Runic Empyrean

2007-08-23T12:38:00.000-04:00

This has been moved to: Empyrean Ex Mortis

Final Fantasy Game Elements

2007-05-23T16:55:00.000-04:00

6 Elements
Fire
Water
Earth
Air
Light
Gravity

6 Totems
Raven
Wolf
Owl
Lynx
Frog
Stag

6 Martial Styles
Slashing Swords
Way of the Fist
Leaping Spear
Gun and Spell
Death Circle Dance
Dragon Blade

6 Magical Styles
Crystalline Tattoos
Deific Overdrive
Mana Leech
Avatar Summoner
Elementalist
Necroliminal Theurge

Bible of Dreams

2007-05-14T09:49:00.000-04:00

I had this killer idea for a game concept this morning. That kind of rush is always exciting!

It's a concept of a collection of short games, maybe 1-2 hours a piece with the same kind of structure (predesigned scene framing with some randomness) based on the song titles and (sparse) lyrics of Juno Reactor.

I was thinking that for any group that completed the series, they could send me their info and I would author a free final scenario for them. We'll see how it works out!

Predictive Actual Play

2007-05-11T08:49:00.000-04:00

I wrote this last night as I waited for my Econ professor to show up.

Predictive Actual Play
Final Fantasy Game

Mark - "Okay, so last week Eric, you propelled us through the Canyon of Doom."
Eric - "Yep! It went pretty well, I think. Saw some good action, and some awesome scenes with Zidane and Mustafa and their developing 'love connection'!
Lisa - "Eww! No way! Zidane and Mustafa'll never get together! That fighting between them was purely violence, nothing else!"
Eric - "Well, unless someone spends the points to make their Connection Storyline a Decision Point, it'll happen ..."
Lisa - "Just wait till I'm Game Director! You'll see!"
Matt - "If I don't make it impossible by distracting you my Monster Incursion!"
Mark - "True, true. Matt, your Plot has been difficult to ignore, so far. You think the Audience's Attention Span will hold out?"
Matt - "Here's hoping!"

After this discussion, everyone gets their drinks and stuff in order. It's time to decide who will be in charge of what for the session.

Mark - "Okay, we finished up the story arc to Eric's satisfaction last week. That means that Roles are up for bids again. Allocate your bids with your Personal Decks and let's see what happens!"

Hidden Library

2006-11-21T12:48:00.000-05:00

Whilst searching about the ruins, I found a Hidden Library.

Symbolic Crunch

2006-11-17T16:19:00.000-05:00

Ramble that may or not make sense:

Two columns of blank squares, the one on the left is six
high, the second column is four high. The squares are
on even lines (i.e. they line up). The four in the second
column start where the third box is on the first column.
Both columns end at the same bottom line:

[ ]
[ ]
[ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ]

Numbers line the right hand sides of the columns, as such:

[ ] 1
[ ] 2
[ ] 3 [ ] 7
[ ] 4 [ ] 8
[ ] 5 [ ] 9
[ ] 6 [ ] 10

There is a grid of twelve symbols, simple but easily
distinguishable. They line up, two columns of six each.

For instance:

X 4
O )
[ #
T /
I @
_ +

These are only for example, an artist would create these
symbols and one part of each would "fit" into the other
so that if one symbol was being used to "unlock" a lock,
the other could be used to mold a "key" that would be
able to suffice but not such that the symbol could act
as the key. Also, they two symbols could "merge" at that
point to become one supersymbol.

The symbols would have meaning as described in the game
text. A good portion of meanings, actually, as they'd be
assigned not only game specific things but, well,
symbolic things as well. These symbols will be used as
often as possible in a visual and mechanical sense. The
point is that, while new, they take on visual meaning,
much like Kanji do for Asian languages. Also, you can
add meaning in your personal game/campaign for elements
not covered in the game text.

Take six of the symbols and put them in the first column
on the left. Match up the other symbols on 7-10 column
for those that link up. This means that two symbols will
not have their companion. These actions/spells/feats/
traits/stats/what-have-you will be unavailable for that
character.

Game play will consist of rolling a D6 and a D4. The only
way some people will get to do certain actions will be by
getting their dice to match up to the symbols on their
sheet. Some situations will allow the D4 to be a numeric
cog and add to or subtract from the D6.

Goals or complications will get their own dice roll and
the players will have to act on those meanings to get
past them.

For instance, if T and / had the meaning of hammer and
sword, respectively, and the player took the symbols
above in the order they are listed in, the player would
have to get at least a 4 (a T) to use the hammer or an
8 (a /) to use a sword. Something like that, ya know?

More to come.

MACE!

2006-11-14T15:24:00.000-05:00

I won second place at MACE! Congratulations to Adam Dray and his first prize winning entry, Hellball. I have posted my pics at Picasa Web.

Spin Til Dawn: My Game Chef entry!

2006-11-09T19:09:00.001-05:00

Here is, literally, what I got done before the deadline:

Spin til Dawn
The game of competitive DJing
Dedicated to my wife Claire, who still lets me go see all
of my favorite DJs.

This is my submission for the 2006 Iron MACE Game Chef
competition. It uses the ingredients of:

* Artistic competition
* No death allowed
* Uses playing cards

It also uses the secret ingredients of:

* Chrysanthemum
* Illegal
* Inertia

Spin til Dawn is a structured roleplaying game. It is
set up for three people to play in one session or maybe
two short sessions.

The setting for this game is a war-torn world where
hope is suppressed and obedience to propraganda, called
by some the Dark Message, is required.

Each person (in addition to other ancillary roles) will
play as of one of three greatest DJs ever. You have been
chosen by spirits of a forgotten time and given a measure
of their power to help you succeed. Each DJ has the drive
to bring forth hope in the people and to ultimately summon
forth the Chrysanthemum Palace for the greatest party
of all time.

To play the game, you will need playing cards, poker
chips, and an optimistic spirit. This won't be easy!

You'll be competing against evil forces hoping to shake
off the yoke of war-time oppression. You'll be putting
the lives of the people in danger each time you spin.
You'll also struggle against the morose inertia inherent
in the oppressed. Help them break the cycle!

**********
CHARACTER GENERATION
**********

To begin play, everyone should choose who they will be.

This is partially an exercise in imagination: your DJ can
look like anyone and spin any kind of music. This is also
where you and your group can choose to make some choices
about the rest of the setting that I haven't defined.
Want to play in an alternate history America? Sure, go
for it. How about the far future where everyone has been
genetically altered in some way. This flavor can drive
your descriptions of not only the attendees but will play
into scenes that occur before and after each event.

Also, there are some mechanics involved. Your DJ will be
empowered by a spirit. Decide with each other who will be
whom.

DJ Blade (Kusanagi)
The ancient sword spirit guides your hands and makes your
breaks crisp and clean. You are decisive and
revolutionary and sometimes a little curt. Your bold
choices are considered flamboyant.

* You can cut your personal deck (your Music Library) at
any time.
* Your SUIT is valor (spades).

DJ Mirror (Yata)
Wise and reflective, the mirror spirit feels at home on
the decks, feeling a kinship with the musical discs. You
relect others' emotions in your moods and movements and
your music tends to mirroring melodies. When deep in
thought, your face is blank. Often, you come across as
selfish.

* You can switch your Records with the closest Mixer at
any time and can do so instead of losing that Mixer in a
conflict.
* Your SUIT is wisdom (diamonds).

DJ Jewel (Yasakani)
Your ginger touch with the decks is often contrasted with
the agressive and raw substance that is your art. You are
a beacon to others and attract crowds naturally. Getting
to know you pierce your inner armor can be a Herculean
task.

* You can draw a new personal deck (your Music Library)
once per event.
* Your SUIT is benevolence (hearts).

**********
GAME PLAY
**********
Now that everyone knows who they are, DJ-wise, it's time
to explore how the game is played.

The game is played out in thirteen scenes. There are two
kinds of scenes: EVENTS - weekend long raves that you
perform and compete at, and PRELUDES - before the next
party, you'll discover what problems the people face.
Remember, it's illegal for the people to attend these
underground events - they want to be motivated as much
as you want to get them motivated! Get to know your crowd.

PRELUDES should follow this structure:

* Note which DJ or DJs are in the next Event (see SCENE
STRUCTURE for the schedule).

* Starting with the first DJ, the player to the right will
become the NARRATOR and the person to the left will
become the WORLD.

* PRODUCE a scene and roleplay through it. Continue
PRODUCING SCENES until the WORLD feels satisfied that
their theme has been successfully explored.

* If there is a second DJ in the next Event, repeat with
the new DJ, changing roles accordingly.

* Finally, if there are two DJs in the next Event, a final
scene will be PRODUCED where the two DJs confront each
other. The third player will be the NARRATOR.

