With the end of another year rapidly approaching, I thought I'd take time to look back on the games that I played, as I line up new games for next year. Next time I'll be posting a summary of the games that I ran.
Games that I took part in as a player :
Dungeon World - This was run by +Michael Bay and through the course of various games I played several characters. It was interesting to visit the "Apocalypse World" engine from a different angle, which will help when I run "Monster of the Week" next year.
Apocalypse World - This time out +Tony Reyes was at the helm in a weird, violent (to be expected) mini-campaign. I played a cult leader who steered the group down entirely the wrong path. This game is always interesting but challenging to play, and I never envy the person who has to run it. They seem to be caught between improvised responses and not being allowed to have much influence in the setting.
Shadowrun 5th Edition - A one-shot demo of a game I'd never got round to trying before. Great setting, but far too crunchy for my tastes. I was definitely the only one at the table who wasn't having a blast, so it can't be denied that Shadowrun has a certain "something".
Mage:The Awakening - I finally got to try a "New World of Darkness" game! I thought it was great, much easier than I'd anticipated. The LARP adaptation of the rules and the tendency to stay immersed in character threw me a little, and sadly my schedule got in the way of staying with the game. I'd feel confident running this myself, but there doesn't seem to be an audience.
Savage Worlds - This was a zombie survival game, absolutely not my ideal setting, but I really enjoyed the system. It had enough crunch to make the combat satisfying, something which I feel is missing in the games that I run. Fun, and great for one-shots.
Fate Accelerated Edition - +Scott Acker ran a demo of this and aside from being a fun session, I came away feeling that I actually understood how the game works...always a good sign in a demo! I'm interested in seeing where Fate goes in future settings.
Old School D&D - +john yorio has ran two sessions of this recently and I played in both. It took me back to my childhood and was good old-fashioned fun. Simple rules, deadly opponents and a really great sense of camaraderie at the table.
So there you have it, a decent selection for the year and I didn't realize how much I'd played until I planned this post! I salute all the people who ran these games. All were excellent gamesmasters and I learned something from each of them to take forward into the games that I run.
Showing posts with label World of Darkness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World of Darkness. Show all posts
Monday, December 9, 2013
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Mage - The Awakening RPG
I finally got round to playing a game of "Mage - The Awakening", which is the New World of Darkness version of my old favorite, "Mage - The Ascension".
The game was run by the Mind's Eye Society, a World of Darkness LARP group, and it was the LARP rules that were used in the game. The rules and certain elements of the setting reminded me of two other games in particular...more on that later.
First of all it was time for character creation. I'd done some research in advance and came with ideas of which magical path and order I wanted to belong to. As is often the case with me, when it came to actual creation and discussing concepts with the GM ("Storyteller"in WoD terms), I went with one that had initially appealed to me the least! The path is all about what kinds of magic you do, and how you interpret the world magically. The order is more about your philosophy and view on how magic should be handled.
The paths are Acanthus (Enchanters who are all about luck,chance and time), Mastigos (Warlocks who work their inner demons,and other peoples), Moros (Necromancers who focus on death and material things), Obrimos (Theurgists who use raw,prime divine magic) and Thyrsus (Shamans who deal with the natural world). I strongly leaned to Mastigos and Moros before I attended the session, and ended up going with Acanthus. I liked Time magic, and playing with chance. I wanted a character who would get into trouble through gambling.
The orders are the Adamantine Arrow (fighters),Guardians of the Veil (spies), Mysterium (Lorekeepers), The Silver Ladder (Rulers) and the Free Council (Modernists). I went with the Mysterium, as I also wanted a research and investigation emphasis in the character.
The game reminded me in some ways of "Nephilim". Specifically, the five paths are aligned to Watchtowers. You have your Watchtower, the others are neutral but one is opposed..it's your weakest point. When visualized as a pentagram, this strongly resembles how the elements in Nephilim work, and how you assign Ka.
The system had a few different ways to be played, with hands, cards or dice. I went with dice, and rather than using the tabletop rules of a dice pool, instead you add the number of dots in an attribute to the dots in a skill plus a D10. Anything over 10 is a success. This is pretty much how Unisystem works, and I recognized it from running "All Flesh Must Be Eaten". It's a fast,easy way to resolve things and has me wondering about giving the "Angel" RPG a shot...
