood the strange stuff I was into. These days, the Mac is mainstream, and sometimes I regret that. I hope that the acceptance of gaming doesn't bring the same feeling.

26 August 2020

#RPGADAY2020 - 25 - Lever

Day 25.

Lever.

Sometimes you need a lever to raise the game to a higher level. You see this a lot in the more independent games. Powered by the Apocalypse engined games do this wonderfully with the dedicated moves in playbooks. These tell you what the character is all about and what they do. The bonds and relationships serve a similar purpose. They help you to engage with character and what they are for. 

In many games using this engine, the characters are unique; you can't have two characters with the same playbook. What makes you special is very clear.

Another lever in Powered by the Apocalypse games is the inherent "Yes, but..." built into the mechanics. This gives you choices and also adds complications which drive the plot and the imagination.

The game engine drives interaction and story.

That's not saying that other systems - D&D5e or Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition, for example - don't do this, but they rely much more on the players (or the GM upfront with pre-generated characters and backgrounds) to drive this. In the Apocalypse Engine, this is built in.

I played a wonderful game of Cartel at Revelation. The four hours we played felt like we'd been in a mini-series and were invested in the characters. We didn't do any real preparation, and Nigel - our GM - had some outline notes and beats, but the story and relationships flowed from the relationships we'd defined and the moves that we had. Brilliant stuff; the rules provide a lever to get a level of immersion and investment that would take many sessions in a more traditional system.

I like that elements from this type of game are starting to appear in more traditional games. We all need levers for our minds sometimes.

25 August 2020

#RPGADAY2020 - 24 - Humour

Day 24.

Humour.

Games that are meant to be funny terrify me as a GM. I always worry that I will make a mess of them. It's the huge mental block which has stopped me getting the sublime The Dying Earth roleplaying game to the table. Every time I look at it, I fear that I won't give the players what they want from it. Intellectually, I know that it's as much a challenge for them as for me, but the fear remains. One of these days I will re-read the game and get it to the table. I own everything for the system so I really owe it to myself.

That aside, I did manage to run Paranoia well and we had a lot of laughs with it as teenage gamers at school, with both the first and second editions of the game. I did buy the current version, but decided that I was unlikely to get it to the table as there was far too much that was ahead of it.

Usually, I find that the humour comes out of situations going bad, with or without dice rolls. It's always wonderful to see someone (including myself) digging themselves deeper into a hole when they really should stop.

24 August 2020

Curse of Strahd: Preparing for Season 2

In September we will restart our game of Curse of Strahd by entering the demi-plane of Barovia properly. If you recall, I'd decided to ignore the Death House scenario in the appendices because I didn't feel that it was in keeping with the rest of the campaign. It felt too much like being a dungeon for a dungeon's sake. On reflection, perhaps that was a deliberate approach to slowly introduce players who hadn't played in this kind of setting to Ravenloft through something that feels a bit familiar. Instead, I'd used The Beast of Graenseskov as an introduction. It's an adventure which could have done with some better organisation, but the premise is more in line with what follows, and the plot genuinely engaging. It went down well with the group.

Notes from a session - spoiler free

My first steps in restarting the campaign have been to review the folder full of printed out copies of the after-action reports that I've shared here on the blog. The copies in my folder are a little bit different. They're annotated with comments which range from what I've learned about the party from their interactions, to ideas for beats to introduce in later sessions, to notes about the consequences of their actions. I also tend to capture a to-do list for the next session. I've mined this information for things that I can carry through to maintain some continuity as we approach the game proper.

These have ranged from the obvious (Strahd is aware of the characters) and some extensions from the actions that the characters have taken (Strahd has lost his agent in Graenseskov, so needs to act to close that gap). Some of the extensions and consequences will take place off-screen and fall out from the way that the players 'solved' the previous adventure.

I also ended up with two solid plot hooks for the next stage of the campaign, which is the village of Barovia itself. These will give good reasons for the characters to engage with the non-player characters present in the demi-plane. They also come from the consequences of their actions.

I'm pretty satisfied with where I've got to with this, so the next step is to re-read the campaign (or particularly, the sections of the campaign that we're likely to encounter over the first few weeks of the game). A gaming friend - Robin P - pointed me at the Curse of Strahd Reddit as well. Having had a good look on the phone, there's some really useful stuff there that I will be mining.

I'm looking forward to returning to the vampire's realm.

24 August 2020

#RPGADAY2020 - 23 - Edge

Day 23.

Edge.

I dislike it intensely when people start to spout gaming theory with arrogance. They proselytise that they have the one true way and that anyone who disagrees is wrong, possibly stupid or - in some cases - immoral. Gaming is a hobby that we do for fun. Different people enjoy different things; none of the various gaming engines is better or worse than others except at a personal level. Provocation and conflict don't serve us as a community.

Pathfinder has too much crunch to float my boat, but I respect that people enjoy it and I'm certain that I could have a great time playing it if I engaged. I have no urge to run or play Vampire but I've enjoyed it in the past, and understand the buttons it can press. I love SF games, but the FFG and d20 Star Wars games never drew me in. Traveller T20 was a step too far for me.

