June 23rd, 2007 (boy am I behind in my posts!Thanks to Todd for prodding me) Endgame in Oakland sponsored Good Omens Productions very own Good Omens Con (GoCon!). I'm not a member of this fab group of GM's but they tend to run fine games. They run more toward the indie direction. Fine by me. They're dedicated to bringing more interesting games to conventions. More power to 'em. The entry fee to GoCon was a can of food which they then donated to charity. Way to go guys & gals!
Sean Nittner ran a Wilderness of Mirrors game. This is an unpublished Superspy game written by John Wick. A superb game, with simple mechanics. It's also a collaborative storytelling game. Since I'm going to be running InSpectres for my home group, I jumped into this game. Sean and I played in Todd Furler's Unknown Armies game at KublaCon. Cool to see him again. The game just flat-out rocked! It has a fabulous opening concept: The players put their characters through the exposition portion of most Superspy movies - y'know, that scene where the agent is briefed on the bad-guy [click! goes the slide show] and their minions as well as their secret lair [blueprints appear on a computer screen] and the obligatory hot chick [click! click!! click!!!]. In this game we created that scene ourselves and made up all of our own obstacles (and hot chicks. oh yeah and Tibetan Female Ninjas). The GM took notes and after we had enough to fill the 6 hour slot, he (as the commander of our top-secret unit) sent us out on the mission.
Collaborative Story Games rely heavily on good players (who aren't afraid to complicate things for themselves) and a nimble GM who mostly backs out, but throws in twists when needed. We had both and the game just flowed from one groovy moment to the next. The Superspys were cool and backstabbing. The villains were rotten and 1.5 dimensional. Perfect for the genre. We won, of course, and blew up the evil volcanic lair.
Dinner with my friends Basil and Gil (Gil played in the supersy game with me) and then back to Endgame. GoCon had 2 time-slots with 6-hour games. Endgame's mini-cons have 3, 4-hour slots. I gotta say that the 6-hour slots work better. Unless, of course, the game isn't up to snuff...
Gil, Basil and myself all signed up for a different collaborative story game after the dinner break. This was the opposite experience of Wilderness of Mirrors. The system was difficult to grasp and I gotta say, wasn't explained very well. Veteran players all and 2 hours into the game, the system still wasn't clear. I finally gave up and let the GM tell me what was up. Good players again and we managed to pull a story together, but it was a struggle. The GM kept asking us what we wanted to do next, or suggesting the kinds of scenes we should try. There just wasn't enough guidance for us to create the kickin' story that we'd experienced in the AM. It was a tough 5.5 hours. Yep, we actually wrapped early.
Enough whining. I was in a great game, and a not so good game. This gave me the extremes of what I might expect when I ran my own collaborative story game, InSpectres. Now I'm afraid - very afraid. But first, I had to get through the next Mini-con.
Bonus! Basil, Gil and I (along with some other KublaCon gamers) had planned on getting together for a monthly game. Some trick since we live 60+ miles apart. 2 of the players live 90+ miles from The City. Basil and I were able to strong-arm Gil into running a Call of Cthulhu game.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Paranoid when Tired
I love to run Paranoia. I usually run Monday AM because everyone is sleep deprived and Paranoia works well when you can't quite get all of your thoughts together. However, 9AM is just too freakin' early. Next year, 10AM. I realized almost immediately that I was so tired that I couldn't actually remember the rules. Seriously! Turns out that it didn't really matter. Did I mention I love running Paranoia!?
OK, even with a 9AM start, the game filled with players (again no-show slots filled by crashers). I had a few new twists, such as people starting off on their 3rd or 4th clone and then progressing past the original 6, each clone less and less perfect (copy of a copy of a copy, ya know). I started the game with the characters finishing a de-briefing from a previous mission and getting sent out on a new mission immediately. I also had the corridor outside of the de-briefing room repainted while they were being de-briefed, insuring that they'd commit treason just by stepping out of the room. Several clones were lost before they ever got out of the room. We were off to a fine start.
I introduced a new Bot. The TrackBot. It's supposed to track an item and lead the Troubleshooters to it. Their mission: To recover this item (which is above their security clearance) and return it to the Briefing Room. Unknown to them, this is a treasonous item, dumped into the Underplex by an Ultraviolet citizen. Worse, the entry port into the Underplex is located in the floor of a transtube and the TrackBot is too big to fit through the opening. Countless clones were lost trying to get into the Underplex. Finally, some well-placed explosives got the team into the Underplex. Some complications with a ScrubBot and some Experimental Weapons in a metal access tube and the party was completely wiped out. There endeth the tale. I warn new Paranoia Players that they should not be surprised if they never get to the adventure. Sure enough, they barely did and our 6 hours was up. (OK, it went 6.5 hours, but no one complained)
2 new Players for Paranoia (including one crasher from the previous day's Cthulhu game). I'm spreading the happiness. Hail The Computer! It was a really fun game with good Players.
I cleaned up the room and began the dismal task of hauling my gaming stuff and luggage to my car. Then I set off to find anyone remaining that I might bid 'farewell' to. I found Japji (who runs KublaCon) and thanked him for another great con. This is a difficult and somewhat depressing time for me. The convention is over, I'm tired, coming down off of adrenaline and I just don't want it to end. Well, this time it didn't.
I found Todd Furler, Matt DeHayes, Kim Hill, and Matt & Kim's friend Dwayne as they were starting a new round of 'Shadows over Camalot'. I don't do much boardgaming, and I was tired, but... I didn't want the Con to end and here are my friends inviting me to play, so...
I fear that Camalot was lost to the darkness due to my lack of concentration. 'Shadows' turned out to be a fun game (I'd play again) and I got to hang for awhile longer. The convention staff came and told us that the convention was technically over and if the hotel staff wanted us out of the meeting room, we'd have to clear out. Even as tired as they were, they had this much courtesy remaining. Have I mentioned how much KublaCon rocks!?
We wrapped up the game without the need for the hotel staff to shoo us away. That's when Matt & Co invited me to dinner. Now, Todd was taking a red-eye out and the rest had to drive a few hours, but there were 3 of them to share the driving. As much as I wanted to, I needed to get home before my Other Half thought I was dead in a ditch somewhere in the mountain pass I still needed to cross. Difficult as it was to tear myself away, I headed home. Still not willing to completely let go, I called my friend Jay Button in Colorado and blathered all the way home about how great KublaCon was and how I wished he'd been there. Finally, home safe and sound, I ate something and fell into bed, needing some sleep for re-entry.
How was KublaCon 2007? Nearly perfect. I can't wait for next year...