All in all a fun game and not nearly as complex as I thought it would be. I look forward to more sessions and exploring the system more.
The game was run by the Mind's Eye Society, a World of Darkness LARP group, and it was the LARP rules that were used in the game. The rules and certain elements of the setting reminded me of two other games in particular...more on that later.
First of all it was time for character creation. I'd done some research in advance and came with ideas of which magical path and order I wanted to belong to. As is often the case with me, when it came to actual creation and discussing concepts with the GM ("Storyteller"in WoD terms), I went with one that had initially appealed to me the least! The path is all about what kinds of magic you do, and how you interpret the world magically. The order is more about your philosophy and view on how magic should be handled.
The paths are Acanthus (Enchanters who are all about luck,chance and time), Mastigos (Warlocks who work their inner demons,and other peoples), Moros (Necromancers who focus on death and material things), Obrimos (Theurgists who use raw,prime divine magic) and Thyrsus (Shamans who deal with the natural world). I strongly leaned to Mastigos and Moros before I attended the session, and ended up going with Acanthus. I liked Time magic, and playing with chance. I wanted a character who would get into trouble through gambling.
The orders are the Adamantine Arrow (fighters),Guardians of the Veil (spies), Mysterium (Lorekeepers), The Silver Ladder (Rulers) and the Free Council (Modernists). I went with the Mysterium, as I also wanted a research and investigation emphasis in the character.
The game reminded me in some ways of "Nephilim". Specifically, the five paths are aligned to Watchtowers. You have your Watchtower, the others are neutral but one is opposed..it's your weakest point. When visualized as a pentagram, this strongly resembles how the elements in Nephilim work, and how you assign Ka.
The system had a few different ways to be played, with hands, cards or dice. I went with dice, and rather than using the tabletop rules of a dice pool, instead you add the number of dots in an attribute to the dots in a skill plus a D10. Anything over 10 is a success. This is pretty much how Unisystem works, and I recognized it from running "All Flesh Must Be Eaten". It's a fast,easy way to resolve things and has me wondering about giving the "Angel" RPG a shot...
All in all a fun game and not nearly as complex as I thought it would be. I look forward to more sessions and exploring the system more.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Geist : The Sin Eaters RPG
"Geist : The Sin Eaters" is a role-playing by White Wolf for the World of Darkness setting, one of several games in the new series of games they launched with "Vampire : The Requiem".
"Geist" is the ghost game, following in the same vein as "Wraith" and "Orpheus". As in those games, the player characters experience death. Unlike "Wraith", the characters get a second chance at life, granted by an incredibly strong restless spirit, the Geist.
This makes it potentially one of the most positive World of Darkness games. The characters have a chance to live their lives in a very different way, perhaps finishing business on behalf of the dead, judging those who have wronged others, or maybe pursuing a hedonistic path.
The characters are also some of the most powerful in the World of Darkness, more along the lines of Mage in that regard, with an incredible array of powers at their disposal, granted by the Geist. Of course,this comes with a price. The Geist has its own needs and agenda which must be respected.
I think this game resonates with me because of the dark,gothic nature, but also as it lends itself very much to mystery and investigative games, very much my preference as a gamesmaster. It's easier for me to pull together a campaign for this in terms of inspiration than most of the other games in the series, closely followed by "Promethean","Werewolf" and perhaps "Mummy".
It's definitely an option I'll offer to my current gaming groups as a first step into the new "World of Darkness" series..look for a gameplay review in the next few months!
Monday, July 8, 2013
Mage: The Ascension - A Retrospective.
Back in 1993 I was still living in Liverpool,England. My spare time was spent primarily in pubs and rock clubs (I was still very much in a Goth phase) with the other nights dedicated to tabletop RPGs. I was running "Ravenloft" back then but also found time to play in some other games. One of them was the first edition of "Mage: The Ascension" by White Wolf.
"Mage" was the third major gameline produced in the classic "World of Darkness" series, the first being "Vampire: The Masquerade", the second was "Werewolf: The Apocalypse". Each had its own feel and metaplot, though they all had a buildup to a great "something". This was the 90's and popular culture was full of pre-millenial fears, everything from Nostradamus' predictions to the "Y2K Bug".
White Wolf did follow through and publish official endings for each line, which cleared the decks for them to reboot the games later on, minus the metaplot.