PRODUCING A SCENE {PRELUDE}

The WORLD will introduce some aspect of the war and the
Dark Message that is affecting the people. The WORLD will
then name at least two people that are affected by this.
Note, no matter who they name, they will know who the DJ
is and attend these kinds of raves (if only rarely or
secretively, then so be it). They must be open to hearing
what the DJ has to say. The WORLD will then describe who
they are, what they do, and how they are connected.
The WORLD will collect three poker chips.

The NARRATOR will then describe a scene with these
people, being sure to give detail to the location and
describe what the people are doing and why the are there.
It would be best if the NARRATOR started the people in a
tense social situation.

The DJ will then take three poker chips. The DJ will then
describe how they enter the scene. The DJ will then be
responsible for diffusing the situation. Remember, they
know who the DJ is and is at a minimum a fan of some
sort. When the roleplaying reaches a DECISION POINT (as
determined by the NARRATOR), both the DJ and the WORLD
will bet a number of chips and take a card from the
card deck. The DJ and the WORLD will flip and the highest
card wins. Whomever wins takes the chips. If the DJ or
the WORLD runs out of chips, it is up to the WORLD if
there are to be any further scenes PRODUCED. If so, the
player with no chips simply bets nothing.

If the DJ has acted in accordance with their SUIT and
pulls a card with that SUIT, they can either transform
their card into a TRUMP (thus winning the DECISION POINT)
or receive an extra chip. The DJ should discuss this with
the NARRATOR and WORLD to confirm that they agree.

The NARRATOR decides who wins on ties. The NARRATOR will
describe how the scene ends, based on who won the card
flip. Either the DJ diffuses the situation or the
situation refuses to be diffused.

In the final scene of PRELUDES where there are two DJs,
the NARRATOR will describe a scene where the two have met
and are enjoying an EVENT from earlier. The NARRATOR will
then present them with a tense scene with some of the
ravers that threatens to shut down the event or call in
the police. Both DJs will roleplay with the NARRATOR
until the NARRATOR decides that they have reached a
DECISION POINT. Both players will describe how they would
diffuse the situation. The NARRATOR will then divvy up
three chips between the DJs. The NARRATOR will then
describe how the scene ends based on the DJ with the most
chips (from the three just divvied up).

DJs keep their chips into the next EVENT, where they will
be either spent or discarded at the end.

PRODUCING A SCENE {EVENT}

At the EVENT, however, things are a little different.

Roles are assigned as normal, with: one DJ, a
WORLD, and a NARRATOR; two DJs and a NARRATOR, or, in the
final EVENT, all three DJs.

Each DJ must fight against the inertia of the crowd. They
live tough lives and the war and the Dark Message of
propaganda soak their very existence with pain and
suffering. Getting them to the highs necessary to give
them the hope to go on will be a monumental task.

Each DJ will draw ten cards, five face up (the RECORDS
and MIXER) and five in a pile (your MUSIC LIBRARY).
Draw them in order and place them as such:

Face Up
1 2 3 4 5
Pile
1
2
3
4
5

Each DJ should know the cards in the MUSIC LIBRARY but
shouldn't change their order (there are exceptions later
on).

Face Up Cards 1 and 5 are the RECORDS and 2, 3, and 4 are
the MIXER. Cards from the MUSIC LIBRARY will be switched
out with the RECORDS during the EVENT. When this occurs,
the RECORDS are put away and not used again for the
event. RECORDS can only be replaced by the top card in
the MUSIC LIBRARY.

The WORLD (if there is one DJ) or the NARRATOR will
describe how the Dark Message has made the crowd slow,
morose or moribund. The WORLD will draw three cards
representing this painful message (or the NARRATOR will
draw six, three for each DJ). The DJs will push forward
their MIXER cards and line them up. The DJ loses any card
that doesn't beat the card in front of it. MIXER cards
can only be replaced with sacrificed RECORDS or cards
bought by chips. Any one card in the DJs SUIT acts as a
TRUMP during a challenge. Each challenge brings out a new
RECORD. The DJ must have at least one RECORD spinning at
all times.

**********
SCENE STRUCTURE
**********
Each scene is named by a corresponding card that also
acts as a possible wild card for conflicts during that
scene. Starting with Ace, then Deuce, through the numbers
and the face cards, ending with King.

A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Saving October From the One Post Onus

2006-10-31T14:27:00.000-05:00

If I don't post something today, October will be my second month with only one post.

I'm in Game Chef Iron MACE. I've gone from "What the heck do I do with these ingredients?" to "Ooh! This'll work, now to hammer out the details!" to "God, this will never work!"

"I'll probably just write a fantasy heartbreaker and get it over with!" I say, half-sarcastically.

Envy my Pain

2006-10-03T09:22:00.000-04:00

Two years ago, I would have envied my pain. Two years ago, I was in one gaming group that I wasn't enjoying gaming with (on the whole; 20 minutes or so of each evening was fun).

Now I've got two regularly-meeting awesome groups and opportunities to join a third and some one-shot/playtest action. But I can't completely justify to my wife the two I'm in, much less convince her to let me roam about some more.

I'm drowning in game opportunities.

Burning Wheel AP - Episode 1 Dead of Night

2006-09-18T14:16:00.000-04:00

This is crossposted at Luke's site. I have some of the night recorded (I hit the wrong button at one point) and will add that to my audioblog at some point).

So, our second session (first roleplaying session) of BW is complete and I wanted to come by and talk about it a bit. It's a time constrained game, with only five game-days allowed as the players vie for the head of the guild as their own.

Andy is taking Beliefs that point towards him getting revenge for the guildmaster's murder and redeeming the guild. Rick the bastard wants both the guild and his father's dukedom despite his lineage. Tim, the mad sorcerer, only wants to serve his demonic master and Travis, the forger, has kept his goals to himself for now. Everyone is hedging bets against each other and it is rocking.

The four lieutenants stood around the corpse of their leader and it was on. Schemes were flying and ideas working. We have decided that no one knows who killed him and that who did it will be revealed in play. Just when it got slow, bam! One of the characters heard someone in the room. A frightened slave girl had hidden in a closet. She stated that she couldn't see what happened but she was frightened out of her mind. Rick decided that the safest bet was to end her short life there with a knife to the throat. Andy's character reacted poorly if I remember and just then someone approaches the door!

It appears that Ilthmar's thieve's guildmaster has arrived at the party below with an entourage. I reveal to another player scrambling through some books that the Lankhmar guildmaster had invited them. Seems he was retiring and was making movements to retire in style. Was this the motive for his murder? We don't know yet.

As to the party, they are in a week of celebration in Lankhmar. I weave a tale of how one of the most famous guildmasters in the past had disguised his way out of capture again and again and even successfully impersonated the Emperor at one point. The guildmaster eventually reconciled with the Emperor and the two met in a public gesture to show that the Emperor was himself and the Guildmaster was separate. Thus, it is Day One of our game and Day One in a week of celebration. The most special days are 3-5:

Day 3: Chameleon Day - like Hallowe'en and Mardi Gras, except that everyone participates in the festivities all day, and participants come from far and wide - including Hell itself.

Day 4: Commoner's Day - Who can tell who is actually running the government? On this day, the commoner's get their own parliament, and if they can decide on anything as a group, it's put into law.

Day 5: Gretting Day - A guildmaster will have to meet the Emperor and prove again that the Emperor is himself. Who will be there? Will they survive the public meeting?

Anyway, back to the action. Tim, damn him, made me really think about my GM authority. But I rolled with it as he gave me a big in to screw him over. Dude summoned an imp to animate the guildmaster's corpse. Can you believe it? Luckily, he rolled a powerful one and I'll take my revenge on him soon.

Andy stepped up and came up with some cool ideas. Together we burnt up a cool story charcoal: The imp is demanding Tim take the Ilthmaran guildmaster's prized possesion and give it to him, and Tim accepts the bargain. What Tim's character doesn't know (but everybody at the table knows) is that the cask contains Tim's demon master's summoning tools!

Travis decides that there are too many players involved at this point and through a series of linked tests manages to three of his targeted four targets accidentally murdered: members of the Ilthmaran entourage. The fourth is virtually dead as he lay at the healer's hut with a severely broken leg.I'll have to use this little bugger somehow to complicate Travis' life.

Andy is, later on, going through the quarters of the Ilthmar guildmaster (who is completely absent, even the remainder of his entourage included). What he soon finds out is that Tim's imp is there too, sniffing out the cask just as Andy finds it. We left them on the rooftop, as Andy considers his options with the imp tracking him.

Travis decides to get a little supernatural back up. He successfully finds a 3/4 blind exorcist that has agreed to work for him. She assures him that Chameleon Day will allow for great results in regards to demons.

The final scene we played out was at Rick's house. I decided to go straight for the throat and bring his dad in. As soon as he was in the room his dad orders him to murder the guildmaster and hand over the guild to the Ilthmaran guildmaster. I knew this wasn't going to go well but Rich stepped up a notch and decided to whistle in his guards and attack his own dad! We used some bloody versus and Rich would have killed his father if it weren't for an awesomely successful spell on Tim's part which drew all of the swords out their owners' hands and even screwed with the metal in the door frame. Rich's dad is begging for his life as we end for the night.

