Yet another great year of games is about to end, this one went by quicker than the last! My last post talked about the games that I was a player in, this time I'm looking back at the games I ran.
Call of Cthulhu - This was classic 1920's Cthulhu set in New York City. It featured elements of the scenario "Lurker in the Crypt", and I finished the story of the Bishop family,a legacy started way back in the scenario called "The Condemned". I also put in some weird travels through time and space to Mars, which finished off the sanity of one character in particular. A wild way to wrap up the story.
Delta Green - A five part campaign which had some of my very best sessions. The group was fantastic and really embraced the paranoia, chaos and overall downward spiral of the setting. I used one published scenario, "Convergence", to kick things off. The rest was my own material. Most of it was single room mysteries, the focus was firmly on plot twists. At the end of it most of the group casualties were inflicted by the players on each other.
My Life With Master - Still one of my favorite games, I ran this twice. The first was a one-shot, the second time I did a two-parter. I actually prefer the one-shot format for this game. Although it does rush things, the game flows and the threads all come together. This game has themes that everyone understands at a very deep level. The buzz for me is seeing what the players come up with in the darkest of situations. They never fail to surprise me.
Paranoia - Yes, the old classic. I ran this recently and it was great fun.The group composition is really important in this game and we had a good one. Some of them also played "Master", and these games certainly have things in common. It also stirred up nostalgia on the day, with people coming over to see what we were playing. I'm surprised this doesn't get run more often, it's definitely a much loved game.
Trail of Cthulhu - This was a short campaign in the "Bookhounds of London" setting. I enjoyed the system in many ways, though felt it was too easy for the players, especially compared to "Delta Green". It was also fun to have some new players at the table. Overall this one had some good moments though we burned through all of the story threads very quickly indeed. I don't think I had as good a storyline in this one compared to "Delta".
The ones that got away:
Unknown Armies - I do love this system and I had a big group. Too big. We just about finished character creation and I just wasn't "feeling it". We had no concept for the campaign and I could tell that none of us really understood it. I just knew at that point that this one was going to die quickly, so I pulled the plug.
Fiasco - I missed this because of stuff at home on the day...the game went ahead though and was a real blast.
Showing posts with label Unknown Armies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unknown Armies. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Preparing an "Unknown Armies" RPG Campaign
Next month will see the start of my first campaign for the "Unknown Armies" RPG. I've run one-shots of this game several times and I love the system and setting. A proper campaign is something that I keep putting on a backburner, so now it's time to go for it.
I've decided to set the game in Las Vegas. I think it's a great fit, with the combination of hope,desparation and despair that inevitably prevails in a gambling scene, the seedy side of town, and the over the top glitzy facades.
Most importantly, everything that catches the eye about Vegas,everything that defines it, has been constructed by humans, for humans. Games of chance, luxurious hotels, all you can eat buffets, magic shows, nightclubs, fake cities,fake daylight (Caesars Forum), fake lovers....it's all there. "Unknown Armies" is ultimately a very human focused game, all about the consequences of what we do with power and obsession. What better place to play this out than Vegas?
The campaign will have a chaotic nature, so I'm keeping the story threads loose in this one. As the GM I'll be shaping the game around the actions of the players, so hopefully they'll land themselves in a lot of trouble. They will all be "Adepts", the magicians in this game world. They can make magical things happen because of their obsessions, so I'm excited to see which schools of magick the players choose.
I'm also following the guidelines in the rulebook in terms of choosing major characters and factions to give a little framework to the world, things for the players to react to. I like how the book describes the factions, but encourages you to define their relationships. This maintains a degree of unpredictability, especially for players who have played in this setting before.
So new turf for me next month,to run alongside my "Trail of Cthulhu" campaign. I'm excited about this and have no idea how it will all play out. Expect some interesting and bizarre posts on this in the coming months!
I've decided to set the game in Las Vegas. I think it's a great fit, with the combination of hope,desparation and despair that inevitably prevails in a gambling scene, the seedy side of town, and the over the top glitzy facades.
