tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31888339495555152512024-03-13T13:50:54.148-04:00Rule of the DiceHomebrewed Gaming Goodness...John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05940190831705865182noreply@blogger.comBlogger157125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-42765204638585531442017-11-01T15:59:00.001-04:002021-07-14T17:10:37.145-04:0010 More Zombie Survival Intro Scenarios<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe14AyrfOXUFGcOATcaCoMSgLXmsonf6w7dG0CmSvDuohRmdq295-9pPCaydAJZjRZ3BLJHFp505Qph6uAfHISDqbAKMGmVmIjVd7YJrYYUyIQcvRp7eT1-def7CdF5EKDPNjSDLbivlpP/s1600/Funny-Zombie-48.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe14AyrfOXUFGcOATcaCoMSgLXmsonf6w7dG0CmSvDuohRmdq295-9pPCaydAJZjRZ3BLJHFp505Qph6uAfHISDqbAKMGmVmIjVd7YJrYYUyIQcvRp7eT1-def7CdF5EKDPNjSDLbivlpP/s320/Funny-Zombie-48.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Last year I shared a <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/10-zombie-survival-intro-scenarios.html">list of 10 Random Zombie Survival Intro Scenarios</a> based on my <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/dcc-funnel-walking-dead-style.html">ad-hoc zombie survival/horror game</a> (which is kinda like a DCC Funnel but set in the modern world, and with zombies). It was actually one of the most popular posts I ever wrote on this site (people still <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/05/the-walking-dead-role-playing-game.html">really seem to like zombies</a>, go figure) so I thought it was time for a sequel.<br />
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Last time the set-ups were pretty standard fare. Scenarios you've seen in many zombie movies, games and books. A rag-tag bunch of strangers, thrown together in an every day situation (a crashed bus, locked in a mall, hiding in a cabin in the woods) and they must survive the overwhelming onslaught of the undead. Death is rampant and expected (each player begins with four 0-level characters), and only the best (or more likely luckiest) will survive.<br />
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This time a few of the scenarios are quite a bit weirder and may take some more prep work. If you don't want them, don't pick them, or if you roll them randomly, then just roll again. The idea of this is to give you a quick, easy and fun jump start-start into a zombie survival game. If it<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/02/2-simple-rules-for-being-teenage-game.html">'s not fun, don't do it</a>.<br />
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<b><i><u><span style="font-size: large;">10 More Random Zombie Survival Intro Scenarios</span></u></i></b><br />
Once again, feel free to steal these for other games/purposes. I probably just stole them from someone else anyway.<br />
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<b>11. Comic Con... of Death!</b><br />
Ever want to shoot Sailor Moon in the face? What happens when you're trapped in a Game of Thrones panel in Hall H when the zompocalypse strikes? This works for any large convention such as San Diego, New York or Wizard World Chicago. This one's not about long term planning but just surviving the immediate danger of getting out of the hotel or convention centre when 100,000+ plus nerds start trying to eat each other's flesh. Also, it provides the added opportunity of fighting all your favourite pop culture characters in the form of zombie cosplayers.<br />
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<b>12. Asylum of the Damned</b><br />
I'm talking a creepy, old-fashioned asylum for the criminally insane like Shutter Island or Arkham. When a supposedly "insane" new patient starts biting and infecting everyone else, the staff flee, leaving the characters (who may be staff, visitors or inmates themselves) to deal with an ever-expanding zombie horde as well as wandering lunatics and pyschopaths. For bonus horror points, set the facility on an island, and the cowardly doctors took the only boat.<br />
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<b>13. Spring Break... of Death!</b>Many countries around the world have a history of debauched partying for young people on their break from studying. Thousands of people, descending on beaches or nightclubs, pressed shoulder to shoulder with no room to breathe, booze flowing like water and music pounding in your ears. Now imagine that the zombie apocalypse breaks out in the middle of that scene and you have to fight your way out to survive.<br />
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For extra fun, set it during the early 80s in Fort Lauderdale before Floria raised the minimum drinking age to 21, when <i>250,000 to 350,000 thousand</i> kids would descend upon the city each year.<br />
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<b>14. Stupid Long Bridge... of Death!</b><br />
There are some insanely long bridges in the world. In the United States you have stuff like the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (24km) in Maryland, the Seven Mile Bridge in Florida or the <i>38-kilometer long</i> Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana. The party starts stuck in the middle of one of these bridges with traffic blocked on all sides. The only way out is to get out of their vehicle(s) and hoof it on foot (or jump in the water and risk swimming miles to land). Supplies would be plentiful if anyone wanted to risk going into zombie-infested cars to get them.<br />
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<b>15. You Are the Bad Guys</b><br />
Contrary to pretty much every other option, in this scenario the players start off well-stocked and equipped. It is several weeks into the outbreak and the players are members of a small community with lots of weapons, food, and a defensible location. They've built fences and barricades around a small collection of houses (and probably a field for growing food) and while zombies are a regular threat, they are usually easy to deal with.<br />
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The bigger problem arises when word gets out to other survivors of the players' hideout and suddenly desperate people are pounding on the gates asking for help. At first it's just a few, but the groups get larger until literal busloads start showing up at the door. The players don't have enough food and supplies for everyone, but who do they help and who do they turn away? Not to mention the larger groups will attract more zombies, and the more people involved the more likely something will go wrong (infected gets in the walls, someone leaves a gate open, etc). Do they players try to find a bigger, better location for everyone? Do they pick and choose who to save (and deal with the consequences)? Do they abandon the rest and try to make it on their own?<br />
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<b>16. Zoo... of Death!</b><br />
What if the zombie infection doesn't just affect humans? What if animals can catch it, too? More importantly, what happens when you're trapped in a zoo with zombie lions, tigers and meerkats? Zombie humans are optional, but I would imagine they're around. We're not letting you get out that easy.<br />
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<b>17. Das Zombie Boot</b><br />
During the height of the outbreak, a small number of naval sailors abandon their post and escape to sea on a submarine. They take a number of civilians, perhaps their family, perhaps as hostages, perhaps just random people they tried to help escape. Either way, the players are among the group when it's discovered - too late - that infected individuals are among the survivors. The zombies spread quickly in the enclosed space, and the submarine's pilots are among the first causulaties. Firearms are probably plentiful but incredibly dangerous to use in the enclosed sub. The players must somehow deal with the zombies and figure out how to get back to the surface, where even more danger potentially awaits...<br />
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<b>18. Death Mountain</b><br />
Once a challenging, nearly impossible feat of human endurance, Mount Everest is now summited by hundreds of people a year. Thousands flock to the famous mountain every season both to scale it and to provide support and services for those attempting the climb. Despite being big business, the ascent is still very dangerous... made even more dangerous by a zombie outbreak among the climbers. Perhaps the players are fleeing from the infestation in lower lands, or perhaps the apocalypse starts right on their very slopes - either way, the only thing that matters is surviving one of the most inhospitable environments on earth and getting back down the mountain while simultanously battling the shambling monsters coming up at them.<br />
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(Do zombies have the coordination to keep climbing up the mountain? You may have to take some liberties on this one)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-muYsRrBP7H-mqs5to971bN-xb40i6OKU4mTPYrEhOIjd0jyWcTLia81rYuRjQfAp6tPN7tUyacPGnGIJXQYqpzCZAER9zkRI3DHaggXSCeCNHJoJ1sPD9sO6TiMeFFcp9zQIKxz-2YD/s1600/zombie_nazi_by_borjapindado-d6ela1h.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-muYsRrBP7H-mqs5to971bN-xb40i6OKU4mTPYrEhOIjd0jyWcTLia81rYuRjQfAp6tPN7tUyacPGnGIJXQYqpzCZAER9zkRI3DHaggXSCeCNHJoJ1sPD9sO6TiMeFFcp9zQIKxz-2YD/s320/zombie_nazi_by_borjapindado-d6ela1h.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art by <a href="http://borjapindado.deviantart.com/art/Zombie-nazi-387304469">BorjaPindado</a></td></tr>
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<b>19. Slaughterhouse-Five / Zombie Nazis!</b><br />
Dresden Germany, February 1945<br />
One of the last major Nazi strongholds is infected with a zombie outbreak. The city is overrun, and though the military presence is strong they don't know how to deal with the crisis and they have no back-up from outside. The players could be civilians, soldiers or Allied spies/POW's (though let's be honest, the true allure of this setup is the opportunity to kill Nazi zombies).<br />
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The kicker in this scenario of course, is that one or two days into the outbreak, Britain and the US will launch the most devastating bombing assault in history (outside of the atomic bombs in Japan) on the city. Over a three day period (Feb 13-15) Allied bombers will drop thousands of tons of high-explosives on the city, killing tens of thousands of people. Can the players survive a zombie horde as well as the bombs?<br />
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(If you don't like the WWII setting you can use this same scenario in a modern city where the military bombs the place to try and clear out the outbreak, but then you don't get the Nazi zombies.)<br />
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<b>20. Castle of the Dead</b><br />
This one's a bit different, and may not be everyone's cup of tea. But if you REALLY want a random intro scenario, surprise your players by starting them in a medieval European village during the dark ages. Sure, you'll need to tweak the characters a little (but since the rules I use are based on D&D/DCC, it's really not much of a stretch) but it will certainly put the players in a precarious situation. <br />
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People in the middle ages are used to plagues, but what happens when those who die start coming back to life? How does anyone survive against the zombie hordes in a world without magic or modern weapons? Surely they will try to flee to the local castle, but inevitably an infected person is going to get in, and now they're trapped INSIDE with the zombies. Either way, it will be a change of pace if you've played a few of the other scenarios on this list.<br />
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So whaddya think? Did I miss any big ones? Remember, <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/10-zombie-survival-intro-scenarios.html">Scenarios 1-10 are here</a>.<br />
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<i>C.D. Gallant-King <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Thousand-Days-C-D-Gallant-King/dp/1512305170">wrote a book</a>. It doesn't have zombies in it, but it does have flesh-eating Time monsters. It's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Thousand-Days-C-D-Gallant-King/dp/1512305170">available now from Amazon.com</a>. You can also catch him on his other blog, <a href="http://www.cdgallantking.ca/">Stories I Found in the Closet</a>, on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cdgallantking">Facebook</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/cdgallantking">Twitter</a>. </i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-78477392252890509402016-08-23T10:29:00.000-04:002016-09-01T11:21:56.365-04:00Casting the D&D TV Show, Season 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's that time again!<br />
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No, it's not time for me to clean my gutters (it certainly needs to be done, but I don't see myself ever getting around to doing it). It's time for me to fantasy cast that every-elusive TV show that should have happened years ago, Dungeons & Dragons!<br />
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<a href="http://deadline.com/2016/06/ansel-elgort-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-1201778139/">A new Dungeons & Dragons movie</a> is actually currently in the works, set to start filming next year and supposedly starring Ansel Egort (I'm not sure if that's the actor's name or his D&D character), but until this damn thing actually happens I'm going to keep making up my own show in my head. Hell, I'll probably keep doing it even after the movie comes out, because I assume it will be better than whatever Hollywood spews out anyway.<br />
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To get you up to speed:<br />
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<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/06/casting-dungeons-dragons-tv-show.html">In Season One</a>, a Badass Crew of adventurers team up under the leadership of Sir Brador (Jonathan Banks) to bring down a rebellion led by Ezbar (John Leguizamo). The crew is hired by the weird and creepy Baron of Gutslinger (Steve Buscemi), who actually turns out to be a sadistic madman and so the crew turn on him, and Brador's protege Tasty Sugarbush (Emily Blunt) ends up cutting down the Baron.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2015/07/casting-dungeons-dragons-tv-show-season.html">In Season Two</a>, the crew have now become outlaws and are on the run from the True King after killing the Baron. The party wizard Thromboné (Christopher Lambert) betrays the group and murders Sir Brador. Tasty takes over leadership and begrudgingly sides the Rebel King Ezbar, which causes Bainthaureth the elf (Noomi Rapace) to leave the group. The dwarf Hamhock (Jordan Prentice) sacrifices himself to kill the vile Last Fitzbibbons (Colt Cabana). The party is broken, and in the end are defeated by the King's forces, led by a fearful new Dark Lord played by Vin Diesel. The villain kills Ezbar and the rebellion is put down, and Tasty is captured.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">RETURNING MAIN CAST</span></b></div>
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<b>Emily Blunt as Tasty Sugarbush</b><br />
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Tasty was thrust into the role of Heroine and leader last season with Brador's death, though she ultimately failed to hold the party together.<br />
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She starts the season imprisoned by the King of All He Sees, awaiting trial and likely execution. She escapes on her own accord, encountering former party member Sylverius on the outside. Sylverius claims he was coming to rescue her, but she finds his claims dubious since he was nowhere to be seen when their group was defeated by the Dark Lord's forces.<br />
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She goes on a quest to stop the King from unleashing untold darkness upon the world, gathering a new group of warriors around her. But unlike last season, when she tried to take care of her allies and build a cohesive unit, she only concerns herself with the goal, and the only comrades worthy in her eyes are those that can keep up. She trusts no one and asks for no trust in return.<br />
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<b>Taye Diggs as Sylverius</b><br />
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Sylverius and Tasty have a long and storied history, and he may or may or may not be manipulating her for dark purposes. It was thanks to him that she threw in with the Rebel King and was arrested last season, and she believes his unsuccessful attempts to save her are part of his scheme.<br />
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Much of the season is spent asking the question of whether Sylverius is actually in league with the dark forces that are threatening the world, if he has some personal vendetta of his own against Tasty, or if it truly is all a misunderstanding.<br />
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<b>Christopher Lambert as Thromboné the Wizard</b><br />
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Though The Dark Lord is technically the villain of this season, Thromboné is the one Tasty is seeking personal revenge against for betraying and murdering her mentor/lover. The evil, remorseless wizard may get his just deserts in the final moments of the season, but not before he is responsible for the death of at least one more hero first...<br />
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Thromboné is the monumental asshole you love to hate and want to punch in the face, but the protagonists always seem to find themselves one step behind him.<br />
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<b>Vin Diesel as The Dark Lord</b><br />
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The Dark Lord is back to chew scenery and have some bad-ass fights, as well as make the heroes' lives miserable. He is on a mission, given to him by some otherworldly, demonic power (after he slays the master's first harbinger), to clear the path for said demon's invasion. The Rebel King has already fallen and the "One True King" doesn't last long this season, so the only ones left standing in the way are Tasty and her band.<br />
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<b>Naomi Harris as Dame Lorelai Heartrender</b><br />
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The noble paladin is still hunting The Dark Lord to get revenge for killing her family, but she also recognizes that Tasty's cause is just and seeks to help her on her quest. She is the only Beacon of Light in the group alongside the moody Tasty and Bainthaureth, providing stark contrast and possibly even comic relief to an otherwise bleak situation.<br />
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Her path will lead her directly to an epic confrontation with The Dark Lord in the final moments of the season...<br />
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<b>Noomi Rapace as Bainthaureth the Elf</b><br />
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Bainthaureth was an important member of the Badass Crew in season 1, the deadly elf warrior/mage who looked down on everyone as her inferior but had the skills to back it up. She left the group when they sided with the Rebel King in season 2, but returns to Tasty's side after Ezbar is destroyed. She grudgingly respects Tasty for her prowess in battle and begins to feel similarly for Lorelai after she discovers that the paladin is also a force to be reckoned with, though she is still comically distasteful of everyone else they come across.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW2ILI2qkv3k5Loq1j5kO5NZOqAgvLisJaUSkW-HRXbPP-ssYYQe_rhaPjqBOpQoPnmYEBdyaChyphenhyphenol4AIwizwe6rZEV90pOC7YR49EdBzsGbd-JMUZilRrXIEDp9N6-pBVCRpnqFW3jGqN/s1600/feore_lear_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW2ILI2qkv3k5Loq1j5kO5NZOqAgvLisJaUSkW-HRXbPP-ssYYQe_rhaPjqBOpQoPnmYEBdyaChyphenhyphenol4AIwizwe6rZEV90pOC7YR49EdBzsGbd-JMUZilRrXIEDp9N6-pBVCRpnqFW3jGqN/s200/feore_lear_web.jpg" width="200" /></a><b>Colm Feore as Mystic Martin Mithrandir</b><br />
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Martin didn't provide much use last season as the bumbling mage, providing far more "bumbling" than "magic." But when our heroes run afoul of a pair of mighty dragons, their only hope may lie in the crazy old man who, it turns out, may have a weird sexual fetish for giant winged lizards...<br />
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<b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">SEASON TWO GUEST STARS</span></b></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvR5usIn-UDYm3ySmgknISTFXecvjrEJdRlKfMnmrvS8gB7r1XfGI-YSNFhqeiJUCGSR-sGBNahDLJTfwmNWtFOABr2JJ36RxPmdIRt_ZWJPEDuCzckzgpRMYboS8PqkVA5B5IeB2J_-7/s1600/omega.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvR5usIn-UDYm3ySmgknISTFXecvjrEJdRlKfMnmrvS8gB7r1XfGI-YSNFhqeiJUCGSR-sGBNahDLJTfwmNWtFOABr2JJ36RxPmdIRt_ZWJPEDuCzckzgpRMYboS8PqkVA5B5IeB2J_-7/s1600/omega.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvR5usIn-UDYm3ySmgknISTFXecvjrEJdRlKfMnmrvS8gB7r1XfGI-YSNFhqeiJUCGSR-sGBNahDLJTfwmNWtFOABr2JJ36RxPmdIRt_ZWJPEDuCzckzgpRMYboS8PqkVA5B5IeB2J_-7/s1600/omega.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><br />
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<b>Deep Roy as the Dwarf King</b></div>
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With the war raging among the human kingdoms, it was only a matter of time before dwarves were dragged into the conflict. The King Under the Mountain is <i>pissed</i> at having to deal with the mess the human kings and Dark Lords have created, and fights indiscriminately against anyone who crosses into his lands. He claims that he's seen plenty of demons invade the world before and he's not afraid of one more, though the heroes try to convince him that maybe this time will be big one.<br />
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Kenny Omega as Lord Charming</b><br />
<b><br /></b>It came out at the end of last season that Charming was plotting to overthrow the Dark Lord to curry favour with demonic forces from another world. The Big Bad does not take this kindly and so does away with Lord Charming early in season 3, leaving behind a band of pissed-off, leaderless cultists looking to get revenge.<br />
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<b>Christopher Eccleston as Sir Richard William</b><br />
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The leader of a small group of knights, warriors and soldiers who still fight on despite being hopelessly outnumbered by The Dark Lord's forces. He is a grim realist, who knows the battle is lost and that our heroes' quest in futile, but his stubborn nature won't let him quit. He fights valiantly alongside the crew but will probably meet his untimely end after a couple of episodes.<br />
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<b>Jewel Staite as Mistress Brumhilde</b><br />
