RPGaDay 20: RPG Will Still Play in 20 Years Time...

I started with Dungeons and Dragons back in the late 70s/early 80s, and I still play it after approximately 35 years.

SLA Industries I started playing in 1993/1994, and still regularly play after 20 years.

Those two games are obvious.

The only game I have actually stopped playing (as in, I turn down invitations to play) has been the World of Darkness setting from White Wolf.  After 3rd edition was released, I just did not want to play anymore, it bored me.

But I still play Star Frontiers, Talislanta and a host of other games when I get the chance.  Narrowing the selection to just one RPG is an impossibility, and the list of games I have no interest in playing is to long to list.

If you love a game, keep playing it!
If you like a game, play it sometimes.

That is what it boils down to for me, and I have no intention of ever stopping my RPG hobby.

Will have to take a look back on this in 20 years, and see what games I am still playing at that time.

RPGaDay 19: Favorite Published Adventure

Since I do not (normally) use published adventures, I cannot provide a favorite, but I will talk about some of the ones I have read through, or used for inspiration.

• Ilse of Dread - an oldie but goodie.  One of the first modules I owned.  A D&D "Jurrassic Park" style adventure.  If I remember correctly we were halfway across the island before we were killed by Rakshasa.
• Castle Greyhawk - interesting adventure, the party can easily become side-tracked.  There are some serious traps in this one from my recollection.
• Keep on the Borderlands - how can one not list this one?  Most of us older players have been through the goblin caves, maybe even died once or twice on this one.
• Desert of Desolation series - LOVE IT!  Especially the scorpion-man battle!

Most of my module inspiration comes from the news, or a song, something I want to introduce, or something going on that I am thinking of, sometimes it changes mid-story arc in order to fit in with what the PCs are doing.

For example, I started working on a BPN (adventure/mission) for SLA Industries that would have the PCs tracking down a civilian that was taking advantage of the welfare system, essentially tripling his benefits.

During this time there was something in the news regarding people having multiple lifeline cellphones, people taking advantage of disability claims and also people getting more food benefits than they should because they were not declaring their incomes properly.

When the Ravenloft boxed set was released and the Loupe Garou detailed, I took that opportunity to introduce my players to the setting.  It started off simply enough, find out what is killing the local cattle...with fire.

The bad guy was a Loupe Garou/Wizard that was trying to find a way into Ravenloft to become a lord of a domain.  He succeeded in opening the portal and the brave heroes charged in after him.  Was a great amount of fun, and introduced the players to Ravenloft in a "not go against Strahd" way.

Another SLA Industries campaign I based the BPNs and downtime stories on Duran Duran's Greatest Hits album.  That was a super fun campaign, one of the longest I have had the chance to run.

Basically, you can find inspiration for your games anywhere, as long as you keep an eye out.  We spend so much time driving from one place to another, or walking, or taking a bus, whatever, why not use that time to pick out interesting people or situations and turn them into stories for the games we play?

Have fun and game on!

RPGaDay 18: Favorite Game System

There are many answers to this question, depending on what type of game I am running.

Heroic action/adventure or Space Opera/Science Fantasy goes to WEGd6, now freely available online.

Perfect for that Star Wars game you are wanting to run, or that 1920s-1940s against the Nazi's game.  Also works extremely well with a lost world type of setting set in the jungle.

Sword and Sorcery definitely goes to the Talislanta system for its simplicity and magic system.

The ease of creating spells, the elegance of the system...absolutely adore it.  I have been using the Talislanta system for all of my fantasy games since the release of 3rd edition D&D.

SLA Industries has a system that I have always found worked perfectly for the game itself, and I have always felt the same in regards to D&D, AD&D and now D&D 5th edition.

I am of the persuasion that the system has to fit the setting.  SLA Industries and the 3 versions of D&D I like have systems that fit those settings, and no other system is going to work.

RPGaDay 17: Funniest Game You Have Ever Played

Tales from the Floating Vagabond.  Hands down.

From the character choices to the setting everything is a fun read, and a good time playing.

I was only able to play it one or two times, but I remember the crazy skill names, races and some of the things we were able to pull off.

Tales from the Floating Vagabond

Swinging into combat, middle of a desert (scrub plain?) from a rope, using my hair as a weapon, retrieving an important key from between the rhinoman's armored plates...wow...so much crazy goodness there.

I do not tend towards comedy games, but Tales from the Floating Vagabond is one that I would love to get my hands on, just for reading purposes.