Most importantly, everything that catches the eye about Vegas,everything that defines it, has been constructed by humans, for humans. Games of chance, luxurious hotels, all you can eat buffets, magic shows, nightclubs, fake cities,fake daylight (Caesars Forum), fake lovers....it's all there. "Unknown Armies" is ultimately a very human focused game, all about the consequences of what we do with power and obsession. What better place to play this out than Vegas?
The campaign will have a chaotic nature, so I'm keeping the story threads loose in this one. As the GM I'll be shaping the game around the actions of the players, so hopefully they'll land themselves in a lot of trouble. They will all be "Adepts", the magicians in this game world. They can make magical things happen because of their obsessions, so I'm excited to see which schools of magick the players choose.
I'm also following the guidelines in the rulebook in terms of choosing major characters and factions to give a little framework to the world, things for the players to react to. I like how the book describes the factions, but encourages you to define their relationships. This maintains a degree of unpredictability, especially for players who have played in this setting before.
So new turf for me next month,to run alongside my "Trail of Cthulhu" campaign. I'm excited about this and have no idea how it will all play out. Expect some interesting and bizarre posts on this in the coming months!
Sunday, March 31, 2013
International Tabletop Day
Yesterday was International Tabletop Day, an event promoted heavily across social media (notably Twitter and Tumbler) by celebrities such as Whil Wheaton and Felicia Day. Despite battling an especially nasty chest ailment I decided to attend the event at Gigabites Cafe in Marietta,GA.
I had planned to maybe play a game that was on offer, like "Fiasco", or run something myself. Given how bad I felt, I thought I'd play it safe and take along a fun scenario that I could knock out in a few hours and knew inside out. My choice was an old favorite, "Jailbreak", a scenario by Greg Stolze for the "Unknown Armies" RPG. I've run this at Gigabites before and also at Dragon*Con 2012.
A few gamers who I consistently play alongside or run games for where there when I showed up, none of whom had played this before.I spent thirty minutes describing the system, setting and character sheets, then we played. The whole thing took maybe two hours, consistent with the previous runs that I've done.
The scenario is simple. A group of convicts escape from prison during a riot. They hijack a car which runs out of fuel. It's a stormy night, so the prisoners take their hostages to the nearest building, a remote farmhouse. The game plays out over the course of that evening. The players can choose to play a convict, a hostage (including a prison officer) or an inhabitant of the farmhouse. The convicts want to avoid detection, the hostages want to be freed, and the farm owners want their "guests" gone.
The characters also have secrets and personal triggers that have been set up in such a way that they're bound to conflict with each other in the situation.Having run this with three different groups, everybody really understands the characters, interpersonal dynamics and system with little explanation. That shows how well this was designed.
I don't like to publish major spoilers but a minor one is fine in this case. What turns the scenario on its head is that one of the characters is an occultist. Nobody is told this up front as I like the possibility of a player choosing that character without knowing the secret...until they get the sheet! It's also possible for that character to be an NPC if not chosen. There is a real sense of uneasiness in this scenario and it's been a success every time I've ran it. I'm glad I took part in the event and it's great to see the hobby get so much recognition.
I had planned to maybe play a game that was on offer, like "Fiasco", or run something myself. Given how bad I felt, I thought I'd play it safe and take along a fun scenario that I could knock out in a few hours and knew inside out. My choice was an old favorite, "Jailbreak", a scenario by Greg Stolze for the "Unknown Armies" RPG. I've run this at Gigabites before and also at Dragon*Con 2012.
A few gamers who I consistently play alongside or run games for where there when I showed up, none of whom had played this before.I spent thirty minutes describing the system, setting and character sheets, then we played. The whole thing took maybe two hours, consistent with the previous runs that I've done.
The scenario is simple. A group of convicts escape from prison during a riot. They hijack a car which runs out of fuel. It's a stormy night, so the prisoners take their hostages to the nearest building, a remote farmhouse. The game plays out over the course of that evening. The players can choose to play a convict, a hostage (including a prison officer) or an inhabitant of the farmhouse. The convicts want to avoid detection, the hostages want to be freed, and the farm owners want their "guests" gone.
