#RPGaDay2023 - 2 - First RPG Gamesmaster

 

The first RPG Gamesmaster I encountered was myself, as I was the one that brought the games into our circle of friends. I've been a perennial GM ever since. However, the first GM that ran for me was my friend Ged in the first year of secondary school (Year 7 these days). He ran the start the The Lost City for Basic D&D and we all died very quickly.

We used to play at school; most of the games were run by me, Ged or John (aka Noddy). We'd play for 50 minutes most lunchtimes thanks to a friendly teacher who gave us classroom space and encouragement (thank you Miss Smith/Mrs Birch - you gave me a life-long hobby).

2 August 2023

#RPGaDay2023 - 1 - First RPG Played (this year)

 

First RPG I played this year? Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition, the first part of the finale of my Curse of Strahd campaign. Played over Roll20 and the conclusion of three years gaming.

1 August 2023

Curse of Strahd - Character & Player Reflections

 

After we finished the campaign, I asked the players if they could give me some thoughts. We ended up chatting for quite a bit about what had gone on and actually had an extra session at the end for any questions (which I won't share details of because of spoilers). Here are some edited highlights:

Kelwarin (Graham/First Age) - Sorceror

Kel's thoughts/plans: Leave Barovia with Ireena. Make a new life together, maybe have children. Return to Barovia if called for, to see his friends.

Graham's thoughts: I very much enjoyed the campaign, and particularly liked the way that we gelled as a group and fed off each others' strengths, not just in terms of our character builds, but also as people. That comes with time, and we certainly had lots of that. With some notable exceptions, I often felt that Kell was not able to contribute enough to resolve combat encounters as the sorcerer [1]. Not entirely fair on Kell that. Ironically, I feel that Kell's most memorable contributions were when he flexed his charisma and has gift for words.

Although our pervasive threat, I didn't, as a player, quite understand our main opponent, Count Strahd. That's not a criticism, as there was some mystery there, and I may have been overthinking the psychology of the monster. Despite your best efforts, I never lost sight of how truly evil he was, so well played there, as it shone through whenever he was around! I hugely enjoyed a number of the set pieces, especially meeting the angelic priest, which is probably why I always wanted to recruit him and was sad to have failed there. Emphasising the social again, I enjoyed all the softer chatty bits with locals, protagonists and enemies. As a player, the relationship between Kell and Ireena was fairly meta. I wanted to mix things up a bit to make things interesting and thought it would screw with Strahd if my character... well, you get the idea.

I struggled with some of the set-piece conflicts, and as a GM myself I wondered if really we should have survived some of them. Who knows! The final battle didn't entirely work for me. It felt tactically correct, and booming difficult to DM, as there was such a weight of resources being chucked about. I'm glad it wasn't a TPK, but part of me felt it really should have been[2]. 

I was left feeling that, for me, 5e is 'OK' and serviced well enough to show our progression and manage the tactical when it cropped up. Roll20 was OK too, with improving AV over the life of the campaign. I'm not that much of a fan of it, but 'OK'.

I am very glad to have been a player and think it would be nice for us to continue playing as a group if we can find another game to play. I hadn't realised on starting to play in the campaign that it would take three years. In a way, I am glad that I didn't know back then, because I might have stepped away and completely missed out on a great experience!

[1] Alex: To follow up on Graham's post, on Kel's combat effectiveness - I've mentioned it earlier in the game, that I was feeling Gaddock was overshadowing Kel a bit. The way 5e is, the baseline wizard chassis just allowed for so many more spells to be learned/prepared, compared to PHB sorcerer, that I was feeling bad, anytime Graham would mention that he didn't know what he could contribute/cast. This is something WOTC has addressed with more recent printings of sorcerer subclasses, giving them expanded spell lists, but Wild Magic sorcerer being from PHB was a bit behind the times.

