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Sunday, July 19th, 2009
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12:51 am - GURPS players
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1_and_the_many
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How intensive do your equipment lists become?
Do you end up keeping track of every little thing a character might own (e.g. toothbrush, tweezers, pairs of socks)?
Do your equipment lists end up looking like characters from other games (e.g. armor, weapons, and items that assist in "adventuring")?
I'm curious how GURPS groups handle equipment, since the books can get pretty exacting in detail and from my own experience as both a GM and a player equipment is usually only recorded if it is central to the game that is being played.
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, July 18th, 2009
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7:59 pm - Seeking advice on how to address different concepts of RPing
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arqueete
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So, I started roleplaying on forums. I ran my own forum-based RPG all through middle school. When I think of a like... play-by-post roleplaying in a big game setting, that is what I think of, you know?
A while ago, after not being involved in roleplaying for years, I finally succumbed to all my friends' talk about Livejournal-based games they were a part of and joined a little journal-based RPG. Some of the vocabulary around some of these games (Pups? Muns?) was not what I was used to but it seemed to me to be the same sort of thing, when it came down to the actual... logging or whatever they call it, as the forum-based games I came from. Just with the little extra aspects that often come with journal games.
Apparnetly I wasn't entirely right.
A couple friends and I established our own journal-based RPG recently, and I'm finding that our assumptions of how these games work is different -- something we didn't even think was possible and so didn't realize when we put this game together.
From the other game I come from and my roleplaying history, the way it goes is player A makes a post. Player B responds to that post. They go back and forth, you know... and then if a Player C comes in, then A, B, and C trade off posting, all of their characters interacting.
From the games what has ended up being a majority of my players and other admins of mine come from (since most of them are friends -- and friends of my friends, which makes this more awkward for me), player A makes a post. Player B responds and in that thread those two characters interact. Then Player C comes and makes a new thread under that post, and Players A and C interact in their thread completely disregarding the existance of the A/B thread, and vice versa.
Everyone just... started posting that way in this game (it wasn't immediately evident as at first most of the posts were just involving two people), and when I brought it up to a friend of mine like what is this they said they had never heard of my experiences where multiple characters always interact with each other and they don't seem to understand why I would find the A/B and A/C way of playing at all strange or not logical (which is how I feel).
Are there names for these styles of RPing, even? I'm not very familiar with different kinds of RPing outside my experience, and so far everyone I talk to seems to think, like I did, that how they've always done things is how everyone does things -- people involved in both styles think the other is some strange minority way of doing things.
So I need some advice. Even if I started this game and meant for it to be my ideal RPG setting, if majority of the people I've accepted are playing this way, should I abandon my ideas and conform to theirs (even if I don't like it)? Can these two concepts exist harmoniously somehow? Should I, as some people have suggested to me, tell everyone it's my way or the highway?
current mood:  worried
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(11 comments | comment on this)
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2:22 pm - Hey, Austin gamers
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| Friday, July 17th, 2009
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4:04 pm - wild west games
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paka
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Okay, so crunch and fluff questions about western settings.
1. Fluff. I've really been enjoying old Dragon magazines. And not just because old used magazines are cheap; much as I like the recent, D&D focused incarnations of Dragon, I really like reading about the wider range of games and genres. One of the genres that surfaces in ads and articles here and there is westerns - and since that point in time games seem to have split character. You've got a lot of revisionist RPGs like Werewolf, Deadlands, and so on, but playing it straight seems to be relegated to the domain of skirmish wargaming. Am I wrong about this?
I can think of a number of reasons why people might not be stoked to play "just" a western game. With no magic or quasi-magical technology, the only advancement is character skills, attributes, and character-based, story rewards; and we all know how the Wild West "ended." I figure tweaking the setting to have fantasy, steampunk, or horror elements is pretty much the way to get around both of those blocks, but honestly? I'd sort of like to run a straight western game (no magic, no steam-powered armor, no card-based hex magic, no big werewolf gunfights, and so on). Would anyone have any suggestions for how to get players potentially interested in that one?