OK, even with a 9AM start, the game filled with players (again no-show slots filled by crashers). I had a few new twists, such as people starting off on their 3rd or 4th clone and then progressing past the original 6, each clone less and less perfect (copy of a copy of a copy, ya know). I started the game with the characters finishing a de-briefing from a previous mission and getting sent out on a new mission immediately. I also had the corridor outside of the de-briefing room repainted while they were being de-briefed, insuring that they'd commit treason just by stepping out of the room. Several clones were lost before they ever got out of the room. We were off to a fine start.
I introduced a new Bot. The TrackBot. It's supposed to track an item and lead the Troubleshooters to it. Their mission: To recover this item (which is above their security clearance) and return it to the Briefing Room. Unknown to them, this is a treasonous item, dumped into the Underplex by an Ultraviolet citizen. Worse, the entry port into the Underplex is located in the floor of a transtube and the TrackBot is too big to fit through the opening. Countless clones were lost trying to get into the Underplex. Finally, some well-placed explosives got the team into the Underplex. Some complications with a ScrubBot and some Experimental Weapons in a metal access tube and the party was completely wiped out. There endeth the tale. I warn new Paranoia Players that they should not be surprised if they never get to the adventure. Sure enough, they barely did and our 6 hours was up. (OK, it went 6.5 hours, but no one complained)
2 new Players for Paranoia (including one crasher from the previous day's Cthulhu game). I'm spreading the happiness. Hail The Computer! It was a really fun game with good Players.
I cleaned up the room and began the dismal task of hauling my gaming stuff and luggage to my car. Then I set off to find anyone remaining that I might bid 'farewell' to. I found Japji (who runs KublaCon) and thanked him for another great con. This is a difficult and somewhat depressing time for me. The convention is over, I'm tired, coming down off of adrenaline and I just don't want it to end. Well, this time it didn't.
I found Todd Furler, Matt DeHayes, Kim Hill, and Matt & Kim's friend Dwayne as they were starting a new round of 'Shadows over Camalot'. I don't do much boardgaming, and I was tired, but... I didn't want the Con to end and here are my friends inviting me to play, so...
I fear that Camalot was lost to the darkness due to my lack of concentration. 'Shadows' turned out to be a fun game (I'd play again) and I got to hang for awhile longer. The convention staff came and told us that the convention was technically over and if the hotel staff wanted us out of the meeting room, we'd have to clear out. Even as tired as they were, they had this much courtesy remaining. Have I mentioned how much KublaCon rocks!?
We wrapped up the game without the need for the hotel staff to shoo us away. That's when Matt & Co invited me to dinner. Now, Todd was taking a red-eye out and the rest had to drive a few hours, but there were 3 of them to share the driving. As much as I wanted to, I needed to get home before my Other Half thought I was dead in a ditch somewhere in the mountain pass I still needed to cross. Difficult as it was to tear myself away, I headed home. Still not willing to completely let go, I called my friend Jay Button in Colorado and blathered all the way home about how great KublaCon was and how I wished he'd been there. Finally, home safe and sound, I ate something and fell into bed, needing some sleep for re-entry.
How was KublaCon 2007? Nearly perfect. I can't wait for next year...
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
River Dance - Of Death
KublaCon 2007. Sunday. Slept until 11AM. Post shower I got to work on the last of my Paranoia details. Final touches on the character sheets.
Hung out in the Chaosium booth for awhile in the early afternoon. I was encouraged to submit a game to them via their Monograph series. I'm tempted, but I've just never submitted. Gotta do some soul searching and figure out why.
Running Call of Cthulhu at 3:30 , a 4 hour game. A River Runs Through it. Short, but I ran it at Endgame's Minicon and it worked. Another mad scientist game. This nut case finds a series of gateways that lead to 'Lost Cities' all over the world (and on other worlds). Sorta 'Stargate meets Endymion'. But these are lost cities of the Cthulhu mythos, soooo not very healthy to go there. The nice thing about this approach is that it can be a long game or a short one. I have several cities lined up, each more horrible than the last. I can run the players through as many as I need to. If they're fast, add another city. If they're slow, cut some out and get to the last city, then back home (if they survive).
It was interesting to run an adventure for a second time. I rarely do and I found that my GM'ing was improved and the game was as well. As with every game at this year's KublaCon, my game was full with people wanting to crash. Half the registered Players didn't show. I just don't understand this. Gamers constantly whine that they don't get into games at conventions. Then they do and they don't bother to show up? One friend of mine has nearly given up registering for games. They go to crash any game they want and almost always get in. Strange.
One of the Players who did show up asked if her 12-year-old daughter could play. Needing to fill the last spot, I agreed with the stipulation that this was a horror game and the mom had to be OK with this. She was and the two characters they chose were boyfriend/girlfriend. OK, that's a bit weird, but the cool thing is that I got to introduce a young player to Call of Cthulhu. There was also another new player, so I'm gaining more minions for the Elder Gods.
The game went well with everyone dying except one character that managed to make it back home. I take that back, the 12-year-old's character was lost in a non-euclidian city going slowly insane. I managed to get the game in at exactly 4 hours and everyone seemed to have a good time.
I trucked to the hotel sportsbar to grab some dinner and ended up next to the Justice Radio folks. These whacked-out people run an internet radio station for online gamers. They're super-fun people. I may run an event for them next year. They hang in City of heroes. Find 'em online at www.justiceradio.net
I meandered to Todd's Thy Will game to find my friend Matt DeHayes playing the same character I had. I hung for awhile, then back to the room to get some sleep before Paranoia on Monday AM.
Hung out in the Chaosium booth for awhile in the early afternoon. I was encouraged to submit a game to them via their Monograph series. I'm tempted, but I've just never submitted. Gotta do some soul searching and figure out why.
Running Call of Cthulhu at 3:30 , a 4 hour game. A River Runs Through it. Short, but I ran it at Endgame's Minicon and it worked. Another mad scientist game. This nut case finds a series of gateways that lead to 'Lost Cities' all over the world (and on other worlds). Sorta 'Stargate meets Endymion'. But these are lost cities of the Cthulhu mythos, soooo not very healthy to go there. The nice thing about this approach is that it can be a long game or a short one. I have several cities lined up, each more horrible than the last. I can run the players through as many as I need to. If they're fast, add another city. If they're slow, cut some out and get to the last city, then back home (if they survive).
It was interesting to run an adventure for a second time. I rarely do and I found that my GM'ing was improved and the game was as well. As with every game at this year's KublaCon, my game was full with people wanting to crash. Half the registered Players didn't show. I just don't understand this. Gamers constantly whine that they don't get into games at conventions. Then they do and they don't bother to show up? One friend of mine has nearly given up registering for games. They go to crash any game they want and almost always get in. Strange.
