First Impressions - Dungeondraft

Reading the comments on a battle map for VTT posted on r/CurseofStrahd made me realise that Dungeondraft (dungeon mapping software) was now available. I'd bought Wonderdraft (world mapping software) around this time last year, but it was a little to random in how it built maps for me (it generates elements to look natural). However, looking at the map of the Church which had been shared, it was obvious that this was much more flexible.

Priced at $19.99, Dungeondraft works on on Windows and macOS. Much more competitive in pricing than that copy of Campaign Cartographer which I have sitting on the side because messing around maintained a Windows virtual machine was a pain in the posterior and the learning curve was pretty steep. Clearly, it isn't as well featured.

Screenshot of first test

However; it's incredibly simple to use. In about 30 minutes I'd produced the picture above (and this was from not understanding how it worked. It will do lighting for VTTs as well, which is a big tick for me. I need to get my head around that properly. 

It works quite simply; you paint the terrain or the items like walls onto the grid or follow a path. You can blend in terrain types (like the snow and gravel overlay in the image) and you can drop assets in place (for example the posts on the jetty). You can set light direction and tone, and place lights on the map. It supports layers so you can build above and below. It feels like it would be incredibly easy to build a pretty detailed map for a game if you wanted to. 

On first impressions, this gets a big thumbs up from me.

The person who produced the map of St Andral's had used assets from 2 Minute Tabletop and Forgotten Adventures which have made a fantastic looking scene.

I'd be really interested to hear if you've been using this, what you've been doing and what assets that you draw on for your maps.

31st December 2020

Curse of Strahd - S2E8 - A friend in need...

       

The calm after the storm...

Our dramatis personae:

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. Imagine a slightly greener take on Grace Jones...

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

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.

and reintroducing:

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. 

Alex wasn't with us tonight so Gaddock spent the session recovering from his exertions in his room at the Inn.

 __

November 13th, continued.

Our brave heroes were back at the Blue Water Inn, licking their wounds and recovering. There was much celebration for the destruction of the evil vampire spawn and the tale initially grew at the telling before they reigned it back in. Reality was sinking in, as was the fact that they had celebrations to prepare for. They had a service booked at 3pm, but nothing else. 

Kel had been asked to be best man for Ser Alys and Ser Adon, and started to take his duties seriously. He started by negotiating the use of the Landlord's rooms for the couple for their first night together along with trimmings like incense in the room for the fire. After a few words from Danika, Urwin agreed. Kel politely pretended that he didn't here her say that they never used the bed anyway. He also booked the wedding breakfast and Ser Alys requested that it be an open house after the Festival of Blazing Light concluded.

Ser Adon, Ser Alys and Kelwarin headed out into the town centre to prepare for the wedding. Ser Alys found a hairdresser and Ser Adon went to find a simple gift, and then buy himself a surprise new killer outfit for the wedding. He managed to find a puffy red shirt, black tasselled trousers, and a tricorn hat with a black feather. He had them bagged and returned to the Inn, confident that he would look very dapper fo the love of his life.

Kel was ordering the flowers in the main square and observing what was going on. The Town Guard had five people chained up in the stocks, all wearing plaster donkey heads. The guards were practicing casual cruelties; they'd encourage kids to throw rotten vegetables and muck at the prisoners, and sometimes they'd throw a bucket of cold water from the fountain at the centre over them, causing them to shiver and recoil. They seemed to think that this was funny. While he watched, another prisoner was led out by a guard and the brute that he later found out was the leader of the guards, a hulking man called Izek who had an unnatural looking arm. Already angered by the way that the prisoners were treated, Kel spotted that the new prisoner looked familiar. He suddenly realised that he was wearing the same distinctive trousers as Rosco.

Kel decided that he needed to take action, decisively. He paid some urchins to make a ruckus on the other side of the square, then - having bought a crowbar - went invisible and released the prisoners. He shocked Rosco, talking to him as a disembodied voice. He cast invisibility on his former colleague and got him back to the Inn while the guard chased around after the prisoners. They quietly went upstairs to Kel and Gaddock's room and Roscoe started to get warm and recover. Kel slipped back out to get clothing for him, and overhearing Izek telling his guards that two recaptured prisoners would be part of the centre-piece of the festival the next day along with the coffin-maker, he realised that this meant they were likely to be burnt alive in the large wicker sphere sun emblem on top of the staging. He decided to quietly sabotage the door on the wickerwork using mage hand, so it would be easy to escape.

Ser Alys had a discussion with Izek when he came into the hairdressers; they ended up agreeing on the need for law and order and she was offered a job if she needed one. On returning to the Inn, she found out that Kelwarin had booked a trio of women singers who would perform traditional Barovian folk songs at the Wedding Breakfast.

Kel was catching up with Roscoe, who explained that he had been imprisoned after getting slightly the worse for wear on drink at the Blue Water Inn, managing to repeatedly curse the Devil Strahd. A tall, pale, dark haired noblewoman, Lady Molot Kosti, had apologetically reported him to the guards and he was summoned before the Baron. Unfortunately, he compounded his error by being disrespectful to the Burgomaster and ended up imprisoned.

There was a knock at the door to the room, and Rictavio was there. The circus-master came in and started by talking to Roscoe directly, explaining that he knew that they had come in (despite the invisibility) and apologising for not having rescued him earlier. However, he'd wanted to wait until closer to the Festival to ensure that the Baron didn't want to deal with him severely. He said he'd help, placed his hat on top of Roscoe's head and some magic happened, making him taller and look like a human rather than a short halfling. He told him he'd be back in the morning to restore the spells. Rictavio then became very serious and interrogated Kel over the Vampire Spawn. He warned him not to attack then without involving him in case things got out of hand, as he could help. He headed downstairs to the bar then. 

Soon after, Kel and Roscoe headed down, Roscoe's head all around how he could carry out a halfling style blessing for the wedding. He went to the bar, ordered drinks and asked Kelwarin what he wanted. Then he realised he had no money as all his equipment was in the Baron's lockup. So Kel bought the nightcap.

Meanwhile, one of the locals walked into the room, and went to the bar, asking the Landlord "Where the Knights are?" in a strangely disconnected voice. He headed straight at them. Ser Alys realised something was up and caught Ser Adon's attention. Ser Adon activated his radiant light javelin, and the man shuddered and then looked confused, wondering why he was there. They calmed him, bought him a drink and discovered that he had been charmed out in the Cheapside of town to the east near the Coffin Maker's shop they'd burnt down. He was to give them a message:

"We haven't forgotten. We know where you live. We will have our revenge."

Ser Alys and Ser Adon were delighted; being threatened on the night of a wedding was a traditional orcish blessing, although more traditionally done by the in-laws to be. They half-wondered if Kel had been involved in organising this. They soon sent the man on his way, with him worrying about what his wife would say about the smell of alcohol and the lost bucket for water from the well.

The priest (Roscoe) with Kel, introduced himself as Faygon, and started to debate theology with Ser Adon. Ser Alys quickly realised (from the mannerisms) that this was Roscoe in disguise. This was another orcish tradition when a friend plays the trickster and tries to fool his friends, bringing a special blessing on the couple.

Rictavio gave a toast to the happy couple and then they all went to bed.