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Once the most powerful businesswoman in the Realm, the Mistresss has fallen on hard times thanks to the Dark Lord's reign. She has thrown in with Sir Richard, and with nothing left to lose we may finally see her show her bad-ass side this season.<br />
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<b>Jessica Walter as the voice of Trogdorlina the Dragon</b><br />
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The dragon Trogdorlina survived her encounter with the party last season, after they slew her mate in Season One. She is more cautious than Trogdor, and so had taken her time to plot a new a scheme to wipe out Tasty and her cronies once and for all. The first step in her plan? Bring in back-up...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9CULgVuTfcTx0tK5kWV_mBGxfmIzXDA3sJnL026Au3SAFWOPNn2iNuwRMcK834u5Bxqs0LhdkDsy5RpB_kjCM2BM8nNQlOPS-WapEwnD656AHks9Ciwdwya_aWZx4P9tq7frNn9So_Szc/s1600/JeffreyTamborSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9CULgVuTfcTx0tK5kWV_mBGxfmIzXDA3sJnL026Au3SAFWOPNn2iNuwRMcK834u5Bxqs0LhdkDsy5RpB_kjCM2BM8nNQlOPS-WapEwnD656AHks9Ciwdwya_aWZx4P9tq7frNn9So_Szc/s200/JeffreyTamborSmall.jpg" width="200" /></a><b>Jeffrey Tambor as the voice of Trogdogado the Dragon</b><br />
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Trogdorlina has a new lover, and he's stronger and more dangerous than either Trogdor or Trogdorlina herself. He is also well-versed in magic, and was actually one of Mysic Martin's original teachers. The only problem? Trogdogado is too lazy to get out of his own way, and will need major motivation to get up and starting razing and pillaging again. Maybe crossing paths with his old apprentice will wake the beast's ire...<br />
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<b>Jonathan Davis as Satan</b><br />
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Decked out in a ton of prosthetics, the Korn frontman shows up late in the season as the demonic power behind The Dark Lord's schemes.<br />
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The Dark Lord is understandably disappointed that THIS is the result of all his hard work, but is later relieved to discover that "Satan" is one of the demon's minions sent to test the faith of his followers.<br />
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"Satan" is killed and the Dark Lord passes the test.<br />
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<b>Billie Piper as The Fairy Queen</b><br />
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The Fairy Queen proves to be a foe for the heroes during some early episodes as her people are completely unconcerned by the machinations of the demonic dark forces, and mess with the crew just for the hell of it. Bainthaureth eventually convinces the Queen to join their cause, but not before the two have a kick-ass duel.<br />
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<b>Chevy Chase as The King</b><br />
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In a shocking but happy moment, the asshole King of All He Sees is murdered by The Dark Lord in the first episode.<br />
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No one tells Chevy Chase about it until the day of shooting.<br />
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So that's my <i>dramatis personae</i> for Season 2. (<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/06/casting-dungeons-dragons-tv-show.html">Don't forget, Season 1 is right here</a> and <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2015/07/casting-dungeons-dragons-tv-show-season.html">Season 2 is here</a>) Who would you cast in a D&D TV show?<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">You can also catch C.D. Gallant-King on his other blog, <a href="http://www.cdgallantking.ca/">Stories I Found in the Closet</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/cdgallantking">Twitter</a>. Oh, and hey, he writes books, too! <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Comes-Hogtown-C-D-Gallant-King/dp/1534707530">Hell Comes to Hogtown</a> is now available from Amazon.com. It's the story of a comic book nerd and a pro-wrestler trying to clear their names in a kidnapping while evading a demonic hobo. Yes, it's supposed to be funny.</span></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-41886441674008401922016-04-27T08:00:00.000-04:002016-04-27T08:00:11.158-04:00Home Brew Black Ocean RPG<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6bcFgszQU94/Vx-xLOx1zCI/AAAAAAAAAY8/BH9zqrNdo5kShQBCcifHTknM_IxlL5mCQCK4B/s1600/2940152817164_p0_v1_s118x184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6bcFgszQU94/Vx-xLOx1zCI/AAAAAAAAAY8/BH9zqrNdo5kShQBCcifHTknM_IxlL5mCQCK4B/s400/2940152817164_p0_v1_s118x184.jpg" /></a>About 6 months ago I read through all of JS Morin's Black Ocean series. These are short novellas, episodic in nature and feel a lot like the TV show Firefly where a crew of a ship gets up to silly hi-jinx while always looking for the next job, the next score, or the next get rich quick scheme.<br />
The whole time I was reading the series, I felt like there was potential for a RPG to be based on this setting. It has all the essentials - an easy to sum up background, potential for fun quirky characters, and a familiar enough feel to get the uninitiated in to it. Keep this last point in mind while I tell this next part...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--Znj1n1TlSc/Vx-wqrIO0jI/AAAAAAAAAY0/CSq9JoP3eJcj8xkPOP03mQr7dNQlIigswCLcB/s1600/world_time2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--Znj1n1TlSc/Vx-wqrIO0jI/AAAAAAAAAY0/CSq9JoP3eJcj8xkPOP03mQr7dNQlIigswCLcB/s320/world_time2.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep, this gets complicated....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A group of 6 or 7 of us have been playing a D6 Star Wars adventure fairly regularly for the past 4 months or so - typically meeting on Skype twice a month. While not everyone can make it every time, we've managed to keep a fun adventure going with different characters popping in and out as available. to be fair we're pretty spread out, one player in Newfoundland Canada, a bunch of us in Ontario, one in Alberta, and the last in Japan. Time-zone coordination is a skill we keep adding ranks to. Last week was supposed to be our next session, 8pm Friday night. By about noon on Thursday it became apparent that not enough of us would be available to make it worth continuing the story, so the 3 of us that could make it talked about what we should do. I volunteered to run a game. So, with about 30 hours to prepare, 19 of them spent at work and 7 sleeping, I did what I could. <br />
<br />
While I had thought about a Black Ocean game, I hadn't gone past the very basic framework of an adventure. I hadn't thought about the game system, or any of the details. Once my 2 PC's picked character types, I made up some stats for each and sent them to the players to customize. <br />
<br />
It's hard to sum up an universe created over 8 books in to a 2 paragraph email, but that's what I did. Surprisingly, my players stayed mostly within the framework of the universe and the archetypes of their characters. The impressive part of this is that neither of them had read any of the source material, I was the only one to have read any of it.<br />
<br />
Being familiar with the D6 Star Wars game we had been playing, I based my system very loosely on this. <br />
I picked skills relevant to each player type and gave them starting values. To try to keep the game from getting too crunchy on the numbers, outside of the named skills, everything else starts as 1d6. So if a player wants to try something, just roll a die and see what happens. The skills that seemed most essential to that character started at 2d6.<br />
<br />
Challenges are broken down in to difficulties. To do something easy, roll a 3 or better. So for those "everything else" rolls, players have a 50% chance of success. If it's a skill they possess, they'll succeed 97% of the time. These are the types of tasks that the average person can do most of the time untrained, and that people who are trained to do them do many many times in a day. An example would be the pilot character coming in for a landing in good weather.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WsmGPKAAgHw/Vx-xYVyj1yI/AAAAAAAAAZI/UEZ0KV1ry2U5EEw76b5Q-5-xciXIn-5bQCK4B/s1600/2-dice-charts.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WsmGPKAAgHw/Vx-xYVyj1yI/AAAAAAAAAZI/UEZ0KV1ry2U5EEw76b5Q-5-xciXIn-5bQCK4B/s400/2-dice-charts.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Numbers are fun!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To do a more difficult task, a 6 or better is needed. At 2d6 players will still succeed 72% of the time, but there is a small but significant chance of failure. Like the pilot landing in some fog with a cross-wind.<br />
Next step up needs a 9 or better to succeed. At this point only 28% of 2d6 rolls will make it. Landing the ship in bad weather while running on auxiliary power only.<br />
Difficulties continue to increase by 3 as things get harder and harder. At 12, less than 3% of unmodified 2d6 rolls will make it. - landing in bad weather with aux power only and 6 ships shooting at you.<br />
A failure on a roll doesn't mean the end though. It just means there are some consequences to the action - in the landing example, maybe the ship is damaged and needs repair before it can fly again. While you need a bit of danger to keep things tense enough, I wanted the players to be willing to try goofy stuff and experiment with the world knowing they wouldn't die at the first bad roll.<br />
<br />
Things went well with some fun role-plays from my players, some of which I'll try to get to another post about soon, as well as some of the background I gave them. I'm looking forward to our next Star Wars session, but I also hope we get to return to the Black Ocean some time soon.<br />
<br />
Questions about the game? Let me know in the comments.<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-9608340669329437402016-04-25T15:12:00.000-04:002016-04-25T15:12:22.989-04:00Roleplaying Blind<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga4dHJCT16YusUtvm8Fj43TdXtcDAP5BVMzhtS9EQfOisznqgLFvtUP69NOhDLvl26lA9RP8JAH5dF8J8IgHLD2pWvhiNuPw01MyddNUqFQEd3uI8-Ge4FNKDVD5VCj8AXAhn5fHFqHPpx/s1600/Poets%252Band%252BPiracy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga4dHJCT16YusUtvm8Fj43TdXtcDAP5BVMzhtS9EQfOisznqgLFvtUP69NOhDLvl26lA9RP8JAH5dF8J8IgHLD2pWvhiNuPw01MyddNUqFQEd3uI8-Ge4FNKDVD5VCj8AXAhn5fHFqHPpx/s1600/Poets%252Band%252BPiracy.jpg" /></a><br />
<i>To clarify, this post has nothing to do about playing a visually-impaired character, or playing a game whilst being visually-impaired yourself. In retrospect, it was probably a terrible idea for a title.</i><br />
<br />
Sometimes it's nice to have no idea what you're doing.<br />
<br />
On Friday I went into a game with a nearly complete blank slate. As I've said in the past, it's <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/09/four-reasons-playing-rpgs-is-better.html">very unusual for me to play</a> in a game (instead of game mastering), so when a number of my regulars couldn't make it to our <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2016/02/revisiting-star-wars-greatest-rpg-of.html"><i>Star Wars</i> campaign</a>, I quite happily agreed to let one of the players run a game of his own. It meant a change of pace for everyone and a bit of a break for me.<br />
<br />
The game was a homebrew D6-hack based on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Salvage-Trouble-Mission-Black-Ocean-ebook/dp/B00OWR6IFS">JS Morin's "<i>Black Ocean</i>" series of novel</a>s. I didn't know the system (it was the GM's own invention and his first time running it) and I've never read the books, so I had absolutely no knowledge of the setting. I had made my own character with the scant information he was able to give us just before the game, but I had no idea what most of my skills or abilities did. I was going in completely blind and flying by the seat of my pants, and I loved it.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu9LOuNHEcs0SPv79cDbf57CqCXEWVgWTgf05CfvPZZi3rH3Cerf5TbCW48f-WPQsw-7w1nuhanhgGoAZ0bHEtsy1AtpsbdpeoZTxONuUBu5-IqUTKYNQfEPKxHTNEL8oDcnNiiypKCS-p/s1600/25992468.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu9LOuNHEcs0SPv79cDbf57CqCXEWVgWTgf05CfvPZZi3rH3Cerf5TbCW48f-WPQsw-7w1nuhanhgGoAZ0bHEtsy1AtpsbdpeoZTxONuUBu5-IqUTKYNQfEPKxHTNEL8oDcnNiiypKCS-p/s320/25992468.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>It helps that this series can best be described as</i> "Firefly<i>" with crazy space wizards.<br />Or at least that's how </i>I<i> was playing it.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Usually (like, 99% of the time) I'm the GM, so I've always got to do some amount of prep-work before the game. Sometimes, with games like <i><a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2016/03/playing-rpgs-with-4-year-old-is-exactly.html">Dungeon World</a></i> or <i><a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/12/how-to-run-long-term-zombie-apocalypse.html">Made to Suffer</a></i> it's minimal, but other times it takes hours and hours to get ready. My <i>Star Wars</i> game has been like that lately, with me creating tons of background info that will probably never see the light of day. <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/11/why-i-love-nu-skool-d.html">Fourth Edition D&D</a> used to take me days to prepare for a single night of a couple of encounters. So for me, to go in with no prior knowledge or time to prepare was a total thrill.<br />
<br />
Maybe a lot of players actually play like this. I've certainly run into plenty of folks who lose their character sheets between every session and have never read a rule book in their lives. But for me, I like to know what's going on. I prefer to play in settings that I'm familiar with for that reason, but even if I don't know the background, I still spend as much time as possible going over the rules and the system beforehand. How crunchy is it? How lethal? How does it reward roleplaying? What kind of cool and unique mechanics does it have? This time I had none of that. I was playing a gravity- and reality-manipulating space wizard with a "General Wizarding" ability listed on my character sheet, and I just wanted to see how much mileage I could get out of that.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7yuEHJ15nLygXJsVDxK7l6Zhyphenhyphen6_dCqltn5MwbcSv2Cu7H6AR0QxKCM7QcWgUCzypwI4zBSvu-Ady8kCpzLRdesEOiFHTpzudfFP2btEVNiXhudt35zc_wTbydFcMvZr0XYasEA3iIzeV/s1600/1280x720-RsW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7yuEHJ15nLygXJsVDxK7l6Zhyphenhyphen6_dCqltn5MwbcSv2Cu7H6AR0QxKCM7QcWgUCzypwI4zBSvu-Ady8kCpzLRdesEOiFHTpzudfFP2btEVNiXhudt35zc_wTbydFcMvZr0XYasEA3iIzeV/s320/1280x720-RsW.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>GM: There is no spoon.<br />Me: No, it's a spoon. *rolls*<br />GM: Okay, fine. It's a spoon.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It worked because the GM and both players all knew each other well, and everyone played off everyone else and just kind of rolled with everything. I'm sure both players (neither of us had read the books) were making a mockery of the setting at every turn, but the GM let it slide. The other player ran a chemically-enhanced supersoldier fratboy who was just "bro-ing" out all over the place (alternating his time between masturbating and working out, he was still a way more useful member of the party than I was), and I tried to do whatever shit I could think of with my magic and the GM shoehorned it as best he could with only a few small exceptions. I'm still disappointed that while I can project an entire spaceship into the Astral Plane to travel faster than light, I can't conjure a couple of tropical fish out of thin air.<br />
<br />
He did allow my "<i>I turn into a box!</i>" though, so I can't complain too much.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhatnXTJLqwuVHHiXvALDqcbH3Zf9fmSiScltO59PgLgqCWg-u_m1uMZiJgeonuKaqOap6q6rMLsw3k-vHu7mw3oROBwlSxjjiptjINfQsPORn0oO7z87U9RModICHOV4T6Ae0K4MeL4q2C/s1600/eclipse-of-illusionary-shadows-booster-box-30-bst-p40761-83770_image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhatnXTJLqwuVHHiXvALDqcbH3Zf9fmSiScltO59PgLgqCWg-u_m1uMZiJgeonuKaqOap6q6rMLsw3k-vHu7mw3oROBwlSxjjiptjINfQsPORn0oO7z87U9RModICHOV4T6Ae0K4MeL4q2C/s320/eclipse-of-illusionary-shadows-booster-box-30-bst-p40761-83770_image.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I typed "Illusionary Box" into Google Image Search and I keep getting pictures of this bullshit.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If anyone is interesting in reading up on the source material that we surely butchered, you can check out <a href="http://www.jsmorin.com/js-morins-books/black-ocean/">JS Morin's website right here</a>. It actually sounds pretty cool. Any blurb that starts with <i>"In the year 2254 gravity was officially declared to be magic"</i> and goes on to describe the first interstellar space ship as <i>"shaped like a hand giving the middle finger to science"</i> is okay in my book. I'm probably going to have to check it out myself.<br />
<br />
If JS Morin is reading this, then I am well and truly sorry for bastardizing your work.<br />
<br />
If Jason is reading this (who is honestly probably the only person who is), then I'm sorry for being a goofus and screwing around and I hope you'll run us through a game again some time. And hey, if you still have posting privileges on Rule of the Dice, throw up the rules for the world to see. Maybe next time I'll have half an idea of what I'm doing.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-82909209569407639042016-03-01T05:30:00.000-05:002016-03-01T05:30:06.606-05:00Playing RPGs with a 4-Year-Old is Exactly the Same as Playing with 35-Year-Olds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I had a funny experience a couple weekends ago.<br />
<br />
On Saturday night I played what is rapidly-becoming one of my new favourite games, <i><a href="http://www.dungeon-world.com/">Dungeon World.</a></i> (We'll ignore for a moment that one of the players brought a Super-Flu into the house that knocked out my entire family for 2 weeks, which is why it took me so long to write this).<br />
<br />
On Sunday morning, I played "Secret Lab" with my 4-year old son, which is basically sitting in a blanket fort making up "secrets," which usually end up being variations of "I stole treasure from the chocolate factory and hid it in the back yard."<br />
<br />
Guess what? Turns out they're both exactly the same game.<br />
<br />
Stick with me here.<br />
<br />
For those not familiar, <i>Dungeon World</i> is a "de-crunched" version of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> where the rules have been dialed back to allow more room for storytelling. It is of course based on another game, <i>Apocalypse World,</i> which is a similar set of rules used in a post-apocalyptic setting. It uses simple, open-ended mechanics that leave a lot to interpretation and imagination, and encourages the players to fill in the gaps in between.<br />
<br />
Personally I find the biggest difference between <i>Dungeon World</i> and D&D is that it takes a lot of the agency away from the Dungeon Master and gives it to the players, which is a very good thing. Instead of the DM building the world like a director and leading the players through it like <strike>puppets</strike> actors, in DW the players really build it themselves as they go. The Dungeon Master is there to nudge them along and get the story flowing and the players get to decide exactly what kind of game they want to play.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdleD1y1UmFFQYfhqyRn6t3T6aKspfljqLdTVzABDzLPbgMo-rmC1eaXAwI8Wy7wN90BTHFBHlq7G2jArpCnO1Ux79UWzUvu1UX-B3iWvNo0pX0T1XSRFHbedtP4w-mfTNCNCOe0VOTP4c/s1600/gandalf_multiclass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdleD1y1UmFFQYfhqyRn6t3T6aKspfljqLdTVzABDzLPbgMo-rmC1eaXAwI8Wy7wN90BTHFBHlq7G2jArpCnO1Ux79UWzUvu1UX-B3iWvNo0pX0T1XSRFHbedtP4w-mfTNCNCOe0VOTP4c/s320/gandalf_multiclass.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>In </i>Dungeon World<i>, this could be a perfectly acceptable character.</i></td></tr>
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A big part of the DM's job during character creation in <i>Dungeon World</i> is encouraging the players to use their stats to come up with more and more details about their characters. For instance, the Fighter in DW starts play with a "signature weapon." Technically this is just an item with a couple of numerical bonuses, but the DM should be asking lots of questions - What does it look like? When was it made? Does it have a name? How did the player come to possess it? Who was its previous owner? Does it have any secret powers or curses that the character is aware of? Does anyone else know (or suspect) what it can do and seek to obtain it? Suddenly, the GM now has a ton of information to work with - information to craft enemies, adventures and non-player characters the heroes can encounter in their travel. Plus the character herself (and her favourite weapon) takes on a life of her own.<br />
<br />
Now, when we did this the other night my players (who are not used to this type of game play) kinda balked at my line of questioning, They felt like I was grilling them as I kept asking "and then what? And who was that? And what did that look like?" Some people think better on their feet, that's fair, but once they got the hang of it everyone started coming up with stuff and having fun with it. For instance, we have a ranger who bonded with his animal companion - a bear - after becoming the surrogate father to her cub when the biological father was killed by hunters. It was a nice twist on the ranger raising an animal himself, which is where we probably would have gone with it normally.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQeAY5YGtitpgkntm0o7wUGRQvNkoob9ZnnseUSWQX3hgbiS4EDoeh69wkGYmSHLDBoLz8kgpzVHfgwmcVxMu2eXI1SbhKEOYIdkl6fpdUM1R3rlpoJYM847vsHgob1y_F5u8D2CdlfR4X/s1600/fd09f900fafe0548c1a508f98f8f3ccb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQeAY5YGtitpgkntm0o7wUGRQvNkoob9ZnnseUSWQX3hgbiS4EDoeh69wkGYmSHLDBoLz8kgpzVHfgwmcVxMu2eXI1SbhKEOYIdkl6fpdUM1R3rlpoJYM847vsHgob1y_F5u8D2CdlfR4X/s320/fd09f900fafe0548c1a508f98f8f3ccb.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Actually, normally the conversation would go:<br />"What kind of animal companion do you want?"<br />"I don't care. Whatever has the most hit points."</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The next morning, when I played "Secret Lab" with my son, we went through the same exercise. When I asked him his secret and he said he "stole treasure from the chocolate factory," I immediately started prodding him and prompting him for more details. "What kind of treasure did you steal? What did it to? Who tried to take it from you?" When he wasn't certain I helped him fill in details, and soon we had a story about stealing a magic mirror from mermaids but then having it stolen from us by an evil wizard and we had to enlist the aide of a monkey to climb a mountain to get it back and return it to the mermaids so they could use its magic to dispel a curse. We were TOTALLY playing <i>Dungeon World</i>, just without the dice rolls. I've dreamed about one day playing role-playing games with my kids, and here we were suddenly playing one by accident. It was amazing.<br />