One of the Players who did show up asked if her 12-year-old daughter could play. Needing to fill the last spot, I agreed with the stipulation that this was a horror game and the mom had to be OK with this. She was and the two characters they chose were boyfriend/girlfriend. OK, that's a bit weird, but the cool thing is that I got to introduce a young player to Call of Cthulhu. There was also another new player, so I'm gaining more minions for the Elder Gods.
The game went well with everyone dying except one character that managed to make it back home. I take that back, the 12-year-old's character was lost in a non-euclidian city going slowly insane. I managed to get the game in at exactly 4 hours and everyone seemed to have a good time.
I trucked to the hotel sportsbar to grab some dinner and ended up next to the Justice Radio folks. These whacked-out people run an internet radio station for online gamers. They're super-fun people. I may run an event for them next year. They hang in City of heroes. Find 'em online at www.justiceradio.net
I meandered to Todd's Thy Will game to find my friend Matt DeHayes playing the same character I had. I hung for awhile, then back to the room to get some sleep before Paranoia on Monday AM.
Monday, June 11, 2007
The Big Show
Saturday at KublaCon 2007:
The Big Day as far as I was concerned. My 6-hr Call of Cthulhu game was scheduled for 8PM - 2AM. Todd Furler's Unknown Armies game was scheduled for 3:30-7:30. Perfecto.
As a GM running 4 games and having slept through the AM games, I knew I'd get into Todd's Unknown Armies game titled 'Thy Will'. It was, as usual, a different sorta game. The characters were all regular, seemingly unrelated people who frequented or worked at a coffee shop/bookstore and right at closing time things began to go bad wrong. The game was laced with heavy duty religious discussions, horrifying realizations and frantic action, sometimes all at the same time. Once again, I lost the roll-off and was saddled with a character that I didn't initially want to play. Don't know that I'll ever forgive Todd for making me play a Republican. We had a good group of players and the game came off brilliantly.
Turns out that the person who play tested this character told Todd that he'd been forced to play "the enemy". Todd ran the game again on Sunday and our friend Matt DeHayes ended up playing the same character. I think Todd's pickin' on us. The only bummer about the game is that I had to dash off to my game without much feedback to Todd. We talked about it later and worked on some fine points. It's so cool to go to conventions and chat with fellow GM's about running games.
Sean Nittner, one of the Players, is a Good Omens GM. Check out his post about the game here: www.goodomensgames.com/index.php/2007/05/30/ Sean let me put the picture he took up here as well. I'm the tall blonde guy. Todd's behind me. Sean's behind the camera.
My C-O-C game titled 'The Foundation' went off quite well. The registration sheet was full and several people were there to crash if possible. To my joy both my gamer friends Basil and Dawson had signed up and gotten in. Dawson's pal Geoff didn't get in and wandered off to crash something else. This was one of two 'Mad Scientist' games that I ran during KublaCon. Kinda a theme this year. In this one, all of the characters play Mad Scientists going to an 'Alternative Science' conference. One of those 'great moments in gaming' occurred during the game. They were all trapped in a house while one of the crazed NPC's tried to change them into monsters. They were all fighting off the change (as I designed the scenario to run). Then it happened. One of the characters lost a bunch of sanity. The Player decided that the character was not just going to accept the change, but actually encourage it. I didn't expect that. Totally cool!
By this time it was past midnight and one of the Players decided to bow out. They had to drive home and wanted to do so safely. A good choice on their part. As luck would have it Geoff had finished his game and came to fill in. He also went full monster. The scenario as planned was supposed to be the return home of any characters who survived. Instead, they turned into monsters and ended up crashing on the Yithian home world. Only one of them survived the crash. There he was, a newly minted monster, arriving on a dead planet abandoned millennia ago. A perfect, dark, Cthulhu ending.
We rapped the game at about 3:30 AM and I was between the sheets by 4. A perfect day (except for the Republican part). Next: Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.
The Big Day as far as I was concerned. My 6-hr Call of Cthulhu game was scheduled for 8PM - 2AM. Todd Furler's Unknown Armies game was scheduled for 3:30-7:30. Perfecto.
As a GM running 4 games and having slept through the AM games, I knew I'd get into Todd's Unknown Armies game titled 'Thy Will'. It was, as usual, a different sorta game. The characters were all regular, seemingly unrelated people who frequented or worked at a coffee shop/bookstore and right at closing time things began to go bad wrong. The game was laced with heavy duty religious discussions, horrifying realizations and frantic action, sometimes all at the same time. Once again, I lost the roll-off and was saddled with a character that I didn't initially want to play. Don't know that I'll ever forgive Todd for making me play a Republican. We had a good group of players and the game came off brilliantly.
Turns out that the person who play tested this character told Todd that he'd been forced to play "the enemy". Todd ran the game again on Sunday and our friend Matt DeHayes ended up playing the same character. I think Todd's pickin' on us. The only bummer about the game is that I had to dash off to my game without much feedback to Todd. We talked about it later and worked on some fine points. It's so cool to go to conventions and chat with fellow GM's about running games.
Sean Nittner, one of the Players, is a Good Omens GM. Check out his post about the game here: www.goodomensgames.com/index.php/2007/05/30/ Sean let me put the picture he took up here as well. I'm the tall blonde guy. Todd's behind me. Sean's behind the camera.
My C-O-C game titled 'The Foundation' went off quite well. The registration sheet was full and several people were there to crash if possible. To my joy both my gamer friends Basil and Dawson had signed up and gotten in. Dawson's pal Geoff didn't get in and wandered off to crash something else. This was one of two 'Mad Scientist' games that I ran during KublaCon. Kinda a theme this year. In this one, all of the characters play Mad Scientists going to an 'Alternative Science' conference. One of those 'great moments in gaming' occurred during the game. They were all trapped in a house while one of the crazed NPC's tried to change them into monsters. They were all fighting off the change (as I designed the scenario to run). Then it happened. One of the characters lost a bunch of sanity. The Player decided that the character was not just going to accept the change, but actually encourage it. I didn't expect that. Totally cool!
By this time it was past midnight and one of the Players decided to bow out. They had to drive home and wanted to do so safely. A good choice on their part. As luck would have it Geoff had finished his game and came to fill in. He also went full monster. The scenario as planned was supposed to be the return home of any characters who survived. Instead, they turned into monsters and ended up crashing on the Yithian home world. Only one of them survived the crash. There he was, a newly minted monster, arriving on a dead planet abandoned millennia ago. A perfect, dark, Cthulhu ending.
