RPGaDay Question #12

(so it seems that I will be sticking with including the above image on each of these posts after all)

Question #12: Which RPG has the most inspiring interior art?

This one's quite easy for me, as the answer is Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars RPG.  While she's since moved on to other things, Zoe Robinson did an outstanding job as Art Director for the product line in hiring artists and getting art that not only felt at place within the galaxy far, far away, but many of them were evocative of characters or events, many of which could and very likely have inspirited GMs to create plots using one of those images as the launching point for an adventure.

I still remember the last GenCon I was able to attend, where I got a chance to meet and chat a bit with Zoe, and the shared chuckle over how the character image for the Performer specialization in the Far Horizons supplement for the Edge of the Empire line was a barely dressed Twi'lek male rather than the scantily-clad female that a number of folks had been half-expecting and half-dreading. so well played to Zoe for that one.

Runner-up for me in terms of inspiring interior art would probably be CthulhuTech, which while not always bright and cheery certainly did help paint a vibrant picture of what the world was like during the Strange Aeon in which the game was set, even if the images of the Nazzadi got a little heavy on the fanservice at times.  A particular favorite of mine where the images of the Tagers, the setting's Guyver-inspired character types, with the illustrations showing just how powerful yet monstrous a character became when they shifted into their combat form.

Well, it is somebody's birthday... drinks all around!

But it's not mine.  Or at least, it's not mine yet, savvy?

However, since I'm due to be rather busy on the 12th, I figured I'd post this one.  And while a person's birthday is a time for them to receive presents from others, I thought I'd switch it up a little and provide a present for others.

Some time ago, I posted a very short introductory style of adventure for the 7th Sea 2nd edition RPG, under the punny name of "An Idol Pursuit."  Well, in the time since I posted that little tidbit, I've since expanded upon it, adding what I guess one might call an introductory prologue, focusing upon the exploits the Heroes undertake to obtain the Syrenth idol that my initial adventure centers around. I initially ran this as an unrelated one-shot for my regular Skype group, and the group had quite a bit of fun with it.

It was while working on coming up with a good 7th Sea adventure to run at GamerNationCon earlier this year that I got the bright idea of just combining the two small adventures (each of which can be run in less than 2 hours) into a single larger adventure that could fill up most of a four hour time slot.  Now carrying the still punny name of "An Idol Venture," this is a fun little romp designed to introduce players to the world and general feel of 7th Sea.  It's not all that difficult of a module, as it's meant to encourage enjoyment of the setting and the system, not grind the players into the dirt.  Thus, the Risks entailed aren't too daunting, and in a couple of cases the module itself encourages the GM to let the players get really creative with their descriptions in how they overcome the Risks presented.  It's a little rough around the edges, and by intentional design doesn't make use of Dramatic Risks (mostly out of fear of dragging the adventure out, a big no-no for con modules), but it's still fun and good for a night's diversion from a group's usual RPG fare, or as a means to give 7th Sea 2nd edition a whirl.

An Idol Venture, An Introductory Adventure for 7th Sea 2e

Also included in the zip file are the five Heroes that I created specifically for this module, though if you have access to the Heroes & Villains supplement, you could certainly select some of the Heroes from there if you'd like.  I've not yet found a character sheet that I'd truly liked or covered enough information to suit my tastes, so the characters here are presented in a pretty straight-forward style, with enough information given to play them without having to book-dive to see which of their abilities does what.

RPGaDay Question #11

Question #11: Which 'dead game' would you like to see reborn?

So I've got two answers for this question.

First off, one setting I'd really like to see get revived is Babylon 5.  I very much enjoyed the d20 version produced by Mongoose Publishing, especially the second edition, even though it did share some of the issues inherent with the 3.X D&D version of the d20 engine.  I only got to play in a couple of very short campaigns, with the first one only being called a "campaign" out of charity as it only lasted two sessions, while the other lasted a bit longer at five sessions but collapsed due to conflicting schedules and half the players wanting something a bit more action-packed than the mystery/investigative plot the GM was using.

I did get to play a Ranger in the second one (was set a very short time after the original series ended but largely ignored the Crusade series), which was fun, and had some pretty interesting characters such as a Centauri version of Deep Space Nine's Garak and a Human Telepath (former PsiCorp) that had gotten her powers boosted via some ancient alien artifact of unknown origins.  The campaign was centered on a lesser EarthForce operated space station, though pretty sure none of the PCs were actually part of EarthForce; mine was perhaps the closest due to being part of the InterStellar Alliance, but was operating on an extended covert mission.  Sadly things were just starting to get good when the game folded.  Ah well.

