Dungeon World - New Beginnings

Yesterday was a new chapter in the Dungeon World campaign being run by Michael Bay, the name of the campaign is "Screams In The Darkness". It was particularly fitting for this episode! Some of the characters had died in the last session so this had something old and something new.

The biggest change was realigning the group to being mercenaries in a wonderfully lawless town named "Gondgul". It has various influences, including Dwarven, Pharazonic (Egyptian) and numerous others. In the absence of government, the city is run by rival mercenary "expeditionary companies", wizards and religious orders.

Three characters returned from previous sessions, the Shaman, Thief and Fighter. The new characters were a Paladin, a Barbarian and my character, a Mage. I've never played a Mage or Wizard in a fantasy game before, I've tended to play front line law and order characters so this was a great chance to try something different.

I chose a magical path known as "The Mask". It's really all about illusions. My character can solve general problems magically which aren't related to his school, but that comes with a penalty. When he uses magic aligned with his path (misleading others,avoiding notice,cunning plans) he gets major bonuses. On the other hand, there are heavy restrictions....he can never use magic for brute force or to break facades. This was great because it forced me to play a style which was non-confrontational.

The game itself was excellent, a security operation to protect a warehouse, leading to the classic trek through underground sewers and ruins. I had a succession of spectacular failures in my attempts at spell casting, one which left us in complete darkness and having to abandon the mission! The dynamic within the group was fun as always,with a real sense of mischief from the various roguish characters. Michael did a nice touch in giving each character their own plot threads here and there.

The session ended with a revelation that there were Dwarven ruins beneath the city,plenty of exploration ahead of us.After levelling up, I added a new magical path for my character, "The Twilight",giving him the ability to manipulate shadows.The penalty? He can never create light or fire, very apt after the failures this time around. It was a great session with a more gritty feel this time around.

Monster Of The Week RPG

I recently purchased the "Monster Of The Week" tabletop RPG by Michael Sands. It uses Vincent Bakers "Apocalypse World" rules, along the same lines as other adaptations such as "Dungeon World" and "Monsterhearts".

I've played "Apocalypse World" and "Dungeon World", both run by Michael Bay. I like the simplicity of the system, just 2D6 rolled to determined success and no opposing rolls needed from the GM. Also the emphasis on bonds and history between the player characters adds a nice layer and encourages the making and breaking of relationships.

"Monster Of The Week" takes the system and applies it to a setting that would be familiar to fans of shows like "Buffy" and "Supernatural". From a game perspective, this game also resonates with me as a "Call of Cthulhu" and "Unknown Armies" GM...both are cited as influences on the game, and as in CoC the GM is referred to as a "Keeper". Essentially you have a group that investigates a supernatural event, identifies the monster behind it, finds its weakness and kills it.

The game starts with a basic setting up of the theme for the group, the reason for them to be together. They could be a slayer like Buffy with the rest of the group forming the entourage, or perhaps they're a family on the road, taking the fight to the monsters. Once that's established, players choose a "playbook", a character sheet. Each character has a set of moves, things that they,and only they, can do. If I were to play this I'd have a real tough time choosing which to be, as they all have so much appeal. There's the "Chosen", basically a Buffy kind of character. There's the "Wronged", like Dean on "Supernatural". Throw in the Expert, Flake (conspiracy theorist),Mundane,Professional and several others, and you have the makings of some great stories. One player can even be a monster that joins the group.

I really like the advice for running stories and campaigns in this,and what struck me was how closely the guidelines given map to my own process of running and preparing games. It's taken me two years to find my own style, and it's interesting to see someone else from a "Cthulhu" background end up in the same place! The advice is really clear and well articulated. I recommend getting this for the advice alone.

"Delta Green" is set to finish after three more sessions and then I'm on to "Vampire:The Masquerade". "Monster Of The Week" is my top contender to run after that, or perhaps alongside it. I think it'll be great fun  to run.

Delta Green Pt 3 - Cleanups and Conspiracies

The third part of my Call of Cthulhu "Delta Green" campaign took place yesterday and was a departure from previous games, featuring some elements I'd never tried before.

The group consisted of eight players, so my thoughts in advance were to break the group into two or three smaller ones. I specialize in this anyway and enjoy running a game in parallel threads, taking full advantage of the group being divided. It also means that each player gets a piece of the pie in terms of game time, rather than being sidelined by the group as whole.

Instead I did something I've never done before. I split the session into two separate missions, completely unrelated to each other but tied to previous sessions. The beauty of this was that I could make plot revelations in one mission that had importance to the characters in the other mission. The players of course would all realize this, but the characters can't acknowledge what they don't know!

Also, the missions themselves where very basic "one room" stories. One was about destroying evidence that had been salvaged from the previous game, the evidence was being mailed to a college professor, later revealed to be one of the leaders of Delta Green. The other was a cleanup mission at the woodland cabin of former Agent Alphonse, a character who'd died in the "Aklo" game.