We rapped the game at about 3:30 AM and I was between the sheets by 4. A perfect day (except for the Republican part). Next: Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Gettin' Some Religion
My friend Naked Jen (nakedjen.blogs.com) says that if she had a religion it would be the Oregon Country Fair (oregoncountryfair.org) I went with her three years in a row and it's a great time. If I had a religion, it would be KublaCon (kublacon.com). [ain't I Mr. Pluggy] This is the best gaming convention on the west coast. Runs 4 days over Memorial Day weekend. This year I ran 4 games. Friday:
Arrived early and the Hotel staff freaked me out saying "We don't have any rooms. Do you have a preference?" Ummm I'd made a reservation. After a few uncomfortable moments it was revealed that they didn't have any clean rooms ready for me and my stuff. I was rooming with GM extraordinaire Todd Furler (anunlikelystory.com) who had not yet arrived. I got into the registration line 20 minutes before it opened. I was there chatting with convention friends Matt DeHayes, Kim and Dwayne & cheered when registration opened 5 minutes early.
I signed up for a 2PM Serenity game. I'm planning on running it for my regular group and wanted to see how the system worked. I'd played once before and now was ready to study the thing. This is one of the reasons I go to conventions - to try out new games. Buying a new game is about $100+ investment (Game book, GM screen, Sample adventure, maybe a sourcebook) and I want to spend my $ wisely. 15 people signed up for 8 slots playing the original cast. I don't usually like to do play the original cast in games based on movies/TV shows, but I was really there for the system so, whatever.
It looked like it was going to be cool. The GM had a 3D setup for the ship (but forgot the stands to do the 3D thing - ah well, a good idea). When the GM had finally settled who was in the game, we sat down and I noticed there were 10 Players - 10! Uh-oh. Turns out there are 9 cast members and he allowed one Player who reeeeeeaaaly wanted to play, be the ship. I leaned over to the Firefly geek next to me (he'd brought his copy of the game) and asked if I'd forgotten that the ship was intelligent or could interract with the crew. "Nope." Double Uh-Oh. 10 Players is too many for most RPG's and waaay too many for a con game (Ocean's 11-13 aside). Sooo, the guy playing the ship spent the entire game whining about the other Players not helping him out. I wanted to plat Jayne so that I could study the system and minimize my actual role-playing. I ended up losing a roll-off for Jayne and got Zoe instead - maximum role-playing as she has to work the relationships between herself, Mal and Wash. On top of that, I didn't care much for the system. Looks like I'll probably buy the game as source material and use another system. I may just work from Basic Role Playing. I'll let ya know.
During Serenity, Tod arrived, checked us into the hotel and gave me a key. The game took a short dinner break and I hauled my stuff to the room. It worked out nicely. Thanks Todd!
That evening, I ran Feng Shui from 8PM - 2AM. I had a good group of Players, though not all of them had signed up. Some just showed up to 'crash' the game. I'm glad they did because that filled the game up. I had a mix of Players. Some had played several times. Some had played a little (long ago) and one had never played FS. I really enjoy introducing new games to people, so it was fun for me. The Players were creative and worked the fun parts of the game system without abusing it. We finished right on time. I was stoked as this was my first time running FS at a convention and I think it went well.
Hit the sheets at about 2:45 and sleep poorly due to excitement and the alienness of Hotels. Saturday was planned as a big day with what I thought of as my 'premier game'.
Arrived early and the Hotel staff freaked me out saying "We don't have any rooms. Do you have a preference?" Ummm I'd made a reservation. After a few uncomfortable moments it was revealed that they didn't have any clean rooms ready for me and my stuff. I was rooming with GM extraordinaire Todd Furler (anunlikelystory.com) who had not yet arrived. I got into the registration line 20 minutes before it opened. I was there chatting with convention friends Matt DeHayes, Kim and Dwayne & cheered when registration opened 5 minutes early.
I signed up for a 2PM Serenity game. I'm planning on running it for my regular group and wanted to see how the system worked. I'd played once before and now was ready to study the thing. This is one of the reasons I go to conventions - to try out new games. Buying a new game is about $100+ investment (Game book, GM screen, Sample adventure, maybe a sourcebook) and I want to spend my $ wisely. 15 people signed up for 8 slots playing the original cast. I don't usually like to do play the original cast in games based on movies/TV shows, but I was really there for the system so, whatever.
It looked like it was going to be cool. The GM had a 3D setup for the ship (but forgot the stands to do the 3D thing - ah well, a good idea). When the GM had finally settled who was in the game, we sat down and I noticed there were 10 Players - 10! Uh-oh. Turns out there are 9 cast members and he allowed one Player who reeeeeeaaaly wanted to play, be the ship. I leaned over to the Firefly geek next to me (he'd brought his copy of the game) and asked if I'd forgotten that the ship was intelligent or could interract with the crew. "Nope." Double Uh-Oh. 10 Players is too many for most RPG's and waaay too many for a con game (Ocean's 11-13 aside). Sooo, the guy playing the ship spent the entire game whining about the other Players not helping him out. I wanted to plat Jayne so that I could study the system and minimize my actual role-playing. I ended up losing a roll-off for Jayne and got Zoe instead - maximum role-playing as she has to work the relationships between herself, Mal and Wash. On top of that, I didn't care much for the system. Looks like I'll probably buy the game as source material and use another system. I may just work from Basic Role Playing. I'll let ya know.
During Serenity, Tod arrived, checked us into the hotel and gave me a key. The game took a short dinner break and I hauled my stuff to the room. It worked out nicely. Thanks Todd!
That evening, I ran Feng Shui from 8PM - 2AM. I had a good group of Players, though not all of them had signed up. Some just showed up to 'crash' the game. I'm glad they did because that filled the game up. I had a mix of Players. Some had played several times. Some had played a little (long ago) and one had never played FS. I really enjoy introducing new games to people, so it was fun for me. The Players were creative and worked the fun parts of the game system without abusing it. We finished right on time. I was stoked as this was my first time running FS at a convention and I think it went well.
Hit the sheets at about 2:45 and sleep poorly due to excitement and the alienness of Hotels. Saturday was planned as a big day with what I thought of as my 'premier game'.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Survivor - Game Convention
I sat down at the table. Monday 9:AM. Some sorta Super-Hero game. I'd arrived at the convention Friday afternoon after working an early A.M. shift to get to the convention early. I gamed all the way through Friday night. Then I played all day Saturday and clean through Saturday night. Hold on. I then used liquid caffeine (tea and soda - not No-Doze which was very popular at the time) and highly sugared snackage to pull me through Sunday AND Sunday night.