We have four more game days to play out which may take less than four actual days, but we'll see. I'll keep everyone updated.

Tenra Banshou Zero

2006-09-18T11:08:00.000-04:00

I got to play Tenra Banshou Zero yesterday, and I had an awesome time. That wasn't my character that I've got uploaded but I did want to showcase some of the over-the-top art from the game.

Remi, Eric, Lisa, Matt and I played residents (whether temporary, permanent, recently arrived or long lived) of a ninja village. That is, the village specialized in its training of ninja in their service to the Regent (daimyou).

Eric played Oldclaw, a ninja with a cybernetic arm and eye. His character qualities were patriotism and authority, and he did a good job acting like a right bastard.

Lisa played this annelid using ninja (think like you're implanted with gigantic roaches and centipedes!) with issues over what he'd become.

Matt played a straight-up powerful ninja, but he was going to betray us at some point.

Remi played a Samurai (a soulgem studded person that can hulk out like the image I've got posted (but not necessarily with all the cyber tech)) who had issues with being a warrior and was currently a farmer. You'd think from anime stereotypes that samurai and ninja wouldn't coexist well but it was all good.

I played an android (made of wood!) that could wrap illusions around herself to make her look human. I called her a tree geisha for lack of a good translation. She had the secret of her nature to protect and she couldn't kill. I played her as an emotion-phobic young girl that wanted people and things to 'be right'.

Remi and I had some great roleplay going on where I challenged all of his issues. Remi called me a bastard! It was TEH AWESOME. Lisa and I had a great scene as well. I really felt like a spotlight hog but I was having so much fun. To those of you reading that played, I do feel bad about it. If our session was longer, though, I'm sure it would have evened out, as I was ready to try pushing towards it; however, I still had machinations in my head for scenes with other characters!

Andy did an awesome job rolling with the flow of the game. He wasn't as prepared as he could have been but I was impressed with his handling of everything, specifically teaching us the game. There's so much to learn and it all points back in on itself that you can start at any point very easily. He did a good job with the scenes and concluding acts and all that pacing stuff and he forced us to think a little differently from some traditional gaming with jumping around time-wise and having scenes in the past. Andy is the roxxorz.

However, we all agreed that too much thought was put in to making the mooks in the big fight too much like PCs and that the fight slowed things down quite a bit. We all had trouble paying attention while waiting for our turns to come around. Thus, the only problems to be had with the game itself came from a lack of experience running it.

As for the game system and mechanics, it has some old school and some kabuki school and it came together well (but damn if it wasn't a mindbender).

First, the old school. It only uses d6s (in terms of dice). You have like 8 stats, HP and a wound chart (and some other HP style thing that I never used, MP maybe?) Under all that are skills, which are ranked from 1-5. When you do an action, you roll the number of dice in the stat, and sucesses are culled from the roll based on the skill (e.g. an Agility stat of 7 and Marksman skill of 4 would mean roll 7 dice and successes are any dice coming up 4 or below). There are only certain skills, so no hippy self-defined skills. When you get hit, you split things between your HP and your wound track. It's really neat because you don't get penalties with more grievous wounds but bonuses.

Okay, some of the new school. There is a relationship chart that you roll on whenever you want to know how it is you react to someone. If it comes up as completely off from what you expected, you can pay to move it around or the GM can pay you to move it around. It really encourages cool roleplay opportunities, despite it sounding like it hinders you. The qualities are vague but inspiring and you aren't prevented from changing your point of view.

The game is split into acts and seem to just note an organic end to the current set of scenes.

So, it has this fanmail-like system wherein a player takes some chits (or, in our case, poker chips) and distributes them to people when they do awesome things. The person responsible for this rotates around the group. These chits are called Harmony and they begin the Karma cycle. They're really valuable at the end of acts, but can be spent mid-act for some minor things (thus, the thought always is, can I make it to the end of the act and/or suffer to lose at this point?). The key thing that Harmony is spent on (in my limited opinion) is purchasing the ability to use your character qualities (Fates) to provide a new resource, Kiai. Kiai powers cool meta-options that are general and everyone can use them (not to be confused with other power fueling resources, like Soul-Glo, err Soul Points). Here's the kicker: once spent, the Kiai build to your Karma score. If your Karma score can't be reconciled below 108 by the beginning of the next act, you're freaking screwed. You lose your character, everything they hoped and dreamed for is destroyed by them, and you sit there as an audience for the rest of the game. So now you're in the middle of the act and you're wondering if you should use that kiai cuz it'll screw you over. There are methods of reducing Karma but they provoke great change in your character. And that it awesome cool unto itself. But all of this just scratches the surface of the uses of these cool resources.

Well, that's about it. I hope everyone gets a chance to play it once it gets released. It'll blow the water out of other anime games out there, in my opinion, and should be an anime gaming standard from now on.

Cthulhu Movie

2006-09-16T21:47:00.000-04:00

I've been waiting for this movie for a while now. I, in general, love Lovecraft's work and those that he impressed. They have a blog now, and it looks like it's soon to be released. I'm happy about that.

However, after looking over at IMDB, I can't help but think that some people are going to be upset that the locale isn't set in New England, but rather in Washington and Seattle.

Fallen Idols

2006-09-14T11:11:00.000-04:00

So, recently, I've played two games that are considered hallmark achievements in the Indie RPG community, Dogs in the Vineyard and Burning Wheel.

My heart sinks as I realize that I just don't like them. Burning Wheel is great for its principles, i.e., focusing on the problems with D&D style gaming and offering solutions. Dogs has a great mechanic which makes arguments and fights and description fluid and fun.

But I'm just not liking them. Burning Wheel is obvious to me: I don't need different systems to handle different events - a solid concept for dealing with all situations is ideal and expected by me at this point. But Dogs, though, Dogs ... I had a hard time last night, because I wanted to talk to Andy about it but I couldn't (and still can't) articulate it very well. Examining my morals sounded like a great idea at first, but now, after playing it, I'm not so sure.

I think I'm scared.

Odeo

2006-09-11T13:42:00.000-04:00

Odeo is nice enough to host my audio blog (and they have a much nicer interface!) Hopefully their advertisement won't be too annoying!

Look for this image on the bottom right of my blog:

Also, I realize that if I'm going to be serious about this, I'll have to be a little more serious with this page. I'm going to redo the images to make sure I own them or have permission to use them. So, anyway, look for more changes soon.

Infected has infected me

2006-09-11T10:39:00.000-04:00

So, yeah, I've been playtesting Infected with Eric a couple of times, and I love it. It has a solid premise (zombie movies), enough flexibility for fun variation and room for imagination, awesome rules that have really worked from day one, and I just love it.

So much so that I've placed a custom order with Chessex for dice that match the rules and am running it at this NC Gameday. I hope my excitement is, well, infectious ...

Audioblog 1

2006-09-04T14:30:00.000-04:00

Well, until I get something more professional or am willing to cough up money, this is the only way I know to get my audio recordings up.

Give it a listen!

Oh, it's a short analysis of what I did and didn't like about FFXI vs. WoW.

New Look

2006-09-01T15:28:00.000-04:00

I've made some changes to the front page. The dust is flying! Come take a look.

Episode 38 - Simulated Worlds

2006-08-26T10:16:00.000-04:00

In episode 38 of This American Life, Ira Glass introduces his show with a short segment about Civil War re-enactors. The show is about Americans' obsessions with recreating worlds with ultimate accuracy - perfect fakeries. This short part screams to me as having something profound to relate to games and gaming but I'll be damned if I can articulate it. I've spent a week or so trying to. Please help by listening to it, I've included the highlights below. All comments are paraphrased re-enactors:

I prefer to walk in, not drive in.
I don't wear underwear.
I don't bring bananas. Where would they get bananas in the Civil War?
I eat raw meat.
Some believe that their impression is more authentic due to having fleas.
I had a Chinese man apply to be in my group. There weren't any Chinese men in 100th, I want to keep to Caucasians to stay properly authentic.
Vocabulary has developed. Re-enactors are hardcores or farbs.
Farbs are "far be it from me", who is anyone less authentic than yourself.
People who wear tennis shoes, eye glasses, or cotton instead of wool.
This 'takes away from my event'.
I'm in this for fun, not in the army. If I want to have an ice chest hidden in a wooden box, that's fine. I draw the line at what the public sees and perceives.

Games I'm About to Play

2006-07-12T12:18:00.000-04:00

So, Rick's gonna run some Dogs. I'm highly looking forward to it. I'm gonna have hazel fuckin' eyes! heh (Inside Joke) I'm looking forward to finding out how this fallout stuff works.