Also, Toon would be a fun read.  Another game I only had a single chance to play in.  All I really remember is that I was playing a weasel that was obsessed with chickens.  I think it gave me brain damage...

Fairy Meat is another fun read, although I have never had the opportunity to play it.  If you can find it, read it.  It will change how you look at fairies forever...

RPGaDay 16: Game You Wish You Owned

Interesting question, with different answers depending on context.  Game I wish I owned the rights to, or game I do not have that I wish I did?

Definitely not sure about the first context.  While there are games I am completely inspired to write for, owning the games themselves would be problematic.  For one, I do not have the ability, or time, to devote to owning a games IP and keep it going.  On another note, my biggest gamer love is SLA Industries, and while I have a ton of ideas for it, the game has a particular story, and that story belongs to Dave Allsop, the originator of the setting.

For the second interpretation of the question, there are many games that I have sold or given away that I wish I still had.

7th Sea, Deadlands, Shadowrun, and many others.

At this moment in time, I want the D&D 5th edition books.  I absolutely love what they have done with the system.  The changes bring the game into the current age and at the same time take you back to the Basic through 2nd edition AD&D feel of the game.  Back to the heart of Role-Playing, classes, levels and dungeon delving.

To be completely honest, I am mostly unaware of games on the market outside of the few that I have, and those are mostly out of print.

For the games I am aware of, that I do not have, Iron Kingdoms, Victoriana and Rocket Age all look like something I could sink my teeth into.  Somewhere out there, is a game based off of old 70s movies that I want to get my hands on also.

Feel free to comment with a game I might want to check out.

RPGaDay 15: Favorite Convention Game

This is going to be super-biased, the reason being, I have only played 3 games at a conventions: Doomtown CCG, some LARP, and Blue Planet.

Since this is all about RPGs, that leaves the post to Blue Planet by default.

Up until that time I had been to Archon many times, and stayed out of the game room as a participant.  I had only been in there to browse, playing most of the games in the hospitality or open gaming areas with people I already knew.

I had always looked over the game sheets, due to arrival time at the convention everything that I wanted to play had already been filled.

At this particular con a few of us decided to get into a game together, and lo and behold, BLUE PLANET!  One of my friends had the book and we had played it once or twice, he wanted to see how other people ran it.

So we signed up.

And were greeted at the table by one of the writers.

A quick perusal of the rules and character sheets and we were ready to go.  Outlaws caught in media res stealing something from a transport.  Wild West style on a water planet.

More fun than a barrel of monkeys, and ending with two of us in a standoff against the GEO, the police.

Standing inside the door to our transport, light flooding the compartment from the spotlight focused on our door, all it took was a look, no words spoken.

I went for the spolight, he went for the ground troops, and both of us went out in a blaze of glory!

The GM, Jeffrey Barber, just looked at us.  "I have run this adventure many times, nobody, NOBODY stood up to the GEO!"

Good times had by all.  Yes, it was a TPK-1 day, but it was a lot of fun.

RPGaDay 14: Best Convention Purchase

I am going off-topic with this one, as I cannot remember my convention purchases, and will instead talk about my favorite convention.

I have only been to two gaming conventions: WindyCon in Chicago (once) and Archon in Collinsville IL (multiple times).

Obviously, Archon is going to be the focus.

Prior to the release of d20, Archon was a bastion of old and new RPGs, the dealer room was amazing.  All those games you wish you had purchased before they went out of print seemed to be there.  Along with costume additions, knick-knacks, miniatures and just fun stuff.

Played my first game of Blue Planet there, had a blast with the AEG staff, played in a DoomTown CCG tournament, and spent a great deal of time talking to other Role-Players and meeting new people.

One year we spent going from panel to panel, the most memorable one was with Ben Bova.  A delightful hour of listening to a scientist speak on such wonderful topics like the Star Wars Program, how lasers really work, Electromagnetic Pulses and their large scale effects, and some US history as it pertained to Los Alamos.

That was the same year that George Takei was visiting, made a great present for my Trek fan mother-in-law and wife.

Since 2004 I have missed every Archon.  A sad thing indeed.  Would love to go again, but family, work and lack of disposable income for that endeavor conspire against me.

Someday, Archon, I will return!

RPGaDay 13: Most Memorable Character Death

Over the years there have been untold amounts of character deaths, so many that focusing on a single event is hard to do.

There was the Thief in Ravenloft that sacrificed himself for his Paladin friend so the Paladin and his betrothed could escape.