Or, on the flip side, should I be swapping my thinking to accept that just because there's magic/steam armor/hex magic/werewolf gunfights/etc doesn't mean I can't still basically run more or less straight western scenarios?
2. Crunch. Low- or high-fantasy versions of the west aside, both are going to mean guns. Lots of guns. And it'd be nice to have a useful skills ruleset too, since characters are going to be riding, gambling, talking to NPCs, herding cattle, whatever. What would people suggest as a rules system for mid-19th century America?
(Please, don't reccomend Dogs in the Vinyard. I know it has quite the fan following, but the background for the game makes me cringe so much that I don't even want to consider it.)
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(16 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, July 18th, 2009
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9:12 am - RPG Review Issue 4 Released
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tcpip
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The fourth issue of RPG Review has been released with the following content:
| Administrivia and Editorial | many contributors | p2-4 |
| Hot Gossip: Industry News | by Wu Mingshi | p5-6 |
| B. Dennis Sustare Interview & Article | by B. Dennis Sustare | p7-17 |
| Sorcery & Demons and Mimesis Designer's Notes | by Lev Lafayette | p18-21 |
| SLURPS for GURPS | by Karl Brown | p22-24 |
| Age of Fable: Online Text-Based Roleplaying | by James Hutchings | p25-27 |
| RuneQuest Tribes of Eyah | by Chris Gilmore | p28-34 |
| Spent Chambers, Empty Shells: A Feng Shui Western | by Kevin Powe | p35-54 |
| Youn Gods: Champions meets Dieties & Demigods | by Lev Lafayette | p55-58 |
| Star Trek XI Movie Review | by Andrew Moshos | p59-61 |
| Lord Orcus Listens! | by Steve Saunders | p62-64 |
| Next Issue | by Many People! | p64 |
Enjoy!
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, July 16th, 2009
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3:05 pm - picky picky
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genoine
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Hi there,
Every six months or so I take a crack at finding some game with the following parameters:
1. play by post
2. primarily original characters
3. not fan based
4. main focus is not sex nor promoting alternative proclivities
5. features a reasonable chunk of 25+ aged writers
Thus far I've had little luck.
As a writer I'd love to use gaming as inspiration for my independent projects.
Suggestions or further discussion is terribly welcome.
-Please note, ad communities have reaped little reward.
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(38 comments | comment on this)
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2:06 am - Growing Fear
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tashiro
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There's a thread on the White Wolf Forums called 'Creepy Images', little snippets for games to start creeping players out. I had a half-concept in mind, then my wife helped me finish it... so I posted it. I wanted to do it here, too, and see what kind of ideas the people here might get for different games.
You're inside your house on an apparently windy day. The wind outside is howling, and as you go about your business, you here a banging on the door. The man outside screams, "It's coming to get me! It's coming to get me, let me in!" You head downstairs, the wind growing louder and louder, shaking the windows and rattling the house. The noise is almost deafening as you get to the front door, the man's screams of terror ringing in your ears. Then the wind and the screams stop completely, leaving the place silent.
You open the door, and there's nobody there. You look up, and see the last vestiges of a tornado in the clouds, fading away.
The weirdness sticks with you for a little while, but you put it out of your mind for the next few days, until you notice light breezes about you, and small dust devils spinning from time to time around you. This isn't too bad, until as you go about your days outside, these little spinning vortexes approach, buffeting you, messing your hair.
And they start getting stronger, and the wind slowly starts to pick up...
current mood: creative
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(10 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
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3:03 am - Amputation Regulation
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youngwilliam
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Intro
Long ago and far away, I rather "inherited" the duty of working with/on a homebrew RPG system on a MU* (which here, is a word that means 'online text-based RPG with a persistent environment'). The original designers were a bit notorious for not clearly defining what certain supernatural tricks could do, and I've slowly been trying to fill in those gaps.