And then, I'm gonna run some Burning Wheel! It's gonna be in Lankhmar, but I don't have any ideas yet. I'm probably going to take one of the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories I have and retool it. I think it's gonna rawk because I'll take some bright people and put some uber-crunch in front of them and see what happens. It'll help me gauge my crunch levels for my game.

Sorry, no picture this time. Next time, I'll have some cool stuff about Iron Wrought, Mana Born.

Games I've Played Recently

2006-07-11T13:00:00.000-04:00

So, I've played two games recently, with two different groups:

Shadow of Yesterday with Andy, Rick and Tim and D&D with Eric, Lisa and Ulysses.

Shadow of Yesterday has been really really fun. I even sent Clinton an email about how much fun I'd been having, but he hasn't responded. I'm sure he's ultra busy, so it's all good. Shadow of Yesterday gives me what few game exeriences ever have: a sense of constant direction for my character. It's a really neat process:

1. Scene is framed.
2. I ask myself, "Should I be in this scene?"
3. I look at my character sheet. Are there any keys or secrets that fit, are there any characters that I want to become involved in, or are there any secrets or keys that I want to work towards in-game continuity for collecting?
4. If yes, I add myself to the scene and start using abilities, getting XP, etc. That's immediate gratification that I love.
5. If no, then I sit back, watch other spotlight coolness, and throw some chips in when it gets good.

Also, when I want to have a scene framed around me, I can ask for it after a quick look, using nearly the exact same technique, but I also add any Keys I bought off, to see if I can riff of some roleplay of a changed perspective in the character.

D&D has been hacked a little, so it's got some goodness. It has this thing, this resource, it's my free ride to change the narrative or save my ass from death. We have been flip-flopping on task vs conflict resolution, but the slow character growth that comes with D&D is frustrating and it feels like I have all this stuff on my character sheet that I can't use. I'm not in love with that at all. I tend to blur my eyes looking at it.

And get this, the only way I have to manage my character class effectively is by use of an Excel spreadsheet that I had to make.

Finally, I'm not really even using the abilities I do have, but that's a buy-in issue I'm having. I wonder if the others notice this?

Next Post: Game's I Will Be Playing Soon
I may doom myself with this, but I'll try posting that tomorrow.
That nameless project I mentioned a while back? How does Iron Wrought, Mana Born sound?
And, where would I be without an almost obligatory picture? This picture is from an upcoming video game and doesn't have to do with my game, other than as some inspiration.

Website

2006-06-20T20:33:00.000-04:00

I'm also spending time working on my website.

That is, I'm explaining my post absences.

Wizardry

2006-06-05T10:37:00.000-04:00

I got to watch Wizardry (recently subtitled by Ureshii) this weekend. It made me feel as old as a wizard by the time I was done. It had this horrible need to try to explain why this dungeon was there and all that (which may just be the fault of the original game). It had this neat thing about competing parties. It explained the spells (which was necessary, which the anime expected you to know).

I thought I liked old school sword and spell anime like Lodoss and Bastard! I think I just like sword and spell, and some of the anime are cool and some just suck balls.

So uhm yeah this gets 1 out of 5 somethings. It does have all the D&D staples and it really sucks. And not just because it's 15 years old. I liked the animation.

I need a name for this project

2006-06-04T22:16:00.000-04:00

What's grown from my Console RPG project needs a name. I don't know one yet. Here's my latest work:

Honor! Loyalty! Sacrifice!
These things do define you, now and forever!

A world of radiating tribes and crumbling societies, blossoming magic and fossilizing technology, still donning precious etiquettes as knightly armor, conjuring illustrated ballads as thaumaturgical essence, scabbardng true love as legendary swords, sailing invisible castles as cyclopean airships.

Blossoming Mana and Fossilizing Gears
Organic versus Mechanical
Definition of Natural
Radiating Tribes and Crumbling Societies
Family versus Law
Sense of Self-Identity
Emerging Khans and Hidden Cults
Power of the Person versus Strength of Groups
Desire for Power
Religious Façades and Indentured Colleges
Faith as a Mask versus Knowledge at Any Cost
Fear of the Unknown
Crimes Against Love and the Paragon Rituals
Ideals of True Love versus Personal Purity
Evaluation of Romantic Values
Gentle Duels and Guerilla Strikes
Honor versus Guile
Sacredness of Principles
Inherited Lieges and Scion’s Gambits
Duty versus Destiny
Meaning of Loyalty

More on these items later. I'm tired now.

Shift Gears, Blow Steam

2006-05-22T12:51:00.000-04:00

So, I've been thinking. Colin has been rocking my game concept pretty hard and doing a really good job at it. Maybe I should take a step back and not tie myself to console gaming so much and go a different direction. I've done some research today while in a class that didn't require too much attention. Take a look at these resources I want to explore or keep in mind:

Comic Books

Five Fists of Science
Ironwolf (and Ironwolf in Weird Worlds back issues)
Robotika

Video Games

The Longest Journey/Dreamfall
Final Fantasy series
Legacy of Kain series

Board Games

Mission: Red Planet

Books

Anubis Gates
Difference Engine

Movies

Vidocq

Key themes I'm still thinking of exploring:

Sacrifice - What will you sacrifice as you make choices? No choice should be examined closely without some level of sacrifice on the player's or character's part.

War - Before, after, during. Why do we wage war? How does it affect us? How many generations of peace does it take to lose a war mentality, or can it even be lost?

Relationship with God - I've laughed at things like this ever since I learned in science that you have to divorce yourself from it for true discussions. Is this true? What power faith? Can the dissonance of faith and science be reconciled?

Power - What it is it like to hold power over someone? Why is being powerless such a frightening thing?

There are XIII million other things I should be doing right now.

2006-05-09T21:07:00.000-04:00

I have lots of stuff to talk about, but am so stupid busy with my last classes this semester that I can't really take a break. But da~mn, XIII³ !~

Finally got the Christopher Walken Ending

2006-05-01T15:37:00.000-04:00

A friend and it finally got the Christopher Walken Ending to Pirate Baby. I recorded it for your pleasure.

I never thought I'd see it again!

2006-04-20T08:23:00.000-04:00

Kyou Kara Ore Wa! Hayaku, bokuno tameni~

http://www.kanjisub.com/

God, it's nearly 15 years old now @_@

Retro Art is Coo'

2006-04-14T22:18:00.000-04:00

If I ever get my CRPG card game going like I want it to, I'd love to have art like the original FF Tactics, or from this ad for the FF3 remake for the DS.

Two New Ideas, Sunny Side Up

2006-04-13T22:01:00.000-04:00

A couple of ideas sprang up last night on the way home from Statistics:

Shadow Government/Fourth Force

A group of people have been chosen by some unknown Conspiracy to take care of the United States in its most desperate time and need: when Washington, DC gets taken out along with all of the political infrastructure of the US Government and the Pentagon. However, this group of people, this Shadow Government, must remain hidden from the entire world, even from themselves, until the need arises.

Meant to be played in a session per player plus a riveting finale, this game begins with the player's characters discovering that the government is disabled or destroyed and they are to take control and lead the nation out of crisis. With only a limited amount of time, they must decide if they will remain in power or relenquish control to some other party. They arrived, seeminlgy without motive, to a special elevator in a mundane building in Washington, DC, and are trapped in a command center in the most secret basement in the world. They have access to certain resources which will help them learn whatever they want and to make the decisions necessary to both lead the country out of crisis and with whom they will entrust the reins of government if and when they decide to step down.

The group has been 'chosen' by the Conspiracy, but the Conspiracy does not necessarily know who they've chosen. Each player will decide how they think the Conspiracy inducted the members into the Shadow Government and arranged for them to be at the right place at the wrong time. Examples:

Brainwashing
Subliminal Instruction from a lifetime of TV viewing
Cybernetic Implants
Magic

However, many complicating factors arise as the episodes play out. Each episode will highlight one character, chosen at random. The finale will choose one final character who will turn out to be a traitor, influenced or corrupted by some Fourth Force, and during that session the fate of the characters, the Conspiracies, the nation, and most likely all of mankind will be decided. To further complicate the matter:

The characters aren't necessarily politicians, citizens, or even educated. Each player will determine their own concept of the decisions made by the Conspiracy, and how they tie into it. They will also be responsible for their entire 'story', and will need to be able to explain their facade when they are revealed to be a traitor.
Neither the US Military nor the Intelligence Bureaus knows anything of the Shadow Government at the beginning of the game, and they will have to be dealt with, one way or another. By the finale, they are going to do one of three things: Acknowledge the leadership of the Shadow Government and support them, take over control of the government willingly from the group, or storm the basement and take the Shadow Government out.
The Conspiracy will be revealed to also be positioning themselves to take over the US and finish whatever catastrophe occurred worldwide and thus take over the world. The Conspiracy is keeping close tabs on the group by means of their own surveillance, which can only be interfered with by some outside action or group. If anyone acts in a way that forces the Conspiracy to consider the Shadow Government, in part or as a whole, as being disloyal or a failure, the Conspiracy can force a character to leave the basement to their certain doom, whether by 'remote control' or by convincing/cajoling/intimidating the group to do so.