So when I sat down to be Super, I'd been awake for something like 75 hours. Gotta tell ya, I felt a little greyish-green and not entirely on this planet, but I was really getting the most out of the convention - really!
As the game went on, I began to slump in my chair. An hour into it my eyes were even with the table top. The GM was using Cardboard Cutout Heroes - full color 2D miniatures. I was listening to the GM describe some new villain who had come to mash us when the drawing on my Cardboard Cutout moved. That's right. He freakin' MOVED. He actually took a couple of steps and looked at me. I responded by blinking and looking around to see if anyone else had noticed this break with reality. No one had. In fact they were continuing on, but they seemed to be sorta far away - their voices muffled.
I sat up straight, bumped the table and knocked over several of the cardboard heroes. With a bit of trepidation I reached out and set my figure upright. He didn't move. I apologized and quickly drained another (now warm) caffeinated beverage. It did - exactly nothin'. Within minutes I was back to slumpin'. And then the cardboard feak moved AGAIN. He turned and looked at me in a hands-on-hips disapproving way. Okay, sleep deprived, it took only two visits from the cardboard gods of hallucination for me to get the message. Go get some sleep. Damn. This was going to be the last game of the convention and I was going to sleep through it.
I made my apologies to the GM, told him I'd been up all night and staggered to the hotel room my friends and I were using as gamer command central. Once there, I passed out like a drunken sailor, or pirate, or some other colorful character. I awoke when housekeeping showed up and booted me out for being there past checkout time.
I remember all of about 10 seconds of the drive home. I recall leaving the hotel. I recollect lurching awake as my car left the freeway bearing down on a pair of sturdy trees and an even sturdier boulder. I swerved back on the road, convinced that the adrenaline would keep me awake for the 1/2 hour remaining of my drive. I don't remember a minute of it, but somehow I got home.
Lucky me. I got home. Stupid me. I pushed too far for the fun and bragging rights. These days I stay at the hotel and get sleep every night. I remember games and more important, I come back year after year instead of slamming into unforgiving boulders. Be safe y'all.
So when I sat down to be Super, I'd been awake for something like 75 hours. Gotta tell ya, I felt a little greyish-green and not entirely on this planet, but I was really getting the most out of the convention - really!
As the game went on, I began to slump in my chair. An hour into it my eyes were even with the table top. The GM was using Cardboard Cutout Heroes - full color 2D miniatures. I was listening to the GM describe some new villain who had come to mash us when the drawing on my Cardboard Cutout moved. That's right. He freakin' MOVED. He actually took a couple of steps and looked at me. I responded by blinking and looking around to see if anyone else had noticed this break with reality. No one had. In fact they were continuing on, but they seemed to be sorta far away - their voices muffled.
I sat up straight, bumped the table and knocked over several of the cardboard heroes. With a bit of trepidation I reached out and set my figure upright. He didn't move. I apologized and quickly drained another (now warm) caffeinated beverage. It did - exactly nothin'. Within minutes I was back to slumpin'. And then the cardboard feak moved AGAIN. He turned and looked at me in a hands-on-hips disapproving way. Okay, sleep deprived, it took only two visits from the cardboard gods of hallucination for me to get the message. Go get some sleep. Damn. This was going to be the last game of the convention and I was going to sleep through it.
I made my apologies to the GM, told him I'd been up all night and staggered to the hotel room my friends and I were using as gamer command central. Once there, I passed out like a drunken sailor, or pirate, or some other colorful character. I awoke when housekeeping showed up and booted me out for being there past checkout time.
I remember all of about 10 seconds of the drive home. I recall leaving the hotel. I recollect lurching awake as my car left the freeway bearing down on a pair of sturdy trees and an even sturdier boulder. I swerved back on the road, convinced that the adrenaline would keep me awake for the 1/2 hour remaining of my drive. I don't remember a minute of it, but somehow I got home.
Lucky me. I got home. Stupid me. I pushed too far for the fun and bragging rights. These days I stay at the hotel and get sleep every night. I remember games and more important, I come back year after year instead of slamming into unforgiving boulders. Be safe y'all.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Know thy Characters
They come rushing out of the jungle like a bloody wave. They look something like undead inside out chihuahuas with bigger teeth. There's hundreds of them, with saliva spilling out between their needle-sharp gnashing teeth. What do you do?
[insert gales of laughter here for 5 minutes - 10 minutes - 15 minutes]
Seriously, there's thousands of tiny teeth about to rip you slowly into bit-sized morsels.
Chase: (gasps for breath) I pick up my Thompson submachine gun.
Margot: (through clenched teeth) I break out my double-barrel shotgun.
Terence: (holds his aching stomach) I draw my Mauser pistol and click it over to full-auto.
Scott: (stiffles a coughing fit) I whip out my twin .45 automatics, the ones with the extended clips.
Anzo: (clears his throat) I kick open the box to the Lewis Gun and shoulder it.
The things leap at you...
Rat-atat-tat, Boom-Boom, Pow:Pow:Pow:Pow, Blam.Blam., Braaaaaaap.
Thus was born the "Wall of Lead". Not a single undead-killer-chihuahua so much as nicked one of the characters with their nasty tiny sharp pointy teeth. There was just red spray and jungle mulch. And worse, none of the characters, or Players, was in any way terrified. They just blew the smoke from the barrels of their arsenal, reloaded and went to sleep for the night (the characters, not the Players). They did leave a guard. (one freakin' guard)
My first reaction was anger. How can they not be frightened? I think inside out chihuahuas are really disgusting. The Players should have at least been disgusted. I was furious. Furious! Years later, after faaaaaar to many reminders of this incident, I figured out the problems:
1. Chihuahuas aren't scary. Ugly, maybe, but not at all frightening. Bad choice for my description.
2. Hundreds of not-scary little monsters doesn't suddenly make them frightening. It makes them hilarious.
3. I shouldn't have been angry. I should have been as amused as the Players were. It was an awesome display of firepower.
4. I didn't think about the CHARACTERS. I'd spent several game sessions making them afraid of everything that moved. Unearthly horrors had plagued them for adventure after adventure and their sanity was slipping. They were more than a little unstable and were making up for it with firepower - firepower they planned to use on much more dangerous adversaries later in the adventure.
The Wall of Lead was not an over-reaction. It was a response I should have expected. They'd acquired every piece of their armory during the course of play and I should have known they'd bust it out at the first sign of trouble. After all, I'd pushed them to that level of paranoia. Heck, they didn't even break out the grenades or dynamite.