We had a pretty low-resource campaign, all in all; we didn't get a ton of magic items (and the ones we had, mostly had passive bonuses, like ring of protection, not activated abilities), and there weren't a lot of opportunities to obtain any[3] - I don't know whether we just missed the opportunity to sign up to VistaniPrime, and get some loot delivered from beyond the veil or not. So with that as a backdrop, Gaddock had received two full spellbooks as a loot, which felt almost like level-ups for a wizard, since he could transcribe new spells, which further opened up a gap between the two spellcasters

[2] Dom: It was very nearly a TPK. It turned on two things; Ser Alys saving against the charm (just, Tom rolled exactly) and the critical that Ser Adon did in the last round (and Strahd missing the previous round once). The critical brought him into killable range. Had Strahd have got his turn, Adon would have been most likely killed outright from the massive damage rule. As a party, you did a great job keeping characters alive with potions and healing. You - on at least two occasions - managed to stop Strahd from landing a killing blow. Kel did get a few spells nerfed by Strahd but that burned limited defences down. Luck played a part in the win.

[3] Dom: By not exploring Castle Ravenloft further, the party missed the opportunity to obtain 'magical loot' as described by Alex. However, it was understandable why you all wanted to keep time in the vampire's lair to a minimum.

Ser Adon (Paul/DrMitch)

Adon’s thoughts: It’s over. I thought we were doomed in that fight, but it’s as if Strahd wasn’t so vanquished in righteous fury, but just…got bored with the game. Calling me out to a duel was an act of boredom. He thought he would comfortably defeat me, then move onto my companions who had withstood all he could throw at him, but maybe part of him was hoping otherwise. Especially Alys. 

And though I can’t believe it’s over, it’s time to move on. Alys and I can build a life here together, and our children, put ourselves in the world we have saved. It’s now that the work to rebuild, to help Barovia and Valleki prosper, can begin.

Paul's thoughts: That was an epic and a half. I’m both sad it’s over and triumphant - we got through it! We won, and reached an apt conclusion. It had that lovely part of long campaigns of feeling I got to know everyone else’s character, not just mine. I’ll miss Alys and Kel and Gaddock just as much as I’ll miss Adon. But there’s something remarkable in the long but finite.

Interestingly after finishing the game I read the Curse of Strahd 5e book. It’s quite good, with some ideas standing out, but what we played was so much richer and far superior to that book, while largely containing it. The best bits of the book stood out, the weaker parts faded away into the background. This could not have been an easy task for Dom so thank-you again very much. I’m impressed.

I also really appreciate the way that the campaign allowed emotional involvement. There’s the relationships - Kel and Ireena, Adon and Alys, and Gaddock sacrificing the memory of his children and involvement with the fanes. There was also for me big emotional involvement with that fate of Vallaki and I felt both fear and hatred for Strahd. The blood spear subplot too. That for me was the real heart of why I enjoyed things so much. 

(Actually bringing out the emotional involvement is something Domis really good at - I’ve had it in several convention one-shots, and I think he’s the only GM that’s brought out that side of me in the space of a one-shot.)

Later: I’m relieved that four blows in a row on Strahd all backed up with the special Strahd-killing sword we went to great effort to obtain and backed up by undead-killed smites (after all the damage others had done) did the job. I’m glad we didn’t explore the castle more!

Ser Alys (Tom/Guvnor)

Ser Alys's plans: Settle down, have kids, keep Fiona Wachter in living fear of me

Tom's thoughts: The blood spear sub plot was good, and I hope Alys' tough love was on show. The Library was weird and good. The maze in the crypts of Ravenloft was both good and scary and frustrating.

Thank you very much for running this awesome campaign. I enjoyed keeping Alys on the side of good when she could have been seduced by the lawful rationale of Strahd. That was down to the wonderful relationship Paul and I developed and nurtured. On occasion, I felt as a player that a few hints might have helped. Once we went into the Castle once and were terrified and the clock was ticking then pulling him out into the sun seemed wise.

In the final combat, I didn't feel Strahd was behaving like a strutting arrogant Gothic anti-hero. He was a sneaking cowardly assassin. It felt off but hey, not everyone is Gary Oldman [4]

I also felt that the interesting social interaction was with the Wachters and how we manoeuvred around her. The apathy of the other locals was dispiriting, was it meant to be?[5]

There were some great fights that were genuinely challenging and scary. I like 5e fine, and Roll20. It was one of the campaigns I shall always remember.

[4] Dom: Strahd was - at heart - a brutal warlord with a veneer of honour and duty. In truth that’s all hollowed out with the pacts he made with the darkness. He knows you used powerful magic aimed at the Dark Powers. He knows where you got that too. By summoning him, you put him into a very different head space than he would have been in the Castle. He’d have felt more in control. This was Strahd the ruthless killer. He would have joyfully turned you on each other with charm (but you thwarted that with a lucky save and then protection from evil). Just to add that - had he strutted - he’d have probably been down in two or three rounds as the action economy and his hit point pool would have done for him. He survived so long from regeneration and necrotic damage.

