Over the last few years I've been lucky enough to have to played in or ran games from a variety of systems. A personal goal of mine is to have ran a session in every different "Cthulhu" RPG to get a feel for how the rules compare and contrast in a familiar setting.
Now in terms of rules,I'm a lazy GM. I don't want to to wade through hundreds of pages to understand how to run something or have to refer to lots of charts during gameplay. Combat usually frustrates me in this regard. I do,however, like to have some structure..enough to support and add to the game. "Call of Cthulhu" and "My Life With Master" have been great for this.
I also don't like situations where the players need a copy of the rulebook or a long explanation of the rules to be able to play the game. I ran into this when I did a kickoff session for "Unknown Armies" recently. I love UA and the base system. However, for players who didn't have the books it was remarkably difficult to explain the various magical schools, the setting and some parts of character generation. I brought a lot of handouts and cheat sheets to try and make this easier, but I still feel it's an uphill task. Hopefully things will click during actual gameplay. I also had to do a lot of handouts and preparation like this when I was starting up "Trail of Cthulhu" and "Delta Green".
It was then that it struck me, the thing that I really missed. It was the "playbook" approach used in "Apocalypse World" and all of the games based on it. I'd got used to using them in "Apocalypse World" and "Dungeon World", and I'll be seeing them again when I run "Monster of the Week" and "tremulus".
Playbooks are essentially a customized character sheet. For example, in "Dungeon World", there is a "Cleric" playbook. This contains all the instructions that the player needs to create the Cleric, details of the all the things that character can do that are specific to that class, and how to level up. This means no need to look for the rulebook,and each playbook captures the distinct feel of that particular class/role/occupation. The only other thing that's needed is a copy of the general "moves", things that every character can do.
I've used them enough that I miss them in other games. For the "Unknown Armies" session, I realized that I was trying to compensate by making my own cheat sheets...the process would have been so much easier for everyone involved if I could have handed over to each player a single document that had everything they needed to create,start and play.Has anyone else experienced this,and how did you adjust?
Monday, October 28, 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.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Fate Accelerated Edition
+Scott Acker ran a demo of FAE (Fate Accelerated Edition) on sunday at my usual gaming haunt. We've played in several different games together and he knows the various incarnations of FATE inside out, so I asked him if he could set up a demo as I'd yet to play any FATE games. Like all too many people in this hobby,I have shelves of games that I've never played or run.
The demo was called "The Gothelrealm University of Esoteric and Arcane Arts".The setting was a Harry Potter Hogwarts-style university where the students are all supernatural beings. The classics were all well represented, vampires,ghosts,werewolves, fae,wizards and dragons all on the roll call.
I chose to play a werewolf. Scott gave us blank character sheets and some previously prepared "Aspects" (descriptions of the character that can be directly applied to the setting) and "Stunts" (special things we can do) to choose from. We also prioritized our "Approaches" (how we do things), such as "Quick","Careful" etc.
I haven't used Aspects before and it made a lot of sense to me in play. In some ways I found it reminiscent of "Unknown Armies" with its list of Passions. I liked having a "High Concept", a nice one-liner summing up who and what the character is in the game. Most of all, I liked have a "Trouble" Aspect. By choosing to use this Aspect in the game, you can be rewarded with a "FATE point", which you can then use later in the game to reroll dice, add +2 to a result or to add a detail to the game. I think this is probably the part that I enjoyed the most in that it encourages the players to make the story more interesting by making dangerous or difficult choices rather than focusing purely on winning.
The game flowed really well. I won't give details of the session itself as I know Scott runs this at conventions too. It had a strong gothic feel and I could see how a "Sleepy Hollow" game would work well with this. The characters were also very distinct archetypes, something else that I personally enjoy in games,especially as a player.
So having played this demo, I feel I've had a good taste of FAE. It's remarkably easy to play.I'd like to try it's more complex brother, "Fate Core", and some of the established settings too. If you haven't tried this and fancy a light, fast-paced game I strongly recommend giving it a look.
The demo was called "The Gothelrealm University of Esoteric and Arcane Arts".The setting was a Harry Potter Hogwarts-style university where the students are all supernatural beings. The classics were all well represented, vampires,ghosts,werewolves, fae,wizards and dragons all on the roll call.
