RPGaDay: Vision

I haven't played much Call of Cthulhu, and when I have it's mostly been one-shots with pre-gens.  This was an exception in that I was making my own character for once.  I made a pathologist, because doctors are fun, and into the mysterious house the three of us went.

How exactly I'd forgotten to put any points into Spot Hidden, I don't know.  Inexperience with the system, I guess.  My other half was playing a detective, and had a good score in it so I wasn't too worried about us missing stuff.  And so it went.  Every clue that could be found, he found and I remained oblivious to.

Again, we were playing Call of Cthulhu.

Whether it was a creepy moving painting, a mysterious shape in the darkness, or a strange noise from outside (I'd also forgotten to put any points in Listen), I remained happily undisturbed as the rest of the party's sanity crumbled around me.  The haunted house threw everything it had at me and I consistently looked the other way.

While I don't recommend playing Captain Oblivious in a Call of Cthulhu game (after all, uncovering clues and solving the mystery while your mind slowly unravels is what the game is all about) it was an entertaining experience and gave us all a good laugh.  And the best horror games I've played are always the ones that give us all a good laugh.

...

The thing about Warhammer games is that even with a very respectable score of let's say 45, you're still going to fail a lot of the time.  However, probability had no meaning aboard the rogue trader ship Statistical Anomaly.

That wasn't its original name.  Captain Tiberious Skarsgard initially named it Enterprise.  It got its new name from the way that despite being a slow ship that was meant to take a long time to get through the warp, it consistently emerged from the warp several days before it left, requiring the crew to keep detailed diaries of their movements to avoid causing a temporal anomaly.  But it could just have easily been based on the way that nobody on that ship, despite extensive training, was capable of using the ship's sensors.

Accordingly, any time we needed to know what was going on outside the ship, we all went and looked out of the windows.

The Path to Eden, episode 3: Go West

"Only time for a short one today," Chronicler Venno told the assembled crowd.  There was a faint murmur of disappointment, but not so much that he couldn't speak over it.  "Do you remember the day the ground shook?"  Enthusiastic nodding followed.  "And poor Rodney Rubble got killed by falling rocks while out clearing ground, and Boss Briktoria warned us that it was a punishment from the Seven Sisters for spending too much time working on the croplands and not working hard enough on the temple.  So once again, a group went to explore outside."

"There were rumours of a building to the west called the Alexandra Tower that surely had to contain many amazing things, perhaps even relics of the Seven Sisters.  So Lenny, Zippo and Katin set out to find a path to the tower.  They made sure to rest well beforehand.  Lenny had hurt his back clearing rubble for the croplands, Katin had got lost looking for good land for planting, and both Lenny and Zippo had attempted to read the journal they had found in the bird's nest, but found it made their brains hurt too much.

With Katin and the one-way-needle-pointing-device in the lead they left the safety of the Ark behind and ventured out west.  Soon they found the ground beneath their feet changing, becoming wetter and wetter until they were wading through marshland.  Katin warned everyone to watch out for evil fish in the water, but when they did see signs of life it was a woman emerging from the mouth of a dark tunnel.

Katin called out to her, but she answered in words that none of them could make out.  Was she a threat?  They weren't sure, but then she bent double, as if in serious pain, and lay face down in the water.  They decided they should try to rescue her.  Lenny fished her out of the water, and Zippo bandaged her wound.  Katin expected it to be a bite from a fish - after all, one of the sacred texts had an entire chapter on fish, so they were clearly important - but Zippo thought it was a cut, not a bite.

The mystery continued.  The woman wore strange purple coveralls, of a material none of them had seen before.  Her hair was neat and blonde, her skin was strangely smooth, and she showed no sign of any mutation.  She carried a bow, made of another strange material, which Zippo promptly handed over to Katin.

With the woman stabilised, they decided to do some further exploration, heading into the darkness of the tunnel.  Katin had had a good sniff of the woman, who had a weird chemical smell, and concluded that she had had come from the other side of the tunnel.  But beyond that, it was hard to say.

Fascinating as the mass of rusting vehicles leading out of the tunnel was, they finally decided they should go home.  Katin had identified a low level of rot, but not something they wanted to stay out in for long.  The strange woman was now awake, and after some more attempts at conversation they finally managed to make out enough words for a brief conversation.  She was very confused and seemed to have lost her memory, not even knowing her own name.

They checked her clothes, just in case her name was written on them, but unless her name was 'machine wash', which seemed unlikely, there was nothing of help there.  The final conclusion was that she was probably some kind of gift from the Seven Sisters, and that they should take her back to the Dawn Vault so that the chroniclers could talk to her.