Characters will be based solely on Trust. (I guess like the Mountain Witch?) Trust with the Remaining Agencies, Trust with the Conspiracy, Trust with the other characters, and Trust with the Fourth Force. The rest of the characters abilities and description will probably be like the Pool.

Crispin Glover is Here to Kill Me

You're all at a bar/club/dive, sitting around a table, when one of you and then all of you see that Crispin Glover has arrived. Crispin Glover has been hired to assasinate one of you, but will have to finish his pack of cigarettes first.

At first, the characters individually decide they will have one last great time, as they are sure that they are Crispin's target. As the game progresses, each will learn that everyone has a reason to be picked off, and can try to save themselves from their untimely doom.

Except for the very beginning, the players will always talk as their characters which they make up in their heads as they go along. Starting with the person to the right of the heaviest smoker in the group, each player will give a short overdubbed narration of their character, as seen through the eyes of Crispin Glover, as he watches his prey drink, smoke, and have a good time. This will establish the baseline of the character and cannot be denied through later narration.

When this is completed, each player is given a number of smokes equal to the number of players. The players, in whatever order they choose, can now initiate a monologue recounting some tale of their character and whomever else they want to include, as told in the first person, by throwing a smoke in the pot and by starting with the phrase, "Remember the time when ...". They are allowed to speak uninterruptedly, minus any solicitation for confirmation during the narrative that they initiate. As each player's character is introduced in the narrative, a smoke is thrown into the pot by that player.

When the story is done, the rest of the group either gives their approval that the story is true, acknowledges the story, but not necessarily its veracity, or gives disapproval and begins another narrative.

Approval is given by a player not taking their smoke back from the pot and uttering the phrase "That's so true, [Character's Name], that's so true."
Acknowledgement is given a player taking back their smoke and rhetorically asking, "So that's how it went down?"

At this point, if no disapproval is encountered, the story-teller takes the pot of smokes. However:

Disapproval can be given by a player adding another smoke to the pot and stating "No, that's not how it happened ..." and retelling the tale from their perspective. This can only be initiated once. No more smokes will go into or out of the pot at this point, and this ability to re-narrate is not limited to the characters that were included in the original narrative.
A final round of approval or disapproval goes around the room, ignoring the disapproving player, starting with the original story-teller. If that player wishes to acknowledge truthfulness of the retelling, that player states, "Damn! You're right, what was I thinking?" and splits the pot of smokes with the disapproving player.
If this doesn't happen, the original player will say "That's not how I remember it going down." The other players will then speak to the original storyteller and say either "Can you believe this jerk?", indicating they agree with the original storyteller or "Dude, you're such a liar!", indicating they agree with the new story. Whomever has the majority takes the pot of smokes.

Every player gets to make one monologue and have it judged in this manner. However, the game isn't over yet. A new series of monologues will begin, but they will start with the phrase "I know why Crispin Glover wants to kill me ..." Only approvals or acknowledgement are allowed this round, and are done so by the phrases "Are you shitting me?" as an approval or "Damn, you deserve to die," as an acknowledgement.

Finally, Crispin Glover is done with his cigarettes and comes over to the table. The person with the most smokes gets one final monologue describing how every other character is more deserving of death and then initiates a plea, trying to bargain the character's life with the smokes they have on hand. The remaining players either agree or disagree with what's spoken by giving their smokes to the player for the plea bargain or by giving their smokes to Crispin. The game is won by the player if he/she has more smokes than Crispin Glover at the end of their story, meaning that Crispin spares only that character.

Anime and Addendum

2006-03-22T12:28:00.000-05:00

So, in addition to fantasy gaming influences from CRPGs, I'm influenced by a long running but currently shallow addiction to anime.

So, I started with Bastard!! It's mailing list just lost its original owner and her webpage was shut down. This is what made me think of this. I'm just getting old, I guess. Bastard!! was a heavy-metal name stealing fantasy anime with flame swords, beholders, efreeti, vampires, dragons and ninja. Other fantasy titles included Chivas 1-2-3 (which I bought sight unseen without realizing who the main voice actor was or what it was about - that is, hundreds of dollars on LDs from Japan without knowing I'd like it), Fortune Quest, Violinist of Hamelin, Escaflowne, Ryu Knight, Master Mosquiton, Maze, and Ninja Scroll.

But! My main obsession besides fantasy anime is bizarre anime. Assemble Insert, Butt Attack Girl Gottoman, Combustible Campus Guardress, Chuuka Ichiban (Chinese Food is #1!), Blame!, Dragon Half, Compiler, Eatman, Hell Teacher Nuube, Memories, Kyoukara Orewa, Kachou Ouji, Serial Experiements Lain, Macross Plus, Perfect Blue, Ping Pong Club, Riding Bean, and Robot Carnival (just the wooden mecha vs. the brick mecha vignette).

In case you missed it, I finished my (cathartic?) gaming history (or at least the stuff I'm willing to divulge now).

Miscellany

2006-03-15T08:36:00.000-05:00

I found a whole bunch of good icons at The Lost Worlds from Legacy of Kain and Soul Reaver.

I'm currently intrigued by Five Suit Card Decks. Stardeck has my eye, but Empire and its Six Suited ways disgust me.

So, what can I think of off the top of my head with five suits? Well, five elements, obviously (both the kind with Air and with Metal). So let's modify that:

Suit - Element, First Impressions, Personal Relationships, Element Rich Areas, Emissions

Hearts - Blood, Pity, Love, Waterfalls, Steam
Clubs - Blaze, Antipathy, Lust, Hearth, Embers
Spades - Spirit, Awe, Wanderlust, Cliffs, Gusts
Diamonds - Crystal, Jealousy, Dependence, Caves, Sparks
Stars - Steel, Neutrality, Self-reliance, Heavens, Luminescence

I'm impressed. That took about an hour and I like the results.

Man! Mark's such a cop-out!

2006-03-10T14:52:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I know. Another post without continuing my narrative about my gaming history. Work's just been the worst lately. Maybe I need a revitalizing potion. Wait, here's one ...

Turns out I'm not as much of a geek as I thought I was. Here's where the screen cap came from.

I just gotta geek out

2006-03-03T14:52:00.000-05:00

I know you're all looking forward to the next installment about LARPs, but I just gotta geek out. I love the art Wizards gets its hands on and I love love love shadow magicy stuff.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20060302b&page=2

My Gaming History, Part Three

2006-03-01T10:36:00.000-05:00

"Come on, man, this is weird. And probably stupid," I said.

Still, I wasn't not going to go, it was the only thing in town that I felt comfortable going to (because my friends were playing). It was my first LARP.

Fact: Only recently have I wanted to roleplay anything that made me feel uncomfortable, and I still won't do that with people I don't know first.

My LARPing experience is one of the three or four impetuses (impetii?) I can think of that caused me to drop out of college*. My LARPing was a narcotic. I drove all over the state to play and gather players, I found ways to my LARP all over the place. I made really ... fucked up relationship choices ... and I think it was mostly to do with a warping of my idea of the way society worked from my LARPing. This is not hyperbole. My LARPing (and I call it my LARPing because others' LARPing could have been different - some of this was truly internalized, all me) was an outgrowth and mutation of bad mojo, immature (immature as in a bud is an immature flower) reckoning of how people are supposed to interact with each other, and the worst possible fandom. My LARPing did one and only one thing that I appreciate and employ today.

Fact: My LARPing allows me to go and talk to people without (undue) social anxiety. This is as little as asking for help in stores and as big as joining Meetups in other cities.

I'd love to give specific examples of how my LARPing occurred and what I did and didn't do. But I'm not prepared for that, really. Not yet, sorry.

Finally, after dropping out of college, I got a job. I got a girlfriend. Right after Claire and I got together I formed/joined a gaming group that has lasted as a group since then and still meets on Sundays. This is the same time I found the Forge.

Fact: The only reason I went to the Forge, and the only reason I am frustrated with gaming today is that I want to try new things and game with groups that want to have fun the entire time (and aren't content with long periods of not having fun).

I game at least once a month with some new friends, and have begun to bring my wife with me. I'm having the best, most fun, most socially functional gaming of my life. The End?

* (Note: I honestly don't feel bad about dropping out of college. I'm currently back in night school at Wesleyan, and I should be done by either Spring of 2007 or 2008. Dropping out forced all the real-world reality I needed to get the funk out from between my ears and start being responsible and happy.)

My New Signature Line

2006-02-21T08:36:00.000-05:00

QED, Quid Quo Pro, and E Pluribus Unum.

It's been done before, but it got to me this time.

Part Two is in draft and will soon be posted.