Some weren't so bad. I could ask "For those of you with Undefined Power X, or who have had a character with Undefined Power X in the past, could you let me know what level you had it at and what tricks your characters did with it?" now and again and then retrofit a system mechanic to allow folks to do what they'd done in the past, yet have something cohesive for new players.
The one that's stymied me is Regeneration. For some alien reason, there's both Healing (which is healing what one could normally mundanely heal, but in a far shorter amount of time) and Regeneration (which is healing normally unhealable things, like replacing severed limbs or incidents that would require plastic surgery or skin grafts to fix). Alas, combat doesn't happen all that often in the game so there isn't much of a case history to work off of.
Obviously, the easiest answer would be to ditch Regeneration as a stat, make it part of Healing, and then offer folks a rebate for any points dropped into Regeneration, but I've always liked a challenge. My initial instinct was to try to ferret up some charts about newts and stem cells and things and the actual regeneration rates so I could adapt that, but so far nothing's really turned up that provides useful data.
The Point
Is anyone out there familiar with some RPG that has a Regeneration system mechanic that I could pilfer and adapt?
I already have it being factored into "How long does it take for your character to heal X points of damage?" formuli, but what I'm lacking is a more qualified, "How long does it take for that arm/eye/tooth/appendix/ear to grow back?" layout.
current music: "Glad" -- David Byrne
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(13 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, July 13th, 2009
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9:30 am - Avatar: The Last Airbender meets Pathfinder
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phasmaphobic
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I'm looking to play a firebender-inspired character in an ongoing Pathfinder campaign. What would be the best mix of classes and abilities to accomplish this?
Currently, I'm playing this concept as a Monk-Cleric, with the domains of Sun and Fire. Those at-will fire blasts are pretty effective for the role. What would be another way to accomplish this?
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, July 10th, 2009
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9:48 pm - Sakhut of Ridge River, Desolation Character
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jkahane
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One of the things I've been known to occasionally do is post up characters that I've created for rpgs that I really enjoy. One such game system is Desolation, a post-apocalyptic fantasy rpg from the folks at Greymalkin Designs.
Last Friday night, a friend of mine treated me for my birthday by starting a game of Desolation, and I am getting to play in it this evening again. I have posted the character I'm playing up to my blog page. You can see the character here...
Sakhut, Mongrel Primalist
I hope that folks like the character, and that it encourages some folks to look at the Desolation rpg at some point.
current mood:  cheerful
current music: Annie Haslam - "After the Oceans Are Gone"
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(comment on this)
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3:25 pm - Reality is stranger than fiction yet again...
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tcpip
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Well not quite. I mean nature will never come up with monsters as stupid as some of the stuff in the Monstrous Compendium or the Fiend Folio. But it sure is capable of producing some oddities.
Like the armadillo-crocodile. Make it giant size, give it a flame breath, and maybe even some INT and spells and you have the perfect challenge for your next session.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/26923726.html
Anyone else have a favourite real-world creature that serves as an interesting and exotic fantasy critter?
(I am also quite fond of the Demon Duck of Doom - go on, google it).
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(27 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
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5:18 pm - Free RPG Day OR I'm Complaining about stuff I didn't pay for!
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thebitterguy
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Okay, so I'm finally getting a chance to read through some of the Free RPG Day swag.
I've only got a few of the books I picked up with me, so I'm gonna go through them.
Generally from Free RPG Days materials, I expect a few things.
I want it to give me a taste for the game, flavour and mechanics both. Generally, I expect a sample adventure, with a few pre-gen characters. I don't mind if the system is dumbed down a bit, since we only need to get the flavour of the game.
But there's one thing that's a bit of a game breaker for me.
The books are designed to be ready to go games. One of the elements there should be ease of preperation, particularly in getting the players their characters.
Of the handfull of books I got on FRPGD, I think only Mongoose's playtest guide for Corporation had PCs who were laid out as two page characters, ready to be removed from the centre of the book and handed out. I can't figure out why that's so important to me, but I really want to be able to just pull out the centre fold or two and just hand them off to players and go.