<br />
It was extra amazing to have the experiences of both a 4-year-old and 30-somethings back-to-back to compare. The toddler was unlocking his imagination and storytelling abilities for the first time. The adults were re-learning how to do it. Both were feeling their way through the exercise in the same way, and it was a fascinating look into how people learn and express themselves.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNplRTzEXjazIb5p3e5kCF6vlb4lOCEAMmcHt1gikH8r7UxWoNs-3A5rc7pkOj4ckcD3sFE-_5V12Z8eoOuia1xiW-lNKgAgUDqZjet1Kv5iRsJW_0v2Asp-pJ4Hl3fwWKG_acq6W4B8A/s1600/jt0J5uARSlNO8.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNplRTzEXjazIb5p3e5kCF6vlb4lOCEAMmcHt1gikH8r7UxWoNs-3A5rc7pkOj4ckcD3sFE-_5V12Z8eoOuia1xiW-lNKgAgUDqZjet1Kv5iRsJW_0v2Asp-pJ4Hl3fwWKG_acq6W4B8A/s320/jt0J5uARSlNO8.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Even outside of <i>Dungeon World</i>, I think the exercises we went through would be useful for any type of game as well as other creative endeavours. Asking questions and building connections is an easy way I've started to use in character- and world-building techniques with my Star Wars game, which I <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2016/02/revisiting-star-wars-greatest-rpg-of.html">previously mentioned</a> was feeling a little more awkward than I would have liked. I'm trying to push back on the players to help them help me build the world and the universe a little more, make them more a part of it. They gave me a couple of great ideas last session that I hope to incorporate into future games.<br />
<br />
If that doesn't work, at least I know I've planted the seeds with my son to get him ready for a full-blown campaign in a couple of years...<br />
<br />
<b>How about you? Have you played <i>Dungeon World</i>? How do you think it compares to more classic games like <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>? Is it a useful system for getting kids into the game?</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-17899374563118175392016-02-02T05:30:00.000-05:002016-02-02T05:30:14.911-05:00Revisiting Star Wars, the Greatest RPG of All Time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been five years <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/01/my-first-time.html">since I started writing</a> for Rule of the Dice, and a lot has changed in my life since then. Having two kids is certainly the biggest event(s), and publishing my first novel was also cool. But of particular interest to this blog is how my outlook on and taste in role-playing games have changed. One of my first posts here was <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/02/why-star-wars-is-best-rpg-ever.html">fawning over my favourite game of all time, the old D6 Star Wars RPG</a> by West End Games. Recently I've started running a Star Wars campaign again for the first time in many years, thanks in part to the buzz and excitement provided by the first good Star Wars movie in many, many years. Yet playing this game again regularly for the first time since I was a kid has struck me with an odd thought:<br />
<br />
I'm not sure if I still like it as much anymore.<br />
<br />
In honour of my new game, the new movie and my five-year anniversary with Rule of the Dice, I thought I would revisit my previous argument and touch on the five reasons why I originally stated that Star Wars D6 was the greatest RPG of all time.<br />
<br />
(To clarify, the numbered headlines are the arguments I made 5 years ago, but the explanations below them are my new thoughts on each point)<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">1. It's Star Wars</span></b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Lightsabers, droids, stormtroopers, it all checks out. Han's looking a lot older and grumpier, though.<br />He'll definitely shoot first if you don't get off his space-lawn.</i></td></tr>
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Well, it's still Star Wars, and thanks to <i>The Force Awakens</i>, Star Wars is fun again. I've been on a <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2016/01/my-biggest-issue-with-force-awakens-is.html">huge Star Wars high</a> for months, the biggest I've been on since playing the RPG and reading the Timothy Zahn novels as a teenager twenty years ago. I'll be honest: I got a little choked up watching the trailers for Episode VII when they first came out, and then again when I sat down in the theatre and the opening crawl started. I've been hit with a wave of nostalgia that I've not felt with any of the other cash grab reboots and sequels that have been coming out lately. Plus, I thought the new movie was actually pretty good - sure it had some faults, but over all I really enjoyed it and really look forward to the next one. The biggest sign that I enjoy something is that it makes me want to game it, and <i>The Force Awakens</i> did that for me in spades.<br />
<br />
So yeah, the game definitely still has that going for it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>2. You can make a character in 90 seconds</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Which is probably still longer than they spent developing<br />Captain Phasma, am I right?</i></td></tr>
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This is still very much true. I have a couple of new players who have never played the game before (but also a couple of the guys I actually played with as a teenager) so it took a little longer at first, but character creation is still really easy and stream-lined. That being said, it also leaves very little room for customized flair or tweaking, which leaves the characters coming out very flat. Every character will inevitably get some combination of the skills <i>blaster</i>, <i>dodge</i>, <i>starship piloting</i> and <i>starship gunnery</i>. You also have to have at least one guy with <i>starship repair</i>, and another with <i>con </i>(bluff). These are the skills you need to survive, so everyone picks the same ones. It gets to the point where if someone picks <i>first aid</i> it seems like a novelty.<br />
<br />
Worse, the game is very crunchy and combat heavy (more on that in a second). There is absolutely no room for characters to have dramatic or role-playing advantages, at least not in a rules sense. In recent years I've started to lean way more to games that encourage storytelling and leave more freedom for their characters to improvise and be creative, like FATE and Apocalypse World-based games (Side note, I played my first game of Dungeon World a few weeks ago and it was the most fun I've had with a game in YEARS). Of course, you can always put that into your game, and I'm encouraging my players to have fun with it (in our last session they spent half-an-hour discussing with cleaning droids what scent of air freshener to use on their ship), but in my opinion the rules don't really encourage that kind of creativity.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>3. You don't learn skills or powers magically and spontaneously</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Which, if you think about it, characters in Star Wars actually do ALL THE TIME.</i></td></tr>
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This is still very true. I do like the way the skills grow organically, and you have to focus on training them individually and specifically instead of getting broad increases in a level-type system. Again though, it's very crunchy and detailed. It would work great in a video game, but it's not so much what I look for in an table-top RPG anymore. You have to spend your characters points, a few at a time, increasing your skills one "pip" at a time, laser-focusing on the skills you use most often... which means you're going to be putting most of your points into <i>blaster</i>, <i>dodge</i>, <i>starship piloting</i> and <i>starship gunnery</i>. I think I would prefer a system where your skills are broader and looser, like you can have a character that's good at piloting, and he can fly anything - starfighters, transports, airspeeders, whatever, and you don't need to quantify that his repulsorlift operation is 4D+2 and his space transports piloting is 5D+1. I think it would be good enough to know he's good at piloting, give him a flat bonus for all ships, and maybe an extra bonus on his preferred ship type or something.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">4. You get to roll buckets of dice</span></b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Or use this, as the case may be.</i></td></tr>
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This is not as much fun as I remember it being. Okay sure, in an epic encounter where you get to roll like 20D on one attack it's great, but when you have to roll several handfuls of dice on EVERY attack, it gets pretty tedious, pretty fast. An average attack action involves a character rolling 4-5 dice (and adding them up) to hit, the defender rolling 4-5 dice (and adding them up) to defend, the attacker rolling another 4-5 dice (and adding them up) for damage and then the defender rolling another 4-5 dice (and adding them up) to resist the damage. That's 16-20 dice and a lot of fucking math for EVERY ATTACK ACTION, and characters can sometimes take 2 or 3 attacks per turn. Multiply that by every player and enemy on the table, every round and well, no. Just no.<br />
<br />
Just typing that exhausted me.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>5. The fake ads in the book</b></span><br />
<br />
While this is true, unfortunately we are not using the old book anymore. I still have my old book, but since we're playing online, I've been using the <a href="http://d6holocron.com/downloads/gbooks.html">fan-created "REUP" version</a> (it stands for "Revised, Expanded, UPdated). It compiles all the old West End Games material (along with a bunch of community-created content) into one massive tome that covers everything from Episodes 1-6. If you haven't seen this PDF file, do yourself a favour and check it out. It's a very detailed, high-quality labour of love by some very dedicated fans. Sure, it doesn't have the fake ads anymore, and the pictures on the character templates are ridiculous (they look like digital paintings over top of celebrity headshots), but it's still a really, really awesome book that is just as cool as my old hardback, just in a different way.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKSngxUYfVlfiiCrFwnJhef1SS2aPiMihCkDUeJGcVYOtWLnprOL8N1D6h6pZC6Uk9AIuMKT_h2csAahseN49lCeHxyzpEnofxB_Gnjnh-GR5KV_sOAV9C_IsY2DbQhcdrWrpwqAG3mF2r/s1600/katniss.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKSngxUYfVlfiiCrFwnJhef1SS2aPiMihCkDUeJGcVYOtWLnprOL8N1D6h6pZC6Uk9AIuMKT_h2csAahseN49lCeHxyzpEnofxB_Gnjnh-GR5KV_sOAV9C_IsY2DbQhcdrWrpwqAG3mF2r/s320/katniss.PNG" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hey look, Katniss/Jennifer Lawrence is in Star Wars, now.</i></td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WrXikzhGa399AOrRsJm-8UBnhnlTASf6yQG3gmvUdR1fh21Ell9W1oHh1C-rwQ83-7ooc5DCmo201F-XPYH7TsENKoINLEBswCcLy82ysJtSZw6GuNujScxwTY7YLseG3hIof-yujL_y/s1600/seth+green.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WrXikzhGa399AOrRsJm-8UBnhnlTASf6yQG3gmvUdR1fh21Ell9W1oHh1C-rwQ83-7ooc5DCmo201F-XPYH7TsENKoINLEBswCcLy82ysJtSZw6GuNujScxwTY7YLseG3hIof-yujL_y/s320/seth+green.PNG" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>And who made Seth Green a Jedi?</i></td></tr>
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So there we go. I think I wrote my original post five years ago whilst wearing a pair of rosy nostalgia glasses (and trying to ape Cracked.com's crude dick-joke style of writing - seriously, it's embarrassing). Or maybe my tastes really have changed that much in the last half-decade. Either way, while I'm not so high on the game as I used to be, we're still having a ton of fun, and that can carry even the worst games a long way. People must play Palladium games for some reason, after all.<br />
<br />
The most fun comes from the fact that it's a shared universe that we all understand, care about and enjoy. I think it's the only setting where I've ever experienced so much buy-in by every player. Except perhaps <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/05/why-im-afraid-of-game-masters.html">Battlestar Galactica</a>. Or <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/05/robotech-on-netflix-and-memories-of-rpg.html">ROBOTECH</a>. Huh. I guess I just really like licensed Sci-fi games.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I think I might want to try Fantasy Flight Games' new Star Wars RPG. It certainly sounds like a lot of fun if the <a href="http://www.oneshotpodcast.com/category/campgain">Campaign Podcast</a> is any indication (by the way, check out the <a href="http://www.oneshotpodcast.com/category/campgain">Campaign Podcast</a>, it's awesome). Or maybe I should try to make an Apocalyse/Dungeon World hack for Star Wars.<br />
<br />
Hmm...<br />
<br />
I think I just thought of a new project for myself.<br />
<br />
<b>Has anyone else played Star Wars D6? What do you think of it? What about some of the other Star Wars games out there, like Wizards of the Coasts' D20 version, or the new Fantasy Flight Games series?</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-17047318305982400292016-01-12T05:30:00.000-05:002016-01-12T13:48:30.421-05:00My Biggest Issue With The Force Awakens is Not What You Think<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoyed The Force Awakens. It was familiar and just felt like an updated version of something I loved as a kid, paying homage to it lovingly while adding enough new touches to open up a new world for future stories.<br />
<br />
But therein lies the problem, at least from a gaming perspective.<br />
<br />
A day or two after I saw the film, I sat down to stat out the characters and ships for use in a game.<br />
<br />
(Everyone does this right? You see the world around you in terms of RPG statistics? For instance, I know my boss has a really high bureaucracy skill, but a middling command/charisma. My Hyundai Elantra has a pitiful maneuverability and movement score, but it has decent cargo capacity for a vehicle its size. My kids have amazing saving throws - all kids do, otherwise they would never survive all the dumb stuff they do.)<br />
<br />
Anyway, I started statting out the material from the movie in a system I know (<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/02/why-star-wars-is-best-rpg-ever.html">Star Wars D6</a>), comparing it to existing material in the system as a baseline. The new movie had X-Wings - great, I'll just compare them to X-Wings in the old system. We also have TIE fighters. Okay, same deal. And Star Destroyers. And the <i>Millennium Falcon</i>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Does the square satellite dish add or subtract from the </i>Falcon's<i> maneuver check?</i></span></div>
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I had to stop to think: Were there even any new ships? Kylo Ren's shuttle, I suppose, which is probably not that far from a Lambda-shuttle (the one the crew stole to sneak onto Endor). Some troop drop ships, which are non combative and don't really need stats. Han Solo had a new ship, but I don't remember if they even showed the outside of it onscreen or even gave it a name.<br />
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So what we're left with is just a bunch of new models of old spacecraft. Great, except what is the point of "updating" the numbers, besides creating a Pokemon-level of power creep? Sure, the new X-wing is faster, and probably has better weapons. But so too does the new TIE Fighter, right? So rather than "improve" the stats on both, why not just leave them both the same? Their comparative ratios should remain pretty consistent. Why completely redesign something that is essentially the same ship with a new coat of paint?<br />
<br />
Same goes for the characters. What kind of new classes/templates could the players create? Jedi are still just as rare (if not moreso) than in the original trilogy, so they're out except as (maybe) poorly-trained apprentices. We still have the same pilots/smugglers/scoundrels/Resistance fighters. For enemies, we still have Stormtroopers and "Imperial" officers and pilots. The only new enemies are the Knights of Ren, which we know literally nothing about. Are they all even Dark Jedi? I would have to take major liberties if I wanted to use them in a game.<br />
<br />
(I think we got one new droid. I guess I could stat out BB-8. His speed and maneuverability is hugely improved over R2, but he doesn't seem to have as many cool gadgets.)<br />
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The conclusion I came to is that I could just take the stats from everything whole-cloth from a Rebellion-era RPG (either D6, WotC's d20 version or Fantasy Flight's awesome <i>Edge of the Empire</i>) and just change a few names. Boom, now I have a Force Awakens game. I find this incredibly disappointing. Is it less work? Absolutely. But it's also no where near as fun.<br />
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<i style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Side note: As my wife so astutely pointed out, why didn't Finn ever say:</i></div>
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<i style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">"Damn, I can shoot so much better without that stupid helmet!"</i></div>
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Say what you will about the prequels (no seriously, go ahead, they were terrible movies) but at least they gave us a plethora of crunchy, game-able material. Every Episode from 1-3 gave us hundreds of new ships, droids, characters, weapons and aliens. Sure, it was probably just to sell more toys, but it was a treasure-trove for gamers.<br />
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I have to reiterate: I enjoyed the movie, I just didn't see a lot of gamey-material in it. How about you? Did you go home and try to determine if the new X-wings have a movement rate of 9 or 10? Do the new TIE's have shields? Has the <i>Falcon's</i> weapons and armour been updated over the years to match the improved capabilities of the those ships? Or should we just scratch out "T-65" and replace it with "T-70" and replace "Rebellion" with "Resistance" and just go with it?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-89899168983259648532015-09-29T05:30:00.000-04:002015-09-29T05:30:00.854-04:00The Lamest Magic Swords of All TimeExcalibur. Narsil. Stormbringer. Shieldbreaker. The Vorpal Sword. <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2015/08/the-swords-of-splatter-elf.html">Lauralee</a>. These are mighty swords of power and legend, of myth and song, blades that shall be remembered until the end of time.<br />
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The following blades, however, are probably best forgotten.<br />
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Not every sword can be an artifact of immense power. Not every sword is even a boring "long sword +1." And not every sword can be cursed. Some swords, despite their enchantment and pomp and circumstance, are merely, "meh."<br />
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These are those swords.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sword of Itching</span></b><br />
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The grey, rough blade of this sword chips and splinters easily. A fine powder - like iron filings - flakes off it almost constantly. When it's first found in its scabbard, if it hasn't been used in awhile it's probably even covered with a layer of rust and corrosion.<br />
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This irritating, flaky oxidized iron powder is transferred to anyone wounded by the blade, and will remain in the victim's body if they survive being struck by the weapon. Any wound caused by this blade will always itch terribly, even after it is healed. Salves and ointments may provide temporary or partial relief, but can never completely remove the irritation. A remove curse spell only has a 50% of removing this effect, and if the spell fails no remove curse can ever be used against this itching again.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sword of Temperance</b></span><br />
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This sword was created by a god who teaches his followers not to act in anger. Striking a foe aggressively or with the intention to injure is the greatest crime of this religion.<br />
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The Sword of Temperance is a beautifully-crafted, stark white blade with an ivory hilt carved in the shape of doves. The scabbard is decorated with runes and writings meaning "Peace" and "Serenity" in many languages.<br />
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If this sword is ever used against a living, intelligent or magically animated creature in anger or aggression or with any intent to cause injury, it heals hit points instead of inflicting damage. Unfortunately, it can't really be used primarily as a healing device because if it used against an ally peacefully with the intention to help him, it will inflict damage as a normal sword.<br />
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You may be able to hurt someone with it by accident under certain circumstances.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Fabulous Bastard Sword</b></span><br />
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This incredible hand-and-a-half sword is forged of the finest craftsmanship, with exquisite markings and bedecked with ridiculously expensive jewels. The scabbard alone costs a king's ransom (or at least the ransom of a lesser duke). It marks its wielder as a truly opulent warrior who cares not only about battlefield prowess but about style and the importance of impressing and dazzling one's foes.<br />
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When wielded in battle, the Fabulous Bastard Sword magically plays stirring, epic music with a pulse-pounding beat. It sparkles like a disco ball and trails ribbons of glitter and pulsing prismatic rainbows when swung. When it collides with another blade, shield or armour, it sets off explosions of lightning and cannon-like thunder. It otherwise has no game effects.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sword of Aphid Friendship</b></span><br />
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Known for the aesthetic as well as martial arts, the elves make fabulous and deadly swords that are coveted by warriors across the land. This is not one of them.<br />
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This short sword is well made and features classic elf motifs of curved lines and nature-and-vegetation designs, though its magical benefits are not immediately apparent.<br />
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The bearer of this weapon gains a +2 bonus to reaction rolls against aphids. Note that the blade does not confer the ability to speak to insects.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Thief of Manhood</b></span><br />
