Deadlands started this weekend and with mixed emotions I thought it went well.
Despite it being a character creation/finishing off session, plus an introduction to the world of Deadlands, and then followed by a way of getting all the characters together, the party still managed to "burn" its way through half of the pre-written adventure, the 3rd Dime Novel, Independence Day.
I had anticipated it would last 4 or 5 sessions, but these guys are on fire and doing well. The reason I started with Dime Novel 3, is because I had already run with 2 of the same group the first two Dime Novels all of which went very well.
I loved having the playing cards and poker chips in my hands, the game system really helps the wild weird west feel.
I mentioned at the beginning the session was with mixed emotions. The reason I said that was because one of the players has decided to withdraw from the group claiming he is gaming too much to want to participate. There were other reasons, e.g. he said he didnt really feel the wild west was a game for him, but fuck it, Im not letting a player hold the rest of the group to ransom. Im sticking with deadlands as the other 3 players want more. Ive pandered to a player in the past and it never works out.
Im struggling to keep the group together as despite it changing and morphing over the last 8 years, I still see this group as mine, but Im not foolish enough to think it is only I who matters. I am trying to recruit a couple of new players, we shall see how that goes, plus I am tentatively thinking about merging this group with another, but that will require some serious thought.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Storygames (White Wolf et al)
I think Ive finally sussed out what I hate White Wolf and their storyteller game system. Its not because of the overly detailed and unnecessary background or the false tempting of you becoming a goth monster. Oh no, its something much more fundamental than that.
When I run a role-playing game, it is just that, a game in which we assume roles and we have fun with the way the dice roll. With WW, its more about the story. So in essence, DND is a collective game in which the GM decides to the plot and the encounters and impartially alters the game according to the actions of the players and hence the players are telling their own story and making their own legends happen. With say Werewolf or any of the other games in the WW stable, its more about the GM (or quite rightfully Storyteller) telling the rest of the players stories about their character, with little or NO real valid input from the player.
Its almost childish in its simplicity. The player creates a monster/character that they want to play, give it to the Storyteller to come up with a fun and exciting and dangerous and epic adventure about their character.
Well I have news for you. As the GM I'm too fucking busy running the game interpreting the rules to be babysitting for a bunch of werewolves.
animalball (64.234.17.78)
evilref (86.41.97.203)
lawbag (83.104.27.178)
When I run a role-playing game, it is just that, a game in which we assume roles and we have fun with the way the dice roll. With WW, its more about the story. So in essence, DND is a collective game in which the GM decides to the plot and the encounters and impartially alters the game according to the actions of the players and hence the players are telling their own story and making their own legends happen. With say Werewolf or any of the other games in the WW stable, its more about the GM (or quite rightfully Storyteller) telling the rest of the players stories about their character, with little or NO real valid input from the player.
Its almost childish in its simplicity. The player creates a monster/character that they want to play, give it to the Storyteller to come up with a fun and exciting and dangerous and epic adventure about their character.
Well I have news for you. As the GM I'm too fucking busy running the game interpreting the rules to be babysitting for a bunch of werewolves.
animalball (64.234.17.78)
18th Mar, 2008 17:43 (local)
I think that's a pretty simple division that I think I agree with. Granted, different systems can be played different ways. But generally I think you're correct in the differentiating game play styles of 3.5 and WW.
evilref (86.41.97.203)
18th Mar, 2008 21:46 (local)
The question of how much the "storyteller" tells a story is not really about White Wolf. It's just down to personal style. I prefer to tell a story myself -- but not about immature teenage vampires, thanks.
lawbag (83.104.27.178)
19th Mar, 2008 14:54 (local)
the observation came out of running a pure fantasy game (Rolemaster/Freeport campaign) on the back of running Werewolf The Apocalypse and the comparison in the amount of in and out of game work required.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Conventions? Whats the Point? (Old Blog)
This is likely to be a rant I will come back to, but I have to ask the question, "Whats the point of RPG Conventions, or indeed conventions in general?". Don't confuse this with trade shows which are entirely different beasts, but having read some reviews, experiences and issues with conventions I must ask Whats The Point?
The only attractions I can see is
(a) meeting gamers from other parts of the country (or world) "oh cool, you have 8-sided dice too!"
(b) finding out about games you might not have seen before from publishers you never heard before, and if you are reasonable getting your own signed copy too.
The Main Reasons for Not going
(a) meeting people you would never normally want to be seen dead with
(b) playing a demo game run by the creator of the game, buying the entire line (rules and 2 supplements) to find the game sucks, and the only person who could run the game was the creator.
(c) signing up for games which dont actually exist due to the GM signing up "ghost" games to ensure he gets in free and gets reduced accommodation.
(d) having a well thought out convention game ruined by ignoble/ignorant cock heads. What is the attraction of running a con game?
(e) staying in accommodation that is poor at best with people you dont really know. As has been mentioned, gamers arent the most hygenic of folk.
Usually these conventions are a 2 or 3 day affair. I can think of many good games to play with my group that why do I feel the need to meet strangers and play with them. The worst kind have to be the group that goes to a convention to play their game there? Erm, why.
Sorry not a very clever or even well thought out rant, but in the few conventions I have been to over the years I found no good reason to go, other than being with friends.