My Gaming History, Part Two

2006-02-16T16:52:00.000-05:00

Memory is a weird thing. After reviewing my last post to get myself ready for this post, I remembered this ... guy, in high school with us, but not with us. He was roleplaying, too, but never or hardly ever with us. He had a thick skin, as I remember us verbally abusing him quite often, and especially powerfully through a GM mouthpiece in-game (he played with us once).

He did a few things that I note now are personally intriguing, and I kind of wish I could go back in time and talk to him. Let me elaborate on some paraprhased conversations we had (imagine me shaking my head, pitying the guy as he walks off from each of these):

He: Man, I am so ready for this Friday's D&D game!
Me: How come?
He: I have rounded the characters into an inescapable trap, and they will die tomorrow night!
Me: Die? What kind of game is that? Don't you value the characters?
He: The characters deserve to die. It is my place as a Dungeon Master to bring it to them.

Fact: Whether he was suffering from the GM is God fallacy or not, he knew what the game was about and was enthused about the right things, at least in that game. I thought he was an idiot, and due to entangling emotions from our bullying of him, I associated it with bad roleplaying.

So, I ran off to college for more life changing. For a while, I was alone, no friends. I eventually found some of my classmates, but we weren't going to be playing anything anytime soon. During a dry period, we were offered a neat game [in hindsight] of Amber diceless by that very same dude from high school, but all we were told is that he had control of the rules. We would just declare actions and he would ajudicate everything. It sort of worked and sort of didn't. But again past feelings combined with frustration (how was I to know if I could possibly defeat anything if I didn't know my own stats?) and he was shown the door again. I've never seen him since.

Anime came into my life and drastically absorbed my attention span. It also introduced me to an entirely new crowd of people, and soon I found a new (soon to be) roleplaying crowd. Thus I also entered the world of LARPing, and all of the raw emotional BS that I've come to associate with it. I won't address it in this post, but sufficed to say that LARPing not only didn't teach me social skills, it exacerbated my social problems. Too bad I didn't get to keep any of my kewl World of Darkness powers.

But, before that could happen, I was back in the tabletop groove. I lived in an apartment with two other gamers, one of which had a varied table top resume. We virtually housed two other gamers, and our life was ... well, anyway, we gamed. We played some house-ruley Oriental Adventures stuff, some GURPS, and some WoD stuff. Mostly played as hack'n'slash games, mind you. One kernel of goodness came from one of the roommates, but not in our gaming, and only in anecdote:

Me: What was your best gaming experience?
Mathias: We (some people in Mathias' past that weren't connected to any of us) played a space opera game, it was so epic! We each had our own robot pilots, and it was a 12 episode anime! Each weekend we played over the summer was one episode, and we had this guy that drew really well, and he made sketches of all the really cool scenes, and the characters! We had fun because we sorta knew what was going to happen, and when, so we could work to it, but we had side things that we brought in and were resolved episode by episode! I loved it!
Me: Epic, huh? Yeah, I'd love an epic game, too ...

Fact: Mathias had an experience where it was divided into clear-cut episode definitions, he knew that images can have a powerful impact, as well as player creations, and that it was 'okay' to know where the plot was going and have fun resolving it.

Fact: Our RPG upbringing, Mathias' and mine, saw 'knowing the plot' as a guilty thing to do, a pseduo-sin.

Fact: I didn't listen worth a damn when I was in my teens.

We never tried to do anything like what Mathias said was the best gaming experience he'd ever had, even when he had the initiative to do so by being the GM.

More on LARPing next time!

My Gaming History, Part One

2006-02-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

I never rolled well enough on the random encounter table to meet up with roleplaying in my hometown. It wasn't until I went to a residential high school for my Junior and Senior years that I even found out about it. What it was, back then, was this: I collected comics, mainly X-Men. I had newly found nearby friends that were playing Marvel Superheroes. As I was being drawn to their dorm room for the first RPG I'd particpate in, I asked the following question:

"I've only ever played Final Fantasy ... is it anything like that?"

To wit, the answer I received a fallacy:

"It's almost exactly the same," followed by a non-fallacy, "you'll love it!"

Fact: I've wanted a game that played like or intensely reminded me of FF ever since.

So. That was 1995. My ability to grok good RPGs has suffered ever since, and framed much discontent. I'll review my high school years in this post, and illustrate (hopefully) some of how it shaped me.

I had just gotten done reading a teen fiction (?) title by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. title, Fires of Paratime.
If anyone has ever read this, try to get the original version. The part that was smashed together with its prequel was changed, and left a bad taste in my mouth. Anywho, I wanted to be Loki.

Me, to Craig, the GM: "I want to be a guy named Loki!"
Craig, to Me: "That name's taken. What can your guy do?"

Anyone familiar with Marvel Super Heroes knows that in one question there was already some drift (changing of rules, house-ruling). Anyone who isn't: Marvel Super Heroes, like D&D, liked the random roll for your stats thing. It liked it so much it added it into the abilities. You couldn't choose your abilities, you had to roll them on a chart. But I went on to describe what Loki in the novel could do, and then decided on a name.

"I like the new Bishop character's name," I said.
"That name's ..."
I cut him off, "I know. Hmm, a bishop is a chess piece, how about Rook?"
Universal response: "Ugh."
"How about Rookie? The ultimate new guy?"
Universal response: "Yeah!"

Fact: The collective approval of the fiction I try to create is one of the reasons I roleplay.

I know more about Rookie than any other character I've ever created. He had more group approval than any other character I've ever played, and he's the only character who's name I can remember from 13 years of roleplaying.

At high school, I played Marvel Super Heroes, and Vampire 1st and 2nd Editions. I began "running" my own games in my Senior year, but they were more of a story time for me and having the players supply the lines.

Story Games

2006-02-02T08:45:00.000-05:00

Andy has unleashed the restraints on giving out the location of his new forum/website. Just thought I'd mention it.

Nah, screw that. Everyone, go talk and have fun there! It's super keen neat-o +3.

Minibosses vs. Black Mages

2006-02-01T09:25:00.000-05:00

Minibosses vs. Black Mages

It's not really a fair competition, but all I could think of on the way to work this morning was how much the Minibosses sucked as compared to the Black Mages. I shouldn't have been making the comparison in the first place, though. I don't think I'll listen to the minibosses cd again though.

Steam(punk)ed Kabbalah is delicious

2006-01-31T09:52:00.000-05:00

Steampunk (and Kabbalah) are the two keywords that really get me going for a game, but to be honest I know little of each. I tend to like the fluffy parts of both of them. The tech in steampunk and the magic in kabbalah are what I really want. I intend to research them both more and make a neat proposition for a fusion game of them. So, we've got a kabbalah link from Joshua (thanks!), and I found this a while back on steampunk. So I wikipedia-ed steampunk, too, and am on a course. Again, as I've posted before, my biggest influences have always been Final Fantasy and Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver. Steampunk and soul magic and stuff like that.

I want:

Kingdoms: with wars, upset citizens, rebel movements, and weird lines/methods of royal ascension,
Magic: a cruel nature goddess and an oblivious time god (dualistic theology), crystals and runes/glyphs, souls as power and otherworld currency, time as a framework for all magic,
Tech: guns (I love big guns with funky stuff that you aren't sure if they work consistently), steamy mechs, metallic objects align to a person's soul or racial features, big honkin' airships, limited time travel,
Races: nothing named (elfs, dwarves, etc.), supernatural and mundane features, all starting with a base human, and acquirable in-game,
Classes: rich, poor, and a whole hierarchy of what roles are more important than others (mimicking the Japanese samurai, merchant, peasant style), and
Themes: age-old strife (is it worth fighting my father's war?), special times create special effects (night-time strengthens certain souls, anniversaries of major events hold special power - what about humanity marks time?), extreme emotions can create effects or summon creatures (what is this worth to you?), racism (why is it so pervasive? [everyone will be required to take a racism of some sort])

Comments?

Recently Filtered Good Gaming Ideas and Fuck Ups on My Part

2006-01-28T12:19:00.000-05:00

Man my birthday this year has kicked ass. All the people that I didn't want to know about it didn't (I'll just leave that at that for now). I'm getting Monster Burner for Burning Wheel, Prime Time Adventures and Breaking the Ice to try with my wife, and maybe Nine Worlds if I can sneak it by. I got a Doctor Who scarf from my sister-in-law J-9, and we (my wife, Jeanine, and Adam [a good friend of us all]) went to see the kick-assest show of Enter the Haggis at Tir na Nog. Finally, I noticed that I got linked on a blog I have recently begun to read and respect. Wow! But to top it all off my birthday present that I didn't purchase for myself was to go and see (or will be to go and see) Ira Glass at UNC-CH next month (link impermanent)! He's the host of This American Life and if I had a spare $3,000 or so I'd own all of his shows. I love it love it love it to death, or, in this case, I love it to This American Life.