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This is a nasty-looking black blade, wickedly curved like a scimitar or khopesh. It is also barbed and serrated and looks like it could mess you up royally. It is generally shunned by most intelligent beings, and only the most depraved or vile monsters would consider wielding it.<br />
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On a critical hit against a foe with a natural male anatomy, roll d100 and consult the chart below:<br />
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01-49 - The victim loses his right testicle<br />
50-98 - The victim loses his left testicle<br />
99-00 - The victim loses both testicles<br />
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The wielder of the Thief of Manhood immediately grows extra testicles equal to the number removed from its victim.<br />
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<i><br /></i>
<i>My first book <a href="http://www.cdgallantking.ca/p/books.html">Ten Thousand Days</a> actually features a sword or two (but more importantly a screwdriver) and is now available at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Thousand-Days-C-D-Gallant-King/dp/1512305170">Amazon</a> and many other booksellers worldwide. I'm also in the middle of <a href="https://www.inkshares.com/projects/hell-comes-to-hogtown?referral_code=d89658bd">crowdfunding a new book at Inkshares.com.</a> Head over there to check it out.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-33064648716489716212015-08-18T05:30:00.000-04:002015-08-18T07:17:28.353-04:00The Swords of Splatter-Elf<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/06/splatter-elf-playtest-2.html">Splatter Elf's</a> back, man!<br />
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Well, as a literary genre, it's never gone anywhere and is actually alive and well in the a new series of stories by <a href="https://philipoverby.wordpress.com/">Philip T.D. Overby</a> (they're <a href="http://www.amazon.com/River-Blades-Weird-Tale-Splatter-ebook/dp/B0137VU706">available on Amazon</a>!). But now, for the first time in quite a while, Splatter Elf the game makes a triumphant return.<br />
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The main character in Philip's stories is a half-elf mercenary obsessed with collecting swords, so I decided to stat out a few of her favourite weapons for use in <i><a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/04/splatter-elf-week-day-1-introduction-to.html">Splatter Elf: The RPG</a></i>. Now, these weapons are specifically designed for the SE version 0.3 rules, which have not been widely shared, but you get the idea.<br />
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Also of note, these are completely unofficial versions of the weapons and how I envisioned them to be used in the game. Philip would have his own take on them, which obviously supersedes anything I say here.<br />
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Hey Phil, does this mean you've now generated your first fan fiction?<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Lauralee</b></span><br />
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<i>"The warped, cracked blade looked like hammered shit, but it hit hard and couldn't be broken."</i><br />
- from <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Unicorn-Eater-Weird-Tale-Splatter-ebook/dp/B00XJZPLVG">The Unicorn Eater</a></i><br />
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Named after the Starseer Bathbrady's wife, <i>Lauralee </i>is made of Garlaxian bone, one of the hardest materials in existence and cannot be broken. Some believe Garlaxians are aliens from outer space, powerful beings that could break swords and men with their bare hands. It is immune to acids that destroyed other magic swords.<br />
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When grasped, the wielder feels alternating attacks of chills and warmth, and will be psychically assaulted by visions of otherworldly skeletal beasts, their wails terrifying and disorienting. Someone wielding <i>Lauralee </i>for the first time will find it difficult to endure such cacophony, but over time they get used to it, though it always rises in intensity when in the presence of monstrous threats.<br />
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<i>Lauralee </i>grants its wielder a +3 bonus to hit, and inflicts 2 extra wounds on a successful attack. It may be wielded single handed (3 wounds total) or with both hands (4 wounds). It is virtually indestructible, and gains a +12 bonus to any roll to resist any damage or attempts to break the weapon.<br />
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It also grants the wielder the <i><b>Weapon Breaker</b></i> blood power. On a successful hit, the wielder may spend 1 blood point to forgo the 2 extra wound levels of damage and instead destroy the target's armour, weapon or shield. Non-magical equipment is destroyed automatically; magical gear gets a defense roll (you may add the equipment's "+" bonus to the roll). If the defense roll beats the attacker's roll, the item is not destroyed. The victim still takes the base damage.<br />
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The first time the wielder picks up <i>Lauralee</i>, they suffer a +3 attack versus their Aegis defense. If they fail, they are temporarily driven insane for 1-12 rounds as they try to deal with the screaming skeleton monsters trying to get into their brain. The wielder suffers this same attack the first time they meet a dangerous enemy while holding this blade, and again the first time they suffer a mortal wound. After that, as long as the blade remains in their possession, they become immune to these attacks. If the the wielder loses the blade for two weeks or more, they will be subject to these checks again when they recover it.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Serpent's Kiss</span></b><br />
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<i>"Serpent's Kiss had been on her father's list for years, always slipping through his filthy fingers. He told her, 'Chasing invisible swords is the same as loving someone that you know is going to die one day.'"</i><br />
<i>- </i>from <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/River-Blades-Weird-Tale-Splatter-ebook/dp/B0137VU706">River of Blades</a></i><br />
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Once carried by a bandit lord across Groteskia as he poisoned merchants and attacked wayward travelers, <i>Serpent's Kiss</i> is a short, slightly curved blade with a worn leather hilt. Rather unremarkable, but with a glint of green upon its edge.<br />
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A relatively minor sword, <i>Serpent's Kiss</i> provides a +1 bonus to attack rolls and grants the wielder the <b><i>Slow Poison of Excruciating Demise</i></b> blood power: On a successful attack, the wielder may spend 1 blood point to poison the defender. Roll 1d6 - the victim loses 1 health level each turn for that number of turns.<br />
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The venom of <i>Serpent's Kiss</i> is so virulent that it is even dangerous to its wielder. Any time the wielder does something stupid while holding the blade (missing an attack while attempting a risky maneuver, performing some feat of dexterity - like jumping or climbing - while the blade is drawn, trying to wrestle it from another character, etc) the player must make an attack roll against himself. If successful, the character is poisoned for 1d6 turns.<br />
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<i>C.D. Gallant-King <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Thousand-Days-C-D-Gallant-King/dp/1512305170">wrote a book</a>. It actually does have a sword in it, though one that is not as cool or well-named as Lauralee. It's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Thousand-Days-C-D-Gallant-King/dp/1512305170">available now from Amazon.com</a>. You can also catch him on his other blog, <a href="http://www.cdgallantking.ca/">Stories I Found in the Closet</a>, on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cdgallantking">Facebook</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/cdgallantking">Twitter</a>.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-82963027258834232092015-07-22T05:30:00.000-04:002015-07-22T07:20:32.650-04:00Casting the Dungeons & Dragons TV Show, Season 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last year around this time I wrote <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/06/casting-dungeons-dragons-tv-show.html">a post about who I would cast in a D&D TV series</a>. Such an event wouldn't be completely out of the realm of possibility: with the glut of fantasy and sci-fi filling our screens these days, there has never been a better time to get Fireballs and Magic Missiles on our TV screens. Plus, with the recently released 5th Edition going strong, Hasbro/WotC would be foolish not to jump on the chance for some cross promotion.<br />
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It can't possibly be as bad as the old official D&D movies. I'm hoping with a decent budget and a cable network that wouldn't shy away from blood and violence, we could have a fun little show on our hands. This could be the next <i>Game of Thrones</i> or <i>Walking Dead</i>, people...<br />
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And hey, even if this doesn't work out, there's a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/06/hawk-the-slayer-film-sequel-terry-marcel-jack-palance">sequel to Hawk the Slayer</a> in the works...<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">RETURNING MAIN CAST</span></b></div>
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<b>Emily Blunt as Tasty Sugarbush</b><br />
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Tasty graduated from Action Girl last season to Heroine this year as her mentor and lover, Sir Brador, is killed off early in the season and she takes up the mantel of leader for the Badass Crew.<br />
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Previously a loner who only looked out for herself, she now has to deal with the responsibility of bringing together a disparate group of weird and dangerous characters in order to save the world while also coming to grips with Brador's death and various other treacheries from people she once trusted.<br />
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Once again, she must never become the Damsel in Distress. She knows how to take care of herself. It's trying to figure out how to take care of everyone else that creates the drama.<br />
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<b>Taye Diggs as Sylverius</b><br />
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Sylverius was a recurring character last season but gets promoted in Brador's absence. A mercenary who the Crew originally saw as a rival, he joins the Rebel's King's cause and tries to convince Tasty and her band to join him. He and Tasty actually have a history together, going back to childhood that will be revealed over the course of the season. She blames him for horrible things that happened to her as a child that may or may not be true.<br />
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<b>Jordan Prentice as Hamhock the Dwarf</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilpmF9AjHxcuvShaANmRuSp-mxRt0PCsbG0FoY3-5BCSsYmEithJP-lZQ0b1qQRTOXzkPqAERMpD7MnjtsYu5d1dm9JNacaH-g6YPq_jm0PtFcEQqK-y6nwn02Ia-FEYSMorVXLXZ2R00f/s1600/noomirapace1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>Hamhock was the artificer and cunning strategist of the group last season, but he has fallen to drink and depression after the death of his best friend Bluto. He just starts to overcome his demons when the man who killed Bluto - Fitzbibbons - joins the crew and sends the dwarf into an even more dangerous spiral of rage and self-destruction. Can he get past his issues to once again become a valuable member of the team? Or will he be causality of his own design before the season is over?<br />
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<b>Christopher Lambert as Thromboné the Wizard</b><br />
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Last year it seemed Thromboné was a lock to betray the heroes in the final scene but he stayed true to the group and helped them survive their battle against the Rebel King.<br />
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He saved his betrayal for this season. With their goal of eliminating the King of Dyskovenia apparently accomplished, Thromboné mercilessly attacks his former allies at the behest of his King. Brador is killed and Bainthaureth is driven away, as Thromboné aligns himself with the new Big Bag (The Dark Lord). The rest of the group survives and joins up with the deposed Rebel King to extract revenge against Thromboné and the Big Bad.<br />
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<b>John Leguizamo as Ezbar, the Rebel King of Dyzkovenia</b><br />
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Ezbar was the Big Bad last season, the vile and bloodthirsty rebel looking to destroy the kingdom. This season... he's still vile and bloodthirsty, but it turns out the True King is even worse than him.<br />
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Somehow the Rebel King survived the pitched battle at the end of last season and once again begins using his charismatic ways to rally forces around him. When the Badass Crew are betrayed by the King and Thromboné, they have no choice but to throw in with Ezbar as well in a desperate attempt to save the kingdom as well as their own necks. But can the Reformed Villain be trusted?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtbyBGQvm30MFBVejdNXjCBkrb5Fikz1pIjd4y2Uz3-CeHjdw0UQxE3QapfPjEhoae8TzWiKBiMWL_ZVDfuvJ8bpjyqDiV9NtE608OEQTfuIWBK-7bfrQ3IXKEHtSc36ZmYAi0DS47Kra/s1600/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtbyBGQvm30MFBVejdNXjCBkrb5Fikz1pIjd4y2Uz3-CeHjdw0UQxE3QapfPjEhoae8TzWiKBiMWL_ZVDfuvJ8bpjyqDiV9NtE608OEQTfuIWBK-7bfrQ3IXKEHtSc36ZmYAi0DS47Kra/s1600/16.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtbyBGQvm30MFBVejdNXjCBkrb5Fikz1pIjd4y2Uz3-CeHjdw0UQxE3QapfPjEhoae8TzWiKBiMWL_ZVDfuvJ8bpjyqDiV9NtE608OEQTfuIWBK-7bfrQ3IXKEHtSc36ZmYAi0DS47Kra/s1600/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><b>Colt Cabana as The Last Fitzbibbons </b><br />
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In Season One a member of the Fitzbibbons family was killed almost every episode, the joke being that every one of them was played by Colt Cabana (once in drag as the Fitzbibbons sister). In the end, the "Last" Fitzbibbons turned out to be 100% more effective than his siblings, as he killed Bluto, the party barbarian and Hamhock's best friend.<br />
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When the party turns and joins the Rebel King's side, Fitzbibbons becomes the group's Token Evil Member, being a bad guy who doesn't know how to get along with the others. He is especially reviled by the dwarf Hamhock, and it will take great sacrifice by the Last Fitzbibbons before he is forgiven for his transgressions.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">NEW REGULARS</span></b></div>
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<b>Vin Diesel as The Dark Lord</b><br />
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Come on. You know he would be down to be in a D&D show. I'm surprised he hasn't pitched this series himself, and I can't believe I missed including him the first time around.<br />
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Diesel takes over the King's orders to destroy Dyzkovenia after the Baron of Gutslinger failed in Season One. He starts as the party's patron and boss, but he becomes the Big Bad when it's revealed that The King is actually an evil lunatic trying to destroy the world, and the Rebel King was just the first person to see through his plans and tried to stop him.<br />
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<b>Colm Feore as Mystic Martin Mithrandir</b><br />
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When Thromboné betrays the group in an early episode, they need a new wizard to round out their party. Who better to play the wild, insane wood mystic than the proper, straight-laced Colm Feore?<br />
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Mystic Martin is a Cloudcuckoolander/Mentor who is bat-shit insane but also an incredibly powerful. He has only moderate control over his magic, but he is dragged along because he is the only one who can combat Thromboné and the Dark Lord at their own game.<br />
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<b>Naomi Harris as Dame Lorelai Heartrender</b><br />
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The Heartrender is the only genuinely good person in a party full of killers and cutthroat weirdos. The Dark Lord destroyed her home and family many years ago, so young Lorelai became a knight and a paladin to right the wrongs he caused. She joins Tasty and the Rebel King grudgingly because they are the only ones brave enough to stand against the King and his evil minions.<br />
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She is the Heart and moral compass of the team, trying to steer their wickedness to do good.<br />
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<b>Kenny Omega as Lord Charming</b><br />
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Hey look, another wrestler. It's my show and I can do what I want!<br />
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Charming is The Dark Lord's right hand man and Dragon, a rakish, well-to-do noble that loves to feast and womanize but seems out of place in the dark army threatening to overtake the land. The truth, however is that he is a cleric of a dark god of ritualistic slaughter and a dangerous warrior in his own right. It becomes apparent late in the season that he may himself be plotting against the Dark Lord in order to strengthen his own position when the demons inevitably take over the world.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">SEASON TWO GUEST STARS</span></b><br />
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<b>Jonathan Banks as Sir Brador</b></div>
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Brador was the original Leader of the Badass Crew, but since <i>Better Call Saul</i> is doing well he's walking out on us. He will be taken out in an early episode by Thromboné's treachery after finally consummating his weird relationship with Tasty. His death comes as a shock that nearly destroys the group and they spend the rest of the season trying to get back on the same page. </div>
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We'll leave the door open for him to get <i>raised</i> when he's done with his <i>Breaking Bad</i> spin-offs. :-/</div>
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<b>Noomi Rapace as Bainthaureth the Elf</b><br />
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Bainthaureth was an important member of the Badass Crew last season, the deadly elf warrior/mage who looked down on everyone as her inferior but had the skills to back it up. When the group sides with the Rebel King she forsakes her former allies as she blames him for murdering her family. She appears only occasionally through the rest of the season, though the door is still open for her to return in Season 3.<br />
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<b>Bruce Campbell as the Warlord Autolycus</b><br />
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Autolycus was a mercenary warlord whose army was destroyed during the final battle of Season 1. Now a homeless, penniless crippled beggar, he wanders the countryside cursing those he blames for his failures and trying, pathetically and comedically, to raise another army.<br />
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<b>Jewel Staite as Mistress Brumhilde</b><br />
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Owner of The Violent Mime tavern and almost every brothel and gambling house in the land, Mistress Brumhilde shows up regularly as a source of information for the main characters. She tries not to become too strongly aligned with any side during the conflict, but eventually she draws the attention of the Dark Lord who destroys her business and nearly kills her, leaving her broken and alone.<br />
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<b>Mark Hamill as The Bard</b><br />
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A wandering minstrel and performer, The Bard appears a couple of times through the season as a bumbling and harmless musician, though oddly wherever he goes murder and monsters follow. He is actually cursed with powerful magic that forever haunts him and brings ruin and destruction to those around him, which causes numerous headaches and challenges for the Crew whenever they cross his path.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSh8jCA66nAa3NOxe7G9YHDLqucpJeGiFjX2Iwxnr14WyjG_n9DEFAPC0VmZRD1YuxVCiKK0cZ2EBrwfYypUBdn8TH2RHJ3lmPszODxgQ2k2CFkuRYgvse7jWqjsEt2lEzcSkQUoxzprVk/s1600/jessica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSh8jCA66nAa3NOxe7G9YHDLqucpJeGiFjX2Iwxnr14WyjG_n9DEFAPC0VmZRD1YuxVCiKK0cZ2EBrwfYypUBdn8TH2RHJ3lmPszODxgQ2k2CFkuRYgvse7jWqjsEt2lEzcSkQUoxzprVk/s200/jessica.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>Jessica Walter as the voice of Trogdorlina the Dragon</b><br />
<br />
Last season, the party defeated Trogdorlina's mate, but now she's back for revenge. Bigger, stronger and more pissed off that Trogdor, you can't have Dungeons & Dragons without a dragon, can you?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqmmD0DSlBUINv0aTMOT-jmIuLaNYLCZHnrX6QwhxLPIxCqu9WyjxrHXa4nqN5d4PPvR1NvahZfR6SbqsifYl94qC8CHCmxYMZTnXwql-eAJH5iJ3ILnAcbBdGauTsnvEAwjHAOXJ142x/s1600/chase.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqmmD0DSlBUINv0aTMOT-jmIuLaNYLCZHnrX6QwhxLPIxCqu9WyjxrHXa4nqN5d4PPvR1NvahZfR6SbqsifYl94qC8CHCmxYMZTnXwql-eAJH5iJ3ILnAcbBdGauTsnvEAwjHAOXJ142x/s200/chase.jpg" width="199" /></a></div>
<b>Chevy Chase as The King</b><br />
<br />
The King of Everything He Sees is finally revealed in the second season after being only mentioned in name last year. He turns out to be a childish and senile old bastard who made pacts with dark forces in exchange for power and long life. Those powers are now coming to collect and endanger the entire world, but the King is too mad and self-centered to notice or care. He leaves only pain and suffering in his wake and his selfish and evil advisers (including the Dark Lord) are all to happy to humour him in exchange for their own power.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
So that's my <i>dramatis personae</i> for Season 2. (<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/06/casting-dungeons-dragons-tv-show.html">Don't forget, Season 1 is right here</a>) Who would you cast in a D&D TV show?<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">You can also catch C.D. Gallant-King on his other blog, <a href="http://www.cdgallantking.ca/">Stories I Found in the Closet</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/cdgallantking">Twitter</a>. Oh, and hey, he wrote a book, too! <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Thousand-Days-C-D-Gallant-King/dp/1512305170">Ten Thousand Days by C.D. Gallant-King</a>, now available from Amazon.com.</span></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-44710473692914338192015-05-15T05:30:00.000-04:002015-05-15T07:02:47.087-04:00How Role-Playing Games Make You a Better Writer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJboj1jvTED27s1TSZ6ISc9NsG4-yLF8x9uK-b9z3BD4DJVOWImLyyr5W-xi4RngY5BryKBmmMPXWimt0rT1F3YsMLsZy6Z7kog2O4UhegSUrjPwnoMlsXd9I_x5hKyfWqWgmhn_kq0EDK/s1600/melty+clock.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJboj1jvTED27s1TSZ6ISc9NsG4-yLF8x9uK-b9z3BD4DJVOWImLyyr5W-xi4RngY5BryKBmmMPXWimt0rT1F3YsMLsZy6Z7kog2O4UhegSUrjPwnoMlsXd9I_x5hKyfWqWgmhn_kq0EDK/s320/melty+clock.png" width="303" /></a></div>