These days, I keep copies of every Player's character sheets, so that I know what their characters brings to the party and I can create encounters that fit their experience. I've also learned to applaud the characters when they create a novel situation. And I've come up with BIG scary monsters. Really. They're VERY scary.
[insert gales of laughter here for 5 minutes - 10 minutes - 15 minutes]
Seriously, there's thousands of tiny teeth about to rip you slowly into bit-sized morsels.
Chase: (gasps for breath) I pick up my Thompson submachine gun.
Margot: (through clenched teeth) I break out my double-barrel shotgun.
Terence: (holds his aching stomach) I draw my Mauser pistol and click it over to full-auto.
Scott: (stiffles a coughing fit) I whip out my twin .45 automatics, the ones with the extended clips.
Anzo: (clears his throat) I kick open the box to the Lewis Gun and shoulder it.
The things leap at you...
Rat-atat-tat, Boom-Boom, Pow:Pow:Pow:Pow, Blam.Blam., Braaaaaaap.
Thus was born the "Wall of Lead". Not a single undead-killer-chihuahua so much as nicked one of the characters with their nasty tiny sharp pointy teeth. There was just red spray and jungle mulch. And worse, none of the characters, or Players, was in any way terrified. They just blew the smoke from the barrels of their arsenal, reloaded and went to sleep for the night (the characters, not the Players). They did leave a guard. (one freakin' guard)
My first reaction was anger. How can they not be frightened? I think inside out chihuahuas are really disgusting. The Players should have at least been disgusted. I was furious. Furious! Years later, after faaaaaar to many reminders of this incident, I figured out the problems:
1. Chihuahuas aren't scary. Ugly, maybe, but not at all frightening. Bad choice for my description.
2. Hundreds of not-scary little monsters doesn't suddenly make them frightening. It makes them hilarious.
3. I shouldn't have been angry. I should have been as amused as the Players were. It was an awesome display of firepower.
4. I didn't think about the CHARACTERS. I'd spent several game sessions making them afraid of everything that moved. Unearthly horrors had plagued them for adventure after adventure and their sanity was slipping. They were more than a little unstable and were making up for it with firepower - firepower they planned to use on much more dangerous adversaries later in the adventure.
The Wall of Lead was not an over-reaction. It was a response I should have expected. They'd acquired every piece of their armory during the course of play and I should have known they'd bust it out at the first sign of trouble. After all, I'd pushed them to that level of paranoia. Heck, they didn't even break out the grenades or dynamite.
These days, I keep copies of every Player's character sheets, so that I know what their characters brings to the party and I can create encounters that fit their experience. I've also learned to applaud the characters when they create a novel situation. And I've come up with BIG scary monsters. Really. They're VERY scary.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
What's YOUR story, Pal?
You drive around the corner and through the trees you see a house. The mansion seems to have been built by a madman. None of the angles of it seem quite right. As you pull up the driveway, you're not even sure what the building is made of. It looks like some material that is both metal and stone. You stop and get out of the car. As you walk up, you see a few gentlemen gathered on the massive front porch. You recognize some of them and begin to wonder what you're doing here. This rabble consists of every crackpot scientist in North America. You think about heading back to the car. The other "Doctors" look like they might be having the same idea. Then the front doors swing open...
Okay, so I've got this idea about a convention of mad scientists. Sounds fun, lots of absent-minded professors getting themselves into trouble. Interesting setup, but what's the story?
I'm prepping for KublaCon game convention and this is the opening scene for my 6 hour Call of Cthulhu game. I have some other elements in mind, but they're not coming together as a story yet. What's a Keeper of Arcane Lore to do? I've only got 2.5 weeks! I reach for a book, of course. C-O-C investigators are always getting their answers out of musty-dusty old books and I'm no different.
I use the ENCYCLOPEDIA CTHULHIANA. I own a 1st Edition and there's been a 2nd Ed. I start with a connection I already know: The Great Race of Yith were big technology users. They also mastered time travel. They fled their doomed planet of Yith and came to inhabit the bodies of creatures on earth millions of years ago. Okay, scientists like technology and mad scientists are always messing with time travel. At the end of the entry on the Great Race, there are cross references: Brothers of the Yellow Sign (could be bad guys) The Eltdown Shards (ancient pottery shards that could save the investigators) flying polys (the Yithians ancient enemies, maybe sanity loss causing bad guys), etc. As I turn to each reference, I find others and eventually I find a way of tying several of them together. I make up a few elements of my own and Bingo! I've got a story.
If you run C-O-C this is a really good source for creating adventures. Only bad news is that it isn't currently (5/8/2007) in print. I'll check with the folks at Chaosium at the convention and find out if they're planning a reprint. If you can find a copy, get it and ask Chaosium to do a reprint. My copy's getting tired.
Okay, so I've got this idea about a convention of mad scientists. Sounds fun, lots of absent-minded professors getting themselves into trouble. Interesting setup, but what's the story?
I'm prepping for KublaCon game convention and this is the opening scene for my 6 hour Call of Cthulhu game. I have some other elements in mind, but they're not coming together as a story yet. What's a Keeper of Arcane Lore to do? I've only got 2.5 weeks! I reach for a book, of course. C-O-C investigators are always getting their answers out of musty-dusty old books and I'm no different.
I use the ENCYCLOPEDIA CTHULHIANA. I own a 1st Edition and there's been a 2nd Ed. I start with a connection I already know: The Great Race of Yith were big technology users. They also mastered time travel. They fled their doomed planet of Yith and came to inhabit the bodies of creatures on earth millions of years ago. Okay, scientists like technology and mad scientists are always messing with time travel. At the end of the entry on the Great Race, there are cross references: Brothers of the Yellow Sign (could be bad guys) The Eltdown Shards (ancient pottery shards that could save the investigators) flying polys (the Yithians ancient enemies, maybe sanity loss causing bad guys), etc. As I turn to each reference, I find others and eventually I find a way of tying several of them together. I make up a few elements of my own and Bingo! I've got a story.
If you run C-O-C this is a really good source for creating adventures. Only bad news is that it isn't currently (5/8/2007) in print. I'll check with the folks at Chaosium at the convention and find out if they're planning a reprint. If you can find a copy, get it and ask Chaosium to do a reprint. My copy's getting tired.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Telegraph Hell
You walk into the lounge at the asylum. Your footsteps echo off of the tile. The TV lights the room with a blue flicker. Roll a Spot Hidden.
Creep Finder #1: I blow it.
Creep Finder #2: Can I make a Spot Hidden Roll?
Creep Finder #3: Can I make one to?
Creep Finder #4: Yeah, me to.