I had never played "Vampire", a game which was massively popular with my Goth friends, though the popularity was firmly on the LARP side of things rather than tabletop. I had played "Werewolf" and while I loved the rich setting, I struggled on a personal level to play it. The animalistic aspect was too much of a challenge for me. "Mage" however, was perfect.
The central concept of the game is that reality is consensual.It is maintained,powered and reinforced by our combined beliefs about what is possible and what isn't. A Mage is someone who has an awakened Avatar (like a higher self) and understands the nature of reality from a particular perspective ("Paradigm") and can alter it. Reality,like a rubber band, will stretch when manipulated but will snap back into it's original shape, albeit slightly looser than before. This is the real goal of the Mage...to gradually tweak reality so their magic becomes more acceptable and believable to the masses, and thus easier to do. If the Mage pushes too hard, then reality hits back hard in the form of "Paradox", an unpredictable punishment.
The main opponents of the Mages are the Technocracy, an organization seeking to enforce their own vision of reality. The Mages are organized into Traditions, schools of magic and mystical paths. I really liked this as at the time I was reading a lot of Occult and New Age material. The "Verbena" tradition for example, were representative of Wiccans and Druids, all about nature. The "Dreamspeakers" were Shamen. "Cult of Ecstasy" were like a Dyonisian cult and "The Order of Hermes" were the classic Hermetic group, a nod to the games predecessor, "Ars Magica".
Magic itself is described as "Spheres", of which there are nine. Each of the nine Traditions specializes in one of the spheres, though you can learn any of them. Combining the powers of the spheres is where the fun really is, and what I liked was how the sphere would be interpreted differently depending on your Tradition. The "Life" sphere, for example, would be interpreted by the "Sons of Ether" as the elecrochemical jolt that starts your heart, whereas the "Akashic Brotherhood" see it as Chi. The other spheres are Matter, Correspondence,Prime,Forces,Time,Entropy,Spirit and Mind.
What made this special, and still to this day my favorite game, was the way this all translated into gameplay. We were playing very powerful characters, people who could tear reality apart with our thoughts, yet the threats to us were just as powerful, in terms of the antagonists and the consequences of creating paradoxes.We were also lucky to have a GM and group of players who thoroughly understood the game. "Mage" can be a hard game to understand or explain, so group composition is a major consideration if you want to do it justice. With the right group,it's something special.
"Mage" was the third major gameline produced in the classic "World of Darkness" series, the first being "Vampire: The Masquerade", the second was "Werewolf: The Apocalypse". Each had its own feel and metaplot, though they all had a buildup to a great "something". This was the 90's and popular culture was full of pre-millenial fears, everything from Nostradamus' predictions to the "Y2K Bug".
White Wolf did follow through and publish official endings for each line, which cleared the decks for them to reboot the games later on, minus the metaplot.
I had never played "Vampire", a game which was massively popular with my Goth friends, though the popularity was firmly on the LARP side of things rather than tabletop. I had played "Werewolf" and while I loved the rich setting, I struggled on a personal level to play it. The animalistic aspect was too much of a challenge for me. "Mage" however, was perfect.
The central concept of the game is that reality is consensual.It is maintained,powered and reinforced by our combined beliefs about what is possible and what isn't. A Mage is someone who has an awakened Avatar (like a higher self) and understands the nature of reality from a particular perspective ("Paradigm") and can alter it. Reality,like a rubber band, will stretch when manipulated but will snap back into it's original shape, albeit slightly looser than before. This is the real goal of the Mage...to gradually tweak reality so their magic becomes more acceptable and believable to the masses, and thus easier to do. If the Mage pushes too hard, then reality hits back hard in the form of "Paradox", an unpredictable punishment.
The main opponents of the Mages are the Technocracy, an organization seeking to enforce their own vision of reality. The Mages are organized into Traditions, schools of magic and mystical paths. I really liked this as at the time I was reading a lot of Occult and New Age material. The "Verbena" tradition for example, were representative of Wiccans and Druids, all about nature. The "Dreamspeakers" were Shamen. "Cult of Ecstasy" were like a Dyonisian cult and "The Order of Hermes" were the classic Hermetic group, a nod to the games predecessor, "Ars Magica".