Our experiences shape our preferences, but they remain our experience.

I used to enjoy the gaming theory discussions on the Forge and there was some really good, thought-provoking stuff there. I hated the arrogance and pretension with which much of it was delivered and eventually drifted away.

Games are about enjoyment. There is no one true way; if you and your group are enjoying it, then you're doing it right. If you enjoy state of the art games and engines, then that's a good thing, but it doesn't invalidate other people's choices. You don't have to live on the edge to have fun.

23 August 2020

 

The sun shows its face

After Friday's storms, Saturday brought glorious weather and skies to match.

We spent most of the day on the beach.

There was much fun in the water, as the waves were still pretty energetic.

 

Prosecco was drunk to celebrate the holiday.

 

All in all, a good day.

#RPGADAY2020 - 22 - Rare

Day 22. 

Rare.

I rarely come out of running a game feeling bad about it, but when I do it can put me into a very self-reflective mood. I've had a couple of convention games like this. Most of them, I've just reviewed what happened and went wrong, but a couple knocked my confidence to the point that I questioned whether I should be running.

• The one at GenCon UK when one of the players arrived with a pillow and about thirty minutes in just went to sleep. Que for looks between the other players and me. We carried on. He woke up for the end and marked me as not knowing the scenario (and I wrote it).
• The one at Furnace when one of the players went off on one and started to play her character completely differently to the way the background was written, killing suggestions from other players and ordering them around. I'm sitting there wondering how to solve this without conflict, and we have a break. The other players remonstrate with me about how I could write a scenario like this. I show them the duplicate character sheet, and we agree that they will be assertive to resolve this. They do, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
• The one at Continuum when two of the players - old-time GMs and writers who I respect - really didn't get the idea of the story game scenario that I was running. It wasn't the story, they just wanted to engage with it more traditionally. One of them eventually got it, but it was hard work.
• The other one at Continuum when one of the players rocked in drunk and really made the game awkward and not very enjoyable. He made Durance an endurance test.

The reflection this kind of game situation makes you do is a good thing. Each of those games made me chose to do things differently. My perspective is that the GM is there to make the game an enjoyable experience for all the players; I don't like it when that doesn't happen. I want to continue to learn when I GM. I want it to be a rare event when it doesn't work.

22 August 2020

Tales have many strands, smaller, larger...

"Tales have many strands, smaller, larger. An incidental figure in one story is living through the drama and passion of his or her own life and death."

"Every single tale carries within it many others, noted in passing, hinted at, entirely overlooked. Every life has moments when it branches, importantly (even if only for one person), and every one of those branches will have offered a different story."

Guy Gavriel Kay, Under Heaven

#RPGADAY2020 - 21 - Push

Day 21.

Push.

Sometimes, even the most experienced players need a push to engage with the scenario. I saw this partway through our last Esoterrorists campaign when Richard (our GM) presented us with the clues that definitively said that our characters needed to go into an active Ebola hotspot. We spent most of the game session talking around it, probably nearly two hours of procrastination. Not one of us wanted our characters to go there; we were invested in them and the horror of that flesh-eating disease just made everyone shudder. We debated the other clues we had, whether we could go elsewhere, could we avoid this somehow. Rich sat and quietly fumed, getting increasingly frustrated. 

Eventually, his patience broke and he let his frustration become apparent. And that was enough of a push for us to engage back into the plot, overcoming the innate fears of the players for their character's safety. It showed that sometimes, even with an experienced group, the GM needs to give them a little push out of the door. Once they start to fall, they become more concerned with making sure the parachute works and picking the right landing site than their fear of falling.

(As an aside, I'd love to see another Esoterrorists campaign from Pelgrane Press, as we've used all theirs up).

21 August 2020

Hope Cove, Restless Seas

We arrived in Devon in the face of wind and rain, but warm weather. The resulting views were gorgeous and Nathan, my Dad and myself went out to have a good look around. After a long drive, it was exactly what we needed.

The light was delicious, but there was a fine mist of rain and sea spray driving into our faces. There were a couple of crazy bodyboarders out there.

We came back cold, wet and very refreshed. It was definitely worth the walk.

I also managed to get a great picture with my Dad, myself and Nathan. 

Three generations over 65 years.

A great start to the week.

21 August 2020

#RPGADAY2020 - 20 - Investigate

Day 20.

Investigate.

Investigative games are the ones that really float my boat; it doesn't have to be something like Call of Cthulhu (indeed, these days I'd prefer it wasn't) where the game is entirely focussed around an investigation, it just has to have elements where I need to start to connect the plot together to find our way through it. I get far more satisfaction from the connections towards a solution than I get from combat and battles.

Google Keep solution - minor spoilers for Mercy of the Icons.

My weakness as a player is that my characters will tend towards behaving as investigators; this came to the forefront during the recent Coriolis campaign when we were investigating a murder. My character was more of a Han Solo type, but in the end, I ended up starting to push the investigation because we weren't getting anywhere. I felt that I'd failed from a player because of that, but it was necessary to drive the plot. I started to address this through a simple shared Google Keep file so we could all see the plot threads and it wasn't my character who was always pushing it.