[5] Dom: Most of the other locals have been cowed for centuries. You won the priest over (mostly) but damaged that with what you did to his sister and his nephew. You won the Martikovs over but left them to defend Vallaki. Jeny was definitely a friend of Gaddock after Kel turned down her advances. You neutralised Lady Wachter politically and then brought her a bit onside by saving her family. However, she was always in it for herself and power. You also killed off Baron Vargas’ faction with extreme prejudice. No one aligned with that was going to be a supporter.

Gaddock (Alex)

Gaddock's thoughts: Time to pack it up, and leave this blasted land behind, carrying it only in the sigils of our numerous scars. Gaddock is still worried about the influence of Vampyr on the larger multiverse - was killing Strahd just killing a vessel or dispersing the entity? Gaddock thought they needed to contain Strahd in amber, but mists have receded and Barovia returned to the fold with Strahd's death nonetheless. Gaddock is looking for a vacation - somewhere hot to rest his heels, and not worry about doom for a while. He might still return to Amber Temple and offer his help to research Vampyr, but tensions are still a bit hot right now, given how they've left the place last. Maybe give it a couple of years, and let the undead-dementia wash over the incident.

Alex's thoughts: The final battle was gruelling, as Strahd basically had limited invulnerability, with just how many counterspells and resistances he had. It was a long road, but an inspiring one. Playing CoS really had me looking for inspiration of what I could use in games I run, and how I would run CoS myself. There were some really memorable moments that were well-timed, for example, we just hit level 5 before going to Yesterhill, and letting the fireballs fly on piles of enemies was very cathartic. The Amber Temple run was very interesting - the environmental encounter was very interesting, with figuring out how to traverse the landscape. Feels like there were still corners of the map we didn't explore - I was sure that there was a monster in the lake somewhere.

30 July 2023
(Material taken from discussions on Discord 22 March to 4 April 2023)
(This isn't the final campaign post, that's still being pulled together).

The unwritten posts

Looking at Blogger today, I realised that I’ve got at least four posts that are hanging around and need to be written.

In no particular order:

1) The third part of the review of the Helvéczia roleplaying game box set. Mainly delayed because I got distracted by other things and need to read the Ammertal and the Oberammsbund module again. I really should do this, if only because that set of reviews are probably the most read on my blog overall.

2) The review of the Swords of the Serpentine roleplaying game. This is 80% written on my reMarkable. I suspect it will now involve skimming the book again as it’s been probably a year since I started this. Maybe I should run it a Furnace to get the motivation together to complete this?

3) The review of the Liminal roleplaying game line. I started this once I finally read through the books over the Easter holidays. However, I was having second thoughts; I regularly play with Dr Mitch and was a play tester in some of the casebook scenarios. Can I do this objectively enough? Does it matter if I just be upfront about my links to the game?

4) The final Curse of Strahd post, covering the last two sessions and the aftermath. I’ve been delaying on this, partly as it means admitting that it’s over and partly because it means going back to a discussion which nearly had me abandon the campaign before the final battle. I’m being silly and should do this.

I’m also conscious that #RPGaDay is upon us in a few days and the questions look decent this year.

Note to self - get a grip and get these written!

29 July 2023

First Impressions - Baklin: Jewel of the Seas - city supplement [OSR]

Welcome to Baklin...

I was away on business this week so I slipped another of the EMDT zines into my bag to read in the hotel. This time it was Baklin: Jewel of the Seas which is a medium sized city supplement with statistics for most OSR games. It's 70 pages long with the inner coversheets being used for maps. As you can probably see from the picture above, there are two A3 maps provided. One is a player facing city map, while the second gives the same map with details for the GM and further maps of the three levels of the undercity. It comes with the PDF, fulfilled via DriveThruRPG.

Baklin is set on the island of Erillion, and is a seat of merchant power. Erillion is has been explored in EMDT's Echoes from Fomalhaut zine, especially over the first five issues. However, I haven't read those (although I intend to remedy that) and I picked this up because I'm a sucker for a city supplement. The introduction by the author states that Baklin has two objectives; to serve as a base for an adventuring party to work from and to act as an adventure site on its own. I think that the book nails this. 

