Signs of life

I've managed a few posts on our group's blog even though it's been quiet as a grave here. Same user name and all.

Ennui

I haven't even tried to write any RPG-related material this year, which is quite an underachievement. It might result in part from me getting more responsibilities at work, but I don't believe that's the reason. I'm even having a hard time coming up with a character for my friend's Wraith: the Oblivion game.

I do hope that this is just a phase and sooner or later I can get cracking on the projects mentioned two posts ago, or something else. One good thing about last year's Project 52 was that it gave me a drive to push things forward.

Wings of War

I finally got to try out the Wings of War: Burning Drachens card game which I have owned for a couple of years. It was as expected: quick to learn and fun to play. I liked the old GDW WWI air combat game Blue Max well enough, but WoW is definitely an improvement on it. Hopefully we get to fly again and add some more players into the mix.

42

As it is now one hour past midnight and there won't be any gaming today, it is apparent that I missed my goal for 2008 by ten sessions. I think that gaming once a week can only be accomplished if your group consists of people with lots of free evenings or weekends, or if you have at least two ongoing groups that do not overlap much personnel-wise.

I am not embarking on a similar project, or any so-called project, next year. If I get to run some games that have been rolling about in my head and to play in other GMs' entertaining campaigns, that'll be good enough. By that yardstick this year was certainly a success, too, despite the numerical failure.

A wish list of things I'd like to do this coming year, just off the top of my head:

• Some more Angel 1957 adventures
• A good western
• Trying out some of the more interesting indie games, such as A Dirty World, Duty & Honour, The Barbarians of Lemuria or Agon
• Getting actual writing and playing done on my blaxploitation Cinematic Unisystem campaign
• Maybe, just maybe, trying my hand at RPG system design again... I haven't really done it since 2002

See? That's not a project plan, it's a letter to Santa. Have a great New Year!

Bruised, bloodied rock'n'roll

The second part of the Angel adventure was played today. We had to reschedule so many times that today we went on despite one player being ill. Everyone survived Shadow Pass (from White Wolf's Midnight Roads) and managed to play a great gig in Hot Springs after the singer-guitarist had recovered from her wounds.

The players who were there expressed an interest in playing a few more times, so we might have a short campaign in our hands instead of a single scenario. I would certainly like that and I do have one or two ideas for the future adventures of Ellen Hart with the Sonic Rockets.

Game Count: 42/52

Dungeon job

Started the D&D game this week by investigating the ruins of a wizard's keep. Found a single kobold priest surprisingly hard to take down. Did eventually succeed without losses to our group of three heroes and two NPC helpers. Will continue next year.

Game Count: 41/52

A hit and a miss

We had to reschedule the second Angel session, but Godlike started as planned and went pretty well, I think. The first session did not require many rules or dice rolling, so the system has yet to really prove itself.

Game Count: 40/52

Sharpe's Game

No, you haven't missed a novel in Bernard Cornwell's highly entertaining series. I'm talking about Neil Gow's new indie RPG Duty & Honour. Sharpe is his biggest single source of inspiration and from what I've read so far (the book only arrived from Lulu yesterday), it seems to capture the spirit admirably. The game says right out of the gate that it is not a strict historical simulation of Napoleonic land battles, trying instead to follow the exploits of Sharpe, Aubrey & Maturin, and other fictional heroes of the era.

I like the physical appearance of the book, too. Someone commented that it's close to the size of Osprey's military history books, and that may not be an accident. It's easier to read than a small paperback, yet handier to carry than a traditional full-size RPG. The layout is unexceptional but clear (important to me) and editing seems to be pretty good. Wellesley's name is misspelled in the in-character introduction, but that is the only typo I've spotted so far.

I hope I get to actually try this game out instead of just adding it to my collection.

Godlike to set sail

Finally we have a date for the first session. In 10 days, we'll see if I have written crap or gold. Angel part II also has a date, even sooner than Godlike, but I'll still be 11 games short of my target afterwards and weeks are running out...

A rogue shall be born

Created a D&D 3.5 elf rogue yesterday for a Dungeon Crawl Classics game. Probably my very first thief-type character. Although he doesn't see himself as a thief; he's actually pretty good-natured and more of an expert on fine mechanisms such as traps and locks. Hell of an acrobat, too, but cannot sneak or fast-talk worth a damn.