Scapple investigation (minor spoilers for Profane Miracles for the Esoterrorists)

When playing more complex investigation focussed campaigns, I've also tended to use Scapple as a tool to connect the threads of the investigation in a way that everyone can see. It's quite flexible as a way of organising your notes for an adventure. I've used this heavily for The Esoterrorists during the multiple campaigns that I've played.

These days, I'd rather be playing The Esoterrorists, Vaesen, Liminal or Delta Green over Call of Cthulhu. I enjoy the game engines more. I do think that Gumshoe's conceit that 'you will always get the clue' is just how decent GMs have run investigative games anyway; the mechanics should not block progression. I do have a hankering to try something mad like running Eternal Lies for Trail of Cthulhu using the Cthulhu Hack. Having run Cthulhu City at Furnace using the game, I think that it would work well. However, I suspect that the challenge of finding a group that has the commitment to play a campaign that large and also to try it in a different system will prove difficult.

I tried out 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu at Continuum and enjoyed the game. I do think that the tweaks to the engine have improved it, but it was very much the classic 'you all investigate something you have no idea about and go mad or die'. I look at the two large core rules books on my shelf and then compare them to the boxed set of 2nd Edition that sits beside them, and the enthusiasm wilts. I think the Delta Green game engine is significantly slicker and better than 7th edition. I enjoyed running it for my Stranger Things / Delta Green mashup at North Star. It also held up from a player perspective.

I'd always rather investigate rather than fight. Although the latter does become necessary.

20 August 2020

#RPGADAY - 19 - Tower

Day 19.

Tower.

I bought my favourite tower earlier this year from the lovely folks at All Rolled Up. It's a 3D printed dice tower, which makes a lovely sound when the dice roll down it. It's also very lightweight. I can definitely recommend it.

 

If you're rolling lots of dice, you do need to feed them through, but it handles them well.

 

Rolls like this aren't guaranteed.

The layering from the 3D printing fascinates me.

19 August 2020

#RPGADAY2020 - 18 - Meet

Day 18.

Meet.

The first gaming meet that I attended was Dragonmeet 85 at Manchester University. It was the last Dragonmeet until the format was resurrected in 2000. Aged fourteen or fifteen, my mum drove me there (we lived about 20 miles away) and had the patience to take me around the convention. God knows what she actually thought of it, but I'm glad she took me there (and encouraged my weird hobby).

I can remember finding a copy of the American cover version of Runequest 2, which left me overjoyed. Runequest 3 was either out or just about to come out and there was no way that I could afford that. I browsed through the trading hall and went to a seminar with Marcus L Rowland (one of the scenario authors I really liked, who was hugely prolific and is still around on the scene these days). I didn't actually get to play a game, but I really enjoyed myself. However, I didn't really start going to conventions properly until after I graduated when I discovered Continuum's predecessors and TravCon.

Again, I can't believe the patience and love that my mum showed taking me to an event like that. She was (and is) brilliant for encouraging me.

18 August 2020

#RPGADAY2020 - 17 - Comfort

Day 17.

Before I start this, it's interesting to see that Autocratik, the creator of #RPGADAY has also fallen behind on his posts for this, and has put some to one side because he's struggling to find something to say about the word.

Comfort.

What things in gaming give me comfort? Traveller, obviously, but that's too easy.

One area which gives me comfort and enjoyment is exploring different D&D/OSR campaigns. I have more than enough of them to last me for the rest of my life (unless I manage to get myself digitally uploaded) but enjoy reading them. Some people like comics, some people like pulpy fantasy, but I love a good campaign or scenario. The bug started when I discovered Dungeon World, a slippery slope which has resulted in me starting to run D&D5e amongst other things. I started to pick up D&D/OSR scenarios with a view to hacking them. It started with the modules that I'd run and played at school and developed from there.

I picked up a lot of OSR material ranging from pay-what-you-want PDFs up to gorgeous almost-art books. There is some really creative material out there, and it's lovely to read and play. Hot Springs Island, Electric Bastionland, Silent Titans, Ultra Violet Grasslands, The Hill Cantons...

I'm still gutted that I'm unlikely to get some of the LotFP/Zak S books to the table because of the toxic nature of the company and the author because they are very unique. I can't see any of my friends wanting to play them and they're dead as far as conventions are concerned.

I follow a few dangerous blogs which review lots of D&D adventures; Ten Foot Pole is generally a good but acerbic start, but their recent review of a Cthulhu Hack book left me surprised. I need to read the book involved to see if I think it's fair. Actually, I follow far too many gaming blogs (having just checked Feedly there are 392!), but that's another story.

So, I have a D&D module habit, and I can't see it going away sometime soon.

17 August 2020

#RPGADAY2020 - 16 - Dramatic

Day 16.

Dramatic.

Dramatic situations happen in roleplaying games for a variety of reasons; the plot, the mechanics, and the players (or a combination) are usually the drivers.

The plot drives dramatic situations in obvious ways; assets are put on collision courses, obstacles are there to be beaten, and the plot drives towards a conclusion with the players usually seeking to derail it. This is where all your planning and co-creation pays off.