There was the Paladin being killed by his betrothed shortly after because he went berserk when his friend died, killing off the foe in Ravenloft, and then, beset by grief attempted suicide, multiple times.  The Paladin thought he had lost his Paladinhood and was trying to commit suicide (he had not, his powers had faded a bit because he was in Ravenloft, unfortunately, with attempting suicide he did lose his Paladinhood).

There was the 12yr old boy in SLA Industries that sacrificed himself so his friends from the orphanage could live.  (There were other ways out.)

In a D&D game the PCs threw a lavish funeral for Timmy.  An NPC boy of 13 who wanted to be a fighter and protect his village, only to be killed when the village was set upon by a pack of werewolves, leading the party into a revenge-war vs the werewolf pack.

One time, in a Vampire LARP the following conversation took place:
     Me:  Hey man, I am sorry I diablerized your quadriplegic character
     Him:  My character wasn't a quadriplegic...
     Me: He was when I diablerized him.

Over the past 30 years, there have been so many, lol.  No, you do not hear about my characters dying, because I mostly GM.

The first character I ever played, he died, viciously choked to death, by the DM character that was traveling with us, because the DM did not want me playing (I was 9 or 10 IIRC).

There seems to be a point, where if I think hard enough, I can remember each and every death in the games I have run.  I try to make the characters significant enough that if they die, we can remember why they died.

Some were just bad decisions, like trying to cross the street during a firefight.  Some were bad luck, following a van full of terrorists on a hover board.

All were memorable in some way.

RPGaDay12: Old RPG Still Read/Play

Easy question.

Dungeons and Dragons, Talislanta, Star Frontiers, Star Wars (WEGd6), Torg, StarAce, Chill, Dark Conspiracy, Kult, Macho Women With Guns...

Okay, easy question, hard to answer.

I read all of the games I own, they are a constant source of inspiration for me.  Sometimes I will use them as source material for an adventure/session, or at least for the basic plot.

Some of my craziest ideas come from mixing games together.  For example, Keep on the Borderlands from D&D becomes a BPN in SLA Industries to remove gangers from an area of Downtown.  The Keep itself is the local SHIVER waystation.  The same module can be used in Talislanta.  The Keep is one of the outposts in the Wilderlands and you are removing a Raknid infestation.

For me, a RPG book has never been a game, it has been a supplement for whatever game I am running.

RPGaDay11: Weirdest RPG Owned

This is going to be a tie, multiple game tie.

• Talislanta - completely not in line with traditional fantasy
• Asylum - you play a 'patient' in a city of patients...
• Hunter Planet - PC's are aliens on the planet 'Dirt,' hunting 'hoomans' and looting Mars bars
• Puppetland - awesome game, btw, you play a puppet.  Hand puppet, finger puppet, shadow puppet, and marionette, and try to live in a world where Punch and Judy are real.  Judy leads the rebellion against the evil Punch, who has killed the Maker...

Talislanta I recommend highly.  Even if the setting is not to your liking, the system is elegant and quick.  As a bonus, the creator of the game has put up every published (and some unpublished) books* for free download on the Talislanta website, see the link above.

*There are a few books that were published and are non-canon, they are not on the website but can be easily found on ebay for a decent price.

Asylum is a fun read, and if you run any type of urban horror game is a great resource for ideas.  The use of colored marbles is a bit odd, but fun, easily modified to using dice.  Drugs and bullets are used as currency, and it quickly devolves into a psychotic craziness as everyone starts to have episodes of whatever psychosis they have.

Hunter Planet...it was okay.  I am not a big fan of comedy games, especially ones that seem to want people to go over the top with "the funny."  I will probably never run it again, but it was a fun one-shot.

Puppetland is just an awesome concept.  Never ran it, never played it, but the game is written very well, John Tynes did an excellent job, check out the link above for some Puppetland wholesomeness!

RPGaDay10: Favorite Tie-In Novel/Game Fiction

I love the fiction in most games, it seems to add a quick break while reading the rules and at the same time provides a look into the vision that the creators of the game have for it.

Vampire, SLA Industries, Star Wars (WEG) and Talislanta would not be the games they are without the fiction in the pages of the books.

As far as novels go, I did really enjoy the Dark Elf and Icewindale trilogies from RA Salvatore.  Those were, however, the only truly gaming related fiction I ever read.

I read the Xanth books, the Shannara series, the Complete Book of Swords and many other non-game related books that have a distinct effect on the games I run, but they do not qualify for the tie-in.