30 December 2020

GM Notes - Rather than stopping for a long rest, I reminded the players that their characters had a wedding the next day and it would be significant to their characters. The spotlight was more on Kel than I expected as he decided to go and act on his own to rescue Roscoe. There's possible conflict in the party as Ser Alys is quite hard on laws being important. She may not be impressed with Roscoe's predicament. I got a hard nudge at the end from Tom that he wanted a faster pace to action next week. From my perspective, the build to the wedding is important (as the players brought this into play so my assumptions are that it needs some time). However, the nudge is noted. Full action will come and I hope it's what they wish for.

Curse of Strahd will return on 13 January 2020.

First Impressions - Those Dark Places (Industrial SF Roleplaying)

 

Those Dark Places - a very distinctive style

Those Dark Places is my third roleplaying game purchase from Osprey Publishing's roleplaying line. The previous books - Romance of the Perilous Lands and Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades - have been fantastic and both gave me the GM tingles that means I'd like to get them to the table. I came to this with high hopes but finished the book disappointed.

TL;DR: I found Those Dark Places disappointing. It looks gorgeous, but the style of the text is Marmite; you'll either love it or hate it. I had a visceral reaction against the way it is written in the style of a darkly-humorous in-game artefact. My view is that the exposition of games rules should be clear, easy to parse and unambiguous; this is not the case here. The game mechanics are buried in waffle which acts as a barrier to the transfer of information. The actual setting information is bland and vague, and very little of it acts as a hook that makes me - as a GM - want to build on it. The mission type descriptions are nebulous and don't provide structure or any real hooks. The game is a big miss for me, failing to excite or engage. 

Those Dark Places was inspired by the movies Alien, Outland, Silent Running, Blade Runner and Moon. All movies I love. The book is a 128-page hardback, presented with distinctive artwork mainly using black and white with a signature colour (red, blue, orange...) dependent upon the scene portrayed. I really love the way that this looks. There's a 45-page player section, with the remainder of the book being dedicated to the 'Game Monitor'.

The game looks gorgeous.

The rules are incredibly simple (although it's fair to say that Fria Ligan's Alien game is not significantly more complex). You roll a six-sided dice and add an attribute (ranged from 1 to 4). If you have an appropriate crew position, you can add +1 or +2 depending on how strong it is. Success is achieved if you roll 7 or more. In some circumstances, this may be reduced to a target number of 6 or increased to 8. If you are in opposition to someone, you roll an opposed roll where you look for the highest roll instead.

There are four attributes; Charisma, Agility, Strength and Education. Your CASE numbers. You have scores of 1 through 4 which you assign as you prefer across them. Bear in mind that an attribute of 1 will only succeed on a roll of 6. 

The players between them form a crew, each of which is trained to cover two positions on a crew; Helm, Navigation, Science, Security, Liason, Engineering and Medical. You will get one as your primary and the other as your secondary (the primary is your day-job, and gives you +2 for rolls). 

Combat is simple - initiative order is decided with an Agility attribute roll. Hand-to-Hand is resolved with opposed rolls based on Strength. Ranged with an Agility roll based on the range of the target. Surprise affects the damage mechanic (automatically maxing rolls out). Damage is taken off the strength attribute. Unarmed causes 1 point, hand weapons typically 2 points, and firearms can cause up to 5 points. Once you get above a single point of damage, you roll a D6 to see how much damage you cause, with the weaponś maximum damage acting as a cap. If your Strength is reduced to zero, you're unconscious, and you die if your strength drops to -2.

There's also a sanity/panic mechanic called pressure. You have a pressure bonus, which is the sum of your Strength and Education. A character can be asked to make a pressure roll when confronted with something incredibly stressful. You roll D6 and add you pressure bonus, looking for 10 or more. If you fail your pressure level goes up by 1. Once you hit pressure level 2 then you roll a D6; if it's less than your pressure level, you suffer an episode, which results in a roll on a table which can reduce attributes or trip you into freezing or fleeing. The severity of the roll is capped by the pressure level you're at.

The book describes the usual form of a mission; you've signed up for a 25-year tour, a good part of which will be spent in LongSleep as you travel between the stars. If you get a bonus from a job, it usually reduces the time before you can retire. Your aim is to survive. 

The Game Monitor's section expands with some more detail on the attributes and positions and has a good worked example of play. It suggests that the characters could be part of a Deep Space Support Team (DSST or 'Dusters'), corporate troubleshooters assigned to resolve issues. The basic crew position needs for such a team are described, followed by some fluff descriptions of ships, outposts and stations which use a lot of words for little content. Different types of simulations (missions) are described. There's good stuff here but it's buried in the same way. There are basic rules for NPCs and synthetic automatons (like Ash in Alien, or a replicant in Blade Runner).

The book rounds out with a sample scenario outline - The Argent III Report. This sends the characters off on a retrieval mission for Cambridge-Wallace Inc, nearly 12 light-years away from Earth. They're sent to the Proycon system to recover an engineering team who have been decommissioning an old orbital station. It's a straightforward and reasonably linear scenario which should serve as a simple introduction.

The last two pages include some of the key references for the book. Herein lies the rub; if you added two or three short lines in for the rolling mechanics, you'd have the whole game mechanically on two pages. You could add character generation and mission points on a second sheet of paper and it would be spot on.

The book also suffers from some annoying typos, only a few but they really grated with me. The reference section headings talks of 'FRIENDS AND ENIMIES' and CO2 is consistently misspelt as CO2. The former is a basic, albeit annoying, failure on proofing. The latter is grating in a hard SF adjacent game and setting.

I found Those Dark Places disappointing. It looks gorgeous, but the style of the text is Marmite; you'll either love it or hate it. I had a visceral reaction against the way it is written in the style of a darkly-humorous in-game artefact. My view is that the exposition of games rules should be clear, easy to parse and unambiguous; this is not the case here. The game mechanics are buried in waffle which acts as a barrier to the transfer of information. The actual setting information is bland and vague, and very little of it acts as a hook that makes me - as a GM - want to build on it. The mission type descriptions are nebulous and don't provide structure or any real hooks. The game is a big miss for me, failing to excite or engage. 

I'm probably in the target audience here; I love the films it's built around, I love the genre of science-fiction and I'm a fan of focused, simple, narrative games. I think it fails for me because it isn't focused; it's opaque and the background material is opaque. I'd hoped for a cross between The Sprawl and Electric Bastionland but ended up with something hugely different. The game system is fine, and I'm sure would power a fun game, but the other hundred-or-so pages fail to ignite my imagination.

Edit: On further reflection, I think I know what really jarred about the tone; the book claims Alien, Outland, Silent Running, Blade Runner and Moon as key influences, but it is written more in the tone of a corporate from Aliens. The company was faceless, uncaring and distant in the movies cited, whereas here it's wisecracking and darkly humorous. 

30 December 2020

The Wretched - Solo RPG - Recovered Log - Day 9

  

Recovered Log - Day 9

Audio recordings of a play-through of Chris Bissette's solo journalling roleplaying game.

Dom Mooney · The Wretched - Day 9

Day 9 - 2 cards

• 6S - You find yourself muttering a phrase again and again like a catechism. What is it? 1 block
• AC - While rummaging around the crew quarters, you find a tool you’ve been in need of. What was it? The next time you need to pull from the tower you can choose not to.