Well, eventually someone's gonna make the freakin' roll and notice the nurse cocooned to the ceiling. Where's the suspense? Where's the fear? Where's the surprise? All of the Players know there's something hidden, or about to jump out, or there's a dead body behind the sofa, or...something. The GM's telegraphed it by asking for the roll and ruined the whole thing.
Horror games are my fave. But they're less fun when the Players know when things are creeping up on them or hiding behind the door, or dangling overhead. To prevent Telegraph Hell, I record the Listen and Notice skills of the characters before each session. I then have the Players roll 25 of these rolls in advance. That way, I can figure out if they notice the zombie behind the water heater, or if it jumps out at them after they slink past. I just go down the list and check off the rolls as they happen. That way I can work the result into the narrative.
Prerolling also eliminates the following:
As you make your way down the alley, a vampire leaps out of a darkened doorway and slams you into the opposite wall.
Creep Finder #2: Don't I get a Notice Roll?
Um, oh yeah.
Creep Finder #2: I make it.
Okay, rewind the interesting, cool, shocking drama and now you notice the vampire lurking in the doorway as you approach.
Creep Finder #3: Can I make a Notice Roll?
And so it goes. The preroll lets you work the results seamlessly into the story. It also heightens the suspense level of the Players. They don't know if you're about to use a good roll or a bad one. It's a surprise, the way good horror and drama should be.
Don't forget that this doesn't eliminate the ability for the Players to make a Notice Roll whenever they want. But if they don't choose to roll it on their own, it's already done.
Creep Finder #1: I blow it.
Creep Finder #2: Can I make a Spot Hidden Roll?
Creep Finder #3: Can I make one to?
Creep Finder #4: Yeah, me to.
Well, eventually someone's gonna make the freakin' roll and notice the nurse cocooned to the ceiling. Where's the suspense? Where's the fear? Where's the surprise? All of the Players know there's something hidden, or about to jump out, or there's a dead body behind the sofa, or...something. The GM's telegraphed it by asking for the roll and ruined the whole thing.
Horror games are my fave. But they're less fun when the Players know when things are creeping up on them or hiding behind the door, or dangling overhead. To prevent Telegraph Hell, I record the Listen and Notice skills of the characters before each session. I then have the Players roll 25 of these rolls in advance. That way, I can figure out if they notice the zombie behind the water heater, or if it jumps out at them after they slink past. I just go down the list and check off the rolls as they happen. That way I can work the result into the narrative.
Prerolling also eliminates the following:
As you make your way down the alley, a vampire leaps out of a darkened doorway and slams you into the opposite wall.
Creep Finder #2: Don't I get a Notice Roll?
Um, oh yeah.
Creep Finder #2: I make it.
Okay, rewind the interesting, cool, shocking drama and now you notice the vampire lurking in the doorway as you approach.
Creep Finder #3: Can I make a Notice Roll?
And so it goes. The preroll lets you work the results seamlessly into the story. It also heightens the suspense level of the Players. They don't know if you're about to use a good roll or a bad one. It's a surprise, the way good horror and drama should be.
Don't forget that this doesn't eliminate the ability for the Players to make a Notice Roll whenever they want. But if they don't choose to roll it on their own, it's already done.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Run Away!
You drop out of warp, not far from the K8 space station. You see right away what the problem is - the station's been taken over by Klingons. They're everywhere - at least a dozen battle cruisers. Almost as if they're expecting you, they immediately begin to close in.
Captain Smirk: Sensor sweep.
They're powering up weapons. There's no way your Scout ship's going to be able to take them all on. They're hailing you.
Captain Smirk: Raise shields. Power up phaser banks.
You realize that if you open fire you'll be nothing but dust. The Klingons are demanding that you to stand down.
Captain Smirk: We won't surrender. If we're going down we'll take as many of them with us as we can. Ready photon torpedoes.
Oh boy! This isn't how this was supposed to go. The scenario, as planned, called for the crew of the USS Perry to surrender. They get taken captive and find out what the Klingons are up to. Then they find a tricky way to escape and defeat them. How many times have we seen Kirk do this? This actually happened to me when I was running Star Trek many years ago. (Still own and dig the FASA rules)
This is a common GM dilemma. You place the characters in a situation where they're sure to be destroyed. The goal is to get them to either surrender or run away. I faced a similar problem in a Call of Cthulhu game recently. The characters arrived at a lost city. Their guide was immediately killed by overwhelming forces. I wanted the characters to run away. The rest of the scenario is about how they get home without their guide. The problem is that the Players want their characters to be heroes that fight to the bitter end. Makes for a short game if this is the beginning of the adventure. I blame this mindset on combat oriented games with easy resurrection.
After my Cthulhu game, one of the players asked me how I knew the characters would run away. I had a 3-tiered plan. In order of preference:
1. Hope that the Players are smart enough to have their characters run away. My description should let them know that they are not going to survive any other way.
2. One of the characters is a Naval Officer. I could tell him that in his military experience, the best solution here is to run away. This allows the Player to deal with the problem in character. He tells the other characters to split.
3. I just flat out tell them that their characters are going to die if they try to fight it out. I'll try to drop it casually, something like, "It's clear that If you stay and fight the oncoming horde, you're all gonna die. You might want to run back to the boat and cast off."
Run away and live to fight another day. I'm sure I'm paraphrasing here, but even Troupe Monty Python figured this out.
Captain Smirk: Sensor sweep.
They're powering up weapons. There's no way your Scout ship's going to be able to take them all on. They're hailing you.
Captain Smirk: Raise shields. Power up phaser banks.
You realize that if you open fire you'll be nothing but dust. The Klingons are demanding that you to stand down.
Captain Smirk: We won't surrender. If we're going down we'll take as many of them with us as we can. Ready photon torpedoes.
Oh boy! This isn't how this was supposed to go. The scenario, as planned, called for the crew of the USS Perry to surrender. They get taken captive and find out what the Klingons are up to. Then they find a tricky way to escape and defeat them. How many times have we seen Kirk do this? This actually happened to me when I was running Star Trek many years ago. (Still own and dig the FASA rules)
This is a common GM dilemma. You place the characters in a situation where they're sure to be destroyed. The goal is to get them to either surrender or run away. I faced a similar problem in a Call of Cthulhu game recently. The characters arrived at a lost city. Their guide was immediately killed by overwhelming forces. I wanted the characters to run away. The rest of the scenario is about how they get home without their guide. The problem is that the Players want their characters to be heroes that fight to the bitter end. Makes for a short game if this is the beginning of the adventure. I blame this mindset on combat oriented games with easy resurrection.