Geist seems to be particularly opposed to making the PCs easy to get to; The PCs are put in the back of the book over multiple pages. Getting them to the playes would require either everyone having a copy of the quickstart booklet, or enthusiastic photocopying.
It would have been easy enough to edit them so they were a set of two page characters in mid book, ready to be ripped and distributed, with a character sheet on one page, and rules explanation and background on the other (or the character sheet can be shrunk down to give more space for background and rules info). The key motif used in the borders is kind of nice.
Rogue Trader does a good job of making the PCs one page sheets, but they are in the beginning of the book. That means that there'll be either photocopying or two players sharing a sheet ripped out from an inconvenient place. It also makes me think it should be about bankers who get in over their heads and end up bringing down national institutions.
Admittedly, both of them look good, and their presentation and layout are pretty good other than the character quibble. Both of them interest me, although Warhammer 40K's aesthetic and world just don't grab me. Geist I'm interested in, although I look at it and my lizard brain says "You aren't my mommy, Wraith is my mommy!"
Dragon Warriors and Paranoia, which are also both from Mongoose, really drop the ball in terms of getting the players PCs.
Like Corporation, both of the books are half sized, and Paranoia really suffered for it, with cramped, tiny text scrolling down the page in three columns. Dragon Warriors is in two columns, but doesn't even include characters, instead including rules for generating either a Warrior or Barbarian character. Dragon Warriors made me interested in the game in spite of the presentation (although the sample monsters are a bit fey).
Paranoia was a pure mess, and I couldn't even get through the lousy presentation to make it to the game stuff inside. The characters seem to have been mixed into the book wtih a blender.
Corporation is the one game that seems to hew furthest from my interests. It's some kind of posthuman cyberpunk corporate espionage game, and the corporations listed within seem somewhat laughable, especially for 500 years in the future. But the book presents the world and setting well enough
All the books contained interesting elements, of course. Corporation managed to make a book that just was the most useful for me.
xposted to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) thebitterguy
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, July 5th, 2009
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5:25 pm - Advice: add your own
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halfjack
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We've been brainstorming advice to players and refs for the science-fiction game we're developing, and I thought I'd dump our current storm on you. Some of it is genre specific and some system specific, but there's some general material in there too. What's your advice to players of your favourite game?
* as a player, accept the mechanics of a scenario as it is presented. the ref might be trying something, or looking to explore an aspect of the game. Let that happen and if necessary address it later.
*life teaches us to be safe. That's good, and it allows our species to continue: look both ways before crossing, diversify your portfolio, etc. In a game, playing safe rarely helps. More than anything else in role-playing, be prepared to take risks with your character. Walk down the alley, make a break for it, take the shot. the more interesting story comes not from being stupid, but from being willing to lose something.
* As a ref, recognize the differences between player strengths and character strengths. Some people play characters who are smarter than they are, or know more about weapons or science or tactics or whatever. That creates an imbalance that is easy to exploit: player limitations impede what the character can do. Work with the player to allow the strengths of their character to come through in a clean story.
* on entering a system, describe the astronomy: the gross view from the slipknot
* then the station, if it exists: vast solar sails? occasional puffs of r-mass? nothing? a thousand vessels? six? is the slipknot speckling with automated traffic?
* on arrival planetside, the sky: PCs I imagine are always looking outwards, so what's in the sky here?
* when an NPC is intended as a force for moving narrative, make sure they pick a PC and talk straight at them, making clear their interests and objectives. If the player likes the NPC, the player will adopt the NPC's motivations. Pleasant conversation is an avenue to making the NPC likeable.
* if there's no conflict, find one: a motivated and focused NPC can make her needs known. If she becomes desperate, maybe she will act desperately. Compel a PC. If no PC has Aspects you can latch on to, maybe stop and talk about revising Aspects. It's okay to break out of the narrative and talk about the progress of the game mid-way.
* before a session, as prep, find one Aspect on a PC with intent to compel it forcefully. Often you won't have to, but it's an ace up your sleeve.