The layout is clear and illustrations - all black and white - which are evocative. The text is better than that produced by some native English-speaking publishers (EMDT are Hungarian). It's clear for the GM to review but perhaps not as sharp and bullet-pointed as you'd see for an OSE book.

The city is built around a safe harbour in the limestone hillside; it is the dominant town in Erillion after the old capital fell. It sits at the midpoint of trade between the Coastlands of Kassadia and the Twelve Kingdoms to the northwest. The city is ruled by Prince Lodovic and his beautiful wife Arkella, but governed by the city bureaucracy, an arrangement agreed to some seventy years ago when the family became the rulers. Sadly, the Prince and Princess have not produced an heir and there is likely to be a succession crisis some time in the near-term future.

The city is has two rule codes; the Sea Laws (harsh, brutal and fast, governed by the Captain's Council) and the Old Ways (the common law of Erillion, less brutal and based on precedent, adjudicated by the Prince). In most areas except the Hightowne, the Sea Law holds sway. This is corrupt; there are arrangements with the Thieves Guild and an appropriate (but swift) payment to the Maritime Fund can result in a miscreant's discharge from the law without consequence. However, those that fall foul may find themselves sent to the Sack, hung in a leather man-sized sack and beaten to death. 

The Council provides security with the City Watch, and the Prince has his own guards, the High Watch. They include a unit which carries out espionage and acts on matters of state interest; you don't want to fall foul to this unit as you may come to a nasty or unknown end. The Knights of Yolanthus Kar, historically significant in the fall of the Wrath Queen Arxenia, are also based in the city, but they mainly serve to deal with the dead to prevent an outbreak of undeath. They have far less respect in Baklin, because Baklin is interested in the maritime trade routes and not the interior roads that the Knights keep safe.

The Thieves of Baklin are preeminent in the city, but increasingly under pressure from the assassins of Gont, mainly as the present Guildmaster Hyacintho Eskumar (referred to as 'the Popinjay' disrespectfully) is more interesting in living the high life than keeping his house in order. As a result, foreign thieves are more common in the city, whereas in the past they'd have been driven off, killed or sent to the Sack. The Gontsmen are increasingly becoming active in the city. 

Access to magic beyond third level spells requires a candidate to visit the mage tower to undertake a Trial. This can be done once; if you fail, although you will get the spell slots, you won't get the higher level spells. Likewise, Clerics must undertake a holy quest to access higher level powers. However, Baklin does not encourage religion, so Cleric characters may have to keep a low profile or at least avoid making enemies. 

Naturally, a random table is presented for encounters in the city, before the zine embarks on a tour of locations (39), all of which provide hooks and very short descriptions to build from. Any needed NPC stats are provided. Many parts of the city's cellars provide access into the undercity; you can travel across town without going on the surface if you know the way. However, it is dangerous; underground is out of sight and most of the dark and dangerous things that happen in the city are down there. However, there are several fine pubs too which can provide access. The undercity is extensive with 112 locations. There's a random encounter table. It feels like the kind of place that you'd enter with a good reason, or perhaps by accident when escaping trouble.

Overall, this is a great supplement. There's enough there to build a campaign from, or just use as an occasional place to rest and recuperate. It doesn't have as immediate hooks as The Well of Frogs or In the Shadow of the City-God, but they're designed as adventure modules ready to run. This is a setting that will become unique to each party that explores it. Although it is written in the lingua-franca of the OSR, you could easily use this for other roleplaying games.

Recommended.

29 July 2023

 

First Impressions - "Well of Frogs" and "In the Shadow of the City-God" [OSR]

Two OSR modules from EMDT

I picked up several zines published by EMDT, the First Hungarian D20 Society recently. It took about ten days for the order to arrive in the UK from Hungary, and they were very well packaged. The older books received PDFs straight away, but the newer ones (those less than 6 months old) will get their PDFs at 6 months. That's the way the publisher rolls (I guess to encourage hardcopy sales).

These are two OSR modules. One is labelled as Swords & Wizardry compatible, but you should have no issues using any of these with any older D&D ruleset. I suspect they'd also be a breeze to run with D&D 5e if that's how you roll. I think I'd just use Old-School Essentials, but Blueholme or Swords & Wizardry would work too. The style is reminiscent of that period before AD&D 2nd Edition when you ran any D&D module from any edition with whatever rules that you had to hand.