Though if Babylon 5 does make a comeback in RPG form, I'd prefer it to not use a d20-based system but perhaps instead using something like Fantasy Flight Games' Genesys, Modiphus Entertainment's 2d20 (especially the Star Trek Adventures version), or even FATE Core.  Just give me a chance to play as one of the Anlashok and I'm content.

The second 'dead' game I'd like to see make a return would be CthulhuTech by Wildfire LLC.  It's quite an unusual setting, being a mash-up the Cthulhu Mythos and various anime series, most notably Robotech, Neon Genesis Evangalion, and Guyver.  It was fairly bleak, but there were still elements of hope for mankind, though the question of how far would humanity go to survive and would it still be recognizable as humanity often lingered in the background.  The art was certainly evocative, and the future setting did some elements that were unsettling.  But it also had stuff that was pretty damn cool, such as the Eva-inspired Engels, gigantic monstrous organisms sheathed in armor and perhaps humanity's most powerful weapon against the Migou invaders or monstrous hordes in service to the Old Ones, with my personal favorite setting element being the Tagers, humans that choose to bond with entities from outside our reality to become something more and yet intrinsically less than human, fighting a Shadow War against the corrupt Chrysalis Corporation and their thoroughly inhuman Dhohanoid, monsters that can wear the shape of man but have forsaken their humanity for power.  Yes, it's based very heavily on the Guyver series of anime, though the PCs are nowhere near that level of power.  I'd had hopes more than once of running a Tager-centric CthuluTech game, but those plans never came to fruition.

Sadly, it was a game hindered by a dice system that was far clunkier than it really should have been.  Another problem that plagued the game was the distribution issues Wildfire was having, as they bounced from Mongoose Publishing to Catalyst Game Labs, who from what I can understand really screwed over the folks behind CthuhluTech.  I think with a more streamlined dice system this game could do really well if brought back.  I know there'd been efforts by Wildfire to create a second edition (I even grabbed the playtest docs), but I've not heard much of anything else on the matter.

So yeah, those are the two main settings/games that had RPGs that I would love to see make a return from the land of dead games.  While not without their faults, there was a lot to like about the settings themselves, and for the most part what little gaming I did with those settings, I remember with a sense of fondness.

Come back tomorrow for my answer to question #12, which will probably not surprise anyone that knows my gaming habits of recent years.

Until then... we live for the One, we die for the One.

RPGaDay Question #10

(You know, after ten of these posts, I'm wondering if I still need to keep including that image with the list of questions...)

So, Question #10: Where do you go for RPG reviews?

In this day and age, my first place is the internet.  I follow a number of different RPG publishing companies and game sites on Facebook, so if I see something pop up on my feed that draws my interest, I'll click the link and check it out.  I don't have any one site in particular that I go to, as I think they've all got their merits.

I also tend to use Google to do searches for fan-operated blogs to see what folks that aren't directly affiliated with an RPG have to say about it.  Often times, I can get a decent feel for if a particular RPG is for me or not simply by seeing what other folks have to say about it on a site that's not subject to needing hits/traffic or keeping in the good graces of a parent company.

Well, that was a fairly quick answer.  Tune in tomorrow for #11 and see which ghosts of gaming past I'd like to see make a return.

RPGaDay Question #9

Question #9: What is a good RPG to play for about 10 sessions?

Honestly, there's quite a few of them that work, provided you as the player aren't too hung up on character advancement.  So in that vein, my answers are going to focus on RPGs where the characters start out highly competent and really don't have to fret too much about failing tasks that are within the character's niche unless it's something well and truly difficult.

To go back to the olden days of RPGs, WEG's D6 Star Wars was one such game, and according to Bill Slavicsek the game was very much intended for what these days are referred to as "mini-campaigns" that often only last for a dozen sessions at most.  And unless you're playing a Force user, there's not really a point where your character feels less than competent within their area of expertise.

Of more recent fair, I'd have to say that 7th Sea 2nd edition is a solid choice.  As I noted in an early blog post, Heroes in this game start out quite capable, and with the way character advancement works it's entirely possible for a Hero to accomplish a major personal goal by the time the mini-campaign wraps up.