The characters also have secrets and personal triggers that have been set up in such a way that they're bound to conflict with each other in the situation.Having run this with three different groups, everybody really understands the characters, interpersonal dynamics and system with little explanation. That shows how well this was designed.
I don't like to publish major spoilers but a minor one is fine in this case. What turns the scenario on its head is that one of the characters is an occultist. Nobody is told this up front as I like the possibility of a player choosing that character without knowing the secret...until they get the sheet! It's also possible for that character to be an NPC if not chosen. There is a real sense of uneasiness in this scenario and it's been a success every time I've ran it. I'm glad I took part in the event and it's great to see the hobby get so much recognition.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Kult & Unknown Armies - A New Approach
I've just started working on a side project to deal with something that's been gnawing away at me for some time. There are two games that I'd love to run but I have reservations about each : "Unknown Armies" and "Kult".
In the case of "Unknown Armies", I truly love the system. It's simple, makes sense and lends itself to the kind of games I like to run. The madness system is excellent. What I'm not fond of is the setting, which focuses on the weird rather than the horrific. It makes good reading but doesn't inspire me to devise a campaign...my style simply isn't "gonzo" enough to do it justice.
"Kult",on the other hand, is a game that presents a setting that really gets me. Gnosticism, fallen angels, madness, dreams and cults. This one really does inspire me to write. The problem is the game system..very old-fashioned,clunky and unbalanced. It's a flawed masterpiece.
So that got me thinking.Why choose? I know what I like and dislike in each, why not combine them? Run a "Kult" game that is built on the "Unknown Armies" system. I've already hit various forums to see if others have done it, and of course they have. I'm going to do it my way though and I'm genuinely excited about this one.
The most significant alteration is obsessions and dark secrets. Obsessions are the main character aspect in "Unknown Armies". The obsession determines the school of magick that a character follows, and also has a direct relationship with a particular skill. The game mechanics are designed in such a way that you're rewarded for playing to your obsessions,fears and other passions. "Kult" has some of this too though places great importance on a "dark secret" that each character has. My plan is to rework the system so that the "dark secret" replaces the "obsession"...so the players will be rewarded for leveraging this.
The approach I have in mind will make for some very dark game themes and will appeal only to a certain type of player. Fortunately, they're typically playing my games! There's more work to be done on this before I roll it out, but expect it to be covered in blog when it comes.
In the case of "Unknown Armies", I truly love the system. It's simple, makes sense and lends itself to the kind of games I like to run. The madness system is excellent. What I'm not fond of is the setting, which focuses on the weird rather than the horrific. It makes good reading but doesn't inspire me to devise a campaign...my style simply isn't "gonzo" enough to do it justice.
"Kult",on the other hand, is a game that presents a setting that really gets me. Gnosticism, fallen angels, madness, dreams and cults. This one really does inspire me to write. The problem is the game system..very old-fashioned,clunky and unbalanced. It's a flawed masterpiece.
So that got me thinking.Why choose? I know what I like and dislike in each, why not combine them? Run a "Kult" game that is built on the "Unknown Armies" system. I've already hit various forums to see if others have done it, and of course they have. I'm going to do it my way though and I'm genuinely excited about this one.
The most significant alteration is obsessions and dark secrets. Obsessions are the main character aspect in "Unknown Armies". The obsession determines the school of magick that a character follows, and also has a direct relationship with a particular skill. The game mechanics are designed in such a way that you're rewarded for playing to your obsessions,fears and other passions. "Kult" has some of this too though places great importance on a "dark secret" that each character has. My plan is to rework the system so that the "dark secret" replaces the "obsession"...so the players will be rewarded for leveraging this.
The approach I have in mind will make for some very dark game themes and will appeal only to a certain type of player. Fortunately, they're typically playing my games! There's more work to be done on this before I roll it out, but expect it to be covered in blog when it comes.
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