Both of the modules were written by Istvan Boldog-Bernad, and translated and published by Gabor Lux. They're A5 zines, B&W printing, clean layout and 30 pages of content (including inside covers); both come with a separate map printed at A3. This is basic presentation but very readable and clear. There's a mix of art; including some sourced from 'Dead Victorians' and 'Robot Overlords'.

The Well of Frogs is the one that caught my attention most. An introductory adventure set in Cassidium, a city which has fallen from its previous splendour. There's an Italian feel to this and the adventure all takes place around the Piazza dei Rospi, a city district that surrounds the well the book is named after. The piazza has seen better times and many of the former palaces and public buildings are decayed and partly abandoned, mostly inhabited by stray cats. There are two Guilds vying for control of the area, one of which (the Barber's Guild) is especially cut-throat. There are two solid hooks to enter the dungeons below the well (robbery or rescuing a child), plus a more open sandbox-like one. The table of rumours gives plenty of hinted background and nudges and the random encounters flavourful. The key locations around the piazza are described.

If everything goes as it should, the players will find their characters entering the Well of Frogs, which is a 29 room dungeon below the city. The introductory text explains that it's unlikely that the party can take hirelings on this adventure (probably because of the way it develops and the attention that a large, heavily armed party would garner) so recommends giving each player two characters. The well is varied, multi-level and dangerous. I think it's likely to kill first level characters whose players don't have their wits about them. The cartography is interesting; the dungeon is presented in the form of a side view. The A3 map has a GM side showing the Well of Frogs, including the random encounters table, and a player side showing the piazza above (for the early stages of the adventure).

Having read this through, I was itching to pick up my copy of OSE and take a party down it. It gave me the GM-tingles, and I think I will try to get this to the table. I like the feel of the city-setting with factions, interesting locations and the potential for adventure for loot or heroism.

In the Shadow of the City-God is a different beast. This is more of a sandbox campaign, a larger scale thing than the Well of Frogs. Again, there's an Italian feel. The City of Mur makes its money from tear salt, a magical liquid that can heal and protect. The two springs that the tear salt comes from are controlled by rival families; the Falconi and the Capullo. The city's god, Muri, forbids open conflict as all must labour for the good of the City (the god's physical embodiment), but there are cloak-and-dagger intrigues and low level violence. It's a dangerous thing to be obvious, as troublemakers and criminals can be interred within the City's walls to face judgement. Citizens are likewise interred when they die, but at least they aren't alive when they're walled in. The city does have a problem with undead.

Tension between the factions is high as the scenario opens, and there are hidden aspects that make the situation more dangerous for the survival of the city than is immediately obvious. The characters will only have a number of days before disaster is upon them. There's a main hook (find a kidnapped noble) and some alternatives in case that doesn't engage your player's imaginations. The module has background on the city, the factions and key players. There's a random encounter table for day and night, and the key locations are described. This is very much a sandbox with levers to pull. The levers are likely to lead to one of three dungeons described in the text. Two of them have 17 locations (and very different feels) and they're illustrated with side-on maps (takes me back to reading Holmes Basic D&D for the first time). The third dungeon is a bit shorter and more mythical. There's also a location outside the City to explore, the Valley of the Skull which contains ruins of the Circus Corvallis, built by the long dead Emperor Nerbanus. 

In the Shadow of the City-God feels perfect for a short campaign which will come to a dramatic climax should the characters fail to stop the plots that are going on. This will need more work than The Well of Frogs to run, but should pay off more. I'd be interested in exploring this further, but it doesn't call to me quite as much as the first zine I read.

I'd recommend both these books.

23 July 2023

First Impressions - One Breath Left

Do I run with the loot from this ship or risk dying as it falls apart?

One Breath Left is a procedurally generated solo journaling sci-fi horror game which I bought on a whim when I ordered the second edition of Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City from Exalted Funeral. Later I realised that the publisher was UK based and I could have picked it up direct from them.

The game riffs on tropes you’ve seen before, but is a fun, gentle game. I decided to try it one evening while away with work in a Premier Inn.

Ready to play

It comes in a small box secured with a red card band, and inside there are three books, a meeple, and several sets of cards. The cards represent corridors, standard rooms, special rooms and items. When they are shuffled, they drive the procedural element. The components are of nice quality; not top end but more than good enough.