While I feel that the fiction is important, I do prefer either the flash fiction or the short stories in the gaming books over a full-blown novel.  My attention is on the game, my players and my NPCs and I try to stay focused on that.  Also, I would much rather produce ideas from the books themselves than novels related to the game.

RPGaDay9: Favorite Die/Dice Set

With multiple dice around, and various games requiring different types, I still find myself grabbing d10s and d6s for just about everything.

Goes to figure, my 3 favorite systems are WEGd6, SLA Industries (2d10) and Talislanta (d20).

Different Dice

I used to have a sizable collection of dice, and when Vampire was released I actually bought $10.00 worth of translucent orange d10s.

Over the years they have mostly disappeared, but I still have a few left.

My current favorites are my blue marblized d20, my black/silver marblized d10s and my white/black pip d6s (simple, easy to read, and cheap!).

My all time favorite dice: My Dice.

I cannot stand using other peoples dice.  It has nothing to do with any type of superstition, or germs, or anything like that.  I just like to bring my own dice.  I feel it is my responsibility as a player/GM to come prepared to the game.

This includes: pencil, paper, book (if possible) and, above all, dice.

I also expect the same from my players/GMs.  I hate having to loan out dice, that is why so many of my dice have gone missing over the years.

New players are an exception, I expect to provide them with anything they need to play.  If they decide to continue with RPGs, they can get their own dice at that time.

RPGaDay8: Favorite Character

I do not have one.

I suffer from two major drawbacks in this area: 1) all of my characters are my favorites, 2) I used to move around a lot, and due to the constant relocation I never really had time to develop a character.

When I finally did settle down in one place, I became an almost permanent GM.  There have been a few characters that I enjoyed playing, even just enjoying character creation, but when it comes to blows, my love for the character always stemmed from the quality of my GM.

Now, I have a favorite character for each player I have had.

Bob - Jimmy "The Squid": a grifter in a Noir LARP that I ran for a month or so.  He introduced so many plotlines just by trying to keep the other players from killing him that I made him carry around a piece of paper and a pen.  "What Jimmy the Squid don't know, he makes up!"

PeterAmthor - Hate: Squad leader for a SLA Industries group I ran. Good ideas, kept the group in line and focused at all times.  Great background, always working towards revenge on the Skin Trade for taking his little sister.  Had long term goals, got the job done, and would risk it all to make sure that the right thing was done.

SiokoTi - Don McGuiness: rough and tumble Frother KMS from Hate's squad.  Completely loony.  Never paid attention, like a meth addict with ADHD and a futuristic scythe.

Jason P - Roger "I'm a badass" Halton: throughout the entire time Jason played this character, the character only hit running speed twice.

Those are the big ones off the top of my head.  There are plenty more but I cannot remember the names of the characters.  A half-dragon (basically, he was a human raised by a dragon) who was not only willing to use a scroll that forced the Elven population of the planet to save vs death, including a party member, but he was also the type to cast directly from his spellbook if the situation even slightly warranted.  Blessed dice allowed him to create a similacrum of his father (a blue dragon), which he used as a mount.

I have been routinely blessed with great players, their characters are my real favorites.

RPGaDay7: Most "Intellectual" Game Owned

Okay, I have to admit, this one has me stumped.

Any game can be run as an "Intellectual" game.

"Intellectual" defined as: characters play investigative, brainy types, I would have to say Chill or Call of Cthulhu.

"Intellectual" defined as: psychological or cerebral...probably SLA Industries, because that is how I run it.  Skirting the gunbunny and going crazy with supernatural, psychological and just plain weird events.

Now, if you define "Intellectual" as: you are required to be a subgenius to play it, I would have to go with Space Opera.

Still, I prefer to run all of my games on a more intellectual/psychological level than just "kill things and take their loot."  That is fun, do not mistake my words, I love a good dungeon crawl, but for me there is a need for it to be just a little more than that.

Traps, puzzles, strange goings on, those are all more important to me than killing a big bad and looting a magic item, I can do that in video games.

In that light, every game I have is an "Intellectual" game.  Even when running the fast-paced action adventure games like Star Wars or d6 Adventure I like to have a modicum of challenges that require the players to use their heads to get out.

RPGaDay6: Favorite RPG I Never Get to Play

Talislanta. Hands down.

My fav Talislanta cover, 3rd edition

Matter of fact, one of my favorite settings, that I have only played one time, ever, since 1989.  With all the books being free online at www.talislanta.com, I would hope that somebody else would throw on the mantle and take us around the continent.