But the title of this post refers to the other birthday presents I got (whether those presents know it or not): NC Gameday 9 and Andy K.'s new site (I can't figure out if I can link to it or not, but there're enough clues on this site to get you there). NC Gameday got me together with my recent hookup friends at Chapel Hill Meetup. These people are awesome and kick the indie-gaming scene into new gear and most are already established authors! I got to play a good trio of games and will probably remember that weekend for some time to come. [Note to self, write up observations about Face of Angels playtest to give to its author].

So, let's get the fuck up out of the way and move on to the good gaming ideas. A friend of mine, Henry from EnWorld, has a gaming crew down in SC where he lives. He brought them with him to Gameday 9 and most were going to play Feng Shui. One very twitchy guy, Bob, came to play but found himself signing up for games quite unlike anything, and I mean anything, he'd ever played (Feng Shui being the most radical). Ignoring the concept of the fact that he signed up for them as a preregister, not an on the fly last second thing, he seemed to have a hard time getting going and muddled his way through the games.

One of my best newest most helpful friends, Jason Morningstar, author of the Shab-al-Hiri Roach, fretted over Bob. Bob seemed to be the exact audience he wanted to study the most. A willing neophyte that came to a different kind of gaming table to enjoy something radically new. I helped Jason (and still am) try and resolve some issues he'd been having with his poor ability to help out such a willing but misunderstanding .. customer.

But you know what? My fucking bad memory failed to recover something I'd heard for over two weeks: Bob had turned to Henry when he found no games open that he liked, and Henry suggested my game (which I'd heavily advertised on EnWorld) and thus, by proxy, the other game I was signed up for, Roach. He went with my game at Henry's suggestion AND because I was giving away a free book (which I'd developed as an incentive previously for taking up two slots, not necessarily to bring in people who wouldn't normally want to play the game). I didn't end up taking two slots, but the prize remained.

What I'm trying to say is that Jason agonized over this Bob dude and I could have told him just after the game that despite him preregistering for the game he was probably only doing it for swag and no other games were open. I apologized to Jason at Andy's site, I'll do it in person, but I'm doing it here because I really should have thought more and reflected more before I just jumped in and started trying to analyze and fix a problem that probably didn't exist.

That out if the way, let's move on to some new good gaming ideas:

Shreyas Sampat wants to make an anime gun-angel X style game with a beautiful astrological/glyph map as a character sheet. I love it so very very much. He's even letting me contribute, and I've been giving it my all. Oh, yeah, it's Nine Gun Choir [ナイン・ガン CHOIR].
Jeph is working on a fantasy RPG (which I will convert to Final Fantasy as soon as I can because I'm just that kind of dork) where you get an overland map with no towns or caves or whathaveyou on it and you add them in game to expore and add to the world. I think it would work great with timfire's In a Land Called ...
Joshua BishopRoby started a snowball (which I'd participated in once before on EnWorld and was delighted with) and a great little haiku giant robot game is in development. There are some items I'd throw out but I think it'd be great fun. I added to it, and I love the maturity of the site that allows people to accept these ideas and keep on rolling.
Joshua is also maybe working on revising WoD into a set of rules that realy evokes what most of us assumed would come out of WoD. We'll see.

That's it for now. Signing off.

2006-01-27T10:17:00.000-05:00

A portion of Anima's character sheet, probably dealing with magic.

It's my birthday!

2006-01-26T13:55:00.000-05:00

I'm 28.

I am surrounded by crack

2006-01-24T14:53:00.000-05:00

Andy K.'s got me going to his page like every ten minutes.
John Harper's giving me sexy dreams.
NC Gameday lured me into its dark alley.
Jason Morningstar roached me.
Matt Wilson and Emily Care Boss own me.

Strangers and Strings

2006-01-20T09:33:00.000-05:00

Joshua BishopRoby is making me rethink the auctioning of my WoD books.

I want to play this game, but ...

2006-01-19T14:03:00.000-05:00

Could it possibly be fun? I want the detail involved, but it would have to be Gamist, right?

CRITICAL HITS
-------------
NOTE: This does not apply to magical guns.

Someone make me the Final Fantasy game I've always wanted to play, and make it pen and paper.

Fantasy Finale: Resurrection of Zarcathika

2006-01-18T07:50:00.000-05:00

The world was in chaos. Legendary warriors joined together to fulfill their destiny and end the rise of Zarcathika, and its desire to see the world in flames and all living beings slain. They saved the world,and came to rule it. Generations have passed, and their direct descendants are again sought to save the world. Zarcathika is rising again.

This is a fantasy version of Renaissance Europe: a steampunk-ish technology exists, ethnicities and borders will basically be as they are today. There is England, Mediterranean Europe, East Asia and Egypt. Everything else is considered hinterlands, and is ruled by beasts and monsters. As a direct descendant of one of the original vanquishers of Zarcathika, you will be the next in line for the throne of your respective nation

English Leoline Elf - As prince(ss) and heir to the British kingdom, you have a lot on your shoulders. Honor and bravery are key. You wield the legendary Dragonneblade.

Russian Ursine Dwarf - Russia needs a leader to bring together the scattered states, but you don't think you're him (her). Gruff, grim, and ice cold; you thinly disguise your lust for wealth. You wield the adamantine Hammer of All Souls.

Turkish Leporine Yeti - Leader of the Dervish Dragoons, you have always felt as ease in the leadership role you have assumed, and you have the respect of your people due to your quiet nature. Excitement and danger is one of the few motivations you have left. You wield tall and mighty Gugnir.

French Vulpine TaruTaru - You deadly dance is viewedworldwide as the penultimate expression of your people's agility andart. Only your ancestor can be spoken of in higher regard. You wield the ever-slithering Scorpion's Strike.

Transylvanian Vampyre - You seek to finally rid your people of their dread curse. Vampirism plagued your nation during the last uprising, and most if not all of the next generation had some taint left in their blood. Vampirism is rising again, and it is the first sign of the return of Zarcathika. You wield the epic Gripsoul.

German Lupine Machinathrope - Your people were here before any of the other races were, but went dormant for an unknown reason. You were revived before Zarcathika's arrival, and helped defend the world from its apocalyptic attacks. You recently received the imprint of your ancestor's soul, and have taken the role of leader since its death. You don the benevolent sentient shield, Mighty Guard, as a breastplate, and interpose between innoncents and danger.

Spanish Feline Mithra - Your lands saw an infusion of a tribal people from the hinterlands during the last battle with Zarcathika. They infused their martial arts with the monastic tradition and culture already there. You wield no weapon, for you ARE the weapon.

Atlantean Musteline Ghost - Your people died a long time ago, but found themselves unable to immediately pass on to the other life. Your sunken continent contains an artifact that controls the rate at which souls pass on, and until your time is up, you remain in this world. Your ancestor passed on after the fight against Zarcathika, and you lead your people, as much as they can be led. You wield the mind-piercing Dreamstriker.

Egyptian Serpentine Naga - Your people have a rich and ancient history of which you are fully aware. You could rule as a thearch, if you so choose. You possess the true spirit of the land and your gods in your person, and it guides you day in and day out. As for ruling, right now, you have a wandering spirit; that, and responsibility would restrict you from flying your airship and gambling. You wield a magnificent Deck of the Avatars.

Polar Ursine Moon Moogle - Your people fortell all prophecies, whether for weal or woe. They guide the sentient races, and watch out for the eventual return of beings far more powerful and malicious as Zarcathika. You enjoy living on the planet more than you do back home. Luckily for you, as an oracle, you must travel the planet to fulfill your destiny. You wield Destiny's Tear, a gun of unknown origins.

Risus, pronounced like 'ElectrophoRISUS'

2006-01-17T13:44:00.000-05:00

And boy did it suck on my DNA through my fleshy grid. Anyone that got all that is my kinda geek. Anywho, I was El-Fire-Bow on a one shot my friend ran of the game Risus. Below was his sexy advert:

United Nations Superheroes - Taskforce: Topeka

Statue of Joseph Stalin Man - Crapped on by radioactive pigeons for years, this statue of Joseph Stalin came to life and can now switch between being a regular guy who looks just like (but has a personality very different from) Joseph Stalin and being a stone statue of Joseph Stalin who can't move at all.

Cornucopia - This rotund Greek woman carries with her the Horn of Plenty. She can instantly produce any food she wants from it, which is murder on her diet. But she stands ever ready to give evildoers a mouthful of yummy JUSTICE!

El-Fire-Bow - This young Cuban man was born with everburning elbows. He has real talent as a baseball pitcher ("He can bring the HEAT!") but was banned from the Major Leagues because his fiery elbows kept setting the uniforms on fire. He mainly sticks to sleeveless t-shirts now.

Fugu - This Japanese man was bitten by a radioactive pufferfish and now has amazing powers of puffing himself up to very large size. Fun at beach parties. Not so fun when trying to fight crime in an elevator or phone booth.