Originally posted 1st February 2006
The only attractions I can see is
(a) meeting gamers from other parts of the country (or world) "oh cool, you have 8-sided dice too!"
(b) finding out about games you might not have seen before from publishers you never heard before, and if you are reasonable getting your own signed copy too.
The Main Reasons for Not going
(a) meeting people you would never normally want to be seen dead with
(b) playing a demo game run by the creator of the game, buying the entire line (rules and 2 supplements) to find the game sucks, and the only person who could run the game was the creator.
(c) signing up for games which dont actually exist due to the GM signing up "ghost" games to ensure he gets in free and gets reduced accommodation.
(d) having a well thought out convention game ruined by ignoble/ignorant cock heads. What is the attraction of running a con game?
(e) staying in accommodation that is poor at best with people you dont really know. As has been mentioned, gamers arent the most hygenic of folk.
Usually these conventions are a 2 or 3 day affair. I can think of many good games to play with my group that why do I feel the need to meet strangers and play with them. The worst kind have to be the group that goes to a convention to play their game there? Erm, why.
Sorry not a very clever or even well thought out rant, but in the few conventions I have been to over the years I found no good reason to go, other than being with friends.
Originally posted 1st February 2006
Round Up of Events
I ran, what was supposed to be the final episode of Freeport (Rolemaster rules) and we missed the ending by an hour. So last session will happen this week and will have to dovetail with Deadlands. We did have a seat reserved for GG had he been watching in on the session to view the action and adventure. The session, whilst playing too long (i.e. the players got sidetracked and spent a lot of time doing heroic stuff not related to the adventure, but still important to them) did generate some fantastic solutions to difficult problems.
For instance, the docks of Freeport were locked down by Black Orcs who had occupied the town ensuring no boats entered the port or left. This left the players with a massive problem as they had an injured member of the party who they couldnt move (due to some serious criticals - thanks Rolemaster :-) ). But they injured party member could only be reached by boat as they had recently explored a rocky dungeon just off the coast of Freeport. What made matters worse was that the identity of the injured party member (a cleric no less) was well known to the black orcs and they had themselves offered a large reward for the cleric's capture.
One player, our resident rogue, went up to a pair of black orcs and offered the cleric up as a bounty as long as they shared the reward with him. The other players complained as they thought the rogue had sold the cleric up the river. This was made all the more tense as the rogue and cleric had had a long standing disagreement and had discussed this very situation before, i.e. selling the cleric out to the bad guys.
In return for helping the orcs and sharing the reward, they would need a boat to get there. And the rogue pretended to be "weak" meaning the orcs not only stole a boat to aid the party, but also rowed to the cave.
Suffice to say that the party ambushed the poor orcs and the cleric was saved, but not before choice words were spoken between the two protagonists.
For instance, the docks of Freeport were locked down by Black Orcs who had occupied the town ensuring no boats entered the port or left. This left the players with a massive problem as they had an injured member of the party who they couldnt move (due to some serious criticals - thanks Rolemaster :-) ). But they injured party member could only be reached by boat as they had recently explored a rocky dungeon just off the coast of Freeport. What made matters worse was that the identity of the injured party member (a cleric no less) was well known to the black orcs and they had themselves offered a large reward for the cleric's capture.
One player, our resident rogue, went up to a pair of black orcs and offered the cleric up as a bounty as long as they shared the reward with him. The other players complained as they thought the rogue had sold the cleric up the river. This was made all the more tense as the rogue and cleric had had a long standing disagreement and had discussed this very situation before, i.e. selling the cleric out to the bad guys.
In return for helping the orcs and sharing the reward, they would need a boat to get there. And the rogue pretended to be "weak" meaning the orcs not only stole a boat to aid the party, but also rowed to the cave.
Suffice to say that the party ambushed the poor orcs and the cleric was saved, but not before choice words were spoken between the two protagonists.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Freeport Trilogy Coming to an End
Ill post links to the full review of the trilogy, but generally my feeling to the adventure trilogy is I feel let down. I was hoping for some piratey naval high fantasy adventure, but what I got was down and dirty low fantasy more akin to Warhammer FRP
Friday, March 7, 2008
E Gary Gygax
I deliberately not posted anything regarding his death on this blog as I dont feel there is anything else to add to the combined heart-felt loss at his death.
I think it is fair to say that without Dungeons and Dragons, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, (2 games I didn't really play much as I cut my teeth on Tunnels and Trolls and RuneQuest and neither of which would exist without the 2 aforementioned games) there would be no role-playing games, pencil and paper or computer/console games.
These games have shaped my life more than I could possibly imagine. I genuinely could not envisage my life without role-playing. Thanks to GG I really did conquer new worlds, meet new people and kill them!
I think it is fair to say that without Dungeons and Dragons, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, (2 games I didn't really play much as I cut my teeth on Tunnels and Trolls and RuneQuest and neither of which would exist without the 2 aforementioned games) there would be no role-playing games, pencil and paper or computer/console games.
These games have shaped my life more than I could possibly imagine. I genuinely could not envisage my life without role-playing. Thanks to GG I really did conquer new worlds, meet new people and kill them!
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