I could also see various FATE Core and FATE Accelerated games being good for mini-campaigns.  Depending on how you set up your skills/approaches, it could well be that your character only occasionally needs to invoke an aspect to be able to succeed at tasks, which is good because depending on how the GM handles the milestone system, you may not be seeing a whole lot of growth in terms of your skill ranks.

Now one RPG worth mentioning with regards to this question is Shadow of the Demon Lord.  While the overall mechanics fell much too clunky for my liking and the characters generally start out as 0th level scrubs, the game itself is very much geared towards the mini-campaign model, with the notion that each successfully completed adventure (i.e. session) gives the characters a level advancement, and with it capping out at 10th level, once that last session is in the books, it's pretty much time to retire the characters and embark on a new mini-campaign.

Another contender is FFG's Star Wars RPG.  While it might seem that you need loads of XP in order to really make your character capable, the introduction of Knight Level play in the Force and Destiny core rulebook allows a group to make characters that are a good deal more capable than your typical starting character, including the option for much better gear than what most starting characters can afford.  And such, if you only play for 10 or so sessions, you're not as worried about your character's advancement since you already start off with about 10 session's worth of XP under your belt.  In fact, I'd posit that the main characters from A New Hope and The Force Awakens all started out as Knight Level characters, with Luke and Rey not spending all their XP right off the bat so that they could later spend them on Force-related abilities as they came to learn more about the Force.

Alright, so that's my answer to #9.  Tune in tomorrow for Question #10, and where this gamer goes to get the skinny on new entries into the market.

RPGaDay Question #8

Question #8: What is a good RPG to play for sessions of 2 hours or less?

Honestly, this was tougher for me to answer than you'd think.

To be honest, it's only rarely that I play sessions that fall under 2 hours, and those have usually been sessions that were part of a larger campaign that had to be cut short for various real life concerns, most notably the Skype group I'm in, often due to players being stuck at work or having to bow out early due to illness, allergies, or work-related exhaustion.  To be fair, I've been guilty of all three, so I'm not judging the other players, not by any stretch.

Still, if I knew that I only had a couple hours to play, I think I'd most likely lean towards FATE Accelerated, as building a character is very quick and game play is equally fast.  I generally stick to meatier RPGs, though I'm sure Chris "GM Chris" Witt of the Order 66 podcast has a number of fast-play RPGs that would fit the bill.

Yeah, a short post, but compared to the behemoth that was yesterday's answer, it's a fits the day's question that this one is over so quickly.

I will have a suitably meatier answer for tomorrow's question though.

RPGaDay Question #7

Question #7: What was your most impactful RPG session?

My answer to this one lies oddly enough in a short campaign of Vampire: The Masquerade, one that took place while I was in college and thus in my early 20's.

In terms of RPGs, it was a heady time for me, with my getting to learn about and experience a great many different systems.  Now those that know me also know that I don't have a very positive point of view towards White Wolf's World of Darkness, or as I've taken to calling it, the World of Over-Bearing Angst.  But, there was a time, very early on in the setting's life cycle, where the angst level hadn't gotten overwhelming and the dark broodiness of the setting hadn't begun choking the fun out playing the RPG.

Admittedly, I was more a fan of Werewolf: the Apocalypse than the other settings for their World of Darkness, mostly as playing one of the Garou was a more visceral experience, where your character had the opportunity chance and the power to directly attack the ills of the world; yes, I'm aware that the system tends to catch a lot of derision for pretty much being superheroes for furries, but a lot of those same folks have a tendency to overlook the many problems that their beloved Vampire: the Masquerade had, where the players often ignored the struggle against their inner monster and instead embraced the inhumanity of being a vampire and used it as an excuse to do some pretty horrid things.

That said, I did agree to play in what one of my friends would be a semester-long mini-campaign of V:tM, and that one of the goals would be to explore the loss of one's humanity in the wake of becoming a monster.  The characters were varied and with one exception (a Caitiff combat monster) rather intriguing individuals from a variety of clans, with an added wrinkle of two of the PCs, myself and one other, being ordinary Mortals, with the understanding that at some point, our characters would be Embraced (presumably by one or more of the vampire PCs).  Another element of the campaign proposed was the dangers of power, of how it could corrupt and to what degree should one submit to authority?