* start the session with at least one secret. Reveal it archly, even melodramatically, so players notice it. Players will seem stupid. They're not -- they just have different motivations and filter input by their interest -- but you might have to treat them as if they are. Subtle narrative doesn't always play.
* when a player is not engaging the scenario, compel them. If you can't find a compel on them, maybe the scenario is the part that needs fixing. Find an Aspect and revise the "facts". Remember that until facts and secrets are revealed, they don't exist -- nothing is true until it's voiced at the table.
* ask for declarations. If a player narrates a fact, they are more likely to be motivated by it. Remember as referee you get to "yes, but..." and "yes, and...".
* as a player, if you're not engaged, find a away to be. Find something that's already going on and become enthusiastic about it. You might have to re-think your character. It's okay to ask for a pause to re-address Aspects and align them with the story.
* alternatively, offer compels to the ref. If you have an Aspect that you want in play and play is moving slow or against your interests, get paid to pull it on track. If you can't find an Aspect you want compelled AND you're bored, then your Aspects are all wrong.
* write Aspects about other characters and NPCs. This will make you more invested in their interests as well as your own, which increases your overall investment in the game -- the ref only has to hit one character's motivation button and the rest can cascade from it.
* don't assume the ref knows what you are thinking.
* if you imagine something about your surroundings that is cool, speak it. If you think it implies a change to the narrative, pay for it with a fate point. Then do something with it.
* if you want a fight, and none seems forthcoming, ask for one. "This needs social combat now; I want to figure out who is sabotaging us with an investigation." Do this instead of speculating out of character -- characters need to find out and they need to act to do so. The mini-games are all about action.
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
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10:27 am - Tell me your thoughts on dice
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atia_julii
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I am currently playing with my dice at work and reading back posts on the comm - it's been a while since I've been here. And I wondered...
What is your favorite dice set or single die you can't do without?
For me, it's the solid pewter set that I picked up at Games Plus outside of Chicago some years ago. I have NO idea who made them (I need to go ask, because I am missing the D4 - Caltrop of DOOM, I called it - and need a replacement). But nothing beats that set for bringing the rumbly thunder of initiative, attack, and damage - and making pretend threats at the DM. :) They are SO heavy. The husband has actually asked me to roll them in a box rather than on the table/mat, as they leave dents.
(That D20 has given me more natural 20s for my Deva Invoker of Ioun, it's not even funny. And right when I need 'em too.)
For my husband, it's his TORG D20 that came with the boxed set. He will not play without it. EVER. Even if he doesn't actually use it for rolls during the game, it has to be present somewhere on the table. He's also terribly fond of the flame-colored set I picked up for him from the Chessex booth at GenCon a few years back.
Anyone else got favorites? If anything it'll give me something to shop for next time I hit the dice displays in my FLGS or online. :)
current mood: amused
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(51 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
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6:35 pm - World Progression
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tashiro
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Talking with a friend of mine, and the subject that has come up is the stagnation of magic and technology in fantasy setting. Most fantasy settings use a 'dark ages' to stymie the progression of technology, or throw in one or more 'great wars' -- but the thing we both accepted is that the dark ages as we know it wasn't a 'universal' thing -- it existed only in one small section of the world, while the rest of the world blithely continued to progress, and we accepted that warfare tends to promote the growth of technology, not hold it back.
In a fantasy setting I'm overseeing, I'm having the world slowly advance -- one nation, which really pushes the envelope in the sciences and study of magic, has went from 'early renaissance' to 'late renaissance' to 'early steampunk' recently. So, here's a question I'm throwing out: Do you allow the progression of technology / magic in your setting? If a campaign spans more than twenty to forty years in-game, do players see the growth and shift of society, and the advancements that come with it?
current mood:  contemplative
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(21 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
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7:24 am - Origins Awards 2009
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matt_m_mcelroy
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The OA list for '09 has been posted:
http://www.critical-hits.com/2009/06/27/origins-awards-2009/
Some excellent games/products among the winners list.
