Saturday, 5 October 2019
Wednesday, 2 October 2019
Red Sands: Two
Vampire: The Masquerade fifth edition
Red Sands
Session Two
Jamie notices the observer. He sees that he's been spotted and just meets her gaze in a silent challenge. She points him out to the others. Jacob frowns. "He's one of Mariah's." Only Simon knows who that is - a rival to the power in the city. Hearing that, the observer gets up and heads out, with a backward glance as he gets to the door.
"If he's watching the place, and there's no sign of Shae, could be she's not coming. Either she decided to stay away, or..."
"Well, that's just perfect," Louise mutters.
Jacob steps out to try to call Shae. Simon keeps an eye on him through the window.
"Okay, let's try this again. Eleven, at the parking lot in back of the Red Circle."
"Sounds nice..." Simon deadpans.
They take two different cabs to get there. Jamie goes with Jacob. "We can get to know each other better." she says with a false smile.
And Louise notices that she and Simon are being followed.
She has the driver drop them off at a bus station, and pulls Simon along with her to lose the tail.
They manage to get to the rendezvous apparently solo, to find Jamie and Jacob there already, and Shae arrives just a few minutes late.
"Sorry for the rearrangement. I didn't really feel like meeting with Mariah tonight."
"Why not?" Louise asks.
"Oh, she's planning to kill me."
Tuesday, 1 October 2019
Wednesday, 25 September 2019
Red Sands: One
Vampire: The Masquerade fifth edition
Red Sands
Session One
San Diego.
A Brujah, a Gangrel, a Toreador and a mortal walk into a bar...
They're there to meet an anarch contact, and she's late.
The Brujah, Simon, was a medical student in life, Embraced after a campus protest turned violent.
The Gangrel, Louise, was a street thief who tried to steal the wrong car.
The Toreador, Jamie, doesn't talk about what she was in life.
They're all here to make new unlives.
The mortal, Jacob, knows the contact, a survivor of a Caitiff nomad gang, from helping supply anarchs along the west coast.
And someone else is watching.
--
Obviously we just got started...
Thursday, 19 September 2019
Talk Like A Pirate Day
It's Talk Like A Pirate Day, one of the holidays I observe.
Now, if I could just get a game where I could talk like a pirate. Savvy?
Now, if I could just get a game where I could talk like a pirate. Savvy?
Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Tuesday, 17 September 2019
Friday, 13 September 2019
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Sunday, 1 September 2019
Saturday, 31 August 2019
RPGaDAY 2019 roundup
#RPGaDAY2019 results
(And hi Craig, Shawn and Jonathan!)
1: First
My first game was Fighting Fantasy. I played an elf. I had a bow. But not a name.
2: Unique
The most unique game I was ever in was the hospital subgame in New Bremen. The mods would call for an ambulance and we'd log in and go ER jargon at injured player characters. Also it was haunted.
3: Engage
I've been married in a few games. Once even successfully! (We decided that in advance.)
4: Share
I got started thanks to sharing a Fighting Fantasy book early in high school.
5: Space
... the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civiilizations - to boldly go where no-one has gone before.
...
Star Trek is a good setup for RPGs.
6: Ancient
How I feel when gaming with college kids.
7: Familiar
A lot of RPGs borrow styles and elements from books, comics, movies, TV, history... Trying something unusual can be fun, but so can playing in a way you know.
(One of the things I love about Vampire is how it brings together and expands on a variety of kinds of vampire from fiction.)
(And then Blade happened...)
8: Obscure
I own a copy of The World Of Tank Girl, for Masterbook, based on the film rather than the original comics.
9: Critical
Critical Role wasn't the first Actual Play as mass entertainment, but it's crazy big and can give a lot of ideas.
10: Focus
When I'm running something like Vampire I prefer to focus on vampires and mortals, not all kinds of monsters. And probably narrow it down more than that.
11: Examine
I ask for way too many "notice" rolls. Sorry, players.
12: Friendship
Some of my oldest and dearest friends come from this mutual interest. Hello!
13: Mystery
I don't really run mysteries, but I do run horror and urban fantasy where the threat might be mysterious. How to defeat a monster lets me bring in clues after the reveal instead of having to introduce them early.
14: Guide
Having an experienced player show new players the ropes can be very helpful. I try to do this at times when playing. I also often end up taking the last obvious niche in a party for the same reason.
15: Door
Doors can mess you up. Check this one out. The Haunting (1963)
16: Dream
I don't generally run symbolic dream scenes, because most of the few dreams I remember are falling.
17: One
One-shot games need a good hook, fun characters to play, and an eye on the clock so you don't miss the end.
18: Plenty
I recall New Bremen so fondly for friends made and stories told, but also it was always on and there was always something to do, at least in the Out Of Character room.
19: Scary
Horror games generally aren't really scary. Sometimes a reveal gets a "whoa" or a philosophical point can be dark, but drama is more likely. An RPG can be scary if you identify with a character and they're in danger, but anxiety isn't much fun.
20: Noble
I'd like to play a superhero game which doesn't revolve around the fighting and the zappy kewl powerz.
21: Vast
Any character sheet of more than two pages.
22: Lost
... is a great example of why you should have a few options for how to end a big mystery plot.
23: Surprise
Is it a surprise, or is it a bait and switch? The latter can be fun... maybe once.