Mechanics drive drama when the characters are up against the wall; your resources are spent (I'm looking at you, Gumshoe), you're down to the last few hit or sanity points, and the tension rises. You can feel everyone holding their breath as that critical role is made. Of course, from a GM's perspective, mechanics can feel like they have the opposite effect when the players are a bit canny. The perfectly planned and escalated heist; the legitimate exploitation of mechanics to gain an advantage and succeed, undermining the big climax. But this is still dramatic; the players know that they've outfoxed their enemy, they've hit their six to win the game. In fact, if you tell them just how well they've done you'll have them recounting the tale of how they destroyed the big bad without a hair on their heads being hurt. They will have assumed the worst, and beaten it. This, to me, is a good thing.

Players creating dramatic situations is gold-dust. Many of the best roleplaying experiences that I have had have been when the players run with the situation and commit to it, often playing their character despite the risk that it puts them in. We know that they are placing themselves at risk, and await the outcome.

Plot and mechanics are much easier for a GM to influence than the players. Yes, you can create situations but the players need to go there. I find that it works best to have bonds, objectives and other personality elements to create this. In a convention game, it could be a simple as setting up the characters so there is a reason for them to rub up against each other and generate sparks. Many of the Powered by the Apocalypse games do this very well, as part of their design. Their adoption of failing forward also helps fuel the situations that the characters encounter, raising stakes and drama.

I think that different games have different strengths on how they draw the players to experience dramatic situations through their characters.

Which way do you prefer?

16 August 2020

Workflow changes

Having to amend my workflow a bit at the moment, thanks to the current COVID-19 impact. I'd got the iMac restored and installed on the Mac mini, which is lovely. Currently on Mojave as I'm trying to decide whether I'm happy to lose the various apps which haven't made the 64-bit jump.

However, access to the Mac mini is a bit restricted; Jill is using the office/spare room to work from, and that means that she is set up with another computer connected to the monitor through a switcher, and has all her paperwork there. I can get to use the desk in the evenings, but it's not quite as simple as it was.

As I'm starting to travel with work, I'd mulled over getting a secondhand MacBook, but ultimately decided against it due to the cost of a decent model. My 2008 unibody aluminium MacBook is lovely, but struggles for battery life and is huge. I don't want to lug it around. The other reason to delay on a Mac is the transition to ARM processors aka 'Apple Silicon'; I think I've bought my last Intel chipped Mac.

I'm eyeing up a better Chromebook, with a 13" form factor. Current favourite is the Asus C434, which puts a 14" Full HD screen in a 13" form factor. It's about 3x faster on benchmarks than my stalwart Lenovo N23 Yoga. I'd considered a Lenovo Ideabook Duet (a Chromebook tablet with a clip-on keyboard  a bit like the iPad) but it's really too small for what I want to do.

So what do I want to do with the Chromebook? I want to use it to write with, to do some surfing, and to join in and run online games using VTTs (virtual table tops) like Roll20, Foundry and Let's Role. Discord is sorted via the Android app. The N23 will do this, but can get a bit sluggish and the screen is only 1366 x 768, which leaves it wanting for running games. Perfectly useable for playing if you push the resolution up virtually. I'll make a decision at the end of the summer, after a break on what I'm getting. It needs to have everything I need when away from home, as I'll be running Curse of Strahd from September.

Anyway, the limited access to the Mac mini means that I will primarily use it for layout work and some editing at the weekend (I'm typing on it at the moment), rather than as my primary machine. It also means that - rather than Ulysses or Scrivener - some of the projects will move onto Google Docs. I did this with Lyonesse and it worked fine. I love the all-in-one approach of Scrivener, but that will have to wait.

16th August 2020

#RPGADAY2020 - 15 - Frame

Day 15.

Frame.

The best campaign settings are frameworks with space for the GM to explore. 

The best scenarios are full of sharply focussed, easily parsed details. 

Both of them act as a frame for a GM to build their game upon.

When the spaces between the frame are all filled in, the space for creativity is stifled in a campaign. 

When the spaces between the frame are all filled in, the scenario risks being lost in a wall of information that inhibits its use at the table.

Taken to extremes, you end up with the intimidating wall of canon that well-developed settings such as Glorantha and Traveller can present to new GMs and players. Of course, the solution is to start small and make it your own, but there's always that fear that you may be doing something wrong.

Chris McDowall makes a very pertinent argument that the setting should serve the game, and not the opposite, in a recent blog post. His recent RPG, Electric Bastionland (which I reviewed here) is a great example of the setting lore being presented through the characters, a framework for creativity rather than a straightjacket of detail.

Give me campaign books like Rim of Fire, rather than the Spinward Marches. The former is a framework full of ideas and inspirations, the latter a detailed gazetteer that creates a vast, fully defined area (and actually contradicts other sources because there's so much detail checking it is a nightmare).

Give me a framework to excite my mind, to inspire creativity, to build upon.

15 August 2020

2020 Reading Challenge achieved

 

So I've just gone through the 'book-a-week' fifty-two book challenge I set myself for the year significantly earlier than other years. Thirty four of those are not roleplaying related, so I'm now setting myself a secondary challenge to get the non-roleplaying to fifty two. That means eighteen more normal books. I'm not sure if I'll get there, but it's worth a shot.