Day 9, salvage ship ‘The Wretched’. Flight Engineer Dom Mooney reporting.

I found the phase balancer today, in the 2nd Mate’s quarters. This should help with the engines if I have another go. It can simulate and adjust the quantum balance for the light drive, something I don’t have a clue about. However, I can read a manual and I know how to use this.

Been listening to music a lot over the last fews days. Woke with an earworm…” Into the distance, a ribbon of black, Stretched to the point of no turning back” which just wouldn’t go. A comment on my situation? Perhaps.

It fills the silence in my head and keeps me from thinking about the creature. With the proxi alarms off, I can just about tune it out unless the light’s flicker as it moves around the hull, scritch-scritching as it tries to enter. There’s definitely no turning back; I need to get the beacon fixed and hopefully the drive.

”Into the distance, a ribbon of black, Stretched to the point of no turning back”

This is Dom Mooney, the last survivor of the Wretched, signing off.

The Wretched - Solo RPG - Recovered Log - Day 8

  

Recovered Log - Day 8

Audio recordings of a play-through of Chris Bissette's solo journalling roleplaying game.

Dom Mooney · The Wretched - Day 8

Day 8 - 4 cards

• 2C - you find the journal of one of your crewmates. What thing from home were they missing most?
• JC - you gather up the bodies of the crew you were closest to and seal them in the remaining airlock, saying a few words of remembrance over their bodies, but you can’t quite bring yourself to jettison them. What words do you say, and why is it so hard to send them out into space? 1 block
• 2H- the water purification system still works, but its noticeably less efficient. What does it feel like to taste water with a taste of ammonia?
• 10S - you find something left behind by the creature. Blood or a body part. Describe it. 1 block

Day 8, salvage ship ‘The Wretched’. Flight Engineer Dom Mooney reporting.

Awful hangover this morning, so I lost myself in work trying to forget the pounding in my head and the creature outside. The ship is noticeably starting to deteriorate in subtle ways. The water system still works - I’ve drunk a lot today - but it’s developing a tang of ammonia. Water with a hint of urine is never going to catch on, but it’s all I’ve got and it did the job. The tests say it’s drinkable so that’s what matters.

I moved all the remaining bodies to the airlock, but held off venting them. Just in case it drew the creature in. Plus these were my friends; the engineering crew in the main. I said a few words, more for me than them.

“I am standing upon a starship.
Below my feet, her engines catch the solar winds and start for the vastness of space.
An object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch until the blue dot we left behind starts to fade
Just where the stars and the nebulae come to mingle with each other.
Then someone says, “There she goes!”
Gone where?
Gone from our sight, that is all.
Memories may fade, but
Life remains, scattered through the universe,
All formed from the same stardust, all one.”


I found Janey’s journal when I moved her body; in it she talks about how she only needs to do a few more tours then she’ll have saved enough to settle down on the Delta-Pavonis colony with her sister and family. She can buy into one of the engineering businesses. I kind of felt like I was violating her privacy; I’d never have dreamed of doing this before, but now I’m just grasping for some touch of humanity. Anything to keep my mind off my situation. There was a broken claw lying there as I moved the bodies. It had scraped the hull plating. What good will a rifle be against that? How did it break?

This is Dom Mooney, the last survivor of the Wretched, signing off.

___

Poem is a hack of

A Parable of Immortality
I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud
Just where the sea and the sky come to mingle with each other.
Then someone says, “There she goes!”
Gone where?
Gone from my sight, that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side
And just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says, “There she goes”
There are other eyes watching her coming
And their voices ready to take up the glad shouts,
“Here she comes!”

By Henry Van Dyke

The Wretched - Solo RPG - Recovered Log - Day 7

Recovered Log - Day 7

Audio recordings of a play-through of Chris Bissette's solo journalling roleplaying game.

Dom Mooney · The Wretched - Day 7

Day 7- 3 cards

• 9H- the proximity alarms keep sounding because the creature is on the outside of the ship. You have to disable them. 1 block
• JS - The creature can survive in the cold black of space, where nothing should be able to live. Is it coming to destroy me or is it just defending itself? 1 block
• 5S - Something happened to the lights when the creature was near your hiding place, what was it? 1 block

Day 7, salvage ship ‘The Wretched’. Flight Engineer Dom Mooney reporting.

Hope was misplaced. It’s back.

I was in the Officer’s Mess, when the lights flickered in a way I don’t recall having seen before. Darker, then brighter than they are normally. I knew it was back.

The proximity sensor alarms on the hull went off soon after, and I’m sure I caught movement on the cameras. Throughout the day they kept triggering, and in the end I turned them back off, like I did immediately after the attack. I can’t deal with being constantly in tension, can’t eat, can’t sleep. I’d rather it was a surprise if it got in.

What brought it back? If it can live in the depths of space why did it stay with the wreck? Is it me it wants? Is it just that this is more tenable than the lander? Is it still trying to defend against a threat or is it making a new home.

I think I’ll consider this over some of the Captain’s Single Malt collection.

This is Dom Mooney, the last survivor of the Wretched, signing off.

First Impressions - The Crypt of the Mellified Mage (Forbidden Lands)

The latest anthology of scenarios for Forbidden Lands.

I was quite impressed with the first anthology of scenarios for Forbidden Lands, The Spire of Quetzel, which made me look forward to this collection when I saw it as an add on to The Bitter Reach Kickstarter. Once again, it has been written by a collection of industry luminaries, so each adventure has a very different feel.

TL;DR: The Crypt of the Mellified Mage is a great scenario anthology for Forbidden Lands but it is probably more challenging to use immediately than its predecessor (The Spire of Quetzel), except as one-shots. The Crypt of the Mellified Mage is the easiest scenario to introduce of the four included here; the others need more preparation or potentially significantly change the flavour of the Raven's Purge campaign. I like the way that Fria Ligan is approaching these, trying something with different flavours to enhance the game. As usual, you could take these and convert them to any decent fantasy system.

Physically, it is a short, 78-page hardcover the same size and style as all the other Forbidden Lands books. The interiors are black and white with some great artwork that catches the feel of the scenarios.

The opening scenario - The Crypt of the Mellified Mage - was written by Fiona Maeve Geist, one of the team behind Mothership, and the scenario definitely catches that kind of ickiness vibe that I associate with settings such as Alien. It is a dungeon scenario, with the characters exploring a buried complex that was formerly occupied by the Sorceror Pagoag, who was exploring the magics of honey, healing and undeath. No-one knows if he succeeded in some of the transformations that he was attempting; if he did, then the end results would be extremely valuable to those with ill-health or seeking extended longevity. There's a secondary threat posed by insectoids, almost an aside. I suspect that the scenario could be really nasty if the players aren't smart in how they approach this. Some of the map illustrations and the room descriptions aren't quite aligned, but nothing enough to be problematic. The feel of this is very different from the usual Forbidden Lands adventures presented in either of the campaigns. The events give some interesting progressions and move the scenario beyond just presenting a static situation.