It's probably not the reason you're thinking.<br />
<br />
<i>Full disclosure: My <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Thousand-Days-C-D-Gallant-King-ebook/dp/B00X94YKIM">debut novel</a> is now available as an eBook on Amazon. The following is a description of a gaming trick that worked for me, that helped me to develop better stories. You may not find the same thing to be true, and you may completely disagree with me and think I'm full of shit. That's okay. I respect your right to be wrong.</i><br />
<br />
When most young writers start playing role-playing games, especially Game-Mastering, they fall into a very common trap (I know I did) - they write their story and expect the other players/PCs to follow through it. The would-be writer doesn't want the players to be active members of the narrative - they want the party to stumble through his detailed adventure/novel, hitting HIS beats and telling the stories the way HE wants them told.<br />
<br />
How do you know your GM is one of those who just runs you through the script of his novels? The following are pretty obvious tells:<br />
<br />
<i>"You can't do that!"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"You're not supposed to do it that way!"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"That's not what I had planned!"</i><br />
<br />
I know I've probably said all of those things at one point or another (though hopefully not recently). They are not really the sign of someone who didn't prepare enough so much as somehow who prepared too much - and really wants to make certain he gets all his shit in.<br />
<br />
So yeah, you can write a novel, plop your players into it and slog through it, but that doesn't make you a better writer, and makes you a downright shitty GM. So what the hell am I talking about?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhVUQ9K4Z7jwbLgj4t6NCCsX1XPqwpn2b64h4yIPUcwYo3nZEe6cIyOtNFdGm7Cs458F6AEW9LsTwYg0mgVZeOcAzrOVNNetiOCGz-bRtuAsmcPhvpfMTwXKadkeOQksgZHAJ8fuHEVCNk/s1600/binder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhVUQ9K4Z7jwbLgj4t6NCCsX1XPqwpn2b64h4yIPUcwYo3nZEe6cIyOtNFdGm7Cs458F6AEW9LsTwYg0mgVZeOcAzrOVNNetiOCGz-bRtuAsmcPhvpfMTwXKadkeOQksgZHAJ8fuHEVCNk/s320/binder.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>For reference, this is too many notes for your novel OR your D&D adventure.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The best part of any role-playing game is the unexpected part(s). The players will come up with stuff you didn't plan for, and you often have to improvise to keep the story going. <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/04/my-top-6-campaigns-of-all-time-part-1.html">One of the players kills the big villain</a> in cold blood half-way through the adventure. One of the player characters <a href="http://www.cdgallantking.ca/2014/12/made-to-suffer-season-1-episode-4.html">kills another player character out of the blue</a> but actually makes perfect sense in retrospect. One of the players <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/04/my-top-6-campaigns-of-all-time-part-2.html">randomly declares he's another character's brother</a>, even though (unbeknownst to the player), the character is a Cylon. Someone <a href="http://outofcontextdnd.tumblr.com/">says something really stupid</a>. These create wrinkles that make the game memorable. These are the moments you talk about for years to come, especially if you work them into the mythos of the campaign and they become canon.<br />
<br />
You know what are also the best parts of many works of fiction? The unexpected parts. So many books, especially genre fiction, are pretty paint-by-numbers, and you can see every twist and turn of the plot coming a mile away. When something surprises you, hits you right in the feels, it makes that memorable mark on you the same way a surprise moment in a game does.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2MPIlFHq7AV1L3-yC8PxvnhOfZNABSEmeliTeXkyC4RddX_E4ZWSGjlu8JWx8BxhC_oNsp_cxAM6oGtzJiab6tu31ShXNhlL6Yrvu2TZS8fo0amnU5W9NI2_YJL_UciagGezfHVemYGCp/s1600/tableflip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2MPIlFHq7AV1L3-yC8PxvnhOfZNABSEmeliTeXkyC4RddX_E4ZWSGjlu8JWx8BxhC_oNsp_cxAM6oGtzJiab6tu31ShXNhlL6Yrvu2TZS8fo0amnU5W9NI2_YJL_UciagGezfHVemYGCp/s320/tableflip.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bit of advice: Don't surprise a wookiee during a game of Monopoly.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Take for instance <i>A Game of Thrones</i> (I hear it's pretty popular these days). At the end of the book *SPOILER* a major character dies rather suddenly and unexpectedly (though upon further re-reads he totally deserves it). It was a defining moment in the series that sets it apart from other fantasy series: anything can and will happen in these books.<br />
<br />
You know how that scene played out in Martin's D&D game the night before he wrote it?<br />
<br />
<i><b>Player One</b> (playing Ned)<b>:</b> Okay, so we've got a plan? I'm going to go to the Wall, raise an army, then come back to protect King's Landing.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b>Player Two</b> (playing Cersei)<b>:</b> Perfect! I'll hold down the fort and stir up distrust against the Targaryans. We want the people on our side when the bitch with the dragons comes back. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b>Player Three</b> (playing Joffrey)<b>:</b> OFF WITH HIS HEAD!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b>Player One and Two: </b>WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b>Player Three: </b>I'm the king now. I can do whatever the hell I want!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b>Player One:</b> But you... but we... </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b style="font-style: italic;">Martin </b><i>(as Game Master)</i><b style="font-style: italic;">: *</b><b>rolls*</b><i> He makes his command check. The headsman nods and attacks Ned with Ice, which is +4 to hit and automatically decapitates on a 19 or better... *</i><b>rolls*</b><i> NATURAL TWENTY!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><b>Player One</b>: FUCK! I was level 12, you fucking bastard!</i><br />
<br />
You know that's exactly how it went down.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv426QlZv7DccsaSEoJZkXcMoruJgPJXzl87oJQI2p0VTxc1DN8xS8O4rTNeEiGohuTzrgAHlK-pajfd4gZ393sw033erR7GpRL_vWezouwAEd9C5IjeAa8zLfraJxdMNTkhmCANZ4b9K4/s1600/stupidface.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv426QlZv7DccsaSEoJZkXcMoruJgPJXzl87oJQI2p0VTxc1DN8xS8O4rTNeEiGohuTzrgAHlK-pajfd4gZ393sw033erR7GpRL_vWezouwAEd9C5IjeAa8zLfraJxdMNTkhmCANZ4b9K4/s320/stupidface.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pictured: Your little brother's character in like, every game. Ever.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Those are the kinds of moments you want to embrace. Those are the feelings of shock, awe and wonder you want in your writing. You don't necessarily have to kill off characters to get it (though that is the quick and easy way). But don't be afraid to add weird, interesting things for the sake of throwing in weird and interesting things.<br />
<br />
Some people plot their novels to death, outlining every scene, every line in advance so they know exactly what will happen. This certainly has a place, but you also need to have room to explore and be creative and let unexpected things happen.<br />
<br />
There are lots of weird things in my book, <i>Ten Thousand Days</i>. It starts off (after the prologue, anyway) as a very normal, real-world story. There's a few brief flutters of oddness but it stays fairly grounded until the weirdness grows more and more frequent. At the half-way mark reality goes out the window and we enter completely into a surreal fantasy world. Some of the oddness in the first part foreshadows this, some of is doesn't. There are a lot of odd goings-on in the second half that I throw out there but never really explain, and that was very much on purpose. The main character doesn't understand what's going on around him, and neither should the reader. They should experience the same unnerving sense of wrongness as our hero. When he does find something that makes sense that he can latch onto, it becomes important to him and he needs this thread of reality to keep him going, so I explain it more for the reader as well.<br />
<br />
Basically he has his quest/adventure laid out, but there are lots of bits of set dressing thrown on top. This is the same as the fluff the GM adds to his game, or the stupid shit the players make up to entertain themselves. It doesn't always make sense right away, but it becomes part of your world and if you embrace it, it creates the best memories.<br />
<br />
<i><b>How do role-playing games affect your writing? Or your enjoyment in reading, for that matter? Do you read books and watch movies and automatically view them through the filter of an RPG?</b></i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLSDmNkFvI6MxnFXBpeBlnuQ_cJhckNLYddLwpwRLT8loGP-ZbHkNpC-X61hKOCKVI1g68ywXIuPg5faC2nqcKdsYj0kFbI1l5usQp9U17X4B2uDZw0HC9dIb8V1kTmgOdJU_TKFAwkwnd/s1600/Ten_Thousand_Days_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLSDmNkFvI6MxnFXBpeBlnuQ_cJhckNLYddLwpwRLT8loGP-ZbHkNpC-X61hKOCKVI1g68ywXIuPg5faC2nqcKdsYj0kFbI1l5usQp9U17X4B2uDZw0HC9dIb8V1kTmgOdJU_TKFAwkwnd/s400/Ten_Thousand_Days_crop.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
<br />
My debut novel, <i>Ten Thousand Days</i>, is now available as an eBook on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Thousand-Days-C-D-Gallant-King-ebook/dp/B00X94YKIM">Amazon</a> sites worldwide as well as <a href="https://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/ten-thousand-days-2">Kobobooks</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-91227516450820393402015-03-29T07:00:00.000-04:002015-04-13T16:13:43.433-04:00Steal this New MapAfter watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBEACD05FBA0BD15A" target="_blank"><b>these videos</b></a> , I started playing around and drawing up some topographical maps in photoshop. They aren't my typical style, but I think my first effort turned out pretty decent.<br />
<br />
So, here you go. Key up this map and use it for your game. The only thing I ask is that if you post it on your blog/Twitter/Google+/Facebook that you link back to here, or <a href="https://twitter.com/ruleofthedice" target="_blank">my Twitter</a>, <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/114585843670929653183/posts" target="_blank">my Google+</a>, or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ruleofthedice" target="_blank">my Facebook page</a>. Have fun.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8MmK-tB6Uf_VEQyTmZGTFVWVUU/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img alt="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8MmK-tB6Uf_VEQyTmZGTFVWVUU/view?usp=sharing" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-68u_bEXQnPA/VRX6cVWDCrI/AAAAAAAABlU/W1o0bFSAvb0/s1600/10x10%2Bmap.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
The picture is quite large, so don't forget to zoom in to see the details.<i> </i><br />
.........................................<br />
<i>Several people have inquired whether they
could my maps in their commercial (for profit) projects. The answer is: No, you cannot use these maps for any commercial project. Read
the creative commons copyright below.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>But, if you are a DIY RPG person, with little to no money, and really want to use one of the maps for something that you're
working on, that might earn you a bit of money, let me know. We can
talk, and if I like your thing, I will most likely let you use my maps
for free.</i><br />
<br />
<i> </i> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/88x31.png" style="border-width: 0;" /></a> This <span href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage" rel="dct:type" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/">work</span> by <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#">John Williams</a> is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada License</a>John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05940190831705865182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-19741607835183573492015-01-30T07:00:00.000-05:002015-01-30T07:00:01.434-05:00Time Keeps On Slippin' Slippin' Slippin'...Anyone who is a regular reader of this blog (there are at least 2 or 3 of you, right??) will notice a distinct lack of posts over the last 3 months or so. If I were getting paid for this, I'm sure I would have been fired by now. Between the holidays, work, and some other <a href="http://jsalv.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">hobbies</a>, I haven't had time to write. In fact I haven't even had time to play any games. So this brings up the point of this post: How do you find time to play?<br />
<br />
A <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/12/can-you-tell-if-people-are-having-fun.html" target="_blank">couple of posts ago</a> I talked about my new <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/05/when-pbem-is-best-method-of-playing.html" target="_blank">PBEM</a> game. It fell apart soon after that post. I take a <br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hx7y8HDXaUk/VMrWdWAly-I/AAAAAAAAAWg/9krV1TsCjBI/s1600/tumblr_mol0z1IQoW1s4jdggo1_250.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hx7y8HDXaUk/VMrWdWAly-I/AAAAAAAAAWg/9krV1TsCjBI/s1600/tumblr_mol0z1IQoW1s4jdggo1_250.gif" height="142" width="200" /></a>huge part of the blame for it, as I tried to build intrigue and world events before I built any reason for the players to care for their characters. I also didn't introduce the combat mechanics soon enough, so I think the players weren't sure how to react to events as they didn't know how easily they could die. Beyond these issues though, was also just a lack of time on everyone's part. At first everyone posted a response once a day, or occasionally within 48 hours. By the time I gave up, I was getting one or two responses a week. I may try again with a simplified introduction in a little while.<br />
<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51OSQGY7JTL.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51OSQGY7JTL.jpg" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eza8_OSrSTQ/VMrYLxJuHuI/AAAAAAAAAW8/xxvSLqHE5O0/s1600/untitled.png" height="200" width="121" /></a><br />
In my board-game group things have fallen apart as well. Other than the <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2015/01/touching-can-also-be-funny.html" target="_blank">wedding</a> I posted about here, there has only been 1 or 2 get togethers of that <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/05/its-not-what-but-rather-who.html" target="_blank">group</a>, and I missed them due to work. Actually, thinking about it, work has been the reason I've missed a lot of social engagements lately. I'm at work right now, typing up this post... (don't tell da boss!).<br />
<br />
Even my <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/12/how-to-run-long-term-zombie-apocalypse.html" target="_blank">online</a> <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/09/characters-can-be-crazy.html" target="_blank">RPG</a> dates have fallen by the wayside. To paraphrase quote another of our players / GM's: <br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZBh4KVSXbxI/VMrXhQOMEeI/AAAAAAAAAW4/KgAB9plGCHs/s1600/intime2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZBh4KVSXbxI/VMrXhQOMEeI/AAAAAAAAAW4/KgAB9plGCHs/s1600/intime2.jpg" height="126" title="" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How it feels trying to organize<br />
a game night.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"I want to play a game but honestly I don't even have the time to organize it. If someone else can herd people to a time and place, then I will do my best to be there. ... If we don't have a regular schedule, someone needs to be the cheerleader to organize the game. ... I don't know if I have the drive to overcome the inertia to say 'so when are we playing?' every two or three weeks. Please, someone else take over that responsibility."</div>
<br />
As much as we all want to play, none of us has stepped up to organize it yet, and I think it's because we're all just as busy. <br />
<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aaWd-mU8tVM/VMrWezRDk2I/AAAAAAAAAWo/B_zXhZ2dbLk/s1600/cutitout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aaWd-mU8tVM/VMrWezRDk2I/AAAAAAAAAWo/B_zXhZ2dbLk/s1600/cutitout.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></div>
So here's the question of the day: How do YOU make time for gaming? Do you have a regularly scheduled session? Is there a single person who is the driving force? Do you cut something else out of your life to fit it in?<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-16892653475991916342015-01-09T08:00:00.000-05:002015-01-09T08:00:07.938-05:00Touching Can Also Be Funny.<div class="Textbody" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">Hmmm, that title doesn't quite sound right. Oh well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;"> Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of Alex and Emily, two of the people in my current table top gaming group. They play with us a lot less often than I'd like, but that's only because they currently live in the UK and can only play when they come back to Canada for a visit. Ironically, the first visit back from England that we played at, they introduced us to <a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/41569/great-fire-london-1666" target="_blank">Great Fire of London:1666</a>. At the wedding, another from our group, the brilliant <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kathryn.kaehler" target="_blank">Kathryn K</a> gave one of the most impressive wedding speeches I've ever heard. Here it is in all of its unabashed glory:</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZDWktDwlnkk/VK631S2lSrI/AAAAAAAAAVo/LtHOn2vL64o/s1600/Untitled-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZDWktDwlnkk/VK631S2lSrI/AAAAAAAAAVo/LtHOn2vL64o/s1600/Untitled-1.png" height="196" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kathryn and the Astronaut</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">"Friends and family, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">3 years ago I met Alex and
Emily working at St. Michael's College School and it was the greatest things
about working there.... that and meeting Chris Hadfield, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">that was pretty great-
Alex and Emily are a very close second to Chris Hadfield.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;"> They've
asked me to say something today and I'm honoured to do so but I think is a real
roll of the dice, they're playing with fire asking me to do this, but Alex and
Emily have always enjoyed playing games and make a great team.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;"> I</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">m so pleased you</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">ve decided to play <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/en_US/shop/details.cfm?R=8F0B88A4-6D40-1014-8BF0-9EFBF894F9D4:en_US" target="_blank">The Game of Life</a> together, I know it will only be one of many games you will play. Alex
you have a <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/en_CA/" target="_blank">Monopoly</a> over Emily</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">s heart, as Emily, you rule
<a href="http://riograndegames.com/Game/278-Dominion" target="_blank">Dominion</a> over his. Marriage is a <a href="http://www.hasbrogames.com/en-us/product/risk-game:34DA36C9-5056-900B-10A4-3B04F9EA5D3E" target="_blank">Risk</a>: Keeping your partner happy can be a
delicate <a href="http://www.hasbrogames.com/en-us/product/operation-game:86309B1C-5056-9047-F544-77FCCCF4C38F" target="_blank">Operation</a>, but it is also a <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/en_US/shop/details.cfm?R=C4E461C2-5056-9047-F5F7-F005920A3999:en_US" target="_blank">Candy Land</a> of opportunity. Don't let any
of the <a href="http://us.asmodee.com/ressources/jeux_versions/ghost-stories_2.php" target="_blank">Ghost Stories</a> people tell about marriage scare you, </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">although marriage does
take </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">work. You must learn to say you</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">re <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/en_US/shop/details.cfm?R=590E1934-5056-9047-F59F-9F4E9B948900:en_US" target="_blank">Sorry</a> when you get into
<a href="http://www.hasbro.com/en_CA/shop/details.cfm?R=861A1979-5056-9047-F547-FF2711C8C223:en_CA" target="_blank">Trouble</a>, let nothing become <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/en_US/shop/details.cfm?R=304C0329-5056-9047-F5D1-8C8A886E0D35:en_US" target="_blank">Taboo</a> and love each others little <a href="http://www.mindware.com/qwirkle-a2-32016.fltr" target="_blank">Qwirkles</a>.
Stepping through the <a href="http://valvesoftware.com/games/portal.html" target="_blank">Portal</a> into married life, it brings with it a kind of
<a href="http://www.northstargames.com/products/evolution" target="_blank">Evolution</a>. From this point onward you will share everything. What is mine will
be yours, and what is yours will be <a href="https://minecraft.net/" target="_blank">Mine</a>. <a href="https://minecraft.net/" target="_blank">Craft</a> your relationship so that none
may shake it, and when you have no <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/en_US/shop/details.cfm?R=940119D4-6D40-1014-8BF0-9EFBF894F9D4:en_US" target="_blank">Clue</a> what to do, <a href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=ah/prod/diplomacy" target="_blank">Diplomacy</a> will be the
answer. Let commitment, compassion and a sense of adventure be your <a href="http://www.daysofwonder.com/tickettoride/en/usa/" target="_blank">Ticket to Ride</a> wherever life may take you.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-msQZAOWw0u0/VK7IltphH0I/AAAAAAAAAWA/kw5i7PObNXE/s1600/10381978_744485138968241_6754018398508339467_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-msQZAOWw0u0/VK7IltphH0I/AAAAAAAAAWA/kw5i7PObNXE/s1600/10381978_744485138968241_6754018398508339467_n.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="http://www.jenniferxuphotography.com/" target="_blank">Jennifer Xu Photography</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;"> You
will not be alone in this- We are all here for you. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;"> To all those here today.