You start by setting the game up and choosing an ID card for your character. There are 5 to choose from. I went for ‘The Analyst’, although there are other options (‘The Applicant’ - a student, ‘The Nomad’, ‘The Patient’ and ‘The Radical’). Each are defined by their lung capacity (how quickly they consume their air supply), a unique skill and their desires which can be achieved with cash or favours. There’s also an interview log - a set of prompts to build your character’s background.

My Analyst - who I’m going to call Orva Ping - is dispassionate, careful and bureaucratic; a cog in the machine. They work for the Nosmok Metals Corporation, in the structural reclamation department where they are responsible for the survey of salvaged vessels before they’re broken up. They report to Yuri Nosmok, a family member and the Operations Director, who has taken a shine to Orva. 

Orva lives the good life - or would if they weren’t glued to their desk. They have a luxury space condo with a full holographic reality (TM) fit out including suspensor fields. It’s a nice neighbourhood on the orbital, clean and safe with lots of similar corporate blocks nearby, but they never really see this as time at home is rare. Yuri is concerned, so told Orva to get a better life/work balance and assigned them a pet allowance. However, they spent the allowance on whisky and sleep suppressants. And now Audit want to come and check on the pet’s health! Orva needs to get a pet, which will cost them between 5 and 7 cash, or they’ll be fired!

Fortunately, they realise that a new ship has been brought in, and perhaps some unlicensed asset acquisition is in order…

There are several contracts you can attempt to fulfil, all of which offer different payouts. The most simple is the unlicensed asset acquisition mentioned above. You explore and investigate rooms to find loot and then try to haul it out. Alternatively, you can explore a ship for incriminating footage, carry out an insurance verification, try and build evidence that the ship’s loss was the fault of a crew member, or rescue a ship from a renegade AI. Each contract has rules to modify the set up, additional rules (if needed) and details on payouts and prompts to roleplay out your failure should you escape but fail to complete the contract.

There are five manifests - the different vessels involved; the Breached (a failing vessel breaking up in orbit); the Infected (a corporate science vessel where things have gone horribly wrong); the Raided (an abandoned military vessel which is likely to attract the interest of raiders and scavengers); the Shifted (a ship whose experimental temporal shift drive has made reality unstable); and the Stalked (a long range merchant that has encountered an alien horror). I’m sure you’re mentally mapping films against each of this. Each manifest describes any set up changes, special rules and then Peril Events which happen as your  character hits certain levels of oxygen use.

So we have a game with five characters, five contracts and five ships so you can mix up the mission nicely.

Orva heads off the Drikleen store on their way to visit the vessel, because they need to have their super-sharp ironed jumpsuits with shiny press-studs ready for the meeting with audit the next day. That done, they get a space suit and take a runabout out to the wreck…

The game plays quite simply; you start in the airlock, and open doors to find rooms and choose to enter them. But opening a door costs a point of oxygen. And entering a room costs a point of oxygen…

Tracking progress and also some items I’ve found.

You track progress on a simple sheet. Each room you enter has an entry in the Navigator’s guide which gives you details and you can just resolve the outcome. If your oxygen use hits a peril event, you follow the instructions under the manifest. Once you use your oxygen, you’re on your last breath. You start drawing unused cards from the deck every time you use oxygen, and if there are none left, you succumb and die, but you may leave a legacy to another explorer. If you find tools, they can change rules around which may help you. 

In the game I played (Analyst/Unauthorised Acquisition/Breached), the amount of loot I was carrying became an issue. I had three loot, each of which - in that contract - cost me 1 oxygen when I moved. So I used 4 oxygen to move from room to room. My character only had seventy oxygen to the Last Gasp, and nasty things started to happen to the shop from 15 oxygen onwards. So there is a balance between how far you dare explore because if you don’t find a way out, you could well succumb.