The second scenario - The Firing Pit of Llao-Yutuy - was written by the author of Yoon-Suin, Dave McGrogan, and feels fresh and unique, with an Asian myth flavour. A smoking fire is seen on the horizon and people go missing, as the Magician Llao-Yutuy arrives and starts to prepare his famous enchanted pottery. The scenario encourages a raid into the Firing Pit, either for the pottery itself or to rescue people who have been kidnapped. It's quite a simple dungeon with some clever challenges from the way that each of the multiple approaches has been set up. The map has a few numbers missing (but where they are is obvious from the description) and is hard to read due to the gutter in the book's centre.

The third scenario is written by Zedeck Siew and is a village setting. In reality, this is a mini-campaign which could support multiple sessions. The Temple of the Six-Limbed Lord has intruded into the Ravenlands by mistake as it moved from Eternal Yimming. The priests of the temple, led by the Sixth Priest, only want peace, by which they mean that only the Monkey King is worshipped. The Seventh Priest has been cast out into the surrounding lands and seeks revenge. The Monkey forces are on the move, systematically scouting, raiding and conquering. This has the potential to change your entire campaign, so this should be used with caution. It could easily be used as a stand-alone campaign in a setting without threats that the Ravenlands bring.

The final scenario may be problematic to some, written as it is by Adam Koebel (Dungeon World). The Dream-Cloud of E'lok Thir is an ambitious scenario where the characters enter into the dying dreams of a powerful mage, dreams which have taken form and present the opportunity to learn secrets and gain treasure. Tarry too long, or do the wrong thing, and you could be lost forever, like the half-forgotten traces of a nightmare the morning after. The scenario will need some thought in advance and would work best with established characters whose backstory can be drawn upon to feed the dreams. There's a definite Moorcockian vibe to this, which I like.

Overall, this is a great scenario anthology but more challenging to use immediately than its predecessor, except as one-shots. The Crypt of the Mellified Mage is the easiest scenario to introduce; the others need more preparation or potentially significantly change the flavour of the Raven's Purge campaign. I like the way that Fria Ligan is approaching these anthologies, trying something with different flavours to add to the game. As usual, you could take these and convert them to any decent fantasy system.

26 December 2020

The Wretched - Solo RPG - Recovered Log - Day 6

 

Recovered Log - Day 6

Audio recordings of a play-through of Chris Bissette's solo journalling roleplaying game.

Dom Mooney · The Wretched - Day 6

Day 6 - 3 Cards

• QS - what do you imagine the creature calls itself? 1 block
• 2D - Oxygen has been leaking slowly from the hull where the asteroid hit, but you spend a few hours fixing it. 1 block
• 9D - The gravity drive fails - it’s a slow process dragging yourself over to it in zero G and a long day fixing it, but you get it back up and running. 1 block

Day 6, salvage ship ‘The Wretched’. Engineer Dom Mooney reporting.
Another quiet day with no sign of the creature. I’m starting to hope, which could be dangerous.

I spent the morning watch tracking down a slow leak in the O2 system; one of the lines had a hairline fracture. Easy fix for this: Isolate the section, cut it out and replace. Should have taken me two or three hours. Would have too, if the gravity generating drive hadn’t tripped out. Had to make my way through the ship, and then do the repair in zero-G with the tick-tock in my head that the oxygen was out. Took me the rest of the day to fix that and then get the original repair done to make sure I have enough air to breathe.

I found myself wondering about the creature: Was it sentient, or was everything instinct? Was it really just reacting to circumstances? Did it have a name, relationships or a family? My gut says it’s all instinct, but how did it get into space? All I can do is to speculate; I doubt I’ll ever find the answers out.

This is Dom Mooney, the last survivor of the Wretched, signing off.

The Wretched - Solo RPG - Recovered Log - Day 5

 

Recovered Log - Day 5

Audio recordings of a play-through of Chris Bissette's solo journalling roleplaying game.

Dom Mooney · The Wretched - Day 5

Day 5 - 2 cards

• JH - you spend a day climbing around the engines doing basic maintenance and trying to figure out what needs to be done to get the ship moving again, You end the day as clueless as you began. 1 block
• 4C - Where did you hide while the rest of the crew were dying?

Day 5, salvage ship ‘The Wretched’. Flight Engineer Dom Mooney reporting.

Clearly, the creature didn’t get me today. Perhaps it’s gone for good with the Lander? I can but hope.

I spent the day overhauling the remaining engines, running through basic maintenance and doing diagnostics. I can’t see the damage; the physical systems I can access look okay, but I still get a flood of error messages on the DCS display. Something’s failed, perhaps the underlying code; I’m no drive engineer. Quantum mathematics has me in two places at once.

I know the engine spaces like the back of my hand; when the creature started to attack, and the screaming started, I hid inside the drive panels themselves; plenty of space there and secure, but you’ve got to come out sometime.

I think I need to focus on getting the comm system back up to scratch now; if I can couple that to the distress beacon someone may be able to pick me up.

This is Dom Mooney, the last survivor of the Wretched, signing off.

The Wretched - Solo RPG - Recovered Log - Day 4

 

Recovered Log - Day 4

Audio recordings of a play-through of Chris Bissette's solo journalling roleplaying game.

Dom Mooney · The Wretched - Day 4

Day 4 - 4 cards

• 7S - creature whispers to you through the ships comms - you don’t know how it does it . What do you hear before you kill the audio? 1 block
• 6H - your scanners keep showing a large object that periodically disappears from the screen only to show something out there a few hours later. Is it a glitch?
• 3H - while you slept the fire suppression activated - what caused the fire, and how can you make sure it doesn’t happen again - 1 block.
• 8D - a fire starts in one of the engines when you’re trying to get it started again - you’re forced to jettison it - 1 block

Day 4, salvage ship The Wretched. Dom Mooney reporting.

Sleep was hard to come by last night. The scanner kept on triggering an alert on the repeat screens in the mess. It was showing something large nearby, but it disappeared by the time I got to the bridge and the scan console. Nothing showing there. A ghost in the machine? I tried the comms system, but there was nothing there. Nothing human at least. I’m sure I heard something aping a human voice, repeating back what I said. Was it the creature? Am I imagining it? I shut the audio off as I didn’t want to face that right then. The scanners tripped again until I shut notifications down. Two days ago I was finding the sense of isolation oppressive, and now I just don't want to face what's out there.

Just as I got back to sleep, the fire alarm cut through the ship, waking me with a jolt. The engineering section was showing a fire and the suppression system activated in the main switch room. I vented the space to the kill the fire and then realised I could have let it in. I put my vacc suit on, took the rifle and tools and went to check it out. Nothing there. Looks like the sensor is faulty, so I isolated it off the system so it wouldn’t trip everything again. 

As I was up, decided to try the engine start sequence again and nurse it back up. Something clearly wasn’t right as alarms went off and there was an ignition. The automatics didn’t cut in because of the isolation on the alarm and by the time I manually activated the suppression, the damage was done. I dumped the engine, jettisoning it before the cryogenic fuel detonated. Not feeling hopeful about this; seem to be running out of options to get us under our own power again.

This is Flight Engineer Dom Mooney, the last survivor of the Wretched, signing off.

The Wretched - Solo RPG - Recovered Log - Day 3

 

Recovered Log - Day 3

Audio recordings of a play-through of Chris Bissette's solo journalling roleplaying game.

Dom Mooney · The Wretched - Day 3

Day 3 - 6 cards (!)