This is a moment of <a href="http://magic.wizards.com/" target="_blank">Magic</a>. <a href="http://magic.wizards.com/" target="_blank">The Gathering</a> of this group of family and friends
has the power to do wonderful things. This is a <a href="http://www.alderac.com/smashup" target="_blank">Smash Up</a> of so many different
ideals and experiences that together we have everything it takes to support
Alex and Emily on their <a href="http://thatgamecompany.com/games/journey/" target="_blank">Journey</a>. We must offer no <a href="http://www.indieboardsandcards.com/resistance.php" target="_blank">Resistance</a>, but instead give
our unwavering support for their goals, and <a href="http://www.hasbrogames.com/en-us/product/guess-who-game:8631B3F1-5056-9047-F534-A561DDDAC056" target="_blank">Guess Who</a> is going to be there on
the darker days when a <a href="http://www.atlas-games.com/gloom/" target="_blank">Gloom</a> falls. And if they should decide to add their own
little <a href="http://www.worldofmunchkin.com/game/" target="_blank">Munchkin</a> to the world, it will be welcome into the hearts of everyone
present here today. Wherever you two find yourself in this <a href="http://www.daysofwonder.com/smallworld/en/" target="_blank">Small World</a>: <a href="http://riograndegames.com/games.html?id=4" target="_blank">Puerto Rico</a>, <a href="http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/board-games/lords-waterdeep" target="_blank">Waterdeep</a> or in grand <a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=31" target="_blank">Citadels</a>, you will always have friends near.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;"> Alex
and Emily have custom made each other's rings, may they be a <a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=29" target="_blank">Talisman</a> of their
love for each other. May each one of us <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/scrabble/en_US/" target="_blank">Scrabble</a> to be the first by their side
in times of need and celebration. And may I be only one of many to tell you
both how happy am I for you, how much I love you both and what a wonderful team
you make... <a href="http://www.catan.com/" target="_blank">Settlers of Catan</a>."</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WIsVvgTCY7w/VK7IEoSU59I/AAAAAAAAAV4/3cchAkdGvHQ/s1600/10888352_744485118968243_2053424254580788897_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WIsVvgTCY7w/VK7IEoSU59I/AAAAAAAAAV4/3cchAkdGvHQ/s1600/10888352_744485118968243_2053424254580788897_n.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex & Emily. Photo by <a href="http://www.jenniferxuphotography.com/" target="_blank">Jennifer Xu Photography</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">As you can guess, we were all in stitches by the end of this. So this post is dedicated to Alex and Emily, and brought to you by the letter K.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-38249330085840102082014-12-17T06:27:00.000-05:002014-12-17T06:34:35.291-05:00Review: Silent Night, Darkest Night<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQKnAfFgIYT6X5FoQ6iytKxsQbezTGOtxvY4EQcq3uAKUlS6YfYRrT8Cgc9KGkfQWuHId4nZdr4r94R5wD31l_V9IuzE65ngyf8GmUZsl63q3qdzQFykpKispfRanFIgEnaTnwSgjZ5av/s1600/141520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQKnAfFgIYT6X5FoQ6iytKxsQbezTGOtxvY4EQcq3uAKUlS6YfYRrT8Cgc9KGkfQWuHId4nZdr4r94R5wD31l_V9IuzE65ngyf8GmUZsl63q3qdzQFykpKispfRanFIgEnaTnwSgjZ5av/s1600/141520.jpg" height="400" width="295" /></a></div>
<i>"You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen. The other reindeer from that song have all been eaten, by Rudolph. This monstrous reindeer was made fun of when he was growing up, but then he kept growing, dwarfing the other reindeer by the time he was an adolescent. Their jibes about his size finally got to him, and he lashed out, killing at least three other reindeer before Santa was able to chase him away using his Christmas magic. Now Rudolph plots revenge against Santa, the elves, and the other reindeer, and he has been studying dark magics which make him more powerful than any reindeer before him. His nose now glows not with Christmas magic, but with seething hatred, and its red color is the product of the fresh blood which covers Rudolph’s face after feeding on the flesh of the living, which he must do every few hours in order to power his profane magic."</i><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
- From Silent Night, Darkest Night</div>
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In honour of the Holiday Season (the "Christmas" Season, for you <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxhPjAAOqrU&feature=youtu.be">non-PC types out there</a>), I thought I should pick-up and discuss something appropriately festive. Normally I <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/07/review-fox-magic-furries-rpg.html">hate writing reviews</a>, but this particular item caught my eye and I really wanted to check it out and share it with you. Not to mention all proceeds go to <a href="http://www.rcrfcharity.org/">RPG Creators Relief Fund</a>, so I get to cover my holiday-charity-guilt at the same time as coming up with some content. It's a win-win.<br />
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<a href="http://fatgoblingames.com/">Fat Goblin Games</a>' <a href="http://www.rpgnow.com/product/141520/Fat-Goblin-Games-Presents-Silent-Night-Darkest-Night"><i>Silent Night, Darkest Night</i></a> is my favourite type of book - one in which I can't tell if the creators are being serious or not. It's a short (28-pages including covers, intro, table of content, OGL, etc - so about 22 pages of actual content), mini-campaign guide to the denizens and locales of the "North Pole." It's the kind of thing I would <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/09/sodor-stories-thomas-tank-engine-rpg.html">slap together as a half-assed blog post</a> for a joke, but the FGG guys put it together in a beautiful package with lovely illustrations and a nice layout (the holly/bloody parchment motif on each page is particularly choice).<br />
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It's designed for the Pathfinder system, but that means it's easily adaptable to any d20-based system. The stat blocks are standard and well laid out, and very visually similar to the stat blocks from D&D 4E. (I'm not super familiar with Pathfinder - is that a Pathfinder thing or unique to Fat Goblin Games?)<br />
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Anyway, the antognists are (mostly) all familiar, such as Abominable Snowmen, Cobbler Elves, Emperor Penguins(!), and Silver Bells (which are 7-foot tall violent metal flowers). There's also a tattooed sylphan gunslinger Mrs. Claus and Rudolph the Bloodthirty Megatherium, as well as the obligatory visit from Krampus. Oh, and Santa Claus is a goat. (Apparently <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joulupukki">this is a thing</a>)<br />
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There's also a couple of very nice North Pole maps, some arctic exploration equipment and a handful of appropriately themed magic items. While not particularly exciting in effect, just saying your character is wearing a <i>Cloak of the Yeti</i> and wielding a <i>Mammoth Lance</i> is pretty badass.<br />
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The best part, as I eluded to, is that everything is presented completely straight and serious. Even Jolakuttar the Festive Cat, who sneaks into villages to devour misbehaved children. You could play this material completely absurb and silly, or go balls to the wall creepy and dark in the other direction (because seriously, a 200-pound tabby that eats kids who don't make their beds is fucked up). Personally I would aim somewhere in the middle, skewing toward the absurd and occasionally swinging back to the dark just to keep people on their toes. But that's just me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFS2FzJH94OMg46Tza2mrQbPjjSshyphenhyphenqhysoG8NaO7iB12mPayMwc-UIixsUKzKwEy0Z4JxIzcVDAXOpyDsU-ENk_TpPWeps6bIF3BEckKhcbjXDEmeBGVuPo19qT3P7Q5tyJmdMm4FVIO/s1600/rbzkfxd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFS2FzJH94OMg46Tza2mrQbPjjSshyphenhyphenqhysoG8NaO7iB12mPayMwc-UIixsUKzKwEy0Z4JxIzcVDAXOpyDsU-ENk_TpPWeps6bIF3BEckKhcbjXDEmeBGVuPo19qT3P7Q5tyJmdMm4FVIO/s1600/rbzkfxd.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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All in all, the folks at FGG put some love and care into a great little source book, especially one that is available for practically nothing (it's <a href="http://www.rpgnow.com/product/141520/Fat-Goblin-Games-Presents-Silent-Night-Darkest-Night">Pay-What-You-Want at RPGNow.com</a>) - though again, anything you do pay goes directly to a good cause. Do yourself a favour and pick one up this Holiday Season. You might even bump yourself up a couple of spots on the Nice List.<br />
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I don't know if I'm going to have time to run a game over the holidays, but if I do I will definitely find some way to jam this material into it. Even if it's my dark modern <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/dcc-funnel-walking-dead-style.html">zombie survival game</a>.<br />
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And with that, Happy Holidays, everyone! Stay safe and enjoy your eggnog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-10844404278245402802014-12-05T05:30:00.000-05:002014-12-05T05:30:00.428-05:00How to Run a Long-Term Zombie Apocalypse Game<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhschQfFWT-QZpgszhwNl_v8wdeuxUvev0R7Qf1nHRhDgLe1xFLRD1V-ZszPlOehbzwso3Ns4Qu2vQ83UBSjzUWdrxnUOGY0pLLyEKuY7iH1pCxVnhvr8GFBVkzEKWmvMFlBdgCL5ORxU3S/s1600/walkingdead1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhschQfFWT-QZpgszhwNl_v8wdeuxUvev0R7Qf1nHRhDgLe1xFLRD1V-ZszPlOehbzwso3Ns4Qu2vQ83UBSjzUWdrxnUOGY0pLLyEKuY7iH1pCxVnhvr8GFBVkzEKWmvMFlBdgCL5ORxU3S/s1600/walkingdead1.png" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
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In the past few weeks I've written a bunch about zombie apocalypse games (I blame it on <a href="http://geek.cheezburger.com/walkingdead">The Walking Dead</a>). I've also been running my regular group through bi-weekly "<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/dcc-funnel-walking-dead-style.html">zombie grinder</a>" sessions, which is basically DCC Funnel adventures but set in a modern zombie apocalypse. It's a <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/killing-characters-is-fun.html">hilarious good time</a> but not a basis for a long-term campaign, so I've been trying to come up with some ways to stretch it out and get some more mileage out of a pretty simple premise.<br />
<br />
I realized that <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/10-zombie-survival-intro-scenarios.html">zombie apocalypse scenarios</a>, as depicted in movies, books and games, can be broken down into three distinct stages (there may be more, but three works well for my purposes). Each stage comes with its own story possibilities and game mechanics, which will hopefully revitalize the players help the game go longer.<br />
<br />
Tell me what you think:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>PART 1: THE FALL</b></span><br />
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Civilization is crumbling. Humankind has been struck by a terrible plague that is killing people by the millions and causing them to rise from the dead as mindless cannibals. Those that survived the initial infection are now fighting those monsters, as well as other survivors, in a desperate attempt to find food, weapons and shelter. Few will make it far.<br />
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This is the phase of the game that follows the "Funnel-Grinder" system. Each player gets 4 characters, and PC mortality is high. Characters die quickly, and only the strongest and/or luckiest survive. The randomness and chaos is the fun and joy at this stage, as a single failed save or attack roll could spell the end of any PC at a moment's notice.<br />
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The key is that (hopefully) those few who survive this stage will be extra-tough and ready, with developed personalities and back-stories leading into...<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">STAGE 2: SURVIVE</span></b><br />
<br />
Civilization is gone. A handful of people and small communities still exist, but they are few and far between, and hopelessly outnumbered by the listless dead. Those that survive at the toughest of the tough - the brave, the cunning, the quick and the merciless. Finding food and shelter continues to be a daily struggle, but those who live in this world are used to it and know how to handle themselves, whatever the heartless land throws at them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKIPG9qIX34emSGTzNa6pjqDoYCO8SCbC-jkqLxlsO7NC3B-9X7R0Fxz-LajY8pSryY4J_Ad1aKUvSAF7hjWlhwJ-nSywM8RJQr1tYUdc19rbVVqTTVU3749P1uasJIpRza3dg1JU2xdV/s1600/Pages+from+The+Dead.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKIPG9qIX34emSGTzNa6pjqDoYCO8SCbC-jkqLxlsO7NC3B-9X7R0Fxz-LajY8pSryY4J_Ad1aKUvSAF7hjWlhwJ-nSywM8RJQr1tYUdc19rbVVqTTVU3749P1uasJIpRza3dg1JU2xdV/s1600/Pages+from+The+Dead.png" height="400" width="316" /></a></div>
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<i>My favourite zombie-related art of all time, and I don't even know if the dude with the deep fryer on his head is actually a zombie or not. And I don't care. From <a href="http://www.magcloud.com/user/kregmosier">Kreg Mosier's</a> "The Dead."</i></div>
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This is the stage where the player characters become heroes (or villains). They reach level 1 and continue to advance, developing new skills and abilities to make them a threat to the living dead. They can compete against cutthroat bandits and looters that roam the countryside - or maybe they become those very villains.<br />
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Relationships are important at this stage. Other people keep you sane and help you to remember your humanity. Losing people (or refusing to seek them out) turns you into a unfeeling shadow of a human being. These mechanics will borrow shamelessly from Kreg Mosier's excellent game "<a href="http://www.magcloud.com/user/kregmosier">The Dead</a>." Death will still be a real and constant threat, but it shouldn't be as severe as stage one. They characters are able to withstand a few bumps and bruises now, and are more capable of handling tougher opponents. Because of this, hopefully those deaths that do occur will have more meaning.<br />
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Of course, growing stronger will draw attention to the player characters, eventually bringing us to...<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">STAGE THREE: REBUILD</span></b><br />
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I admit, this part of the game was entirely inspired by <a href="http://northwaygames.com/">Sarah Northway's great game "Rebuild.</a>"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2xLbaC3vE1tof99OoPjWuBzsJVbA5GfJHPO9nibVIKsJ0fvZQn1glDTzI14TyI2GDVjVTdXccNkrZl_EZTkFQKE8t6euOXCt_CF6MuTSl2TGvoowBc6CCFKvvG5zNIddKN_d5If1sW9on/s1600/rebuild-for-ipad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2xLbaC3vE1tof99OoPjWuBzsJVbA5GfJHPO9nibVIKsJ0fvZQn1glDTzI14TyI2GDVjVTdXccNkrZl_EZTkFQKE8t6euOXCt_CF6MuTSl2TGvoowBc6CCFKvvG5zNIddKN_d5If1sW9on/s1600/rebuild-for-ipad.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>It's like SimCity, but with zombies. You have no idea how many hours I've wasted on this game.</i></div>
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Humanity has reached a point where it can start clawing its way back from the brink. Survivor camps turn into small towns, and eventually stronger fortifications with farmland, homes, schools, churches. The dead (and bandits) are still out there, but a few strong, capable leaders can build new safe havens, and protect the last vestiges of humanity against the encroaching darkness.<br />
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At this point, the player characters now have people relying on them to keep them safe. They have to decide how to protect their town, who to trust, how to balance their resources between fortifying, patrolling, scavenging, farming. When it's time to go scout areas for supplies or build defensive bunkers or clear out bandit camps, the players can take over new bands of 0-level survivors, or resolve the scene with a few quick rolls. Either way, it is their choices that will now determine the lives of dozens, maybe hundreds of other people. It's a different sort of resource management and almost a whole new game.<br />
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--<br />
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The three levels are not completely linear. Maybe some folks like the idea of running a town and jump right to the Rebuild phase. Some people may detest that idea and don't bother with it at all. You can step backward, too. If someone loses all their Leveled characters in the Survivor phase, it's recommended they grab 4 new 0-levels and grind out a new "Survivor." Perhaps during the Rebuild phase, the players decide to take out their "good" characters on a particularly-tough mission, which would basically be stepping back to Stage 2.<br />
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Or maybe, during the Rebuild stage, shit really hits the fan and the players are FORCED back into Stage 2 (or lower)...<br />
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Anyway, these are my ideas for stretching out a zombie apocalypse game. It will still never have the long-term, endless potential of something like Dungeons & Dragons, but it could work for much longer than a one-off lark on a Friday night.<br />
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I plan on running one last "grinder" game this weekend, and I hope a handful of playable characters will survive that can go on to phase 2 and become even more memorable. Will we still be playing this game and these characters 5 years from now? I seriously fucking doubt it, but at least now we have the option to do so...<br />
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So what do you think? Does this game have legs?<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-52016068678779267702014-12-04T06:00:00.000-05:002014-12-04T06:00:00.308-05:00You Can Never Have Too Many Campaign IdeasI am somehow at a time in my life where I'm running, or playing, all the games. So, now I get to bore everyone with all the weird ideas I have for campaigns. Here goes...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Mythical/Heroic Ireland</b></span><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UD9KwDX77Jc/VH-ALbdFbPI/AAAAAAAABic/fKwthFrw-x8/s1600/pic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UD9KwDX77Jc/VH-ALbdFbPI/AAAAAAAABic/fKwthFrw-x8/s1600/pic2.jpg" height="145" width="200" /></a><b> System:</b> D&D<br />
There is a lot of fodder for a good campaign in the myth cycles of Ireland. Giants, wizards, kings with silver arms, gods from weird magic islands, who fly around in spaceships, and of course, a huge bucket full of fey folk, curses, geas, and all the other wacky Celtic shit you can think up.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Renaissance Call of <span class="st">Cthulhu</span></b></span><br />
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<b><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B_A88fcxoZY/VH-AYfRT-lI/AAAAAAAABik/hoxltLdp2-Q/s1600/Canaletto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B_A88fcxoZY/VH-AYfRT-lI/AAAAAAAABik/hoxltLdp2-Q/s1600/Canaletto.jpg" height="135" width="200" /></a></b></div>
<b>System: </b> Call of <span class="st">Cthulhu, or Harnmaster with insanity rules.</span><br />
Kind of a wacky Leonardo Da Vinci investigates fucked up horror stuff in the Italian city states vibe. Most likely a bunch of church corruption and conspiracies, secret cultists, and all the usual good <span class="st">ol' Cthulhu</span> stuff, mingled with a bit of X Files monster of the week.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Apocalyptic Nazi's in space</b></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qZwNQq6iISo/VH-AsbtPf6I/AAAAAAAABis/8UxDXeQyW_w/s1600/6a00d8341bf67c53ef01538f36363d970b-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qZwNQq6iISo/VH-AsbtPf6I/AAAAAAAABis/8UxDXeQyW_w/s1600/6a00d8341bf67c53ef01538f36363d970b-800wi.jpg" height="110" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>System:</b> d6, or BRP<br />
Nazi's destroyed the world and moved to space, because of reasons. Now the only hope is a few ragged ass rebels to destroy this evil empire... wait, I think this has been done before. <br />
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This one is way overdone, and mostly stupid. But, who doesn't like killing nazi's, and getting to do it in spaceships is even more awesome. A one shot for sure.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Illuminatus Conspiracies </b></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q5-6mkK4Uyo/VH-AzSGjVII/AAAAAAAABi0/X4vqssOlbKs/s1600/51hnDH%2BJS6L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q5-6mkK4Uyo/VH-AzSGjVII/AAAAAAAABi0/X4vqssOlbKs/s1600/51hnDH%2BJS6L.jpg" height="200" width="134" /></a></div>
<b>System: </b>Maybe a hacked version of Paranoia <br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illuminatus!_Trilogy#Conspiracies" target="_blank">Wilson and Shea's opus </a>is filled with so much mind fuckable goodness, that it's hard to know where to start. With every conspiracy ever available to mess with, I think a giant random table, 2 hits of acid, and some fine hashish, are the best ways to proceed.<br />
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This would be a one shot, and everyone would die, go insane, or kill each other by the end.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>A somewhat realistic low magic <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrapsackWorld" target="_blank">dark/dung ages</a> type campaign</b></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bRMYeD4mnG4/VH-A_NWTfaI/AAAAAAAABi8/IvERuSXVOXo/s1600/the_dark_ages_by_jonasdero-d55wvrb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bRMYeD4mnG4/VH-A_NWTfaI/AAAAAAAABi8/IvERuSXVOXo/s1600/the_dark_ages_by_jonasdero-d55wvrb.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>System:</b> Harnmaster<br />
Everything starts bad, and just gets worse, and right when you thought there was light in the distance, it just turns out to be bandits come to rob you. Kind of an embrace the darkness, anti-heroism kind of thing.<br />
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Anyway, those are just a few ideas, you got any I can steal.John Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05940190831705865182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-34596599943289961832014-12-01T07:00:00.000-05:002014-12-01T07:00:00.941-05:00Can You Tell If People Are Having Fun Over The Internet?As I posted about <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/09/alternate-rpg-settings.html" target="_blank">here</a>, I had been toying with GMing a new game. Well it has come to fruition. My group has started a <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/05/when-pbem-is-best-method-of-playing.html" target="_blank">PBEM</a> (play by e-mail) game, set in the world of <a href="http://www.robinhobb.com/novels/" target="_blank">Robin Hobb's Farseer books</a>.<br />
We've only been going for about 2 weeks now, which isn't very long in PBEM time, but I'm already having doubts. The problem is, I can't tell if my players are having any fun.<br />