Magic itself is described as "Spheres", of which there are nine. Each of the nine Traditions specializes in one of the spheres, though you can learn any of them. Combining the powers of the spheres is where the fun really is, and what I liked was how the sphere would be interpreted differently depending on your Tradition. The "Life" sphere, for example, would be interpreted by the "Sons of Ether" as the elecrochemical jolt that starts your heart, whereas the "Akashic Brotherhood" see it as Chi. The other spheres are Matter, Correspondence,Prime,Forces,Time,Entropy,Spirit and Mind.
What made this special, and still to this day my favorite game, was the way this all translated into gameplay. We were playing very powerful characters, people who could tear reality apart with our thoughts, yet the threats to us were just as powerful, in terms of the antagonists and the consequences of creating paradoxes.We were also lucky to have a GM and group of players who thoroughly understood the game. "Mage" can be a hard game to understand or explain, so group composition is a major consideration if you want to do it justice. With the right group,it's something special.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Vampire:The Requiem - "Danse Macabre" Supplement
I'm preparing for a short campaign using the new upcoming version of "Vampire:The Requiem" and got hold of one of the last major supplements released for the current version, "Danse Macabre".
This is more than a player or chroniclers guide. It's a collection of ideas and concepts for how to strip down and rebuild "Requiem" itself,boasting some great ideas, at least one of which I'll be leveraging for one of the core stories threads I have in mind.It also touches on other games in the "New World of Darkness" series.
The first thing the book does is to offer "Requiem" in three tiers or scales of game:Coterie,City and Global. This is very much along the lines of "Hunter:The Vigil" and offers scope and options to the game. The "Unknown Armies" RPG does the the same. Each of the covenants are interpreted at each tier, the global versions have different names and of course different agendas, with new roles that the characters can play. I think this makes sense especially for "Vampire", given that the characters can potentially live for a very long time. As they grow more powerful with age, they may well get drawn into a higher tier of the game.
The covenants are revisited with some nice bullet points presented to explain why a player might want to choose each one. Some are reinvented, "Ordo Dracul" for example is rehashed as "Brides of Dracula", a motorcycle gang! There are some new ones, one in particular (no spoilers for my players) will definitely be an important part of my campaign.
New rules are presented for social conflict, lessons clearly learned from the highly rated "Requiem for Rome" setting. Speaking of which, the Roman supplement,along with this one, are proving to be very influential on the new version of "Requiem" and it's fun to see how those ideas were already taking shape. The book ends with advice on how to run "Requiem" with different themes, such as "Noire".
Overall this is a superb supplement and one that convinced me to go with "Requiem" rather than "Masquerade". I just have to avoid spoilers now, as it's given me some outstanding material to throw at my players in August.
This is more than a player or chroniclers guide. It's a collection of ideas and concepts for how to strip down and rebuild "Requiem" itself,boasting some great ideas, at least one of which I'll be leveraging for one of the core stories threads I have in mind.It also touches on other games in the "New World of Darkness" series.
The first thing the book does is to offer "Requiem" in three tiers or scales of game:Coterie,City and Global. This is very much along the lines of "Hunter:The Vigil" and offers scope and options to the game. The "Unknown Armies" RPG does the the same. Each of the covenants are interpreted at each tier, the global versions have different names and of course different agendas, with new roles that the characters can play. I think this makes sense especially for "Vampire", given that the characters can potentially live for a very long time. As they grow more powerful with age, they may well get drawn into a higher tier of the game.
The covenants are revisited with some nice bullet points presented to explain why a player might want to choose each one. Some are reinvented, "Ordo Dracul" for example is rehashed as "Brides of Dracula", a motorcycle gang! There are some new ones, one in particular (no spoilers for my players) will definitely be an important part of my campaign.
New rules are presented for social conflict, lessons clearly learned from the highly rated "Requiem for Rome" setting. Speaking of which, the Roman supplement,along with this one, are proving to be very influential on the new version of "Requiem" and it's fun to see how those ideas were already taking shape. The book ends with advice on how to run "Requiem" with different themes, such as "Noire".
Overall this is a superb supplement and one that convinced me to go with "Requiem" rather than "Masquerade". I just have to avoid spoilers now, as it's given me some outstanding material to throw at my players in August.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Vampire - Blood and Smoke
As followers of this blog will know from previous posts, one of my plans is to run a "World of Darkness" game. Having compared the 20th anniversary edition of "Vampire:The Masquerade" to "Vampire:The Requiem", "Masquerade" was the one I settled on, though it was a tough call. Now everything's changed with the brand new version of "Requiem", "Vampire:Blood and Smoke" due out this summer.