• QC - Removing bodies from a small room you intend to hide. Why were so many people here, what did it do? 1 block
• AS - you find a way to distract the creature from its attempts to enter the ship? How?
• 10H - life support system keeps making an unhealthy grinding noise and you don’t know the problem - what will you do if it fails?
• 5C - carrying a rifle for the last few days - you pried it out of a cold grip of a dead crew mate’s hands. What did that make you feel, and do you think it will be effective if you can use it.
• 5D - you access one of the lander modules and hope you can use it to escape the ship, but the asteroid damage means that it is beyond repair. You jettison it hoping to distract the creature. 1 block.
• JD - you lose power throughout the ship and while you’re trying to fix it the back generators fail too. You restore power but you have to cannibalise the parts from the backup generator which will never run again - remove 1 block permanently.

Day 3, salvage ship The Wretched. Dom Mooney reporting.

Not a pleasant day today as I spent it clearing bodies from the officer’s mess and then cleaning down the area. It’s hard to believe the ferocity and mess that the creature caused. In death, the command crew look startled, or fearful. Torn apart as they tried to plan their way home after the damage that the asteroid impact caused, unaware of the threat it carried. I never really had much contact with them except for the Chief Engineer but they always gave us direction, even if we didn’t like it. They took the decisions, we just got to implement them. And now there’s just me. I’m carrying Johansen’s snub rifle; I found it in his hands shortly after the attack. I couldn’t recognise him without his head if it hadn’t been for his name tag. Part of me wonders if there’s any point. If it gets in, will this really stop it?

I’m planning to use the mess to sleep in; it has mirrors of the displays on the bridge, and it can be secured with the bulkhead doors. There’s a ready bunk, food, water and a shower. Better than my own quarters. Safer, hopefully.

The power went down in the afternoon watch; we dropped to emergencies, and the backups only came on for a few minutes. I got the main generator back, but had to strip out the convertors from the back-up to restore it. The stores with the primary spares are gone, along with most of the workshop. If it goes again, it’ll be a slow, cold and dark death. Better than what that thing would do though.

I wasn’t sure what had caused it to fail at first, but then I realised. It was trying to get in through one of the power feeds. Had putting the bodies out of the last working airlock drawn it in? I don’t know. Anyway, I saw it moving on the hull, black against black, a glimpse of death. I distracted it by decoupling and dumping the lander module near it. I watched as it turned towards the movement; hopefully it’s jumped on it and gone with it. I’d thought about trying to modify the module to get me home, but it was damaged beyond my means to repair. If it’s carried the creature with it, then it’s done enough. Let’s hope it’s gone.

This is Flight Engineer Dom Mooney, the last survivor of the Wretched, signing off.

The Wretched - Solo RPG - Recovered Log - Day 2

Recovered Log - Day 2

Audio recordings of a play-through of Chris Bissette's solo journalling roleplaying game.

Dom Mooney · The Wretched - Day 2

The end of Day 2

Day 2 - 3 cards

• KC - something near the officer’s mess, averted eyes from the bodies but you think something moved. A rat right? You hope it’s a rat. 
• 8H - what does it feel to look at the sensors and the monitors and see nothing, that you may never see land or light, or have a conversation again? 
• 6D - sewage silo springs a leak. It smells terrible - pull 1 block

Day 2, salvage ship The Wretched. Flight Engineer Mooney reporting. 

The ship has suffered from the fight with the creature, but she’s holding together. The sewage systems failed today, leaking after they’d over pressured. It smelt awful, sweet sickly and rotten. I managed to fix it - the main recycling pump had blocked with what I think were parts of a body. I cleared them using an old trick my first apprentice master engineer taught me. Menthol rub under your nose. It masks it, mostly. I guess I’m going to have to clear the ship of bodies or it will all smell like this. I tried to work out how many are still here and how many went out of the ship when I forced the airlock. Walking through, I thought I saw the creature in the officer’s mess, but it wasn’t. Or if it was, it didn’t come for me. Perhaps it’s a rat, god knows, we’ve had enough of them aboard.

I’m recording this on the bridge. The sensors, comms and monitors show nothing. God knows where we are. That asteroid took the light drive down mid-transit and I’m no navigator. I can only hope to get the distress beacon running or maybe even the engines. But that’s a job for another day. I’ll do another of these logs tomorrow if it doesn’t get in. Tell my family I love them if you receive this and I’m gone when you find the ship. 

This is Flight Engineer Dom Mooney, the last survivor of the Wretched, signing off.

The Wretched - Solo RPG - Recovered Log - Day 1

 

Recovered Log - Day 1

Audio recordings of a play-through of Chris Bissette's solo journalling roleplaying game.

Dom Mooney · The Wretched - Day 1

Set up and ready to play.

Day 1
Game start - 5 blocks removed from ship integrity (the Jenga tower)

Day 1, salvage ship ‘The Wretched’. Flight Engineer Dom Mooney reporting. The other members of the crew are dead and the engines remain non-operational, though ship integrity remains good and life support systems are still active. I successfully jettisoned the intruder from the airlock, but it remains alive and continues to try to access the ship. With a little luck I can repair the distress beacon and somebody will pick me up. This is Dom Mooney, the last survivor of the Wretched, signing off.

H Natural Livestream

Something waiting to happen...

Last night, I had the experience of watching a live stream of Steve Hogarth (Mr H from Marillion, their frontman) performing his heart out at St John the Evangelist's Church in Oxford. It was an emotional experience; the H Natural gigs are very low key in style, just H and a piano (and sometimes backing track via his computer). There's chat between the songs, and he does covers as well as his own material. 

H Natural - singing his heart out.

There was quite a vibe; over eighteen-hundred people were on the live stream feed and the chat stream made it feel like you were at the show with your mates. I'd bought a family ticket so my Dad joined in too. He's become quite partial to H having listened to quite a few of the Corona Diaries podcast episodes with me when he was staying with us.

I ended up watching this on the computer using headphones while the rest of the family watched the end of Strictly Come Dancing with Bill Bailey winning. The bonus was a lovely lasagne on a tray with a nice glass of red wine as the others were eating downside.

Several of the songs moved me to tears; there's something about the simple arrangements of songs that you love in a quiet space that makes you reflective. It's not been a brilliant year, and this was quite cathartic. It was a great evening.

I hope that they release this as a recording; it was definitely a high.

20 December 2020

First Impressions - Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades - Wuxia Roleplaying

 

Welcome to the Jianghu.

TL;DR: Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades can feel a little overwhelming; there's a huge amount packed in this with a simple system that encourages a narrative style and can be surprisingly dangerous. The example setting feels living with a spider-web of relationships. It's definitely one to start small in and let things snowball. The guidance is solid and the authors' love for the genre is clear. This impressed me and I'd like to get it to the table, but before I do I think I need to read it a few more times and unpack it in my head. Great stuff. Recommended.

Osprey Games have released their fourth roleplaying game this December, this time set in China and based upon the wuxia stories of Gu Long. I picked this up on impulse having recently read the two Guy Gavriel Kay books set in a fantasy version of Ancient China and watched the sequel to 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' on Netflix. In writing this review, please take into mind the fact that my exposure to Chinese history is - like many westerners - limited and leaves me in a poor position to judge how the game handles cultural sensibilities. The game describes itself as being set in historical China, but with a timeless, romantic and anachronistic take on history. It does encourage the reader to research further into the setting and history and not to rely on this book as the only source.