I entered the airlock and cycled it, revealing a library mess area beyond; lots of potential information, but very little opportunity to get me cash. Opening the other doors from the library revealed a tool locker areas, and off to the side, a scanning room with screens show images from around the ship. The tool locker looked more of a certainty and I started to ransack it. Surprisingly, I found an incriminating holo-recording of my supervisor which proved they’d been involved in the decision which had led to the ship foundering. Interesting, I suspect I can use that later on. I also found a condenser valve which made it easier to move quickly, and some circuits I could sell for cash (1 loot). I followed the room around and discovered a laboratory; as I opened the hatch in, the ship shook. Looking at the feed from my runabout, I could see a large section of the ship had broken loose, perhaps the hold (which meant I was losing opportunities to loot). Fortunately, the lab was well stocked; I pocketed lots of scientific kit and some interesting looking test reports, and then decided that it was time to get out of here. Turning round, the weight of the material that I was carrying made my oxygen consumption rise. As I reached the library, there was another horrifying screech of metal failing and the tool locker roof twisted in and collapsed. Had I stayed there, I would have been trapped. I quickly exited the ship and headed off to meet a contact that I knew to offload the kit I’d rescued.

Once the mission ends, there are roleplaying prompts to let you close out the game. They’re pretty fun and vary depending on whether you live and succeed, live and fail or succumb to your fate. In the latter, it’s all about your legacy. In the former, it all about the impact on you.

Orva retrieved three loot and a couple of clues to the ship’s fate (which didn’t have any interest). There was also the matter of the incriminating evidence. As the loot generated 9 cash, it was used to get a small pet, some nicer furniture and some more fashionable workwear. The incriminating recording was handed over to Yuri, in return for a promotion for the discretion shown.

All in all, I like this game. It’s a gentle procedural with some nice themes and a lot of replayability. I’ll have to try it again on another work trip.

17 July 2023

Games in June 2023

 

25 sessions into the year

June saw First Ages' 'Shadow of the Sorcerer' Conan 2d20 campaign take equal footing with Trail of Cthulhu 'Eternal Lies' as my most played games. I expect it to take the lead sometime soon. I'm enjoying both campaigns which are completely different in flavour and style even though there is an overlap in players. 

I am increasingly getting the itch to run something again; I've only run six games this year, which is massively down for me. The question is what..?

I've definitely moved to the point that I like the Modiphius 2d20 engine a lot and look forward to getting it to the table.

2 July 2023

Books in June 2023

 

June 2023 - 7 books and 1791 pages

June 2023 saw me read two novels and five roleplaying books; a similar page count to other months.

The novels were Ken MacLeod's 'Beyond the Reach of Earth' and Ian R. MacLeod's 'The Light Ages'.

'Beyond the Reach of Earth' probably edges out 'The Light Ages' for me, even though it's not the strongest novel that Ken McLeod has written. The middle book of a trilogy, it maintains pace and throws interesting twists into the mix as it explores around artificial intelligence, competing blocks of aligned states (Scotland is part of the Union with mainland Europe, England part of the Alliance) and the impact of FTL travel. It's more plot-led than character-led. I'm looking forward to the last part.

'The Light Ages' has a Victorian feel alternative universe where magic is tangible and the aether that powers it is mined underground. Much of the novel deals with a revolutionary agenda against the guilds and social classes that dominate. This was pretty slow paced, but I found myself savouring the writing in some parts; perhaps not as much as a M John Harrison novel, but it was very rich. I will read the sequel to this as I'm intrigued where it will go.

I impulse bought 'Achtung! Cthulhu' in the new 2d20 edition and much of the roleplaying related reading this month was related to it. I worked my way through the Player's and Gamesmaster's Guides and also the first major campaign, Shadows of Atlantis. You can find my reviews of the core books here; I'll probably add something around Shadows of Atlantis later this month. However, suffice it to say that it intrigues me enough to consider running it.

I also read 'Archives of the Sky', a story game that explores big concept SF which is heavily inspired by Alastair Reynolds' House of Suns (which happens to be one of my favourite novels). I reviewed it here as well so won't say any more.

The final roleplaying book was 'Good Strong Hands'. This was a kickstarter I backed on impulse (well, I backed the first supplement and got the core book as well) and was delivered really quickly. You play fairytale creatures in the world of Reverie who are drawn into a conflict to defend against the rise of the Void. There's a bit of a Dark Crystal vibe, certainly. I like the dice pool system that powers the game, and the core ideas are strong, but I found many of the example plots and story hooks a bit too direct for my liking; I expected creeping horror and found more direct conflict. That's probably on me having the wrong expectations. I'm going to read the supplement and decide what I do with this; it's giving me ideas so I may try it at a convention or as a one-shot.

2 July 2023