After my Cthulhu game, one of the players asked me how I knew the characters would run away. I had a 3-tiered plan. In order of preference:
1. Hope that the Players are smart enough to have their characters run away. My description should let them know that they are not going to survive any other way.
2. One of the characters is a Naval Officer. I could tell him that in his military experience, the best solution here is to run away. This allows the Player to deal with the problem in character. He tells the other characters to split.
3. I just flat out tell them that their characters are going to die if they try to fight it out. I'll try to drop it casually, something like, "It's clear that If you stay and fight the oncoming horde, you're all gonna die. You might want to run back to the boat and cast off."
Run away and live to fight another day. I'm sure I'm paraphrasing here, but even Troupe Monty Python figured this out.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
What are you doing here?
I come to in Engineering. That's the Good. I was sure we were gonna to burn once we hit atmo.
The Bad - My drive unit, nicknamed The Love Machine, ain't givin' me no love.
After a quick looky, I find some vermin's yanked parts out of The Love Machine while I was out. Welcome to the Ugly. And now the Angry. Fee, Fi, Fo, who stole my friggin' parts!?
So began my first experience with the SERENITY RPG. I love this type of game. A small crew, just tryin' to get by. My first TRAVELLER games, 30 years ago, started with a small ship and crew working to make ends meet. Inspired by Han Solo and Chewie, I wanted that personal experience. In running STAR TREK, I've always run small ship and crew games. So what do you need?
A Captain, preferably played by the groups usual leader. A Pilot. An Engineer. A Doctor. A Security Officer. That's the core group. Don't leave atmo without them. In this particular game we had the first three and two other characters. They had interesting backgrounds, but I couldn't figure out what they were doing on the ship. I couldn't even tell what postion they held in crew.
The GM ran the game well, and I had a good time, but later, when telling friends about the game, these mystery characters kept coming up. This was a Convention Game and I've run a ton of Con Games. I always make sure that the pregenerated characters I hand out have three things going for them.
1. They have a reason for being in the adventure.
2. They have skills that help out in the adventure.
3. The combination of 1&2 give the characters reasons for going through the adventure together.
I didn't get why the GM put these two characters in the game. A friend of my helped me understand. I think like a screenwriter. I only create characters that are needed for the story. If I have 7 characters for an adventure, I make sure that they ALL have a place in the story. That way none of the characters look at each other and ask "What are you doing here?"
The Bad - My drive unit, nicknamed The Love Machine, ain't givin' me no love.
After a quick looky, I find some vermin's yanked parts out of The Love Machine while I was out. Welcome to the Ugly. And now the Angry. Fee, Fi, Fo, who stole my friggin' parts!?
So began my first experience with the SERENITY RPG. I love this type of game. A small crew, just tryin' to get by. My first TRAVELLER games, 30 years ago, started with a small ship and crew working to make ends meet. Inspired by Han Solo and Chewie, I wanted that personal experience. In running STAR TREK, I've always run small ship and crew games. So what do you need?
A Captain, preferably played by the groups usual leader. A Pilot. An Engineer. A Doctor. A Security Officer. That's the core group. Don't leave atmo without them. In this particular game we had the first three and two other characters. They had interesting backgrounds, but I couldn't figure out what they were doing on the ship. I couldn't even tell what postion they held in crew.
The GM ran the game well, and I had a good time, but later, when telling friends about the game, these mystery characters kept coming up. This was a Convention Game and I've run a ton of Con Games. I always make sure that the pregenerated characters I hand out have three things going for them.
1. They have a reason for being in the adventure.
2. They have skills that help out in the adventure.
3. The combination of 1&2 give the characters reasons for going through the adventure together.
I didn't get why the GM put these two characters in the game. A friend of my helped me understand. I think like a screenwriter. I only create characters that are needed for the story. If I have 7 characters for an adventure, I make sure that they ALL have a place in the story. That way none of the characters look at each other and ask "What are you doing here?"
Sunday, April 15, 2007
What do you do?
You look out across the desert and you see a large reddish-brown dog.
How large?
Easily 50 feet tall. It has goggley eyes with a hint of sickly yellow in the center. On the end of its tail is an enormous 8-ball, swinging around like a wrecking ball. It has a bright red collar. Instead of a tag, a giant pine air freshener, the size of a toolshed, swings from its neck.
What's it doing?
It trots down Route 666. Cars swerve out of its way. It growls at them, bends down and bites the road. It peels the pavement up off of the ground, like a strip of black licorice, and shakes it. Cars fly through the air and crash in dusty heaps of twisted metal. With chunks of asphalt dropping from between its teeth, it turns and looks at you. It seems to be smiling.
Smiling?
Sort of a mischievous grin. What do you do?
During the course of a game I ask the Players this question again and again: What do you do? It's their cue. They're on. It's their turn to be a hero, or die trying. That's what it's all about - what THEY do - the Players and their characters.
What they do needs to be left entirely up to them. It shouldn't be scripted. I've played in tons of games where the characters are being led through the story and nothing that they do seems to alter the story. I intentionally create situations for my Players that I don't have a solution to. I don't know how they're going to get out of the problem they've gotten into. This is usually when they come up with the most interesting solutions. If I spoon-feed them a solution, then they get through the adventure, but they don't always feel like they figured it out for themselves.
So, what do YOU do?
How large?
Easily 50 feet tall. It has goggley eyes with a hint of sickly yellow in the center. On the end of its tail is an enormous 8-ball, swinging around like a wrecking ball. It has a bright red collar. Instead of a tag, a giant pine air freshener, the size of a toolshed, swings from its neck.
What's it doing?
It trots down Route 666. Cars swerve out of its way. It growls at them, bends down and bites the road. It peels the pavement up off of the ground, like a strip of black licorice, and shakes it. Cars fly through the air and crash in dusty heaps of twisted metal. With chunks of asphalt dropping from between its teeth, it turns and looks at you. It seems to be smiling.
Smiling?
Sort of a mischievous grin. What do you do?
During the course of a game I ask the Players this question again and again: What do you do? It's their cue. They're on. It's their turn to be a hero, or die trying. That's what it's all about - what THEY do - the Players and their characters.
What they do needs to be left entirely up to them. It shouldn't be scripted. I've played in tons of games where the characters are being led through the story and nothing that they do seems to alter the story. I intentionally create situations for my Players that I don't have a solution to. I don't know how they're going to get out of the problem they've gotten into. This is usually when they come up with the most interesting solutions. If I spoon-feed them a solution, then they get through the adventure, but they don't always feel like they figured it out for themselves.
So, what do YOU do?
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