I have been following the developer blogs over at White Wolf and have downloaded the playtest documents. The main thing that has struck me is the redesign of the disciplines, the special powers that vampires have based upon their clan.I'd been reading the guidelines of the disciplines in "Masquerade" and after numerous readings, still wasn't blown away by what the disciplines do, and in some cases I was downright confused. The new versions are crystal clear. I can describe and explain each of them off the top of my head, which is the level of comfort I prefer to have in a game like this.The story potential from each is immense too.
"Auspex", for example, used to be about extra-sensory perception. Now a lot of those powers (seeing in the dark, smelling prey) are common to all vampires. Auspex is now about secrets, much in line with the clan that it's associated with, the Mekhet. At the most basic level, it allows the player to ask the GM questions about a situation to shed light on what's really going on. "Protean", which used to be more along the lines of animal shapeshifting, is now an emphasis on the vampire becoming less human and more of a beast. At the highest level the vampire can transform into mist!
While the clans appear to be the same as those in Requiem (Daeva, Mekhet,Ventrue,Gangrel and Nosferatu), the covenants could be changing. There is a new villain, the Strix, who prey on vampires. They first appeared in the "Requiem for Rome" setting and will be fun to use. The predatory nature of the vampires themselves has led to new mechanics being introduced.
Overall, everything I've read simply makes more sense to me.There also seems to be more of an open acknowledgement that many players aren't looking to play vampires for the angst, they expect vampires to be cool and enjoyable to play as well, possibly an influence from recent shows like "True Blood".
There will be a quickstart version of the game released in select stores on "Free RPG Day', June 15th, and it'll be published online soon after. This will definitely be my next game to run, probably starting in August this year, and I'm already looking forward to it.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Planning for "Vampire:The Masquerade"
This week I've started planning a new monthly game that will run when "Delta Green" ends, probably in July or August this year. I've toyed with a few ideas and asked around to see levels of interest. "Unknown Armies" definitely has a high level of interest and it's something I really want to do, though I may do so at a later date or on a different day. "Changeling:The Lost" is also something I plan to offer, but I want to have more familiarity with the setting first. I've chosen a game and will see how it goes. If it doesn't work out, then I'll switch to "Unknown Armies".
I've settled on "Vampire:The Masquerade". Why?Several reasons. It's a true role-playing classic, yet I have never played it or run it.Despite the immense popularity of the game,I rarely see it being offered as a game (the live-action version is much higher profile).It tickles the nostalgic side of me that still loves the 90's.The game was played to death in the 90's so a lot of gamers are jaded by it, but no-one seems to offer it to people who never had the chance to play it. I can see my regular group of players loving it, as the "pretension factor" will be absent in my version.Most of all though, I already have a solid storyline in mind for a six-month run, and the rules are really straightforward.
The version I will run is the 20th Anniversary edition of the game. This is a game that has a huge and well established metaplot.Most people coming to the game would already have an understanding of the various clans and sects in the game, along with the overall theme.It's very easy for players to get conceptually, even more so these days with shows like "True Blood" on TV. I did give serious consideration to the new World of Darkness version, "Vampire:The Requiem". It has a lot going for it and some great ideas...it has less metaplot and more of a toolkit approach. The GM can do a lot more tweaking and the politics aren't so carved in stone.
I want this to be a big splash for a small game though.The storyline I have will introduce certain events over the six sessions..there will be mysteries to solve, larger than life villains, lots of twists and manipulation. I know who the main NPCs are, but this will be the backdrop to the stories of the players themselves. There will be an initial session just about them...how they became vampires, who they used to be, what their stories are.Each game session will be played as a chapter in a story, and the story will have a definite end.
The main consideration I have is how to get players.I will be using my established timeslot with "Meetup.com" and would prefer to draw my usual players. If I open it up broadly, it would be great to bring in someone who has always wanted to play it but never had the chance, though there's also the risk of a big turnout. Also, this game comes with a lot of preconceptions and can easily be very different to what players were expecting...especially ones who have played it before.