I chose to play a werewolf. Scott gave us blank character sheets and some previously prepared "Aspects" (descriptions of the character that can be directly applied to the setting) and "Stunts" (special things we can do) to choose from. We also prioritized our "Approaches" (how we do things), such as "Quick","Careful" etc.
I haven't used Aspects before and it made a lot of sense to me in play. In some ways I found it reminiscent of "Unknown Armies" with its list of Passions. I liked having a "High Concept", a nice one-liner summing up who and what the character is in the game. Most of all, I liked have a "Trouble" Aspect. By choosing to use this Aspect in the game, you can be rewarded with a "FATE point", which you can then use later in the game to reroll dice, add +2 to a result or to add a detail to the game. I think this is probably the part that I enjoyed the most in that it encourages the players to make the story more interesting by making dangerous or difficult choices rather than focusing purely on winning.
The game flowed really well. I won't give details of the session itself as I know Scott runs this at conventions too. It had a strong gothic feel and I could see how a "Sleepy Hollow" game would work well with this. The characters were also very distinct archetypes, something else that I personally enjoy in games,especially as a player.
So having played this demo, I feel I've had a good taste of FAE. It's remarkably easy to play.I'd like to try it's more complex brother, "Fate Core", and some of the established settings too. If you haven't tried this and fancy a light, fast-paced game I strongly recommend giving it a look.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Cthulhu - From "Call of" to "Trail of"
I'm two sessions into my "Bookhounds of London" campaign using the "Trail of Cthulhu" system. Prior to that I'd been running games for almost two years using "Call of Cthulhu",so I've been reflecting on the differences between the two games and ideas for the future.
First of all, I never stayed close to the actual game system when I ran "Call of Cthulhu" or "Delta Green". There were very few rolls of the dice, typically only for combat moves or sanity checks. If the college professor in the group had a solid background in history (40% or more) I wouldn't ask for a roll. "Trail of Cthulhu",as a system, is a perfect fit in that regard. No skill rolls are required if you have a particular knowledge, the rolls are for general abilities like fleeing or scuffling.
Secondly,I am more forgiving than most Cthulhu GMs in terms of survival rates. You don't see "Total Party Kills" in my games, and while a good portion of the group won't survive the whole campaign, they will typically make it to the last session. "Trail of Cthulhu" again is a better fit, the group don't feel the burn of injuries and sanity loss until much deeper into the game.
Speaking of sanity, the slow burn rate also means that I've yet to see the in-game effects of mental instability in "Trail" unlike "Call", so I can't really compare the two at this stage. I do think that this makes "Trail" a good choice for an epic campaign like "Masks of Nyarlathotep", where party casualties are commonplace and can make it harder to keep ongoing threads.
"Masks" is on my list of things to run next year, adapted to "Trail of Cthulhu". I'm also thinking of running adaptations of some of the "Call of Cthulhu" scenarios that I've ran over the years. Some have already been done and can be found on the Pelgrane Press website. I haven't seen one for "The Condemned" or "The Sanatorium", both strong contenders for reruns, but I do have adaptations of "Tell Me,Have You Seen The Yellow Sign?", "The Cracked and Crooked Manse","Malice Everlasting" and "Edge of Darkness". All of those games have stayed in my mind and in different ways influenced the games I ran afterwards. I may weave them into "Masks" or have them stitched together as their own mini-campaign. It very much depends on who plays..I don't want the same players to have played these before, so "Malice" and "Yellow Sign" would be the best ones to do.
Has anyone else tried both systems or conversions from one to the other? Let me know!
First of all, I never stayed close to the actual game system when I ran "Call of Cthulhu" or "Delta Green". There were very few rolls of the dice, typically only for combat moves or sanity checks. If the college professor in the group had a solid background in history (40% or more) I wouldn't ask for a roll. "Trail of Cthulhu",as a system, is a perfect fit in that regard. No skill rolls are required if you have a particular knowledge, the rolls are for general abilities like fleeing or scuffling.
Secondly,I am more forgiving than most Cthulhu GMs in terms of survival rates. You don't see "Total Party Kills" in my games, and while a good portion of the group won't survive the whole campaign, they will typically make it to the last session. "Trail of Cthulhu" again is a better fit, the group don't feel the burn of injuries and sanity loss until much deeper into the game.