Example spreads shared by Osprey on their website.

The game is presented as a full-colour hardback book, in the same format as previous Osprey releases. It is 272-pages long and has some very stylised and striking art and layout. The game is set in the Jianghu, the martial world, a space occupied by martial artists, outlaws, beggars and others beyond the reach of the law. It is similar to the space occupied by a criminal underworld, often linked to Inns, Teahouses and Brothels frequented by those who belong to the Jianghu.

The game uses a d10 dice pool for its resolution method. You will make a roll against a target number (typically 6) or as an opposed roll against an opponent. The game is skill-based and skills will range from 0 to 3 in level. If you have skill 0, you effectively roll with disadvantage, using two dice and taking the worst result. If you roll more than one dice, you take the highest individual result. 10 is always a spectacular success. Usually, the system has a cap of 7 dice, but some abilities could take you you to a maximum of 10 dice in extreme circumstances. You can get bonuses/penalties of up to +/-3d10. Defences can be degraded or enhanced by moving their target number.

Characters have Signature Abilities; styles or talents that reflect martial art techniques, very much like feats in other systems. They give each character key moves that they can use that enhance the three basic martial arts skills. Characters also have Counters; moves that they can use to protect against attacks. Signature abilities and Counters, along with other physical statistics grow as characters level up. You can break the standard numbers of Signature Abilities by taking a Fire Deviation Eccentricity. This is something that will act as a detriment to you, rolled on a random table, which unlocks another signature ability.

You can initially take 3 wounds, after which you start to take damage on the death and maiming table, which can get nasty really quickly. Weapons will roll a number of dice against your hardiness, often boosted by your speed or muscle skills. If you succeed, you do one wound. 10 gives two wounds and if you roll more than one 10, each adds another wound. Rare attacks may result in open damage, which means that you take damage from every dice rolled, which is likely to take the target out of play very quickly. Higher-level characters have levels of resist; this means that you can resist wounds from each attack from lower-level characters.

Characters also have a killing aura; a level based on your level. Other martial artists can sense this unless you can cloak it somehow. You also get a killing aura darkness score which reflects the number of enemies you have killed. Both of these give alert opponents an idea of how dangerous a foe that they are facing.

Skills are in six groups; Martial Arts, Specialist Skills (such as trade or medicine), Mental skills (such as Detect, Command or Persuade), physical skills (such as athletics, muscle or riding), knowledge skills (religion, people and places, the Jianghu, institutions) and - finally - there are unorthodox skills (such as disguise, drinking, gambling and magic arts). You also have defences; these convert to a target number so have a rating of 0-3 added to 5 to give the TN.

Martial Arts are split into three skills; External, Internal and Lightness. External Arts use physical force and explosive movement. Internal Arts use internal energy, driven from meditation and martial arts practice; it could be energy blasts from your inner force or channelling that energy into swordplay or unarmed moves. Lightness Arts involve the way to control your weight and speed; this is the skill set that allows walls to be climbed, huge jumps and chases over rooftops. The defences against these include Evade (used to avoid something hitting you), Hardiness (your toughness) and Wits (your strength of mind). They have a static number.

Combat follows a simple process; it starts with a talking and analysis phase; you can try and talk or bluff your way out of combat. You can also try and Psych Out the opposition to put them at a disadvantage. Alternatively, you could try and get a bonus by using your detect, empathy or reasoning to assess foes and gain an advantage to hit and to cause damage. Finally, you could try and understand a new opponent's Signature Abilities or Counters.

Once the roleplaying is over, if combat is still likely, each character and NPC gets their turn order for that turn only by rolling their speed. The round moves highest to lowest. Attacks are usually done by using Martial Arts Skills, Signature Abilities and/or Weapons. You can talk in combat at any time and can move your full movement. You can take a combat action or use a non-combat skill.

Signature Abilities work in unique ways. Cleaver of the Solitary Sun allows you to add an extra d10 to your attack roll and do an extra wound on a successful roll, except when you have the high ground. If you then take Clever of the Four Suns, this increases the bonus to +2d10 and +2 damage. Chain Whip Style removes the penalty for using a chain whip, and on a total success (10) attack, your opponent is wrapped in the chain, taking a 1d10 damage roll every turn. This can be ramped up further. Other Signature Abilities allow you to disappear, walk on the ceiling and more. These make your characters unique. There are some Hidden Abilities that you need to find a teacher to learn and gain the GM's permission. Some of these are devastating in the right circumstances (for example, Liquid Sword Master does 3 wounds extra if your opponent fails on a Counter). 

If someone attacks you, you can declare you are countering before they roll and after they have declared how they are attacking you, taking the attack roll into an opposed roll. These work in different ways; the Hovering Ghost Defense uses Lightness Martial Arts to reduce the potential damage scored against you; an attack roll is made against Evade as usual, and you roll against the attack roll to resist its effects.

There are also rules for alcohol; this reflects stories where martial heroes may function better when drunk. You can also develop grudges against those who have crossed you, which can give a bonus to your skill rolls when acting on them. There are optional language rules which account for differing regions.

Wealth and social resources are also covered before the rules move into a chapter on weapons, objects and equipment. This includes the top ten weapons available and powerful artefacts. There's a list of alcohol, elixirs, poisons and pills.

There is a chapter on Eccentricities; quirks and flaws that can result from combat or during character generation. Any penalties from these are transient; if gained during play they are removed after a year reflecting the character becoming used to them and adjusting. Fire Deviation Eccentricities come from multiple failed meditation rolls or as a mechanics to gain an additional Signature Ability. Some of these eccentricities are triggered, others just cause a permanent effect (like you lose all your hair). The chapter also covers Acupoints, which can be blocked for beneficial and detrimental effects.

The first 125 pages are intense, with pages of abilities and lots and lots of lists. I found it hard work the first time through, but it's good material; sometimes the order of presentation makes it more challenging but it's the old chicken-and-egg challenge as there's often no perfect solution to how you approach this.

Chapter Nine opens up with guidance on gamemastering the Jianghu; guidance on what to read and watch and how to take a crash course in wuxia. As a neophyte this was useful. There's also guidance on rulings, and how to understand the balance of the game. There's plenty of good stuff in this; it's clear the authors have considered how to run their game and want to share this so you have the best experience possible. There are encounter tables and a sample Inn map. Types of adventures and campaigns are discussed, along with options for secret history, fated relationships and other forms of destiny. 

The next chapter covers how to make your Jianghu feel fun and work. It starts by covering Face, and then religion. The Imperial Bureaucracy, Drinking Culture, differing time periods and locations are covered, including a map of China showing key regions and locations. This is a composite across time periods; the authors are quick to point out that this is not a set period. It then discusses how to build your own unique Jianghu.

Chapter Eleven presents the author's take on their Jianghu. This is a extensively developed setting with key organisations (including members, grudges and allies and typical stats for non-player characters from the organisation). There are 57 pages of well-developed NPCs who are all interlinked as allies or with grudges. The chapter rounds out with generic people to encounter - Bandits, Beggars, Servants and more - and some example creatures and notes to develop more. This is a wonderful sandbox, but if I was to use it then I'd want to build some relationship maps!