15 August 2020

First Impressions - Vaesen - Nordic Horror Roleplaying

Vaesen - atmospheric Nordic Horror.

 

TL;DR: I really like this game. Throughout reading Vaesen, it was giving me ideas for mysteries to run. The streamlined version of the Year Zero Engine is light enough to work well, and the nature of the Vaesen gives the game a unique feel. I love the way the Mythic North is presented, giving just enough detail a hook a game around and enough space to make it easily your own. The somewhen in the nineteenth century approach is brilliant, giving a soft focus setting that has plenty of atmosphere. I'm going to run this soon.

Fria Ligan had me with Vaesen right from the first image they used for the Kickstarter. Enigmatic, beautiful and scary, the artwork drew me straight in. I loved the concept of a more mythically led horror game; all to often, roleplaying horror games default to Lovecraftian starkness. This was more layered, more nuanced.

The image that hooked me.

Vaesen is presented beautifully. The production values don't quite match those in Vaesen: Spirits and Monsters of Scandinavian Folklore (link to my previous comments) but they come very close. The 232 page hardback has a linen-effect cover, and rather than the flat spine you usually see in roleplaying games, this one has a curved spine like an older book. There's a dark green ribbon to mark your place. Page thickness is less than the source book, but on the heavy end for a roleplaying game. The art is glorious, drawing on Johan Egerkrans' images to great effect. Layout is clean and simple, and there's a decent index.

The game is set in the 'mythic north', an alternative Scandinavia sometime in the 19th Century. You're encouraged to be non-specific with datas and technologies to make it your own. The setting draws on the impact of industrialisation as mining, logging, railways and factories start to impinge on a way of life that has fundamentally been unchanged for centuries. Vaesen are spirits and creatures, perhaps monsters, which have co-existed with humanity over the ages, and the change is disturbing them. In some places they are resisting the change, in others their suffering has an effect of the symbiotic relationships with the villages and peoples of the north. 

Characters all have the sight; they are amongst the few who can usually see and sense Vaesen, as they are all Thursday's Children. They are members of the Society, an organisation based out of a run-down castle in Upsala in Sweden which seeks to study the Vaesen and also to protect mankind from them.

Characters are built from a number of archetypes (academics, doctors, hunters, occultists, officers, priests, private detectives, servants, vagabonds, and writers) which make it easy to establish a group that matches the fiction of the period. There are twelve core skills, and each archetype has access to a talent which gives a bonus in certain situations. There are four core attributes (physique, precision, logic, empathy). Each character establish a relationship with the others (effectively a positive or negative bond). Wealth is abstracted into a resources score. Everyone has a memento which can be drawn upon to heal mental or physical conditions. Each character also has a dark secret which can be drawn on by the GM to place pressure on them.

The game engine is a lightweight take on the Year Zero Engine, most similar to that seen in Tales from the Loop. It's stripped back and light touch; just enough to add tension. Rolls can be pushed at the cost of a condition.

The Society has its own chapter, with a history and roles that the players can have their characters take up. There are campaign rules for developing the society and its facilities. If they player's are successful, the society will thrive and grow.

Another chapter provides high level guidance on Scandinavia in general and Upsala specifically. It's a strong framework to build the game from. 

The Vaesen chapter details twenty-one Vaesen[1]; this isn't an exhaustive list, and the GM is encouraged to draw upon other sources, especially Egerkrans' book. It describes the history of how the Vaesen and humanity have interacted. The game leaves plenty of spaces to make this your own; it specifically doesn't make a call whether God and the Devil exist, merely noting that Vaesen can be fearful of the symbols of Christianity. The Vaesen range between nature spirits, familiars, shapeshifters, spirits of the dead and monsters. They often have access to magical powers which fall into three categories; Enchantments, Curses and Trollcraft. 

The mechanics of how the magic works aren't described, merely the effects. Enchantments are powerful and can affect a location and all those living there; they succeed automatically and can cause characters to suffer a fear test. They are not usually direct in nature, mainly creating an atmosphere, such as raising a fog or darkness. Curses are used by Vaesen to attack individuals. They cause an effect and extra successes may cause conditions. An example would by Night Terrors, locking a victim into a terrifying sleep and causing mental damage. The final form of magic, Trollcraft, allows Vaesen to bend time and space or alter reality. However, the game is clear that the story comes first over the mechanics. There are rules for player characters using magic, but it is made clear that this is quite rare.

Vaesen have four stats; might, body control, magic and manipulation. They cannot push rolls. They also have a fear value which characters have to resist the first time the Vaesen is revealed or become terrified (fleeing, fainting, freezing or attacking). Each Vaesen has a list of conditions that they will take if they are damaged. Their magical powers are described, along with the ritual which will banish the creature. There's also a secret which will complicate the ritual. Finally, a number of examples of conflicts involving that Vaesen are given. Of course, it's beautifully illustrated by Egerkrans. A key thing to note is that combat is not usually the solution; in most cases it will only gain you a temporary respite until the angered Vaesen returns.