I sent a group of NPCs to the cabin game and this is where the conspiracy ramped up. They claimed to be members of Delta Green, that the organization had been compromised at the highest level...and that "S" Cell was really part of Majestic 12, the arch rivals of Delta Green. "S" Cell of course, consists of the player characters in the other mission! Characters turned on each other,lied to each other, even shot each other. Lots of twists and turns played out in mass confusion. Nobody knew who they were really working for anymore...though the big revelation at the end was that the players are legitimately members of Delta Green. The cell sent to the woods was from Majestic 12...though there are still big questions about who really runs Delta Green and to what level it has been compromised.

All in all this was exactly what I hoped it would be. An intense, confusing session that left everyone feeling really uneasy at the end, setting the next three sessions up perfectly. I'll be bringing more horror back into the next one and I'm delighted with how this format works. Some of the players were even discussing creating a new Delta Green..."Delta Greener"! Lots of fun and good preparation for other future games that I have planned, such as "Vampire:The Masquerade" and "Monster Of The Week".

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.

Dungeon World - Death of a Cleric

Part three of Michael Bay's "Dungeon World" campaign took place yesterday with a good turnout and some new characters, who proved to be instrumental in the plot twists.

At this point the group consisted of a Cleric (me),Bard,Wizard and Ranger. The Shaman,Druid and Templar players couldn't attend. Lacking heavy firepower, one of the new players chose to be a Fighter,playing the "sword for hire" angle to great effect. Another player returned from the first session, his character,the Artificer had died last time out. He was given the Thief class and played it brilliantly.

The new characters and changed dynamic brought a rogue element to the group. Coupled with the Wizard character being possessed by the villain of the piece, we had a situation where mistrust and bickering ruled. Lots of notes where passed back and forth between some players and the GM, and my character was quietly pursuing his own agenda,one unknown to most of the group.

The story wrapped up with most of us in a cavern featuring a lava lake and a stone ship. The Thief and Fighter, true to form, stole the artifacts that we were sent to find and abandoned the Cleric, Wizard and Bard to their fates. The escapees will reunite with the Ranger, Druid and Shaman next time and it will be very interesting to see what story is given regarding the rest of the group! Really good roleplaying from everyone involved.

So now I have to think about a new character. I've done the lawful enforcing zealot thing a few times now and need to try something different. The Bard would be a very different experience, the Initiate (martial artist)  would be fun....but I'm leaning to the Mage. This is different to the Wizard in that there is no list of spells as such, it's all about understanding a particular style of magic and describing how you're using it to solve a problem, with an emphasis either on black magic or counterspells. I've never played a magic character and on the other hand like characters that are reckless, living on the edge. I might choose to be a Dragon Mage (highly destructive, no subtlety), a Storm Mage (unstable and dramatic) or a Clock Mage (messes with time). Already looking forward to next time!

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.

Delta Green - "Aklo"

Yesterday was the second session of my six-part campaign in the "Delta Green" setting for "Call of Cthulhu". I read a great scenario posted on another forum which formed the basis of this game.I took some core elements and played around with it for a few weeks, finally settling on a new story the night before the game.

I wanted to introduce two things into the game that I hadn't tried before. One was to keep the entire scenario contained in a single room, a "closed room" crime scene. The other was to have the core of the mystery tie directly into the overall campaign storyline, deepening the conspiracy and setting things up for future sessions.

The story this time was a murder scene at a small town community center. One victim had been killed by another, three of the victims appeared to have died from anaphylactic shock. There was also smoke at the scene, the source of which couldn't be determined. The characters secured the scene and the action moved inside the community center.

They examined the bodies and found evidence telling them that this had been a language class,to learn an obscure language known as "Aklo".The course had been privately funded and offered free to military veterans. The class was really a trap, and the recitals of Aklo were a ritual to summon a creature from another dimension, a Hound of Tindalos, capable of warping time and space. The class members didn't realize that they were performing a ritual..though one new member was suspicious and attempted to halt the proceedings.

The plot twist was that the new class member was Agent Alphonse, a senior Delta Green official who had directed the previous game.The other class members were part of Delta Green in the 70's. The trap had been set by Reinhardt Galt, a Nazi looking for revenge against the group. This discovery unfolded in gameplay really well and made the players realize they were pawns in a bigger game.

Of course, the Hound of Tindalos was still present, hiding in the unexplained smoke. I unleashed the hound, stalking the characters from different angles of the room. All of them survived though all but two of the group failed sanity rolls...very lucky to survive. They blew up the community center and killed the hound.

Overall this was a shorter session but satisfying and very intense. If you haven't used Tindalos Hounds in a game I suggest you do...they're a very intimidating villain and give a lot of useful options for surprise!