Sounds pretty interesting, right?  Yeah, it didn't quite work out that way.  Of the seven players (five vamps, two mortals), four of the vampires decided they liked working for the local Prince, a truly Machiavellian creature that ruled the city with an iron fist; pretty much nothing happened in the city without his tacit approval.  The fifth Vampire, a Ventrue that had been a crusading attorney prior to her Embrace, was the only one to seek to circumvent the Prince, but she was too useful to the Prince (plus he had an unhealthy fixation on her, even for a vampire), and so the other vampire PCs were instructed to "make an example" of the Ventrue's daughter, who was one of the two Mortal PCs.  The other Mortal was my PC, a twenty-something aspiring rocker named Michael Cross from the wrong side the tracks (prime material to be vamp'd by either the Brujah or the Toreador), and who in the course of the campaign to that point had managed to convince the Ventrue's daughter that he wasn't a total lost cause, leading them to become friends before developing into romantic partners.

I think the GM's idea was that the four vamp PCs would reject this as a brutality too much, and turn against their inhumane master.  Well, you know the saying about GM plans and what happens when they meet the players.  Suffice to say, they went over the top with the ensuing carnage, with the four players reveling in their ability to be unabashed monsters.  At the end of the session, my PC was left to bleed out after being horrifically beaten, the Ventrue's daughter was left barely alive but catatonic from the trauma both physical and mental, and the Ventrue herself was so horrified she nearly considered ending her undead existence in a final act of defiance.  It was some scary stuff, with a couple players being uncomfortable afterwards with what their characters had wrought in the throes of their Frenzy.

So that's the set-up for what lead into what is my most impactful RPG session, which to be fair was something of a two-parter, occurring on consecutive nights.  Pretty bleak, right?

Now, a couple weeks before the atrocity described above occurred, one that was bad enough for the GM to almost consider giving up gaming in general, I'd stumbled across a set of fan-created rules for a particular character type, one associated with what is probably one of my all-time favorite films.  I'd handed them over as I'd found the fan supplement to be fairly amusing, and figured nothing more would come of it.

A couple nights after that session, the GM stops by my apartment and asks if we can talk. I agree, figuring at the very least he wanted a sounding board if he should continue or not, which made since as I was pretty much out of campaign.  So imagine my surprise when he told me that he wanted me to rebuild my Mortal, only no longer was he Mortal, and to make use of a slightly-tweaked version of that fan supplement I'd stumbled across.

In short, Michael was coming back from the grave, but not in a way anybody would expect...


Now, this session in which Michael returned as a mime from Hell took place before Wraith: the Oblivion did their supplement for characters coming back from the dead, so there were no official rules for playing a Crow-style character.  The returned version of Michael was truly monster in terms of game mechanics, and seeing an opportunity to play a character type from a film I still enjoy do this day, I through myself into the role of an artistic soul that's been driven to savagery by the evil done, not only to him but to those he cared for and for the countless innocents whom nobody mourned.

So come that next Saturday, with the GM having told the group that he would continue the campaign for at least one more session, though sans the Mortals given what had happened; after all, one of them was dead and the other was catatonic, states that aren't exactly conducive to a fun role-playing experience.  I won't bore you the reader with the full grisly details (this post is getting pretty long already), but to say that it was a transformative experience for me on what it meant to truly get into character is an understatement.  Michael didn't show up right away, but when he did, I stepped into the room having gone all in, dressed in black with a long coat and my face done up in the variation of the Comedy mask that Eric used in the film.  In the end, the four vamps were dead, most of which by fairly creative and symbolically cruel ways, with only one of them truly repenting for her sins before receiving the Final Death, and the Prince of the city learned the hard way that vengeance cannot be forever denied.  In it's own way, that two-part session was incredibly powerful, with one of the players even writing her term paper for her alt-psych class about my performance; she was one of the few students to get an A from a professor who was notoriously demanding.

So yeah, that experience was highly impactful in terms of my playing characters.  Before then, I generally saw the characters I made as numbers, and will admit that while not a munchkin, I was something of a power-gamer and frequently sought out how to squeeze the most benefit out of the mechanics without much consideration for the character itself.  Of course, I find this to be a bit amusing, since Crow!Michael was as power-gamed a character as it was possible to build, but being able to fully and completely step into that role, gave me the insight to fully understand and embrace the role-playing aspect of role-playing games.  I may not get quite as in-depth with my character portrayals these days, but that short stint of playing Crow!Michael is one that still sticks with me, it still impacts how I approach role-playing, and it probably will stay with me for the rest of my life.

After all, it can't rain all the time.