A chapter is dedicated to how you design a mystery for the players to explore. It starts with the selection of the Vaesen and the source of the primary conflict between it and humanity. There will then usually be a secondary conflict which may engage into the character's dark secrets. It may be completely unrelated to the Vaesen but it will drive drama. The primary conflict will have began with some form of misdeed, prompting the Society to investigate. The location is decided, linked to the kind of Vaesen chosen and an appropriate map prepared. Elements to build atmosphere are selected to call upon in descriptions to raise player's engagement. Clues are then selected; central cases will solve the primary conflict, peripheral clues will flesh out what is going on. The text recommends having at least two places that each clue can be found and also ensuring the player's get it if the characters end up in the right place or person. Finally, a countdown is established - effectively the beats of the mystery that will happen if it is not averted. The ultimate catastrophe is also described if the characters fail.

A recommended structure for the mystery is given:

1. Prologue
2. Invitation (to the mystery)
3. Preparations
4. The Journey to the Mystery
5. Arrival
6. Places
7. Confrontation
8. Aftermath

It's a good working form. There's great examples of how to make the situation unpleasant and scary for the characters. There's also advice on building a campaign.

The final chapter is the introductory mystery, 'The Dance of Dreams', which is aimed to run for two to three sessions. I won't spoil it, but it drops in some lovely hooks for the future of a campaign.

There is an appendix with an alternative life path character generation approach, similar to that seen in Forbidden Lands.

I really like this game. Throughout reading Vaesen, it was giving me ideas for mysteries to run. The streamlined version of the Year Zero Engine is light enough to work well, and the nature of the Vaesen gives the game a unique feel. I love the way the Mythic North is presented, giving just enough detail a hook a game around and enough space to make it easily your own. The somewhen in the nineteenth century approach is brilliant, giving a soft focus setting that has plenty of atmosphere. I'm going to run this soon.

15 August 2020

[1] A twenty-second Vaesen is presented in 'A Wicked Secret'.

First Impressions - Vaesen - A Wicked Secret and Other Mysteries [No Spoilers]

A Wicked Secret.

This compilation of four mysteries came from the stretch goals in the Vaesen Kickstarter and takes you all over Scandinavia investigating the Vaesen. It is an attractive 104 page hardcover book, beautifully illustrated and laid out. Each of the scenarios has a very distinct feel and I will focus on that rather than the stories inside.

The Silver of the Sea takes the characters to a remote northwestern island booming on the herring trade. There's a feel of the frontier in this, with icy seas and a potentially apocalyptic catastrophe.

A Wicked Secret is the title mystery, and my favourite. It evokes claustrophobic fear in the depths of the northern Swedish forests as the characters try to find out what caused a logging company agent to disappear and his colleague to lose his mind.

The Night Sow is set on a cold, snowy and windswept peninsular by the town of Molle, where a decadent and sinful hotel has scandalised polite society through such decadence as allowing men and women to share the same bathing beaches. Now something evil has come.

The Song of the Falling Star changes gear again, and the characters will find themselves in an Estonian spa town investigating what has driven a young mother to try and kill her first born child. This mixes cities with the older world which surrounds them and has more of a mythical feel than the others.

All of the mysteries follow the same structure outlined in the core book and have a unique feel. They're sandboxes with a countdown of beats and an ultimate catastrophe if the characters fail. This could prove fatal to them in some cases. The scenarios do not shy away from evil and darkness; there are satanists and more, and blood sacrifices. I'm looking forward to running some of these.

Recommended.

15 August 2020

#RPGADAY2020 - 14 - Banner

Day 14.

Banner.

Bruce Banner. Archetypal Marvel hero. A genius scientist with a monster inside. Arguably a modern take on Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde.

I love the Marvel films for the MCU, yet I own none of their comic books. My youngest loves Spider-man as a hero, and has the animated series and loves the various films. And yet, I've always been more drawn to DC stories (less so the films).

I've never yet found a superhero game that I've managed to get to the table and have the passion to run. I did Golden Heroes as a kid (and very good it was too) but somehow the urge to carry on running wasn't there and I sold it to my classmate Mark in a transaction on the school bus (so I could by some other game).

I've tried to find a traditional SHRPG  that truly excites me. I bought the Marvel SHRPG just as the game went out of licence, but it's never got out to play. Champions passed me by.

And yet, aren't most RPGs about super-heroes in some way? They may not wear capes. They may not be invincible, but usually, they're much more competent than the other people around. Are they super?

As I bring this to a close, I realise that there actually are two superhero roleplaying games that have caught my imagination. The first is Masks, which Guy Milner introduced me to at Revelation this year. The descent of COVID-19 and lockdown made me forget out this teenage angst-fueled homage to Marvel. 

The second is City of Mist, which manages to press my mythic buttons at the same time. Neo-noir in the style of Netflix Marvel, the game runs well and I enjoyed running it at Revelation. I absolutely loved the Netflix take on Daredevil, Jessica Jones and more, so it's no surprise that I rate this.

I suspect that it says more about me than the genre that the only games that excite me are outliers[1]. They're different and unusual. They aren't traditional super-heroics. 

14 August 2020

[1] Broken Angels and Godlike also spring to mind here.