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The start of an adventure is always tedious. Players aren't sure who the other PC's are, or where they are supposed to fit in. As GM, I never know how much infomation to give. So far my adventure is pretty open. The King has given the party a task, but how they go about it, and what they discover along the way is up to them. I do have a general story in mind, but if they take a left turn, I'm happy to adjust and improvise. And as a PBEM, that's much easier for me as I have time to think about any changes.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l6ddoVxYZvc/VHlIJur2I6I/AAAAAAAAAVM/DUvuV3TVrCQ/s1600/wizard-behind-curtain1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l6ddoVxYZvc/VHlIJur2I6I/AAAAAAAAAVM/DUvuV3TVrCQ/s1600/wizard-behind-curtain1.gif" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Where I think I might be going wrong is that I haven't explained any of the mechanics of the game. In a PBEM, I do all the dice rolling anyway so I'm not sure how much the players need to know. I don't want to bog the game down with players starting to ask "Can I reach him?" "How much damage can I do with my longbow of shattering screams?". I want the players to help me tell the story and act in character. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DqK4y5l3rNw/VHlHx-XpTSI/AAAAAAAAAVE/yJUB-FFGkLE/s1600/cogs-machine-6606002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DqK4y5l3rNw/VHlHx-XpTSI/AAAAAAAAAVE/yJUB-FFGkLE/s1600/cogs-machine-6606002.jpg" height="140" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you need to see this to have fun?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The thing I think I do need to explain, and am probably going to post for the group soon, is the basics of combat (especially as the potential for violence in imminent in the game right now). Having been the player much more often than the GM, I always like to know how likely it is that my character will die. Does 1 hit fell me? Or can I take a pounding and just shake it off?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oIv5MmTnb-Y/VHlInHyVKqI/AAAAAAAAAVU/dhx_kp6ZWeA/s1600/dumb-and-dumber-jim-carrey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oIv5MmTnb-Y/VHlInHyVKqI/AAAAAAAAAVU/dhx_kp6ZWeA/s1600/dumb-and-dumber-jim-carrey.jpg" height="198" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is all I can picture any time "Niles the Muckraker" speaks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I do have to say, the one thing I'm very impressed with is how dedicated one of the players is to his character choices. He rolled a 3 intelligence. I'll adnit if that were me, I would have just re-rolled. But to his credit, he stuck with it, and is quite entertainingly playing the village idiot.<br />
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So tell me: How much would you want to know the mechanics of an RPG? Would you be happy just contributing to the story, or would you lose interest if you didn't know how things were working?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-29485453028767070612014-10-31T05:30:00.000-04:002014-10-31T05:30:03.817-04:00Halloween Horror Hits - Best of Spooks and Zombies from Rule of the Dice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDeInMjqykF4Rrbyf4rVot8br-hj78Kw5mEHF9wk9yPM-7Z3_7oNLrQ9tCKq-FrrSc7Xxj2d-I6-sBOVBHm1fwbm3kmjLAuEnZXJL-cFOOo-VUoR_eQyJLXn_HkdN3eSsKOebukmjGMEHb/s1600/IMG_4254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDeInMjqykF4Rrbyf4rVot8br-hj78Kw5mEHF9wk9yPM-7Z3_7oNLrQ9tCKq-FrrSc7Xxj2d-I6-sBOVBHm1fwbm3kmjLAuEnZXJL-cFOOo-VUoR_eQyJLXn_HkdN3eSsKOebukmjGMEHb/s1600/IMG_4254.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a>Happy Halloween, Dicers!<br />
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Hopefully all of you have your horror-themed games planned for tonight or this weekend, or maybe you're watching Night of the Living Dead for the hundredth time, or maybe (like me) you'll be hiding in the dark on your porch to scare the shit out of little kids when they come to your door begging for candy. (To be fair, now that I have my own little guy, I'm starting to feel bad about that one.)<br />
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But if you're a sad lonely person who doesn't have plans tonight, here is some reading material for you to catch up on. Please feast your eyes on some of the best horror-related content Rule of the Dice has posted over the years. Enjoy!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Rule of the Dice - Top 8 Best Horror-Related Posts</b></span><br />
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1. <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/10/d6-zombies.html">D6 Zombies</a> - My all-time most popular post on Rule of the Dice (in terms of hit count), showcasing some weird zombie antagonists, statted for the D6 system.<br />
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2. <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/05/how-i-put-crazy-in-my-game-sanity.html">How I Put Crazy in My Game (Sanity Levels for D6 Horror) </a>- One of my personal favourite posts I've written, about using a Cthulhu-esque sanity system for the D6 system. I think it came out really well.<br />
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3. <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/07/mini-d6-horror.html">Mini D6 Horror</a> - Former contributor Joe Nelson's play report on actually using my D6 Horror Rules in a game.<br />
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4. <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/play-report-last-night-on-earth.html">Review of <i>Last Night on Earth</i></a> - More Zombies, this time in Board Game Form! Review by Jason Salvatori.<br />
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5. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5afkBZFBTaccjJjTUdQa2EzVW8">Made to Suffer</a> - The DCC-Funnel / d20 clone / <i>Walking Dead</i> RPG I recently made for the sole purpose of <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/killing-characters-is-fun.html">killing large volumes of player characters</a>.<br />
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6. <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/10-zombie-survival-intro-scenarios.html">10 Random Zombie Intro Scenarios</a> - Starting a horror survival game shouldn't be hard, it should be random and chaotic.<br />
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7. <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/02/notes-from-master-on-writing-weird.html">Notes from the Master - On Writing Weird Fiction by H.P. Lovecraft</a> - Our fearless leader John shares some Lovecraftian advice useful to writers and game designers alike.<br />
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8. <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/search/label/Splatter-Elf">SPLATTER-ELF</a>: The Grimmer Than Grimdark RPG<br />
Back in May I wrote a series of posts highlighting the design of an RPG based on the half-serious/half-spoof fantasy-sub-genre coined by <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/100109164671370520467/posts">Philip Overby</a>. (For more on Splatter-Elf as a genre, check out <a href="https://twitter.com/SplatterElf">this hilarious Twitter</a>). The game has changed quite a bit since the original design and one day I'll get around to sharing the complete, updated rules, but these posts may have some historical value at some point:<br />
<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/04/splatter-elf-week-day-1-introduction-to.html">Part 1: Introduction</a><br />
<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/04/splatter-elf-week-day-2-character.html">Part 2: Character Creation</a><br />
<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/04/splatter-elf-week-day-3-combat-kill-em.html">Part 3: Combat</a><br />
<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/05/splatter-elf-week-day-4-curse-of-blood.html">Part 4: Blood Magic</a><br />
<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/05/splatter-elf-week-day-5-odds-ends-uffs.html">Part 5: New Races</a><br />
<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/05/splatter-elf-week-day-6-monsters.html">Part 6: Monsters</a><br />
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What was <i>your</i> favourite spooky Rule of the Dice post?<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-25990422535632921612014-10-30T16:59:00.004-04:002014-10-30T16:59:48.682-04:00Play Report: Last Night on EarthSince it's <a href="http://geekandsundry.com/view/happy-halloweek" target="_blank">Halloweek</a>, we decided that our last game of the night should be thematically appropriate.<br />
I had just bought last night on earth, so we opened it up and got cracking. Here are my thoughts on the game:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Oa1QbY0bw44/VFKlfgDnSrI/AAAAAAAAAUw/iYaxwsNP0Dg/s1600/lnoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Oa1QbY0bw44/VFKlfgDnSrI/AAAAAAAAAUw/iYaxwsNP0Dg/s1600/lnoe.jpg" height="200" width="152" /></a>1) Packaging. The box has tons of room, but the interior plastic trays are poorly thought out. When <br />
the game is new and all the tokens are still in their cardboard frame, it fits beautifully. Once you punch out all the markers, there's no good place to put them where they won't slide around in the box. If the "card" areas had been made deeper, all the other bits would have fit perfectly. Not the end of the world (though that's the theme of the game), but something that could be improved.<br />
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2) Gimmicks. The game comes with a CD for background mood music. The music is fine, but the CD is too short to last a full game. Especially a first full game where you are stopping to look up rules and figure out strategies.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x_iaqHT7bdM/VFKlfCkbRTI/AAAAAAAAAUc/77r4_ZIhejQ/s1600/51VG8Or4D7L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x_iaqHT7bdM/VFKlfCkbRTI/AAAAAAAAAUc/77r4_ZIhejQ/s1600/51VG8Or4D7L.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
3) Speaking of rules: The rule book could use some work. The first read-through does a very good job of explaning the game. But when it comes to looking something up while playing, information is scattered all over and many things are mentioned in more than one place. So you can't just say "The gas can - I saw that on page 3." Because it's also mentioned on page 6 and 8, and the information you're looking for is on the one on page 6. Even with the info scattered like this, an index would go a long way towards helping. There is a FAQ in the back, and a link to an online FAQ, but with the game being more than a year old, an updated rule book would be nice to see.<br />
4) Parts: The plastic figures are very detailed and a good size for handling. The cards are a comfortable size and good quality stock. A couple of the board pieces I have are already curled as if from moisture. They are still quite usable, but it's mildly annoying to have the edges not meet perfectly.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rotubu6zG5w/VFKlfM8sSQI/AAAAAAAAAUg/C0PUQy8nk3s/s1600/hcs_20110724_2159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rotubu6zG5w/VFKlfM8sSQI/AAAAAAAAAUg/C0PUQy8nk3s/s1600/hcs_20110724_2159.jpg" height="149" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's the starting board with over 100<br />pieces for GFoL1666</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
4) Now on to the good stuff - game-play. Our group was a mix of experienced gamers and a couple of newer people. Setting up the board took a bit of time, but nothing that drove us away. (Unlike The <a href="http://www.fireoflondon.org.uk/game" target="_blank">Great Fire of London 1666</a>, which is a fun game, but the set up is so daunting that we rarely take it out.) Playing with 6 players, we had 4 heroes and 2 zombie players. We went straight for one of the advanced scenarios and dove in. Basic game-play is straight forward, with "turn steps" cheat cards for everyone to follow. The game took us about 90 minutes to play, and will probably be 15 minutes shorter next time now that we won't have to hunt for rules. Having gone back to reread some of the FAQ's today, I notice we were using some of the rules incorrectly. This likely didn't make a huge difference in our outcome, but it's frustrating to find out after the fact. See number 3 above about the rule book.<br />
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Here's a quick scope of how to play: Part 1, the zombie turn. Zombies advance the turn number, then draw cards that may help them. Then they roll to see if any more zombies can be added to the board. Then they move each zombie 1 space (slow movement as the "shamble"), resolve any fights if zombies share a location with heroes, then place newly spawned zombies. Part 2, the heroes turn. Heroes roll 1d6 to see how far the can move, then decide to either move OR search the building they are in (draw a card). Then if they have a ranged weapon, they can make ranged attacks. Then if any zombies share a space with them, any fights are resolved the same as in the zombie turn. Lather, rinse, repeat.<br />
This framework is followed, to try to achieve the specific goal of whatever scenario you are playing.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cp4jSiGccVA/VFKlfPdJLoI/AAAAAAAAAUk/Vi15tTfZwxg/s1600/TableTop-Last-Night-on-Earth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cp4jSiGccVA/VFKlfPdJLoI/AAAAAAAAAUk/Vi15tTfZwxg/s1600/TableTop-Last-Night-on-Earth.jpg" height="115" width="200" /></a>5) Takeaway thoughts: Despite some flaws in the rule book and the annoyance that caused, I'm eagerly looking forward to playing Last Night on Earth again. If you have a group that likes themed games and has a little bit of patience, go grab this title, it's a worthwhile investment. If you're not sure, try watching the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhLU2-BuhMI" target="_blank">TableTop</a> episode where Wil plays this game and see if it's for you.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-40589412783893278022014-10-28T05:30:00.000-04:002015-07-30T16:07:11.341-04:0010 Zombie Survival Intro Scenarios<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcIHk4NdR9Mq1QODOrmywZjk_1kdb36tjjo7XWF1KGLeIhs4A1XpbKgONmcy-3b3ZK_l4RWHbHydPry3Q3NKlzq-UeSzQ8-gLp1UNStCSB96Nhkvhm8qvfkPRjBZNouyV3WbVOH1oJPVe/s1600/zombie.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcIHk4NdR9Mq1QODOrmywZjk_1kdb36tjjo7XWF1KGLeIhs4A1XpbKgONmcy-3b3ZK_l4RWHbHydPry3Q3NKlzq-UeSzQ8-gLp1UNStCSB96Nhkvhm8qvfkPRjBZNouyV3WbVOH1oJPVe/s1600/zombie.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Can you smell Halloween on the air? Smells like non-toxic face paint and burnt pumpkins.<br />
<br />
In case you weren't aware, I've been playing around with a <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/dcc-funnel-walking-dead-style.html">zombie/horror game</a> based on the Dungeon Crawl Classics Funnel system - basically you send in a gang of 0-level schlubs, hoping that at least one survies to become a level 1 character in an on-going post-apocalyptic survival game. It uses basic d20 rules that everyone is pretty familiar with.<br />
<br />
To keep the game as chaotic as possible, in <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/killing-characters-is-fun.html">our first playthrough</a> I just rolled the scenario out randomly as we went along - determining encounters, locales, etc purely by a toss of the dice - and I plan to continue doing the same thing. Partly this is to keep my prep work down, partly it's to keep the tension and suspense high as the party never knows what to expect. Sometimes the group meets 1d4 stray dogs, sometimes they meet 1d4+1x100 roaming zombies. I've been using the many tables in <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/03/6-people-i-want-to-play-d-with.html">Palladium's</a> <i>DEAD REIGN</i>™®© books (about the only thing those books are good for) for most of my inspiration, tweaking them as necessary.<br />
<br />
However, the one thing that I was missing was the opening hook - where the players start in their initial onslaught against the rising tide of the undead. It needs to be a scenario where a decent-sized group of random, ordinary people (remember, each player gets 4 characters each) are trapped together. The characters should preferably be strangers and a little disoriented, out of their element. The zombie outbreak should also have been going on long enough that there is a considerable force of undead for the players to have to deal with.<br />
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I brainstormed 10 quick examples so that now I'm prepared for my next or any game. I can pick an option or roll one on the spot to keep everyone (including myself) on their toes. Remember, as soon as they move away from the opening scene you can continue generating further encounters randomly as well, or build from what you've established if you're one of those crazy people who like consistent story. Keep going until the group finds a safe spot to rest and/or the majority of the survivors are dead.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i><u>10 Random Zombie Survival Intro Scenarios</u></i></span></b><br />
Feel free to steal these for other games/purposes. Most of them are already stolen from other sources, anyway.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHtKDDK3IMrKoZQzgtRSuAtEDhBKs27un6I3zBT3YJ0W7f_OY8XcKkCLUKZEytVwllUF3ruIKvd0FX3IzLV0fn2oZwNoB7beKspgHqe6luTf1hBNfO77nOLFiMCqsjUu6Bj0YSf5tbA6c/s1600/zombie_horde_by_joakimolofsson-d5mudbk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHtKDDK3IMrKoZQzgtRSuAtEDhBKs27un6I3zBT3YJ0W7f_OY8XcKkCLUKZEytVwllUF3ruIKvd0FX3IzLV0fn2oZwNoB7beKspgHqe6luTf1hBNfO77nOLFiMCqsjUu6Bj0YSf5tbA6c/s1600/zombie_horde_by_joakimolofsson-d5mudbk.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art by <a href="http://joakimolofsson.deviantart.com/art/Zombie-Horde-340699376">Joakim Olofsson</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>01. <i>The Wheels on the Bus</i></b><br />
A bus fleeing an overrun city strikes a group of zombies on a dark stretch of road. The bus crashes, pinning some of the survivors. The zombies of course survive, and the noise of the crash will soon attract others. The bus is totalled but there may (or may not) be other working vehicles nearby. Does the group flee back towards the city, keep going on foot, or head into the wilderess? This is the setup we used for our first game, and we lost 2 or 3 characters before the group even left the vicinity of the bus.<br />
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<b>02. <i>Manotick</i></b><i> </i><br />
A group of survivors are holed up in a high school gym or a community centre in a small town in a rural area. Their safe haven is breached unexpectedly - do they flee? Try to stay and save it? If they run, where do they go? For added options, say the town is on a small island with limited routes in and out. Does the group fight to establish a safe zone on the island?<br />
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<b>03<i>. Movin' On Up</i></b><br />
The group is holed up in a couple of units on the top floor of an apartment building deep in the city. They've been hiding for a few days and they're out of food. They know there are zombies in the building and of course the streets are crawling with them, but they have to try and get food somewhere. Do they try to secure the building? Go out into the streets? Maybe there's a supermarket or pharmacy close by. For an added kick in the teeth, have some zombies make it to their floor and start pounding on their doors.<br />
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<b>04. <i>Steel Serpent of the Underworld</i></b><br />
A subway train crashes deep underground. Maybe it just happened, or maybe the survivors have been trapped inside for a couple of days. Either way they have to get out, but the tunnels are crawling with undead, as are the streets above. Might the underground tunnels prove a haven, or a deathtrap?<br />
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<b>05. <i>Zombies on a Plane!</i></b><br />
A plane crashes on the airport runway, either just taking off (trying to escape the outbreak) or trying to make a landing (ran out of fuel trying to get away from outbreak elsewhere). There are, of course, zombies on the plane. The group has to get off and find safety, either in the airport or somewhere else nearby.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwmUkdiFbxAJzmsfOQr3mhNydjzQL3mIv0kOj7KNJCyjQGWimwUDgBNePV7amwnzWJepbsbv07a-fJZ5OquS5CwZUOBc8dMutuIXxeJMgsxl8ersHvAjluu0UaFktKRxW7VHQxcC4jdvp/s1600/shopping_mall_by_joakimolofsson-d4yx6op.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwmUkdiFbxAJzmsfOQr3mhNydjzQL3mIv0kOj7KNJCyjQGWimwUDgBNePV7amwnzWJepbsbv07a-fJZ5OquS5CwZUOBc8dMutuIXxeJMgsxl8ersHvAjluu0UaFktKRxW7VHQxcC4jdvp/s1600/shopping_mall_by_joakimolofsson-d4yx6op.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art by <a href="http://joakimolofsson.deviantart.com/art/Shopping-Mall-300519961">Joakim Olofsson</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>06<i>. Dawn of the Dead </i></b><br />
The survivors are hiding in the storage room of the Gap at the local mall. Maybe the outbreak just started or maybe it's been going on for a few days. Either way, the mall has lots of supplies, but also lots of zombies and would be hard to secure. Groups of bandits and looters in the mall could also complicate things.<br />
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<b>07. <i>Night of the Living Dead</i> </b><br />
The group starts in the dark in the forest, chased by zombies and separated. There should be chaos and the characters should have trouble telling the difference who is alive and dead (and hopefully attacking each other!). Eventually they reach a cabin, which will provide some relief and a moment to catch their breath, but their Alamo-style last stand is inevitable...<br />
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<b>08. <i>I'm on a Boat!</i></b><br />
The survivors are trapped on a cruise ship at sea when the outbreak starts. Most of the life boats were launched during the initial confusion, but there are still hundreds of zombies left on board and the survivors need to fight their way out, though just getting off the ship is not necessarily the answer because they're at sea in the middle of nowhere.<br />
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<b>09. <i>LOST... with Zombies! </i></b><br />
The group survive a boat or plane crash on a tropical island, only to find it crawling with zombies. Is it the home of mad scientist? Lost military experiment? Maybe there was a resort full of people who turned? Either way, the group has to combat both the dangers of the island as well as the undead.<br />
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<b>10. <i>Trans-Siberian Zombie Train of Death</i></b><br />
The group of survivors were on a train travelling through a remote part of Russia or elsewhere in Europe. The train broke down and is overrun with zombies, but there is nowhere else for the group to go. Do they try to make it in the harsh wilderness? Try to clear the train and get it running again? Of course, any town they reach will be crawling with the dead too, though they don't know that yet...<br />