The next chapter has a simple introductory adventure called 'The Obsidian Bat'. It's well structured (and dangerous if approached the wrong way). It definitely gives a flavour of how the authors want to play the game. It's followed by a one-page synopsis of a further 14-page adventure free to download from the Osprey website, a clean character sheet and a three-page detailed index.

Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades can feel a little overwhelming; there's a huge amount packed in this with a simple system that encourages a narrative style and can be surprisingly dangerous. The example setting feels living with a spider-web of relationships. It's definitely one to start small in and let things snowball. The guidance is solid and the authors' love for the genre is clear. This impressed me and I'd like to get it to the table, but before I do I think I need to read it a few more times and unpack it in my head. Great stuff. Recommended.

15 December 2020

First Impressions - Doctor Who RPG - The Time Traveller's Companion

 

A book full of Timey-Whimey stuff.

TL;DR: I've mixed feelings about "The Time Traveller's Companion". It is a superb compendium of everything Time Lord with great production values, but it doesn't make me want to run games with it the way that Paternoster Investigations did. That said if I ever wanted to run a game on Gallifrey or with heavy intervention from the Time Lords, this would a fantastic reference. Ultimately that's what this is; the bumper book of Timey-Whimey lore, to be drawn on for inspiration and adventure when needed. Useful, but not necessary, this delivers what it sets out to achieve, a reference for all things Gallifreyan. 

So my latest roleplaying read was The Time Traveller's Companion for the Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space roleplaying game. This was was one of the earlier supplements which had just lurked on my shelf, never reaching the top of the 'to read' pile, so I decided to dive into it. I suspect that I will need to tackle the RPG core rules themselves soon because my memories are reasonably vague of how the Vortex system works.

This is the Time Lord splat book. It is focused on Gallifreyan culture, history and law, drawing deep on lore from across the whole of the Doctor Who continuum. It's a 238-page hardcover in the middle range trade-dress for the Matt Smith era. Full colour throughout with some great pictures from the series. 

The book opens with a history of the Time Lords and key elements of their culture such as the High Council, the Panopticon and the Chancellery Guard. Technology such as the APC Net (the Matrix), Stasers and more are discussed along with Visionaries (those who can see through time), Outsiders, Renegades and the Plebeian Classes.

There's a chapter expanding character generation for Time Lords, with expansions on traits and optional rules for regeneration, with a selection of random tables at the heart of it for inspiration. I've not read the core rules recently enough to see how different this is, but it looks pretty comprehensive.

Chapter Four delves into Temporal Mechanics; all that Timey-Whimey stuff. It starts by saying that the GM is free to ignore anything here if it doesn't work for them or if they (like the Doctor) need an alternative solution. Anyway, you can learn all about the Blinovitch Limitation Effect (the way that the universe will intervene to prevent you messing too much in your own past), time loops and fissures, chronic hysteresis, time rifts, and paradoxes. It then delves into Relative Causal Nexii. These are key points and places in time in time traveller's lives. Temporal Nexus Points are discussed (critical points in the timeline, fixed points). There's a huge amount of lore here for the GM and Time Lord players to dig into if they want to spout Whovian PSB; however, it could just be used as flavouring. The chapter continues to give rules for Space-Time navigation, and then Temporal Devices such as Stasis Fields, Vortex Manipulators and Time Corridors.

The next chapter delves into the complexities of the TARDIS, with rules for navigating, manoeuvres, damage and repair and even the death of a TARDIS (mostly likely in the Time War between Gallifrey and the Daleks). There's a detailed discussion of the console with a whole variety of circuits (the architectural configuration circuit is included, along with the hostile action displacement system). The various rooms which could be in the TARDIS get covered and then there are rules for creating a TARDIS, be it Ancient, Decommissioned, Modern or even an Advanced unit from the later parts of the Time War. 

And then we reach Chapter Six which differs because it is completely focussed on the GM. The other chapters were designed for players and GM (and I believe were sold separately if you wanted them). This chapter is an introduction to what follows.

Chapter Seven covers the 'Dark Secrets of the Time Lords'; the unwritten parts of history such as Rassilon the Tyrant, Morbius, the War Chief, Omega, and the CIA. No, not Langley, but the Celestial Intervention Agency (originally an illegal operation but it later became official). The Master is covered (in his 13th Regeneration form). These key characters are presented with game statistics so that you can bring them into your game. Technology and weapons from the Time War are discussed. Renegades are outlined, drawing on characters such as the Monk and the Rani, Romana and the Master Reborn. All of these could potentially be out there for the player characters to encounter, so game statistics are given.

The next chapter covers whether the Doctor is actually the Last of the Time Lords and how this can be worked around if you want a campaign around another Time Lord. There are also generic stats and descriptions for High Councillors, CIA Agents, Cardinals and the Castellan. Options are given for Children of Gallifrey - Neo-Time Lords - such as River Song who may have gained the Rassilon Imprimatur and survived. 

Temporal Mechanics are revisited in detail with adventure seeds for the various time loops, differentials and more. Part of me wonders if these could have been illustrated in some way; I think that they would have been easier to understand, but perhaps it's my lack of four dimesional physics.

Managing Time Lord characters and abuse of the TARDIS capabilities are covered. The final section of the book provides lists of all the key parts covered earlier as an easy reference, along with TARDIS sheets and reference cards for temporal effects. The book rounds out with a decent index.

I've mixed feelings about this book. It is a superb compendium of everything Time Lord with great production values, but it doesn't make me want to run games with it the way that Paternoster Investigations did. That said if I ever wanted to run a game on Gallifrey or with heavy intervention from the Time Lords, this would a fantastic reference. Ultimately that's what this is; the bumper book of Timey-Whimey lore, to be drawn on for inspiration and adventure when needed. Useful, but not necessary, this delivers what it sets out to achieve, a reference for all things Gallifreyan. 

14 December 2020

Lyonesse - Reviews from R'lyeh

Lyonesse: Fantasy Roleplaying Based on the Novels by Jack Vance is fantastic and thorough, almost compendium-like adaptation of a classic fantastical setting, one that is likely to feel almost familiar to many gamers, because even if they have not read the novels, they will have encountered its influence on Dungeons & Dragons. This provides an opportunity for roleplayers old and new, unaware of them or not, to visit the Elder Isles, the setting of that influence, and explore it in all of its glory and grit, its whimsy and wonder, its manners and machinations, its delights and its dangers, in this well designed, well researched roleplaying game...

Reviews from R'lyeh, 13 December 2020 

As part of the team who wrote the Lyonesse RPG, this review makes me happy because it calls out the key points that we wanted to land. Click through the link about to read more.

13 December 2020

First Impressions - Doctor Who RPG - Paternoster Investigations

 

Paternoster Investigations - perfect for Doctor Who games without the Doctor.

TL;DR: Paternoster Investigations is a temporally bound Doctor Who setting which gives you everything you need to set adventures in Victorian London. It presents an interestingly different opportunity to explore the Doctor Who universe. It would also be a useful (but not essential) guide for setting adventures in this period unrelated to the Paternoster Gang. All in all, a fun setting with plenty of potential.