Game Count: 39/52

This is rock 'n' roll

I ran Cinematic Unisystem for the first time this week, having only played it (Buffy) before. The working title for this endeavor is Angel: 1957; kind of boring but gets the point across. It's a two-part scenario: first half my own making and the second taken from World of Darkness: Midnight Roads. The characters form a three-person band called Ellen Hart with the Sonic Rockets. They have been touring southern states for a couple of months and have one single released on Meteor Records. And then, of course, Something Happens... but that'll be in part two. In the first session they drove from a disastrous gig in Texarkana to Hope, Arkansas and performed successfully there.

Period music was played from my laptop, people seemed to have a good time, and the system stayed nicely out of the way. To be continued!

Game Count: 38/52

Gaming Weekend III: the outcome

I had great fun as a player and as a GM. I played in a post-apocalyptic game titled Cthulhu 2100 in which we literally saved the world, and ran a Boot Hill 3rd edition game whose plot was ripped off from a Tex Willer story (Finnish issues 9-10/1991, in case you are curious). The setting and NPCs were used basically without changes, and the story was only modified enough to work with the four PCs I created instead of Tex and Kit Carson (who, for example, are Texas Rangers, while the PCs were without law enforcement powers). Roughly halfway through the events started to go their own way instead of following the comic, and that was perfectly all right and what I expected, really. If anything, I think our version was a little more plausible.

I think Boot Hill is still my favorite RPG gunfighting system.

This was my first attempt to translate an existing story into a RPG scenario so directly, and the results were so good that maybe I should steal/adapt more often...

Game Count: 37/52

TPK

The second part of that AD&D adventure ended in every character perishing. Mine was slain by a zombie, the others died soon afterwards under a swarm of poisonous centipedes. Dice know no mercy.

Game Count: 35/52

Two shots for the price of one

It got to be a little late, so we are going to finish the AD&D adventure next Friday. Fun was had by all participants as we vanquished skeletons, fire beetles, kobolds and a poltergeist.

Game Count: 34/52

Apparently, it pays to complain

A friend of mine suddenly got an idea of running an AD&D 2nd edition one-shot this Friday. I've now finished creating my character, and I must say that it was quite entertaining in and itself - good retro fun. Amrond Elensar, a cleric of the very vaguely defined Elvish faith, is not going to set the world on fire with his amazing abilities, but that's part of the old school experience, I think.

For the upcoming gaming weekend, I've dusted off my old idea of combining Angel and blaxploitation films with late 1960s Detroit as the setting. Cool music, hot cars, and dark nights. The main problem is that my so-called plot can be written up with a couple of words and I've got nothing worked out beyond that. Some published adventure may turn out to be the only possible solution with the time I have left.

Obligatory September post

I shouldn't let a month slip by without a single post. But the fact is that it's been slim pickings on the roleplaying front. I'm still inching towards finishing the Godlike adventure, and I should somehow come up with another one-shot for another gaming weekend in the countryside - inside two weeks. "Project 52" seems wishful thinking now, but at least I got a lot of good gaming done during the first half of the year.

Powergame has a new home

So, once upon a time I wrote this little game and spent a few years tinkering with it. It's been a long time since I touched the text, even though I flirt with the idea occasionally, but since the university quite reasonably closed the old site down after more than a decade of service I wanted to make the files available somewhere. It's not as if the traffic will be overwhelming, so I put it in my home directory for now. Behold, a blast from the past: Powergame.

PT-48 seems to have a crew

I've received three solid character ideas from the players, so it seems that Godlike is go. I have to finish writing the scenario and stat some NPCs, though. Hopefully we can start in a few weeks.

Join the Navy and see the world!

I'm planning to test Godlike with an adventure that will probably last a couple of sessions and is kind of in continuity with our finished Shadows of Yog-Sothoth campaign. I wrote an entirely too elaborate introduction to assist in character creation, if you care to take a look.

I don't intend to bring Cthulhoid monstrosities into Godlike. The sole surviving PC from earlier is going to be an NPC talent in this game, that's all.

Quickie update

After another longish break, we continued the NWN campaign. The fifth module awaits.

Game Count: 33/52