There won't anything against the established canon or too unexpected in this, it'll be straightforward "Masquerade" and I'm looking forward to it.Whether I stick with it or switch to "Unknown Armies", next year will see a return to "Call of Cthulhu" in the 1920's..possibly with a new system
I've settled on "Vampire:The Masquerade". Why?Several reasons. It's a true role-playing classic, yet I have never played it or run it.Despite the immense popularity of the game,I rarely see it being offered as a game (the live-action version is much higher profile).It tickles the nostalgic side of me that still loves the 90's.The game was played to death in the 90's so a lot of gamers are jaded by it, but no-one seems to offer it to people who never had the chance to play it. I can see my regular group of players loving it, as the "pretension factor" will be absent in my version.Most of all though, I already have a solid storyline in mind for a six-month run, and the rules are really straightforward.
The version I will run is the 20th Anniversary edition of the game. This is a game that has a huge and well established metaplot.Most people coming to the game would already have an understanding of the various clans and sects in the game, along with the overall theme.It's very easy for players to get conceptually, even more so these days with shows like "True Blood" on TV. I did give serious consideration to the new World of Darkness version, "Vampire:The Requiem". It has a lot going for it and some great ideas...it has less metaplot and more of a toolkit approach. The GM can do a lot more tweaking and the politics aren't so carved in stone.
I want this to be a big splash for a small game though.The storyline I have will introduce certain events over the six sessions..there will be mysteries to solve, larger than life villains, lots of twists and manipulation. I know who the main NPCs are, but this will be the backdrop to the stories of the players themselves. There will be an initial session just about them...how they became vampires, who they used to be, what their stories are.Each game session will be played as a chapter in a story, and the story will have a definite end.
The main consideration I have is how to get players.I will be using my established timeslot with "Meetup.com" and would prefer to draw my usual players. If I open it up broadly, it would be great to bring in someone who has always wanted to play it but never had the chance, though there's also the risk of a big turnout. Also, this game comes with a lot of preconceptions and can easily be very different to what players were expecting...especially ones who have played it before.
There won't anything against the established canon or too unexpected in this, it'll be straightforward "Masquerade" and I'm looking forward to it.Whether I stick with it or switch to "Unknown Armies", next year will see a return to "Call of Cthulhu" in the 1920's..possibly with a new system
Sunday, December 30, 2012
A New Start - Playing in the USA, 2011-Present
I moved to the Atlanta, GA area back in March 2007.After becoming a father and settling down, curiosity and a need to have a hobby, led to "meetup.com" and the "Atlanta Gamers Guild" (back then it was the "Atlanta Dungeons & Dragons Group"). I've already discussed Call of Cthulhu in an earlier post, but there have been other games that I've played and ran in the last two years.
First was Pathfinder 3E. This was originally a homebrew take on D&D resulting from fanbase frustration with the fourth edition. It was my return to gaming after the 90s and the first thing I'd played Stateside. It was good to be back and the game clearly has a passionate following. I felt it had great ideas but was too tactical...I thought it was more about what characters had the ability to do rather than who they were. That sparked the return to Cthulhu. Pathfinder is a very good game indeed, just not for me.
One of my Cthulhu players, Michael Bay, was running "Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying" in the same club on a monthly basis. We have a good rapport so I thought it'd be fun to play in a game ran by one of my players...also interesting to try a setting and system I'd never tried before. It was a very rich experience, there's a distinct Germanic feel to the game. I played a Witch hunter, completely got the concept and ran with it.I ended up taking actions in the game though that brought the campaign to an early close..something we still laugh about now! I did learn that as a player I prefer to stay true to what I think my character would do rather than trying to win.
I then played another game ran by Michael, "Apocalypse World". This is a very new game and has a clear improv influence. It puts the narrative more in the hands of the players with the GM playing more of a reactive role. The GM doesn't bring a structured storyline to the table so you never know what's going to happen. It's a superb, rewarding game though very challenging. It requires more of the players than most games and shines when you have a creative group who aren't afraid of conflict with each other.
In terms of GM'ing other games, I've done one-shots of two other systems. I like doing this as it allows me to try different games without laying out a huge plan in advance and also gives a good opportunity for players to do the same. As they're "throwaways", players can takes chances with their characters in ways they wouldn't normally do and really get a feel for the game. I'll do more of these in the future. The first was "All Flesh Must Be Eaten". I did a scenario blatantly pulled from "The Walking Dead" TV show. It's a great game, the players liked it, but it just wasn't for me. Too heavy on combat and tactics. Also, everyone knows what the "bad guy" is before the game has even started. I prefer, as a GM, to have plot twists and surprises to spring on the players. I'm sure another GM would've done it more justice.