24: Triumph
Getting a series to a proper ending!
25: Calamity
How do PCs cope with disasters and emergencies that aren't enemies to fight? And how do GMs make that fun? Steps to a goal and multiple ways to respond, using the PCs' skills and powers, can add to that. Look at games like Pandemic for examples, perhaps.
26: Idea
I usually start a campaign / chronicle / series with an idea, whether it's a plot, a mood, or who the players are suggesting some kind of direction.
27: Suspense
One disadvantage of RPGs is that if you try for a cliffhanger, the audience can chase you for answers.
28: Love
If a game doesn't have emotional connections I may get bored. Give me heartache!
29: Evolve
New games can learn from previous games, but they aren't necessarily better. New editions are often more complicated.
30: Connection
Hello, Internet! Here I am talking to the world. I've been gaming live online almost since I got my first modem, making friends from the outset. And now I'm a regular audience member of a streaming game whose fans and cast like my tweets about it...
31: Last
My last game was Mage: The Ascension this summer, and I'm keen to get back to the table. On to new adventures! Have a good September, RPGaDAYers!
(And hi Craig, Shawn and Jonathan!)
1: First
My first game was Fighting Fantasy. I played an elf. I had a bow. But not a name.
2: Unique
The most unique game I was ever in was the hospital subgame in New Bremen. The mods would call for an ambulance and we'd log in and go ER jargon at injured player characters. Also it was haunted.
3: Engage
I've been married in a few games. Once even successfully! (We decided that in advance.)
4: Share
I got started thanks to sharing a Fighting Fantasy book early in high school.
5: Space
... the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civiilizations - to boldly go where no-one has gone before.
...
Star Trek is a good setup for RPGs.
6: Ancient
How I feel when gaming with college kids.
7: Familiar
A lot of RPGs borrow styles and elements from books, comics, movies, TV, history... Trying something unusual can be fun, but so can playing in a way you know.
(One of the things I love about Vampire is how it brings together and expands on a variety of kinds of vampire from fiction.)
(And then Blade happened...)
8: Obscure
I own a copy of The World Of Tank Girl, for Masterbook, based on the film rather than the original comics.
9: Critical
Critical Role wasn't the first Actual Play as mass entertainment, but it's crazy big and can give a lot of ideas.
10: Focus
When I'm running something like Vampire I prefer to focus on vampires and mortals, not all kinds of monsters. And probably narrow it down more than that.
11: Examine
I ask for way too many "notice" rolls. Sorry, players.
12: Friendship
Some of my oldest and dearest friends come from this mutual interest. Hello!
13: Mystery
I don't really run mysteries, but I do run horror and urban fantasy where the threat might be mysterious. How to defeat a monster lets me bring in clues after the reveal instead of having to introduce them early.
14: Guide
Having an experienced player show new players the ropes can be very helpful. I try to do this at times when playing. I also often end up taking the last obvious niche in a party for the same reason.
15: Door
Doors can mess you up. Check this one out. The Haunting (1963)
16: Dream
I don't generally run symbolic dream scenes, because most of the few dreams I remember are falling.
17: One
One-shot games need a good hook, fun characters to play, and an eye on the clock so you don't miss the end.
18: Plenty
I recall New Bremen so fondly for friends made and stories told, but also it was always on and there was always something to do, at least in the Out Of Character room.
19: Scary
Horror games generally aren't really scary. Sometimes a reveal gets a "whoa" or a philosophical point can be dark, but drama is more likely. An RPG can be scary if you identify with a character and they're in danger, but anxiety isn't much fun.
20: Noble
I'd like to play a superhero game which doesn't revolve around the fighting and the zappy kewl powerz.
21: Vast
Any character sheet of more than two pages.
22: Lost
... is a great example of why you should have a few options for how to end a big mystery plot.
23: Surprise
Is it a surprise, or is it a bait and switch? The latter can be fun... maybe once.
24: Triumph
Getting a series to a proper ending!
25: Calamity
How do PCs cope with disasters and emergencies that aren't enemies to fight? And how do GMs make that fun? Steps to a goal and multiple ways to respond, using the PCs' skills and powers, can add to that. Look at games like Pandemic for examples, perhaps.
26: Idea
I usually start a campaign / chronicle / series with an idea, whether it's a plot, a mood, or who the players are suggesting some kind of direction.
27: Suspense
One disadvantage of RPGs is that if you try for a cliffhanger, the audience can chase you for answers.
28: Love
If a game doesn't have emotional connections I may get bored. Give me heartache!
29: Evolve
New games can learn from previous games, but they aren't necessarily better. New editions are often more complicated.
30: Connection
Hello, Internet! Here I am talking to the world. I've been gaming live online almost since I got my first modem, making friends from the outset. And now I'm a regular audience member of a streaming game whose fans and cast like my tweets about it...
31: Last
My last game was Mage: The Ascension this summer, and I'm keen to get back to the table. On to new adventures! Have a good September, RPGaDAYers!
Wednesday, 21 August 2019
Chronicles Of Darkness
Chronicles Of Darkness, nee The World Of Darkness, and Vampire: The Requiem launched fifteen years ago tonight. I've run some and even played some, but I'd like to do more with it.
Monday, 5 August 2019
Thursday, 1 August 2019
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