[Update] Decided to pick up a copy of Masks and then realised it seems to be pretty much out of print. Oh well.

#RPGADAY2020 - 13 - Rest

Day 13.

Rest.

Although this will appear on the 13th's entry, I've had to take a 'rest' before writing this as I've been finishing off work before taking some time with the family.

Since the Guvnor moved further North, my gaming has mainly been at conventions and online. I'm happy with that, as it allows me to catch up with friends from across the country. At the start of the UK lockdown, online gaming went bonkers, with everyone starting to take to it. For balance, I have always tried to keep to a game a week (often two alternating games on different weeks) to minimise the family disruption.

Once COVID-19 hit, I found myself in three games; First Age's Coriolis, Dr Mitch's Liminal and Jag's Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Liminal was the surprise hit for me; we'd agreed to it as a throw-away, played a mini-series, and then came back a month or so later for another run. And we plan for another. We used Google Hangouts and then Google Meet for this.

Coriolis has been running since March when Curse of Strahd went on a break. We've played two of the scenarios from the adventure collection and then moved into the start of Mercy of the Icons. I love the setting, I love First Age's GMing and the players are great but it didn't quite come together until the end of the sequence we're playing through. I think that was partly our fault, as we weren't taking note of what was going on well enough to manage a fortnightly gap between games. I found it came together for me once I started a shared Google Keep file which has notes we could all add too. I'd struggled a bit with my character, who is meant to be a Han Solo type but is not that competent. He felt a bit like a spare wheel to start with (especially as the first two games were planet-side rather than on ships or at Coriolis station). When your main skills are about piloting ships, it can feel hard to shine in the game, especially when your secondary skills are someone else's primary thing. I had a good hard look at the character, and in the end, decided to stick with him as he was. I'd have liked to see a higher flow of XP during the game so we can grow, but I enjoyed playing and am looking forward to this coming back. We used Roll 20 for this.

The final game I was playing was Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4e, ably run by Jag using the Foundry VTT. We were playing the first instalment of the Enemy Within, 'Shadows over Bogenhafen'. I have to say that I really didn't like the WHFRP engine; the level of crunch and faff, and the general level of incompetence of our characters, left me cold. However, the way that Jag spun the tale, and the quality of the other players (two of whom I'd never played with before) kept me coming back. I will join in this when it restarts, but part of me really wishes it was being run using Warlock!

Anyway let's draw these back to the topic of the day; these have all finished, so I'm now on a 'rest' between games. I'll be returning online in September with Curse of Strahd and playing Vaesen. I'm missing my weekly catch-ups with friends. Perhaps I need to drop into the Mitchener Arms for a roleplaying fix.

13 August 2020

Will Fria Ligan win the Twilight War?

 

T2K - pressing the nostalgia buttons

Growing up at the end of the Cold War, I always wanted to own a copy of first edition Twilight:2000 when I was a kid. I borrowed it from a friend at school and ended up managing to persuade my dad to do an illicit photocopy of it*. Using that set and my copy, we created characters and then realised that the system was pretty dire, so I ended up running a pretty freeform game using the skills as a suggestion. The imagery and feel of it has stuck with me. 

There've been three more editions (and if I recall right, two versions of second edition) but none has worked mechanically for me. Seeing the forthcoming Fria Ligan version excites me. I've yet to see a game from them that doesn't work. Twilight:2000 may finally be getting the presentation that it deserves. Time will tell.

12 August 2020 

*I finally picked it up much later when I was at University.

#RPGADAY2020 - 12 - Message

Day 12 - Message

Message.

Sometimes I wonder about the gaming cliches. How many times does a Call of Cthulhu scenario start with a message from a distant relative/former student/fellow academic who asks for help? Or we have the legacy or will that leaves something mysterious. Even D&D is going this way with the message boards of Phandelver rather than its past cliche of a man approaching you in a pub (Traveller: Patron in starport bar). 

How do we do better? Do we need to do better? Should we just accept that the forms are there as a way to ease us into the plot. Would starting in media res and flashing back be better and more fulfilling? Letting characters stumble onto the plot?

On balance, I think that the cliche of a message to hook you is for the best. It's like the femme fatale walking into the detective's room, with trouble following behind her.

12 August 2020

#RPGADAY2020 - 11 - Stack

Day 11 - Stack?

Stack.

The biggest stack of roleplaying books I have is that for Traveller. 

But that's too easy.

The most embarrassing stack of roleplaying books I have is the 'to read' pile. When I was younger I had plenty of time to read game books, but I didn't have the funds to purchase them. Now I can afford them, and buy too many as there's always a pile waiting. That can be comforting as it gives me something to dip into. However, you know it's too big when publishers release the second edition of a book you've yet to read.

I also have a large stack of games that I'm trying to sell, probably to increase other people's stacks. This time it's to create space and - increasingly - because I am starting to consider whether I will actually run or play the games. 

Sometimes there's an attachment there that stops things going into this pile; I still have my second edition Call of Cthulhu box because it was what brought me into gaming along with Holmes Basic. There's a nostalgia with the artefacts. Glorantha is one area that is slowly edging closer to the sale pile, but every time I look at the Pavis material, I waver.