Speaking of sanity, the slow burn rate also means that I've yet to see the in-game effects of mental instability in "Trail" unlike "Call", so I can't really compare the two at this stage. I do think that this makes "Trail" a good choice for an epic campaign like "Masks of Nyarlathotep", where party casualties are commonplace and can make it harder to keep ongoing threads.
"Masks" is on my list of things to run next year, adapted to "Trail of Cthulhu". I'm also thinking of running adaptations of some of the "Call of Cthulhu" scenarios that I've ran over the years. Some have already been done and can be found on the Pelgrane Press website. I haven't seen one for "The Condemned" or "The Sanatorium", both strong contenders for reruns, but I do have adaptations of "Tell Me,Have You Seen The Yellow Sign?", "The Cracked and Crooked Manse","Malice Everlasting" and "Edge of Darkness". All of those games have stayed in my mind and in different ways influenced the games I ran afterwards. I may weave them into "Masks" or have them stitched together as their own mini-campaign. It very much depends on who plays..I don't want the same players to have played these before, so "Malice" and "Yellow Sign" would be the best ones to do.
Has anyone else tried both systems or conversions from one to the other? Let me know!
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!
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Nephilim RPG
"Nephilim" is a French roleplaying game that was adapted by Chaosium back in the early 1990s. Since then there have been more versions in French, with the Chaosium version ending after a few supplements were published.
For me, it's one of the ones "that got away". It's billed as an "occult roleplaying game", the players take on the roles of the Nephilim, magical beings who incarnate periodically through human bodies. There is a deep backstory and complex system, based on BRP. It's a field day for anyone interested in the occult, conspiracy theories or secret societies, with the enemies represented by the Knights Templar, Rosicrucians, the Thule Society and the dark Nephilim, the Selenim.
I think this game came along at the wrong time, and also suffered from a clear lack of focus. It has so many fantastic ideas and yet there isn't a clear sense of what should be done with the game. The Nephilim themselves are described vaguely, and the magic system is complex, though true to real-world occult concepts.
One of my favorite parts of the game is the past-life incarnations that are done in character generation. A Nephilim could have been a god in ancient Egypt, or a monk in medieval France. Your occupation, life and even how you died are all chosen or calculated. You accumulate skills and magical knowledge across each of these lives with the personal goal of reaching Agartha, transcendence. Add to that the symbolism of classic elements and the Tarot, and you have something unique.
Some of the supplements had great material though also made the system more confusing in some ways, and it's sad this wasn't revised and integrated into a new edition. I believe that some of the newer French editions are a lot more playable.
I'm now thinking of trying a hack of this game using Vincent Bakers "Apocalypse World" system, which would be a very personal project. I've never designed a game and this is the one that I always wanted to improve because I think it has so much potential. Look for that to surface next year!
For me, it's one of the ones "that got away". It's billed as an "occult roleplaying game", the players take on the roles of the Nephilim, magical beings who incarnate periodically through human bodies. There is a deep backstory and complex system, based on BRP. It's a field day for anyone interested in the occult, conspiracy theories or secret societies, with the enemies represented by the Knights Templar, Rosicrucians, the Thule Society and the dark Nephilim, the Selenim.
I think this game came along at the wrong time, and also suffered from a clear lack of focus. It has so many fantastic ideas and yet there isn't a clear sense of what should be done with the game. The Nephilim themselves are described vaguely, and the magic system is complex, though true to real-world occult concepts.
One of my favorite parts of the game is the past-life incarnations that are done in character generation. A Nephilim could have been a god in ancient Egypt, or a monk in medieval France. Your occupation, life and even how you died are all chosen or calculated. You accumulate skills and magical knowledge across each of these lives with the personal goal of reaching Agartha, transcendence. Add to that the symbolism of classic elements and the Tarot, and you have something unique.
Some of the supplements had great material though also made the system more confusing in some ways, and it's sad this wasn't revised and integrated into a new edition. I believe that some of the newer French editions are a lot more playable.
I'm now thinking of trying a hack of this game using Vincent Bakers "Apocalypse World" system, which would be a very personal project. I've never designed a game and this is the one that I always wanted to improve because I think it has so much potential. Look for that to surface next year!
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!
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