There was some argument back at the Ark, when Boss Briktoria insisted that the strange woman should be brought to the shrine, not the Dawn Vault.  After all, who could she be but one of the Seven Sisters themselves?  Lenny was confused, because surely there were already seven sisters, with Briktoria being one of them, so did this mean there were now eight sisters?  But after some discussion of the sacred texts, things started to make sense.  This smooth skinned, blonde haired, bow carrying woman who spoke in a strange tongue could only be one thing.  An elf."

RPGaDay: Thread

After thinking about the word 'thread' until it lost all meaning, I eventually came up with this take on a classic horror trope: an NPC to throw into an urban fantasy or horror game.

They assure me that Morgellon's disease is psychological.  The threads emerging from the sores on my arms are not growing there, but are simply fragments of my own clothes adhering to the fluids that ooze out of me.  I wanted very much to believe them.  I complied with all the treatment.  I told them, truthfully, that I understood.  They cleaned the sores and covered them with dressings, and I went home.

I decided to leave the dressings on for a week.  A week would be enough time for the sores to heal, and even if I was wrong about that, I would see them clean of threads.  All would be well.

I lasted five days before the itching became too much for me.

I ripped off the dressings, ready to dig my nails into my flesh and rip out the itch by the roots, but my hand was stayed but what I saw there.  The sores had healed, but protected from the outside world, the threads had grown again, forcing their way through my skin.  My screams attracted my sister, who found me desperately trying to pull them out, my nails raking through my skin and blood staining the bedsheets.

She made me stop, but at least now she believed me.  Nevertheless, my next attempt to deal with the problem sent me straight back to the psych ward.  I mean, I had to go to A&E first, but that's where they transferred me afterwards.  I'm not sure what the official diagnosis is, but I'm complying with all the treatment.  I've heard them say I'm responding well and I'm a good candidate for a prosthetic.

And it seems to have worked.  No more threads.  I'm feeling pretty good about things, and I think they will let me out soon, so long as my sister takes me in again.  She told me off for ruining her chainsaw, but I think she meant it in a loving way.

The trouble is that I know the truth now.  They tried to make me one of them, but I found out in time, and I don't think they're going to like that.  I wanted to check my sister each time she visited, to see if they've got to her, but I know that will just mean I end up staying here longer and I need to be able to help her.  It only takes one bite, after all.   But I know what to look for and I'll be ready.

And she's just arrived to take me home!  I can see her talking to one of the nurses.  I'm worried though.  She's got a dressing on her leg, and I just heard her tell the nurse about getting bitten.  She thinks it was a dog.  I know better.  But it's OK, because I know how to fix it.  My sister had to promise there wouldn't be a chainsaw in the house, but I know there's an axe in the shed.

I don't think I'm going to be at home for very long.

Last of the Sith episode 5: Things aren't always as they seem

Incoming call.
Gin did not have time for this right now.  Track-u-bot had been in contact with T-91 Tacti-bot, who was estimating that even after the re-opening of communication lines, there was still a 91% chance of the destruction of all life on Listehol.

And then there was the transmission from one of the capital ship.  Everyone knew that the sith lord Odion was dea, with the apparent exception of sith lord Odion who was demanding that Master Reshi come out and fight him.  Weird, but unlikely to be a problem for Master Reshi.  A quick insulting message was dispatched as a reply, and the group got on with more important things.  A ride across the city by racing ronto, stopping off for a quick fight, and then the defense of the star port.  They'd won a decisive victory, marred only by this incoming call.

Gin stared at the holo device, resisting the urge to throw it across the room.  Accursed droid!  What did it want with her?  She took a deep breath, and answered the call.

"Hello, usurping bastard."

"You can't just do things like this, you know?"

She initially denied responsibility for the death of engineer LeForge, the damage to Khaljos Kind's ship, and the giant painting of human genitalia on the side, but given that her gang, presumably in an effort to please her, has added the words 'Gin sends her regards' around it, this was something she was going to have to deal with.

"If we're all still alive after this, you're going to be in serious trouble."

"Did you just call me to tell me it's in my best interests that none of you survive?"

Curse protocol droids and their artificial emotions!  If it had been a human calling her that might have got a reaction.  As it was she had one day to get Kind's ship spaceworthy again or a recording of this conversation would be on its way to the Baron.  At least she knew who to call.

"Dax?  I need help."

With no desire to go anywhere near Kind herself, she accepted Mnessas's offer of a racing ronto ride through the ground battle.  Much mayhem later, the four of them were reunited, Dax bringing the good news that not only was the ship repaired, he'd managed to delete the recordings at the same time.