11 August 2020.

#RPGADAY2020 - 10 - Want

 

Day 10 - Want

Want.

Do you suffer from GAS? Game Acquisition Syndrome is a common suffering for role-players and other hobbyists. We can be like magpies, focusing on the new shiny, only to discard it for the next, better thing.

These days, I do try to resist games (mainly as I have run out of storage and too many more threaten domestic harmony), especially those that I think I won't play. However, I do recognise that I also enjoy reading scenarios and campaigns looking for that mythical, perfect supplement.

I'm trying to start to reduce the space taken out by games I don't think I'll play again, but sometimes the nostalgia is strong (I'm looking at you Glorantha) or I really like the idea of the game and haven't managed to get it to the table (hello Dying Earth).

My favourite band, Marillion has some wise words on this topic.

So do you suffer from GAS?

10 August 2020

At the lowest ebb, of a person or a nation, the first seeds of later glory may sometimes be seen...

"At the lowest ebb, of a person or a nation, the first seeds of later glory may sometimes be seen, looking back with a careful eye. At the absolute summit of accomplishment the insects chewing from within at the most extravagant sandalwood may be heard, if the nights are quiet enough."

Guy Gavriel Kay, Under Heaven 

#RPGADAY2020 - 9 - Light

Day 9 - Light

Light.

Less is more in RPG books. 

Space around the text makes a book easier to parse and understand, letting the text breathe. It doesn't need to be white space, Fria Ligan's Alien does this very well with a black background [1]. If a text is dense and swamped by colour and complicated layout, you can't read it quickly and well.

It's a similar thing with the expression of the game's rules. They need to be presented authoritatively, succinctly and clearly. Rambling text that lacks a lightness of touch undermines the ability to find and reference material and to understand it quickly.

And don't ever present a game with the text and layout printed on greyness like Mongoose used to.

9 August 2020

[1] They do it less well in Coriolis, where finding anything in the book is a challenge. Fortunately, they have a great index which lets them get away with this. Usually their games are great from a layout perspective.

First Impressions - Warlock! Kingdom

Warlock! Kingdom - a world to explore.

I followed up the copy of Warlock! with the book that gives a flavour of the world that is hinted at in the text. It's an almost systemless setting book, so could easily be used with other fantasy games. This is the Kingdom supplement.

When it finally arrives, this will be a 111 page hardcover supplement, but the comments here are based upon the PDF. The book is to all intents and purposes black & white, but the page trims have a little colour in and it is printed on the higher quality paper.

Like the core book, there's a detailed table of contents.

The first 35 pages after that deal with the Kingdom itself and take the form of a gazetteer. It starts with a description of the Kingdom, and then drops you bang into a d20 random table of noisy and flavoursome street events to distract you with. There's then a description of the Royal Family (and how the King is now hardly ever seen, and the Queen and the King's chief advisor are now running the country day to day), before a discussion of the Traitor who was beaten in battle, but disappeared. The map of the peninsular that the Kingdom is in takes a two page spread, and is hits the nostalgia buttons well. Key locations from the map are described, with a selection of random tables and evocative artwork. This builds on the fact that the Kingdom is built on the ruins of several predecessors, the last one Elven. There's just enough information here to give you a flavour for each place and wet the imagination.

The next 40 pages are dedicated to Grim Biskerstaf, the town shown on the cover above. The map is reproduced with a two page spread with key locations. It's a port city, on the mighty Vessen River, latterly suffering from a new disease, the Blight. At this point, the blight mainly afflicts the poor, and those living higher up the hill are unaffected. Locations are described in a similar format to the gazetteer, often with random tables for ideas or small rules snippets (never drink Fire Brew, unless you're a student). Some of these tables give plot hooks; for example, the Cathedral has job postings on a tree outside.

A number of key organisations are described, starting with the Little Council. This is headed by Lord Keberond, the ranking noble of the City and nominally in charge. However, the Council thwarts him at every step and at the same time members bicker and struggle for influence. The College of Doors (a magical school), the Red King's Man (upstart religion), the Guard, and then noted citizens are all described. There are lots of throw-away lines for the imagination to feast on. Naturally, there is something nasty going on in town, but the players may never end up near it.

New careers are added for Dockers, Fish Warden's, Mudlarks, Night Watchmen, Publicans and Servants. There's a table of hirelings (no stats, just background), and then the book rounds out with ten adventure seeds on a random d20 table. They take the form of a description and then a set of questions.

All in all, a flavoursome book which presents just enough to get your imagination going. If you're looking for an example adventure, this isn't it, but there's plenty of meat here for a GM to start a campaign from. You could chose to use other settings (for example The Midderlands) if they float your boat more. However, this one has lots of merit.

Recommended, but not essential.

9 August 2020

Edit: My other Warlock reviews are here:

Warlock! Core Rules

Warlock! Compendium 1

Warlock! Compendium 2

Warlock! Kingdom

Reflections on running Warlock!

Warlock! Griff's Vale

Warlock! Goblins!

Warlock! Phantasmagoria

Warlock! Three's Company

Warlock! Black Edition

Bonus: Warlock! VTT sheets for Role