The other game I ran was "Unknown Armies". I chose a published scenario called "Jailbreak", written by Greg Stolze. This was phenomenal...I loved the scenario and prefer to system to CoC. I had a group of players I'd never met before and we really nailed the game. The influence of CoC is clearly there but the emphasis is more on personal horror than cosmic. I ran it again at Dragon*Con in 2012, again to great success. There's a strong possibility I'll run this in 2013 depending on interest and my schedule...which is the subject of next weeks post.
First was Pathfinder 3E. This was originally a homebrew take on D&D resulting from fanbase frustration with the fourth edition. It was my return to gaming after the 90s and the first thing I'd played Stateside. It was good to be back and the game clearly has a passionate following. I felt it had great ideas but was too tactical...I thought it was more about what characters had the ability to do rather than who they were. That sparked the return to Cthulhu. Pathfinder is a very good game indeed, just not for me.
One of my Cthulhu players, Michael Bay, was running "Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying" in the same club on a monthly basis. We have a good rapport so I thought it'd be fun to play in a game ran by one of my players...also interesting to try a setting and system I'd never tried before. It was a very rich experience, there's a distinct Germanic feel to the game. I played a Witch hunter, completely got the concept and ran with it.I ended up taking actions in the game though that brought the campaign to an early close..something we still laugh about now! I did learn that as a player I prefer to stay true to what I think my character would do rather than trying to win.
I then played another game ran by Michael, "Apocalypse World". This is a very new game and has a clear improv influence. It puts the narrative more in the hands of the players with the GM playing more of a reactive role. The GM doesn't bring a structured storyline to the table so you never know what's going to happen. It's a superb, rewarding game though very challenging. It requires more of the players than most games and shines when you have a creative group who aren't afraid of conflict with each other.
In terms of GM'ing other games, I've done one-shots of two other systems. I like doing this as it allows me to try different games without laying out a huge plan in advance and also gives a good opportunity for players to do the same. As they're "throwaways", players can takes chances with their characters in ways they wouldn't normally do and really get a feel for the game. I'll do more of these in the future. The first was "All Flesh Must Be Eaten". I did a scenario blatantly pulled from "The Walking Dead" TV show. It's a great game, the players liked it, but it just wasn't for me. Too heavy on combat and tactics. Also, everyone knows what the "bad guy" is before the game has even started. I prefer, as a GM, to have plot twists and surprises to spring on the players. I'm sure another GM would've done it more justice.
The other game I ran was "Unknown Armies". I chose a published scenario called "Jailbreak", written by Greg Stolze. This was phenomenal...I loved the scenario and prefer to system to CoC. I had a group of players I'd never met before and we really nailed the game. The influence of CoC is clearly there but the emphasis is more on personal horror than cosmic. I ran it again at Dragon*Con in 2012, again to great success. There's a strong possibility I'll run this in 2013 depending on interest and my schedule...which is the subject of next weeks post.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Returning to Gaming - the 1990's
In the early 1990's I was very much a part of the Goth and Metal scene in Liverpool,UK. Apart from the music and imagery, it was were I found and made friends that I had a lot in common with..a sense of belonging. Some of them were RPG fans and wanted to get back into the hobby. This marked my return to Tabletop RPG's, both as a GM and player.
My first step back was through my love of horror. TSR had just released a boxed set called "Ravenloft". This was a heavily supported campaign setting for AD&D 2nd Edition. It was the perfection combination really, a system that had broad appeal and familiarity coupled with a setting that I "got". I ran the published scenarios over a year long period with, in my opinion, mixed success, but the players seemed to love it. The high point was a werewolf adventure in which the players really did very little as they were so intimidated. That was the atmosphere I was looking for, and it would eventually lead me back to Cthulhu years later. I was also lucky to have a group who didn't know the rules very well...if I'd been called out on some decisions it would have been awkward as I didn't know the rules well myself!
The next game that I ran was "Kult". It was a very controversial Swedish horror game with a bad reputation.It was extremely dark and gnostic, but the system was very clunky. I loved it though, but when I tried to run a game it just didn't work. I didn't understand the game enough and simply didn't have the experience to do it justice. The players didn't get it either and felt I was railroading them, which I was...again because of inexperience and lack of confidence. I think in retrospect I thought that the game would just "happen" when I ran it. It only lasted one session.