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What do you think? Any others to add?<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-41960468467266095572014-10-22T06:30:00.000-04:002014-10-22T06:30:03.295-04:00Killing Characters is Fun!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXG7Yn-2lfztpPbLO_fDGexVJdv1pq91rwZOQFtU4O1AzUNbmp2c_pxoPQ0S42VX0SnnM1iv10LJgF2KKs8o6_6jV9MRJC4F__ekCFewecV_2RPBIS0fWJxbaXix__43jLSTKxvQQGuuR/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXG7Yn-2lfztpPbLO_fDGexVJdv1pq91rwZOQFtU4O1AzUNbmp2c_pxoPQ0S42VX0SnnM1iv10LJgF2KKs8o6_6jV9MRJC4F__ekCFewecV_2RPBIS0fWJxbaXix__43jLSTKxvQQGuuR/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" height="319" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">We tried the <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/dcc-funnel-walking-dead-style.html"><i>Walking Dead</i>-style Funnel</a> last Friday and I think it went really well. It was a welcome change after my <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/09/four-reasons-playing-rpgs-is-better.html">recent GM-related negativity</a> - I personally had a ton of fun running it, and I hope the players did to.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">The best part of it, that I didn't even think about when I came up with the idea, is the freedom it gave the players to try weird things and to play out horror-movie style tropes to full effect. See, I had assumed that the game would just be the characters lining up to be ground into paste, played for laughs as we described the gruesome ways they were torn to pieces as their dice betrayed them. While that certainly did happen, the coolest side effect of playing 4 "disposable" characters was that players developed scenes and situations that they don't normally get into during regular games.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">I don't know about you, but most people I play with tend to be cautious, careful and calculating in their games. They have a strong connection to their character and try to keep them alive, ESPECIALLY during zombie-style games where they try to act the way someone SHOULD act during an apocalypse, being all practical and boring. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Without that connection to their characters though, caution goes out the window and crazy shit happens. Out of 16 starting characters, 8 survived, but 3 of those belonged to the one guy who was playing fairly conservatively. The other three players jumped at the chance to act out all those ridiculous things that characters do in horror movies all the time:</span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Two characters killed each other fighting over supplies.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">One guy got attacked while making out with another character.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">One character literally ran away - she was so freaked out that she just took off in a panic and we never heard from her again. There was no roll to preclude this, the player just decided that it made sense for the character, and it did. But that's not something you would ever see in a normal game.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">The biggest running gag was the two sociopaths who kept fighting and trying to kill each other. The noise from their bickering led to the group constantly being attacked and having to run for their lives (everyone else probably should have left them behind but it was too hilarious). In the end both dudes were ripped to pieces by zombies because they were both too stubborn to be the first guy to run away.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">I was even a little saddened by the loss of one character, and not the one you would think. He was the total asshole of the group, but the player ran him perfectly, using the other characters and NPCs, stockpiling supplies and taking advantage of his charisma to get ahead. He was easily the best developed, smartest and most equipped character, and then he died in the last moments when he fell of a fucking roof and broke his neck.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">One guy even got to make a heroic sacrifice, holding the door in the face of a hoard of zombies while the rest of the group ran to safety.</span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIlJ2YXrE0Q0OxxphmGG1_4RctgvriZ0wx9hIPWN_rgTnbashCmM4T39elTOD3uF4YeWWjc4bVIKsFdtgF0Lx1JOF3MJ_z1uSHKETjzGtC_VbTphCFKPXwrTiUrLXctW0tBaUVSFmo4km0/s1600/fire-chomp.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIlJ2YXrE0Q0OxxphmGG1_4RctgvriZ0wx9hIPWN_rgTnbashCmM4T39elTOD3uF4YeWWjc4bVIKsFdtgF0Lx1JOF3MJ_z1uSHKETjzGtC_VbTphCFKPXwrTiUrLXctW0tBaUVSFmo4km0/s1600/fire-chomp.gif" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">How many of those awesome deaths would have happened in a game where everyone is playing safe and calculating?</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Another fun horror trope: Only half the character deaths were directly caused by zombies, and half of those were only caused by zombies because the characters were distracted trying to kill each other.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Just like in a zombie movie, the characters' worst enemies were themselves.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">I seriously recommend playing a DCC Funnel-type of game in a zombie apocalypse setting. It's a spleen-ripping good time.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-76616400272651868592014-10-16T05:30:00.000-04:002014-10-29T09:47:45.799-04:00The Walking Dead RPG - DCC Funnel-style!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_62FgpBLU1K2U_T6Eu0r48S30Yfnz_fOC9cQqUmyondidnM5MvWa3ejMVGPMVJ2aQoZsgHzD2IT3Du-A9_QiXdPYdQKKJzeeRibCMQYxpAESEGLRCPXsmxL25yFWv0ROSOoNae3xGPm5t/s1600/zombie.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_62FgpBLU1K2U_T6Eu0r48S30Yfnz_fOC9cQqUmyondidnM5MvWa3ejMVGPMVJ2aQoZsgHzD2IT3Du-A9_QiXdPYdQKKJzeeRibCMQYxpAESEGLRCPXsmxL25yFWv0ROSOoNae3xGPm5t/s1600/zombie.png" /></a></div>
Ah, October. Month of horror and spookiness. We have Halloween, autumn in full swing choking the life out of the world, the season premiere of <i><a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/05/the-walking-dead-role-playing-game.html">The Walking Dead</a></i>, <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/10/happy-turkey-day-my-fellow-canadians.html">Canadian Thanksgiving</a>. It's a good time for wearing white sheets out in public.<br />
<br />
But what's the Month of Spooks without some scary gaming to go along with it? I love horror-themed RPGs, and despite there being plenty of great ones out there, I keep trying to create my own. I was convinced that the <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/10/d6-zombies.html">d6 system was perfect</a> for it for awhile, and have toyed with the idea of building a full on <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/05/how-i-put-crazy-in-my-game-sanity.html">"D6 Horror" game</a>, but recently my fancy has turned to the <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/08/five-reasons-fate-rpg-is-awesome-and.html">glorious world of Fate</a>. I started to brainstorm for a Zombie Survival version of Fate, which would work perfectly fine except that the characters in Fate are purposefully built more competent and capable than average everyday joes. Obviously you can tweak Fate to make it work (you can make <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/09/sodor-stories-thomas-tank-engine-rpg.html">Fate work for anything</a>) but what if there's a better way? A game where you can slaughter scores of characters as the zombie apocalypse unfolds around you and only the bravest, toughest and luckiest survive. Look at most zombie movies (or our current zombie benchmark, the afore-mentioned <i>Walking Dead</i>) - there is always a high body count in the beginning, and only a handful survive the early encounters. In <i>The Walking Dead</i>, those characters that survived the first couple of seasons have continued to survive, to the point where the death of a major character is now a big deal. They've become harder to kill. What kind of game follows that kind of progression?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.ca/2012/06/dcc-and-me.html">DCC Funnel</a>.<br />
<br />
I'm sure I'm not the first person who realized this. The premise of <a href="http://www.goodman-games.com/dccrpg.html">Dungeon Crawl Classic's</a> brilliant "funnel" system is that each player takes a bunch of 0-level normal humans and throws them into a dungeon situation. Those that survive (and there usually aren't many) "graduate" to level 1 and gain a character class and the powers that go along with it. I think this kind of setup is perfect for a zombie/horror survival setting. The world is falling apart around you, the dead are rising, and only the strongest are going to survive.<br />
<br />
How would it work? Not that much differently than the current DCC funnel, just tweaked slightly to update it for the modern age. Each player would get 3-4 characters with completely random attributes (standard 3d6, rolled straight) as well as hit points (1d4). Each character gets one or two random pieces of equipment and a random occupation. The occupation is important because it <i>may </i>imply special skills - a doctor or park ranger would have obvious benefits, while a waiter might be just shit out of luck. I've compiled a list of random occupations, whether you want to codify special skills for each one, or just use the GM's ruling on a case by case basis is up to you.<br />
<br />
Some characters <i>might </i>also have a special knack for certain tasks (hitting with a certain weapon or performing certain skills, etc) but these are random and not every character even has them.<br />
<br />
And that's it. Once each player has their characters, they are plopped into the adventure. Maybe they're holed up in a cabin and have to survive the onslaught of walking dead. Maybe they're in a shopping mall. Maybe they're trapped in a city with dwindling resources and have to fight their way out. Whatever sort of zombie movie cliche tickles your fancy, toss your players into it and let them fight it out. And let everyone enjoy the mindless slaughter of the innocents as your once-large band of survivors is whittled down to a small band of TRUE survivors.<br />
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Who will make it out? Maybe someone who got some lucky rolls and has a great AC bonus? Maybe you'll roll up someone with a really cool/useful occupation and his skills will be valuable enough that the whole party will try to protect him? Or maybe it will be a completely fluke, and you'll end up getting out with a dude with a 4 Strength and 1 hit point.<br />
<br />
I came up up with some rough classes for the survivors to take. They're variations on the basic D&D classes but with a post-apocalyptic theme. There's the fighter-type class, a ranger, an expert (could be a thief or a anything else you wish, based on the mix of skills you pick) and a leader (kinda like a bard/cleric but without all the bullshit poetry and godliness). Feel free to tweak them or make up your own. Maybe you want a world with magic, so a wizard would be an appropriate option for your group.<br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5afkBZFBTaccjJjTUdQa2EzVW8/view?usp=sharing">Here's the link to the complete work-in-progress file</a>. It obviously needs some work but hopefully you can see where I'm going with it. Any comments or suggestions are welcome!<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-40881091039882818022014-09-30T05:30:00.000-04:002014-09-30T05:30:00.688-04:00Four Reasons "Playing" RPGs is Better than Game Mastering<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last weekend, I hooked up with Rule of the Dice contributors <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/100992706597524536965/posts">Jason</a> and <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/114585843670929653183/posts">John</a>, as well as our resident kook Dave, to play a Google Hangouts version of John's D&D hack. (<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/09/characters-can-be-crazy.html">See Jason's post</a> for more details about the game). I realized shortly after we sat down that this would be my first time PLAYING an RPG live at a table - not GMing and not <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/05/why-im-afraid-of-game-masters.html">play-by-post</a> - literally in <i>years</i>.<br />
<br />
About 4 years ago I played a bit of 4th Edition Encounters and Living Forgotten Realms, which... is not role-playing. It's rolling some dice, waiting twenty minutes for everyone else to argue about the interactions of their ridiculous powers, and then rolling a couple more dice when your turn comes around again. It was a grinding slog most of the time, but I played happily because it was my rare chance to sit on the other side of the screen and to create stupidly awesome (or is it awesomely stupid?) <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/04/why-my-favourite-d-class-sucks.html">nonsensical rangers</a>.<br />
<br />
The last time I played before that was I believe in 2002 when Jason ran a one-off session where I completely dicked him around the whole night acting like a jackass (if I haven't apologized for that before... yeah, sorry).<br />
<br />
(No really, that was <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/03/the-most-annoying-gamer-ive-ever-met.html">an honest apology</a>, I was totally a jerk)<br />
<br />
But last weekend we gamed and it was eye opening for me. I've been playing RPGs for over 20 years, and I've Game Mastered 95-98% of every game I've been involved in. Don't get me wrong, while I do love GMing I've decided I may never do it again. Sitting on the other side of the table is so much better.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">1. Way Less Stress</span></b><br />
So here I was Friday night, rushing to get signed on at the appointed time, frantic to get the game started when it hit me: What was I rushing for? I had nothing to prepare or get ready. Signing in and grabbing my character sheet was literally all that I had to do. I didn't have a ton of notes to collect, stuff to re-read, rules to look up. My RPG experiences are usually hours of pre-game prep, wondering if it's going to work, worrying the whole time if people are into it, and then wondering afterward what I could have done differently and kicking myself for the parts I screwed up.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgks_1VEBSyt-Picy5YGy9POoDgRDt-YuQ9zd5Gnl5whpG9ll26JhkZv4fBMAmHAkJjPOZcPYcc-lI2VgwJcgyHz2-QILDXz1jNhJLSkHmpus_vEjmiblauwrmLgUJUKt-dpENOcZFjkPJX/s1600/stressed-man99.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgks_1VEBSyt-Picy5YGy9POoDgRDt-YuQ9zd5Gnl5whpG9ll26JhkZv4fBMAmHAkJjPOZcPYcc-lI2VgwJcgyHz2-QILDXz1jNhJLSkHmpus_vEjmiblauwrmLgUJUKt-dpENOcZFjkPJX/s1600/stressed-man99.jpg" height="206" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Why did I have to have them fight </i>four<i> ghouls? Why didn't I keep it three, I knew it should have been three...</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Friday, I was able to sit back, relax, and let someone else do the heavy work. I had time to casually eat a bag of Doritos AND had a chance to Tweet about the game as we played. It was brilliant.<br />
<br />
(For the record, John seemed perfectly relaxed and way more comfortable than I usually feel when running a game. Either he's a lot better at this than I am, is better at hiding his frustrations or realizes this is just a game and doesn't take it too seriously - whatever it is, kudos to you, sir. You're a better man than me.)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>2. Way Less Work</b></span><br />
I kinda hinted at this in the previous entry, but this one should be obvious. GMing is a lot of work. Work that often feels more like doing your taxes than playing a game. You have to prepare - whether that's creating your world, writing your encounters/adventures, coming up with your own rules, whatever - and it takes work and dedication. Hours of pre-game prep. I try to wing it and improvise when I can, but I worry too much about making the game seem polished and put together to leave it to chance. I feel like I need to prepare for every eventuality (I know, I know, it's impossible) and inevitably end up writing pages and pages of content and the players usually skip over 80-90% of it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>And that covers the cultural and historical significance on the carvings above the knob of the door to the first level. Now where did I put my notes about the floor?</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For Friday's game, I wrote up my character in about 20 minutes weeks ago, then completely forgot about it. I didn't have to look at it again until I printed the character sheet 5 minutes before the game. It was like I was in heaven. I don't want to insult John by saying I didn't think about it or get ready for his game or anything, but it was truly such an unimaginable relief to go in and just play. Prepping a game is a ton of work and I would never imagine to not appreciate a GM's effort (except for Jason in the earlier example), but man, dude. Sometimes it's nice to not do anything.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>3. It Actually Feels Like A Game</b></span><br />
I laughed a lot. I joked around and made an ass of myself (Jason, Dave, sorry if I was a dick to you or your characters). I played with trying to give my character silly accents (haven't quite found the right one yet). It felt like it wasn't a big deal if I had to get up and use the washroom or deal with some outside issues - my stepping away wouldn't necessarily make the game grind to a halt. I didn't have to keep track of every detail of everything that was going on, there was no book-keeping or traffic direction. Part of that was because we had four experienced guys who knew what they were doing and knew the rules reasonably well, but a bigger part of that was because I didn't feel responsible for the good time of everyone at the table.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>If you guys are having this much fun, your GM must be pretty miserable.</i></td></tr>
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I've <span id="goog_575737825"></span><a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2011/02/2-simple-rules-for-being-teenage-game.html">said before</a> that (<a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/02/the-most-important-lesson-ive-ever.html">several times</a>, actually) I believe it's everyone's responsibility to make sure everyone else<span id="goog_575737826"></span> has fun, but the GM carries the lion's share of said responsibility. The GM has to make sure everyone is engaged, that everything makes sense, that the action keeps flowing. As a player, you don't have to do that so much. Sure, you need to be respectful and open minded and not try to purposefully de-rail the game, but you have WAY fewer moving pieces to worry about than the GM, so you can concentrate on what's in front of you and having fun with it.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">4. It Shows Me How to Be a Better GM</span></b><br />
I'm sure that my weaknesses as a Game Master stems from not playing enough under different GMs. Like any game or sport, you have to play with people who are better than you in order to get better yourself.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg01ARWkINpu6UXVAkK-am9AZlXNB2B0tIwCsupwBohwWA9ELiTOIFfMeY9J_2bYLk-kZvC22BQblNAXm5H-yUUONOPFTo3IGqQD9XRghuFu39FhqsdsvIG4oPDnWtls5I4pihExVtxe9b9/s1600/Aventuras_en_la_Marca_del_Este_gaming_group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg01ARWkINpu6UXVAkK-am9AZlXNB2B0tIwCsupwBohwWA9ELiTOIFfMeY9J_2bYLk-kZvC22BQblNAXm5H-yUUONOPFTo3IGqQD9XRghuFu39FhqsdsvIG4oPDnWtls5I4pihExVtxe9b9/s1600/Aventuras_en_la_Marca_del_Este_gaming_group.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This guy looks like he's logged, what? 7500-8000 of his 10,000 hours?</i></td></tr>
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This is going to make me sound like a jackass, but bear with me because I have a point: If I had run the game John did on Friday night, I would have been extremely disappointed. In nearly three hours, very little happened. We visited one location. There were two NPCs. There was one very simple combat encounter. If it was me, it would have felt like we didn't accomplish anything (probably because I would have had 20,000 words of material we didn't get to).<br />
<br />
But on the other of the table, we as players had a wonderful time. We bickered and joked and played our characters. We found entertainment in all the little things, and put importance in everything we did. As a GM, I always worry about making sure the players have a goal, and obvious steps they need to take, and interesting, important things they should encounter along the way. But for the players, every door, every exchange, every weird noise - it all seems important. We latch onto what we think is interesting and that becomes the memorable part of the adventure. We spent twenty minutes trying to figure out if any of our characters new how to read or not, for frigsakes, and it was hilarious. The GM is responsible for throwing some stuff in front of us, but the players are responsible for doing something with it.<br />
<br />
To John's credit, I don't think he was disappointed and I hope he recognizes that we got a lot of enjoyment out of those three hours. I can pretty safely say that it was one of the most satisfying games I've played in years. And all we did was kill one bad guy, which I had no hand in as I spent the whole battle tied up on the floor.<br />
<br />
Role-playing games are weird. But they can still be really, really fun.<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3188833949555515251.post-76173751176192973682014-09-28T08:00:00.000-04:002014-09-28T08:00:00.152-04:00Characters Can Be Crazy<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xeG9h3fzyFQ/VCcc2cMGd6I/AAAAAAAAAUM/1mTxi6wwVs4/s1600/640_meghan_Trainor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xeG9h3fzyFQ/VCcc2cMGd6I/AAAAAAAAAUM/1mTxi6wwVs4/s1600/640_meghan_Trainor.jpg" height="112" width="200" /></a>Most of my posts here are about board games, but in the last couple of weeks I've had two new RPG's start, one as a <a href="http://www.ruleofthedice.com/2014/09/gm-advice-desperately-needed-im-in-way.html" target="_blank">PBEM</a> and one as a live on-line experience. This has me in an RPG frame of mind, so today I'm all about <strike>that bass</strike> our last live gaming session.<br />
<br />
We played in google hangout, and the system and world are home-brew D&D knock-offs created by <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/114585843670929653183" target="_blank">+John Williams</a>. A couple of weeks ago he sent us a slimmed down rule book, some world background info, and let us make our characters. The rules have a lot of random generation tables, and all 3 of us PC's used those to a fairly large degree. <br />
<br />
This, in my mind is point #1 where things started to go really right. Whenever I've made a character in the past, it has involved things like "What does the party need?" and "What's something really cool I can do?" This isn't a terrible way to make a character, but it does lead to me often making similar characters with similar traits that all play in a similar manner. Using the tables here gave me something I never would have come up with on my own - and that's a great thing. It allowed me to break out of the mould I had been in for a long time, and forced to me really think about how my character will react in different situations.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xquSXD-ct1w/VCcbmMaJbfI/AAAAAAAAAUA/TLuVNoWRKNs/s1600/first-date-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xquSXD-ct1w/VCcbmMaJbfI/AAAAAAAAAUA/TLuVNoWRKNs/s1600/first-date-1.jpg" height="200" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How my character <br />
spent the game</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The second thing that lead to this being a great session is also a character creation tidbit. This game requires you to pck or generate things like background occupations, medical conditions, psychological traits, personality traits, and quirks. Having some of this decided for me (again, by random table) set a base for me to build my character around. It turns out I was a nervous person with a nervous little laugh, and a pyrophobe.<br />
<br />
Part 3 of kick-ass game night was our GM. <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/114585843670929653183" target="_blank">+John Williams</a> set a simple scene for us with almost no NPC's to worry about. Instead the action centered on the relationship between us 3 PC's (myself, <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/111754663655122780872" target="_blank">+C.D. Gallant-King</a> and <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/116661031433940816387" target="_blank">+Dave Geno</a>). We had just been thrown together and had to figure out how to deal with the scary things happening to us, all while not knowing how the other PC's may react. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BBabT2TBQQo/VCcbhTtARYI/AAAAAAAAAT4/gppGpcGYa6A/s1600/burnt%2Bhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BBabT2TBQQo/VCcbhTtARYI/AAAAAAAAAT4/gppGpcGYa6A/s1600/burnt%2Bhouse.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is my legacy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A few highlights of that interaction: <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/116661031433940816387" target="_blank">+Dave Geno</a>'s character had a bit of a foul mouth and foul temper, and it irked my high-strung nerves. I *MAY* have pushed him down the stairs in to the cellar where he *MAY* have put his hand through a putrefied corpse. Later, after being hounded by a ghost, my character thought that burning the bones we found would be a sure-fire (pun intended) way to get rid of it. Being a pyrophobe, I didn't have any experience on how best to accomplish this safely. So I doused to place in oil, struck a spark, then fled while screaming at the top of my lungs. I will admit that in hindsight this did very little to help ingratiate me with the rest of the party. There were some harsh words as we stood out in the rain and watched the only shelter for miles around crumble in a smoking heap of rubble.<br />
<br />
Now the real question is "What happens next time?" I think I might have to watch my back, as I'm not so sure my friends will actually be friendly.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4