The Virtual Tabletop

Hopefully in a few week's time, I'll be joining in on a Star Wars Skype game run by Ben "Cyril" Erickson.

Now I've only played a few games through Skype before. One was another Star Wars Saga Edition game that sadly fell through after only two sessions due to half the players simply being unable to commit (a small child does that). The other notable time was again Star Wars, which was intended to be a 3-part cameo in a side-adventure run by Garrett of the Threat Detected podcast, though sadly I missed 2 of the 3 parts (first session due to illness, third due to oversleeping) and felt like a lout for doing so (particularly the third one).

Which kind of brings me to the point of this musing. It's becoming more and more common nowadays to play RPGs online as opposed to on the table. Granted, I have been and always will be a proponent of having the players all gathered around a single table and playing face-to-face, but the reality of today's world is that getting everyone into one place isn't always feasible, especially if your local area has a very sparse gamer population, or simply a lack of gamers that want to play the same RPGs that you do.

And so, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, enters the realm of virtual table-top gaming. Again, I am far from any kind of knowledgeable expert on the subject, especially when it comes to what sorts of software to use. That said, I am certainly looking forward to Cyril's game, which is set in the comic book version of the Legacy Era of Star Wars. I've always felt that setting has so much untapped potential for GM's set their campaigns in as the Heroes of Yavin are all dead & buried, the Sith and the Imperials are around to serve as villains, and though they're hunted, the Jedi are still around. And as a Legacy Era campaign I played in a few years back showed, the setting works just fine if there are no Skywalkers around.

For this one, instead of playing a Jedi or a general-purpose beatstick, I opted to play what Rikoshi over on the D20 Radio Forums thread for this on-line game described as a "smart-mouthed ex-cop living on the edge." Cyril's also using Aspects ala FATE/Dresden Files, so that should make things a bit more interesting than usual. So here's hoping it's a long-runner, because it's bound to be a fun one.