Around this time White Wolf changed everything with their World of Darkness games. I bought "Vampire : The Masquerade", a game in which the players are vampires in a Gothic-punk modern setting. It was exciting and I was sure I'd have success running it. I never got the chance. The main problem was that my Goth pals weren't into tabletop games, the nearest they'd go was the Live-Action version. My pals who did play tabletop were turned off by the Goth angle, which they saw as pretentious. To this day I know that setting inside out without having played it.
I did get to play some other White Wolf games though, "Werewolf : The Apocalypse" and "Mage : The Ascension"."Werewolf" was fun though I had difficulty getting into character. I just didn't connect with the aggressive, animalistic aspect which is core to the game."Mage" on the other hand fit me like a glove..I understood it and really enjoyed it. It must be noted that the GM for "Mage" had a style that I hadn't encountered before, but it was perfect for that game. He had no storylines, just a firm grasp on the game mechanics. He focused the game on our characters and just reacted to what we did...we,the players, made the story ourselves to a large extent. That takes skill to do, and can be seen in some of today's new game systems. If I were to run a World of Darkness game I would call on my memories of his approach. He definitely helped shape my current style.
The last game I played was "Cyberpunk : 2020". The game was plain cool, loaded with attitude and good fun. It was the same GM we'd had for "Mage". Now it's horribly dated..this was in the days before people really used the internet. I did like the whole idea of enhancing yourself with cybernetics, at the cost of your humanity.
So around this time I stopped gaming. I think a large part of it was the time required. I had started working and simply couldn't be bothered with the time and preparation. It wouldn't be until 2011 that I'd do it again.
My first step back was through my love of horror. TSR had just released a boxed set called "Ravenloft". This was a heavily supported campaign setting for AD&D 2nd Edition. It was the perfection combination really, a system that had broad appeal and familiarity coupled with a setting that I "got". I ran the published scenarios over a year long period with, in my opinion, mixed success, but the players seemed to love it. The high point was a werewolf adventure in which the players really did very little as they were so intimidated. That was the atmosphere I was looking for, and it would eventually lead me back to Cthulhu years later. I was also lucky to have a group who didn't know the rules very well...if I'd been called out on some decisions it would have been awkward as I didn't know the rules well myself!
The next game that I ran was "Kult". It was a very controversial Swedish horror game with a bad reputation.It was extremely dark and gnostic, but the system was very clunky. I loved it though, but when I tried to run a game it just didn't work. I didn't understand the game enough and simply didn't have the experience to do it justice. The players didn't get it either and felt I was railroading them, which I was...again because of inexperience and lack of confidence. I think in retrospect I thought that the game would just "happen" when I ran it. It only lasted one session.
Around this time White Wolf changed everything with their World of Darkness games. I bought "Vampire : The Masquerade", a game in which the players are vampires in a Gothic-punk modern setting. It was exciting and I was sure I'd have success running it. I never got the chance. The main problem was that my Goth pals weren't into tabletop games, the nearest they'd go was the Live-Action version. My pals who did play tabletop were turned off by the Goth angle, which they saw as pretentious. To this day I know that setting inside out without having played it.
I did get to play some other White Wolf games though, "Werewolf : The Apocalypse" and "Mage : The Ascension"."Werewolf" was fun though I had difficulty getting into character. I just didn't connect with the aggressive, animalistic aspect which is core to the game."Mage" on the other hand fit me like a glove..I understood it and really enjoyed it. It must be noted that the GM for "Mage" had a style that I hadn't encountered before, but it was perfect for that game. He had no storylines, just a firm grasp on the game mechanics. He focused the game on our characters and just reacted to what we did...we,the players, made the story ourselves to a large extent. That takes skill to do, and can be seen in some of today's new game systems. If I were to run a World of Darkness game I would call on my memories of his approach. He definitely helped shape my current style.
The last game I played was "Cyberpunk : 2020". The game was plain cool, loaded with attitude and good fun. It was the same GM we'd had for "Mage". Now it's horribly dated..this was in the days before people really used the internet. I did like the whole idea of enhancing yourself with cybernetics, at the cost of your humanity.
So around this time I stopped gaming. I think a large part of it was the time required. I had started working and simply couldn't be bothered with the time and preparation. It wouldn't be until 2011 that I'd do it again.
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