Track-u-bot had bad news - Master Reshi had been kidnapped by two trandoshan bounty hunters named Gar and Yolo - and good news - he had tracked them down to a Firespray that had only recently left the planet.

That freighter they'd used to get to the hyperspace station was still there.  Despite a swarm of sith fighters they were pretty close to catching up with the Firespray when turbolasers disabled the ship and tractor beams started pulling both ships into the star destroyer.

Still, Gin reflected, at least it was taking them where they wanted to go.

She didn't have a plan to help the others out with, but she did have an idea.  If she could just get Lord Odion to let his guard down a little...  A sweet smile and some very insincere compliments didn't sound like much, but it was enough to put him off balance while the others repeatedly relieved him of his light saber, and ultimately, his head.

Track-u-bot seemed pretty sure this was not the real Odion, but an imposter, which certainly made more sense to Gin than him being the very dead real one.  She was quite keen to remove his mask to reveal who he really was (with a strange conviction that his name would turn out to be Old Man Henderson) but ultimately there were more important things to worry about.  Like shoving enough freighter parts into the Firespray to get it spaceworthy again and getting Master Reshi to safety.  If nothing else, she might be able to explain why they had a dead fake sith lord on board.

Once they were clear of the star destroyer, Gin took care of the one remaining piece of unfinished business.  Dax had done her a big favour with Kind's ship.  It seemed only fair to give him his sister's missing ring.

RPGaDay: Change

I played my first online game in December 2019, because of Liminal.

It was the hot new thing everyone was talking about on Twitter, and I was thinking of getting the book, but having encountered RPGs that weren't as much fun as I thought they were going to be before, I wanted to try it before spending money.  I downloaded the quickstart, and knowing my home group wouldn't want to interrupt our ongoing campaign, I decided I was going to try it online.

Discord was the obvious choice.  My home group already used it for voice chat when playing MMOs, and my MK-RPG group had used it once for an online session one week when the GM couldn't make it in person, so I knew about dice roller bots.  I set up a server, rounded up a few nerds, and dived in.

It turned out I liked it.  While not the same experience as playing in person, I found it had some benefits.  Particularly for a modern day game like this, the fact I could drop a link to Google Maps into the chat to show people where they were was pretty awesome.  One of the players found a Rightmove page with a floor plan of the house they were heading into.  It was great.  Running two different groups through the Liminal quickstart adventure convinced me that online was a viable way to run an RPG and something I'd be prepared to consider again.

That said, I was pretty sure that online gaming was never going to replace in-person play for me.  Between the home group and the MK-RPG club I was playing two regular games a week, and my goal for 2020 was to get to as many in-person conventions as I could fit in between the LARPs.

And then, in March, everything changed.

My two regular games a week have expanded to four.  With no LARPs, my weekends are free for conventions and one-shots.  Events that were previously out of reach due to location have become viable online.  New, international events have sprung up, unfettered by anything except time zones.  In the last week I have played or run seven games.  It's reached the point where I'm having to pace myself to make sure I don't end up over-committed.

I want to be back at the table, rolling real dice again.  I want the convention experience of being in the room with a crowd of people and being able to talk to them outside the games.  I want the fun of physical props on the tables.  I want the joy of spotting a familiar face in the crowd.

But right now I've got a whole world of gaming at my fingertips.  And while the in-person conventions that have shifted online are likely to return to their physical venues once this is all over, there's a good chance some of the new virtual cons are going to keep going.  However long this goes on for, my gaming future is bright.

RPGaDay: Beginning

I found the red box in an antique shop in 2001.  It wasn't an Antiques Roadshow type of antique shop.  They did house clearances, so had a nice line in second hand books and the kind of vintage kitchenware that lasts forever.  I bought a measuring jug there which I've since misplaced and I still regret that.

I read the rulebook cover to cover.  I read the accompanying adventure module.  I read the book 'What is Dungeons & Dragons?' that the previous owner had left in the box, and had a bit of a giggle at its predictions about video games.  I read the hand made and xeroxed character sheets in the bottom of the box, and marvelled at the dice with the crayon to colour in the numbers.

I never played it.

In 2003 I got invited to join a MUD (Multi User Dungeon) which was one of the ways roleplay games on the internet happened back then.  You had to write what your character did and said, taking it mostly in turns depending on who was in the room.  I loved it.  No wonder I like narrative games so much.