I've lots of Doctor Who roleplaying game books, and yet I've never got it to the table. That's funny, because from what I've seen of the current roleplaying game, it seems to do a grand job of balancing the Doctor and their Companions. You don't have a solo act who steals the show, which is very NuWho, which definitely has seen a rebalancing between the Doctor and their accomplices.

It hasn't got to the table because Doctor Who has never been my favourite SF property. I started watching with Tom Baker (4), loved Peter Davison (5), stepped away and have watched much of the NuWho series with varying levels of enjoyment. I'm happy to fight you over whether Capaldi and Smith had the scripts they deserved (they didn't) and I'm enjoying Whittaker (although, again, I think the scripts aren't a strong as they could be). I'm also not a canon obsessive, so my relationship here is definitely casual. I've read the core rules several times (but quite a while ago) and the original Aliens & Creatures book. I've skim-read both the Fourth and Fifth Doctor sourcebook enough to know that they're great resources.

I picked up some books in the Black Friday sale; Paternoster Investigations was the first one that I've read from those. It's a very purple 128-page hard cover book, glossy throughout and full of pictures from both Classic and NuWho. 

The setting in Victorian London; much like Vaesen, the game recommends that you be a little vague and loose with the exact dates to make for a fun scenario. The Paternoster Gang comprise a female Silurian Warrior (Madame Vastra), a female Human former-maid (Jenny ) and a disgraced Sontaran battle medic. Madame Vastra and Jenny are married, and Strax acts as their butler; they met through the Doctor and his adventures. Together they keep London safety from criminals, murderers and alien threats. It is, if you like, an opportunity to play a Sherlock Holmes style game.

The book gives a decent overview of the Late Victorian Age, Society, the Queen and royalty, plus famous personages who the players could interact with. It discusses how to adapt the setting into more modern sensibilities (as the Paternoster Gang clearly fall into that category) and advises using broad brushes to set the scene. This isn't like Call of Cthulhu where you will be doing detailed historical research. Key events from 1887 through to 1998 are described, along with the various stories where the Doctor has visited.

A reasonably detailed guide is given for the city with key locations outlined (including throse related to Doctor Who's canon). There's a disappointing map of London (squashed on a half page), but it should be simple enough to find a contemporary one on the internet should you want one.

Characters who may support the Paternoster Gang (and could be player characters) are described along with statistics along with others who could be encountered including a fictional Prime Minister (Nathan Fairfield, 8th Earl of Redbury) and a rogues' gallery of potential enemies such as Me (Alice Shield), a stranded Dalek, Cybershades, and more. 

There's a section on creating your own Paternoster Gang, whether it be an affiliated group, a native human or an alien. You can use the provided character sheets to play Vastra, Flint and Strax if you prefer. The text covers a wide variety of options to get the best out of such a temporally tethered setting. 

The final section of the book discusses establishing a Paternoster Campaign, with guidance on how to build adventures. This is then demonstrated with an adventure which can be used to open up a campaign, "A Study in Flax". This ties together many of the elements described earlier in the book, and will leave plenty of hooks to take the story forward. I quite liked the way that it establishes a web that the characters can blunder into. 

There are full-page character sheets for the Paternoster Gang, the Doctor's Companions from this period and others who have featured in the series who could easily be drawn in. The book concludes with a decent index.

Paternoster Investigations is a temporally bound Doctor Who setting which gives you everything you need to set adventures in Victorian London. It presents an interestingly different opportunity to explore the Doctor Who universe. It would also be a useful (but not essential) guide for setting adventures in this period unrelated to the Paternoster Gang. All in all, a fun setting with plenty of potential.

8th December 2020

So what version of...? D&D

A stray comment on Facebook today had me pondering about what versions of roleplaying games I have and what I saw in them. Seemed worth some thought so I decided to start with the elephant in the room, Dungeons & Dragons.

On the pure Wizards/TSR Dungeons & Dragons line I own:

1. Holmes Basic - my introduction to D&D, repurchased for nostalgia a couple of years back, because I really like it's ethos and style (which influenced my view on D&D).
2. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition - the version of the game I played most of at school. It's up in the loft, and kept for nostalgia. My copies have book plates in from the school, where I got them as a prize one year (they said you could get books, I picked the Player's Handbook...).
3. Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition - my current go-to version, which I'm using for Curse of Strahd. I find this very playable, I just wish that the rules would stick in my head better. Fortunately I have a player, Alex, who knows them like the back of his hand, and also the Roll20 Compendium to look up things quickly.
4. Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set - enough rules and a decent campaign to get you underway. I reviewed this here.
5. Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit - effectively a combined Basic and Expert set for the current edition with Screen, dice, cards and a campaign that can be used in conjunction with the one in the Starter Set. I like this version a lot and recommended it here. 

Forks:

1. 13th Age - I picked this up because it intrigued me, and Baz' King of Dungeons made me want to find out more. Most of those said that this was a fork of D&D 4e.  Many people have said great things about it, and I like what I read as I skimmed it. I need to read it properly and possibly give it a run out, but it will have competition for that time.
2. Blueholme Journeyman - absolutely brilliant extrapolation of Holmes Basic up into higher levels (20!). Definitely check this one out if you liked that version of Basic.
3. King of Dungeons - Baz' fantasy heartbreaker hack of 13th Age; I enjoyed this and it made me buy 13th Age. Some nice stuff giving reasons to adventure.

Retroclones:

1. Labyrinth Lord - purchased back when I started buying D&D scenarios to use with Dungeon World so I had a rules set to reference. Skimmed, didn't really excite me.

OSR:

1. The Black Hack - I have the first and second editions of this, and it's great lightweight fun that can take pretty much any D&D scenario and let you start running straight away if you are steeped in the lore of D&D.
2. Heroic Fantasy - Graham Spearing's take on the Black Hack, a version that feels like it's a complete modern take on Basic D&D. I've run several one shots of this including the Ice Cold in Arrendale sequel to Frozen.
3. Beyond the Wall - This game is built around mini-campaigns where you are kids coming of age and making their way in the world, discovering who they are. It has a wonderful style, like some of the young adult fiction I loved growing up. I must get this out at some point, maybe for a Longcon.
4. Lamentations of the Flame Princess - I picked up a copy of this back when I was buying the interesting (as opposed to icky-metal) supplements for the game (sadly now unusable in many places due to the toxicity of the author). In honesty, it looked pretty but I found it not to my taste.

Not D&D but they have a flavour of it:

1. Dungeon World - fantastic game. In fact, I think that this is really the game that got Powered by the Apocalypse games out of their niche. It feels like D&D but is very fresh and modern in design.
2. Into the Odd - the designer states that this is a D&D evolution, but it's come a long way. It does grab the flavour very well. I'm not going to mention Electric Bastionland and Mausritter, as I've reviewed them previously and they move even further away. However, you can still see the DNA.

There's a quite a variety of flavours in these, and quite a few I'd like to get to the table.

My favourites (at the moment) are D&D 5e, Heroic Fantasy and Beyond the Wall. 

I've no urge to run Dungeon World at the moment (probably because I'm running D&D).

If I had a need to run D&D quickly, I'd grab the Black Hack.

I'll probably sell Lamentations of the Flame Princess, but I wonder if there'll be a market for it.

I plan to read 13th Age soon.

How many takes on Dungeons & Dragons do you have, and why attracts you about them?

7 December 2020