The Cobbler - Born of a wealthy German family, he is a frustrated inventor who can never seem to sell any of his inventions. He's venting his frustration by fighting crime using his "Incredishoes" that are clownishly large but should be taken (somewhat) seriously.

Rapunzel - Her hair grows really fast, at will. Whether she's whipping you with it or tying you up with it, well, it's all pretty kinky.

Slim FF12 PS2

2006-01-12T16:19:00.000-05:00

What would you think about this years later? Is it like a tattoo that you've become embarassed about? Or will it still be the coolest damn thing ever?

Dusty Boot Saloon!

2006-01-07T17:17:00.000-05:00

We ate this on our honeymoon. More info later.

Runic Empyrean

2006-01-06T09:17:00.000-05:00

What once was, is no more. Somehow, the constellations descended and the stars impacted.

We haven't been right since.

Runic Empyrean

The world of RE exists as a weird, phantasmagorial warped-mirror image of our world which left time and space and floats in an absolute aether some time ago. People still live, their creations warped, their homes crumbling. The night sky is a naked shawl, and daytime is but a dim illumination of that shawl. The last generation of mankind wonders if it is in Hell, and, if not, will things ever return to normal. This generation is split, the adults are adjusting, but worried about their Children; these that are born after the "Meta Morphosis" see things differently, and act weirdly, mimicking the world around them.

Characters would be one of the Fated, a possessor of a Runic Empyrean, and is tasked by it to seek out the rest of its constellation, and return it to the night sky. Should all Fated finish their task, it is whispered, the world would emerge again into time and space, completing the journey and fixing what once went wrong. Runic Empyreans, when not possessed by their Fated, urge others to use them in creations as weird as the world. Characters would be presented with challenges and decisions on when to destroy creations and free these mystical spheres or leave them alone and allow a town or family to prosper, for now. They would also face these problems with Fated who want to twist them for their own gain, or do not wish to return the constellations to the sky. Finally, the players could decide that finding an equilibrium between adding constellations and leaving well enough alone to be the best decision, and keep Mankind on this path forever.

Stranger Things

2006-01-05T09:57:00.000-05:00

I don't have much to say about Stranger Things, other than I want it more than my right kidney. I oughta play Trollbabe first, but ST's setting nibbles on my soul. Harper, I command you, finalize it! Release the demon! And uhm, Thanks a Million!

Timeline Idea

2006-01-03T17:45:00.000-05:00

bankuei mentioned an idea he'd had based off of a discussion of Situation, Scene, Conflict, and Resolution on Mighty Atom, which reminded me of an idea I'd had.

Basically, it was a visual indicator (a line) with marks representing significant story chunks placed on it. The GM would bring this with them to each game and show where the group was in reference to the storyline elements that the GM had planned on bringing up. The original idea was to keep players in line.

But now I think of it as a way of saying "Boom! Here's a roadblock you're gonna face if things go the way I'm thinking tonight. I'm placing it three marks in, so about three scenes or so. I'll go ahead and desrcibe it now ... everyone gets bonus points/fate chips/whateva for bringing in thematic elements related to it OR if everyone can work toward it and find a neat way of avoiding it/intercepting it/etc. then you'll all get bonus XP/something else rewardy. Also, if you like my idea and don't want to avoid it, and bring in elements you think will add to it, I'll either give full narration rights or triple XP or something like that.

The point being is that it would give everyone a sense of pacing without forcing a method of pacing in the rules and give rules to reward for meeting or circumventing that big scene the GM came up with.

Guns, Alcohol, Tobacco/Swords and Coins

2005-12-30T13:40:00.000-05:00

So I was working on a system recently. It was supposed to be aligned to the classic elements and was supposed to rework the classic symbols of the standard American card deck. It was mapped thusly:

Clubs -> Time -> Fire -> Guns
Heart -> Life -> Water -> Alcohol
Spades -> Death -> Air -> Tobacco/Swords
Diamonds -> Space -> Earth -> Coins

It was really hard for a fantasy fan like me to separate the original symbol of swords from spades, especially as I'd left a commonly used symbol of coins with diamonds. So it kinda is still stuck in the plan. I'd never determined how I was going to use this other than making descriptions of escalated actions taken by characters based on the suit to require one of the symbols. I'd also added some Jungian psychological representations, but I don't have my notes right now, and all of this is from memory. I think the system was going to be dice and cards, with a hand that would literally modify dice rolls, with suits being the influencing factor (like Face of Angels by Clinton R. Nixon). I can't remember if I came up with this before or after reading his playtest rules, so I'm just going to give him credit (which he richly deserves anyway!)

Ghost Killers

2005-12-30T12:25:00.000-05:00

Check out Andy K.'s Ghost Killers before he starts publishing it. It's gonna rock!

I'll be posting more later as I give my thoughts. It reminds me of my group's Dark*Matter game, and has some interesting corollaries to my game in the works. More on that later, too.

Ghost Killers:

Characters are A-Team meets Ghostbusters meets Hellraiser. The first thing you define is a Trigger Event that is 1-3 sentence(s) long (pay attention, this rule comes up more than once). This event basically describes why you're involved with wicky supernatural shit instead of living in ignorant bliss (btw, the supernatural is all Conspiracy with a capital 'C', just the way I like it). Then you get three 'levels' of different 'roles'. This is like D&D levels, and they stack they way they do D&D does it now, but you're capped at three levels total. It'll certainly be interesting to see what happens when you're not continually wondering what level to take next to be more effective. Then comes Arenas, Items, and Karmic Ties (which all work pretty closely to way Aspects do in Fate 2.0). All of this is really cool shit, and stuff that I've wanted in a game like this for a long time. Finally, there's a section titled, get this!, What the Fuck Just Happened? which is kind of like the Trigger Event, but is a Kicker instead of a Character Descriptive.

So far, one of the best parts of this game is the flow in which it's written. Andy's vernacular matches my internal monologue and pacing, and it's like talking to one's self, if one was going to talk to one's self about being badass and kicking supernatural shit (which is what White Wolf should have been based off of how we played it, us .... LARPers >_<).

Hagure Tomato

2005-12-30T08:26:00.000-05:00

Nothing like a lost (stray?) tomato to spice up your FFXII experience. @_@

I don't play many video games. I usually get home at the end of the day, cook some and clean some, enjoy being with my wife and go to bed. On the weekends, I'm either working on the house, hanging out with my friends, or roleplaying. I might play more if I had a handheld or two. I used to play quite a bit, however, when I was single. The Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Playstation were my consoles of choice; computer games never appealed to me (other than King's Quest V and VI, for some reason). I pretty much came to a stop after the release of Metal Gear Solid, as the time and skill requirements to play games I'd enjoy rose to levels where I couldn't justify the time expenditure to myself. Much of my roleplaying design ideas usually center around my videogaming experiences. Most notably, Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver and Final Fantasy are the center of my creative thoughts, with a nod to Symphony of the Night every so often.

Well, back to work. Be on the lookout for tomatoes.

Mythic Heroes

2005-12-28T08:17:00.000-05:00

Mythic Heroes by BadAxe Games is a case of missing the forest for the trees. It takes an oustanding idea and instead of developing it on its own it squishes it into a framework for d20 D&D. Maybe it's more like missing the faerie grove for the profitable lumber resources. But anyway, let me give my spin on what I think would make it better.

Archetypes:

Hero
Shadow
Mentor
Oracle
Trickster
Maiden
Fated

Hmm, okay. Based on the text, each group will contain these elements and will push for a better, more mythical story. My idea is that recognizing these elements in each character, and when they express themselves, will push for better roleplaying and a better, more mythical story.

So, what I imagine is a character with attributes or connections tied to each of these elements, as chosen by the player, which should, when certain game definitions are applied. Let's start with those definitions.

Hero slotted attributes or connections (Hero traits) are such that they lead the character to do bold, heroic things without concern for well-being, or discourage the character from being less than heroic when dealing with them. These include such connections as family and friends, attributes like justice or defending the weak. Hero traits give extra dice in conflicts, or cost less to activate, or whatever based off the system. Maybe this could be listed as 'Sacrifice self'?

Shadow slotted attributes or connections (Shadow traits) are such that they lead the characters to do sneaky, less than heroic things with concern for well-being, or encourage the character to be less than heroic when dealing with them. These include such connections as enemies and competition, attributes like practicality or hatred. Shadow traits remove successful dice from others in conflicts, or whatever based off of the sytem. Maybe this could be listed as 'Sacrifice others'?

Hero traits vs. Shadow traits - A player can broadly gauge their character's morality by which category has more traits. I can imagine the two headings on the character sheet, with traits listed under each. Could a trait be listed under both, and could it have different values? Maybe a Hero trait would refill or replenish the character when an act of self-sacrifice is performed, and for Shadow traits, when an act of sacrificing others is performed.

I guess that's enough for now.