The MUD I joined was run by Darren and Gillian Pearce, and in time we became friends.  Eventually they invited me to their house for my first ever tabletop game.  Which, for some reason I don't recall, was Everway.  My character's name was Cinder, and she was a fairytale princess who decided at the last minute that marrying the handsome prince was not for her, put on her magic running shoes, and ran away to have an adventure.  I was hooked.

I continued to intermittently play at Darren and Gill's house, and then found a home group.  But in 2007, White Wolf brought out a new game called Scion.  And that changed everything.

Darren ran a few games.  I didn't really know the worlds of Everway, or Warhammer, or Star Wars.  But Greek, Norse and Egyptian mythology?  That I knew.  That I understood.  That...I could GM.

And that's how it all began.

When Shadows Fall Quickstart Reviewed

When Shadows Fall is the latest quickstart I've got my hands on (via Kickstarter), so let's take a look.

Content

At 23 pages, this is a rare thing: a quickstart that can genuinely be described as quick.

Section 1 gives a couple of paragraphs on the game setting, then goes straight into the rules.  We get an introduction to character abilities, difficulty levels and how the core dice mechanic works.  There's a full page on combat, another covering physical aspects like armour, injury and fatigue (the latter of which doubles as the system's push mechanic), and a third on mental aspects.  While it's clearly stated that these are not the full rules, there's enough to run a game.

Section 2 gets further into the game's setting, with some more details of what's meant by the Shadow, and a few examples of the kind of antagonists that might be encountered in the game.  It's the briefest of introductions, which gives a good feel for the game's flavour, but not much suggestion on what a scenario might look like. Fortunately this is followed by...

Section 3 is a sample adventure.  It's a simple mission spiced up with a number of complications, which serve as a reminder that this is both a post-apoc game and a horror game.  It's not very long, and probably won't take more than a couple of hours to get through, although it's open-ended enough to be the start of something longer.

Section 4 is a set of sample characters.  These actually provide a bit more setting information - their previous occupations serve as a reminder that the game's apocalypse is a very recent event, and their backgrounds give some examples of recent events.  A slight oddity in the equipment lists is that two of the characters have daggers.  Not impossible (I mean, I own several) but an odd choice compared to a kitchen knife.  Edged weapons aside, the characters are flexible enough to be used in a wide range of scenarios, and have a good spread of abilities, with enough information to play straight off the page.  They're also diverse in gender, race and sexuality - always nice to see.

Presentation

The document is entirely monochrome, using a cloudy grey background for most pages and some black and white photography overlayed with a similar texture for section headings.  While nothing particularly spectacular, it's pretty atmospheric - looking at this I can certainly picture a world of grey concrete and overcast skies.

The PDF doesn't seem to have any bookmarks, but it does have a hyperlinked contents page, which should help reduce the amount of scrolling.  While I'm not sold on the two column layout, it's certainly readable on my desktop screen.  I'm not sure it would be good for printing, as I can't find any way of turning off the background image.  Not much of an issue at the time of writing, when coronavirus means pretty much all gaming is online, but something to consider when things get back to whatever normal turns out to be.

The character sheets are very obviously an early version - not particularly well laid out, but readable enough to be used as-is if you don't mind getting the background image when printing.  I assume the finished book will come with something prettier.

In terms of ordering, I would have liked to have the setting information before the rules, but otherwise no problems here.  If you're trying to avoid reading the adventure because you're going to be playing it, having the character sheets at the end is pretty convenient.

What can I do with it?

You can run the sample adventure.  There's enough information to run it straight off the document.  Unfortunately, it's not really long enough for a convention scenario, so if you want to use it for a convention you'll need to add some of your own material.

You can run your own game.  You can also make new characters, if the five at the end aren't enough.  While you'd have to improvise a lot with the setting, the rules given here, while not complete, are sufficient for actual play.

You can decide whether it's worth backing the kickstarter.  Unfortunately, right now it's only available to people who've backed the kickstarter, but if you're debating whether to back at digital or physical level, it'll certainly help with that.

Conclusion

Ultimately there's not enough setting information to do much more than the sample adventure, but it delivers when it comes to introducing the rules.  As someone who's not a fan of the Savage Worlds or Cortex systems, I was pretty wary of a game inspired by them, so being able to see that it differs enough from those systems to overcome my dislike was definitely useful.

The author has taken inspiration from the Liminal quickstart in putting this document together, and given that Liminal is my gold standard for quickstarts, that definitely bodes well.  While I don't think it's as good as Liminal, due to less setting information, it's achieved its goal in that between this and a sample game I've been convinced to up my kickstarter pledge to a physical book level and am looking forward to playing some more.