Highlights for me are:
RPG: Mouse Guard - Archaia Studios Press
RPG Supplement: Serentiy Adventures - Margaret Weis Productions
Board Game: Pandemic - Z-Man Games
Non-Fiction: Tour de Lovecraft: the Tales - Ken Hite
Fiction: Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons 2 - Devil's Due
A few surprises, but overall a great list.
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, June 27th, 2009
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4:00 am - Finding a larp
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| Thursday, June 25th, 2009
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6:40 pm - Mongoose Babylon 5 RPG
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andalusi
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In the back of my mind, I had a dim awareness that Mongoose Publishing's B5 licensing rights were expiring soon. But today, Drivethrurpg sent an email warning that the entire game line was gone forever from their website as of July 1st.
I absolutely loved Babylon 5 when it aired, though I was a latecomer, and several years ago, finally managed to watch the entire series (plus the movies and Crusade). I wasn't terribly impressed with the mechanics first edition of the Mongoose B5 RPG, but I didn't hate it (and to be fair, never had a chance to play or run it). I did love the background information and campaign advice.
I'm rambling, so let me jump to the question. Are the second edition B5 rulebooks and supplements worth purchasing? If so, any ones particularly more useful or informative to focus on? Does anyone even play this game anymore (not that a no to this has ever stopped my making an RPG purchase before!)?
current mood: working
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(comment on this)
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2:49 pm - Adapting Werewolf, nWoD
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zdashamber
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I'm looking to use the new World of Darkness system to run a game which will probably be lighthearted large-scale political werewolf action/adventure. A large part of the concept right now involves roaming around on the spirit plane and booting head. Trouble is, the nWoD version of Werewolf is too much about anger and too focused on pack-level stuff to work for me, and the various tribes/factions in Werewolf: the Forsaken aren't different enough to engage my interest.
Can someone point me to a conversion of Werewolf: the Apocalypse into nWoD? I've searched all over, and I'm baffled that I can't find this on the web.
Failing that, anyone want to talk about the essentials of nWoD and the essentials of W:tA so I can make sure to not miss anything as I bash together a conversion on my own?
Or, does someone think that one could strip all the color out of W:tF and just use the rules? Or are Changing Breeds or Skinchangers OK to handle rollicking adventure?
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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11:02 am - Struggling with Star Trek
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corradus
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*blows air out nostrils in exasperation*
I am preparing a Star Trek rpg campaign and the existing Star Trek role playing systems have me pulling my hair out.
The old FASA system was clunky and a prime example of 1980's game theory whose headaches I don't need.
Decipher's CODA system, while being touted up and down as "very flexible" has what I call "hands dirty" flexibility. That means if you're willing to re-write stuff yourself it's all sorts of flexible (and BTW, so is any OTHER system. If yer willing to knock walls down in your house you can always have bigger rooms, but that doesn't mean the house is modular). There are also some aspects of the starship combat system that are disturbing
I have had some success in the past using the Last Unicorn Games ICON system, but there are even more problems with their ship combat system than the CODA one.
BOTH ICON and CODA are package oriented. This is done to save time I suppose and impose some order, but unfortunately it's too much order.
And as an added problem, the campaign I wanna run is very...how shall I say...UN-Trek. It's not set in any of the Show's eras and is predicated on the Trek universe as most would know it being torn to shreds.
That means the accepted Trek-Tropes ie: Starfleet Officer, Bellicose Klingon Warrior, Trill Diplomat, Greasy Ferengi Merchant, Vulcan Scientist, Betazoid Sensitive New Age Guy etc Don't exist....and of course the CODA and ICON system were both written to cater to those Tropes.
So...what should I do? Pick a system and re-write it? Try to find a "generic" system and use that? I can't stand GURPS and HERO is just too damn complex for my tastes. Systems like BESM and their ilk are a little TOO stripped down and ANYTHING to do with D20 makes me shout groceries.
So...what should I do? Am I being to fussy?
Cross-posted to rp_discuss
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(24 comments | comment on this)
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