No clue what I would play, would be easier to list off the archetypes I would not want to play.  With over 100 different character archetypes in 4th edition, or the character generation system in 5th edition, I am absolutely sure that I would find something.

I love the system.  It is quick and simple, with plenty of room for gritty, horror, action/adventure or mystery play, but I am the only one to run it.

I have recently reached out to my gaming group to see if anyone else would like to run it, keeping my fingers crossed!

Talislanta, for those unfamiliar, is set in a world that has been ripped asunder (literally) by magical forces.  It has been 600 years since history was starting to be rewritten, and adventure abounds!

The game lends itself well to sword and sorcery, dungeon crawls, exploration, horror, mercantile and even comedy adventures without losing spirit of the game.

Talislanta ad, circa 1990

The tagline is "Still No Elves!"  A 20th anniversary shout out to the old ads in Shadis, White Wolf and Dragon magazines.

Talislanta was definitely a fore-runner in system elegance, with many of the systems mechanics showing directly in the d20 system from Wizards of the Coast.  No surprise when you look at the names that worked on 3rd and 4th edition and the names in Dungeons and Dragons 3.0 books.

System-wise, Talislanta easily ranks in the Top 5 of my Top 10 favorite games of all time.

If you have never checked it out, I highly recommend it.  Even if you decide that Talislanta is not your game, what you do find there is easily converted to other games.

I have used creatures from Talislanta in Star Frontiers, AD&D, Star Wars and SLA Industries, and each time, it was a wonderful experience.

If there is a drawback to the game, it is also its biggest feature: an alien setting without the normal fantasy races and structures that we are accustomed.  Highly detailed, the game itself is presented as both an authoritative work on an alien world, and a game system.

So much to do, it is easy to become lost.

RPGaDay5: Most Old-School RPG owned

That, is a tough question.

Considering the first purchase I have made in approximately a full decade was the D&D 5th edition Starter Set, you could almost consider my entire collection "Old School."

The Bookshelf of Doom

In order to actually answer the question, I took time to sort my bookshelf by game.  Some books are currently missing.  In my car I have the SLA Industries HC MRB, Karma, Mort, Contract Directory and Cannibal Sector 1 books; along with the 4th edition Talislanta MRB.  Also included in the books currently in my car is Asylum, from Clockwork games.

The shelf is also devoid of any World of Darkness books.  First edition Vampire is in a 3 ring binder, along with Werewolf; the Werewolf Players Guide is in a box of stuff to get rid of.

Also missing is my Tales of the Jedi Companion, it was downstairs when the pictures were taken, and my 2nd edition Revised and Expanded Star Wars MRB is missing, that actually worries me.

There is also a box of boxed sets in my closet that I did not take the time to remove, because they will not fit on the shelves.

The oldest bits of my collection include: Space Opera (vol I and II), D&D red boxed set and Star Frontiers; all dated 1980.

A conundrum has produced itself...did I purchase Star Frontiers before James Bond?

The world may never know...

RPGaDay4: Most Recent RPG Purchase

With the release of Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, I just could not resist picking up the starter box.  Not sure why, to be honest.

As well done as it is, there is not much in the box for me, except dice, I do like dice.

From the playtest I already have plenty of character sheets, and the basic rules are free for download at Wizards of the Coast.

With the purchase of the Starter Set you receive:

• A rulebook covering character levels 1 through 5
• 5 pregen characters with character sheets and background/role-playing information
• 6 dice - d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20

Fold out maps would have been nice, and it would have been a heck of a shoutout to ages past if the adventure module was done with the stiff cardstock cover, map on the inside.

Alas, that was not the case, but you can download map images here.

The set looks great to me, would have preferred a Greyhawk reboot, but Forgotten Realms is the popular one, and the company is there to make money, not to answer my every whim.

All-in-all, a good RPG purchase.

If you decide not to purchase the starter set, you can download it, minus adventure and dice, from Wizards of the Coast.

RPGaDay3 2014: First RPG Purchased

As stated in a previous post, Dungeons and Dragons was given to me, so does not count as first RPG purchased in my book.

That brings up the grand possibility that the first one actually purchased was, again, James Bond 007!

Yes, the first game I game mastered was the first game I actually purchased.  Up until that point, I was merely a player.

I must have enjoyed it immensely, as I seldom play, most of my RPG experience from the time this game was purchased has been 'behind the screen.'

It needs to be said, at this point in history, the early 1980's, the Cold War was very real.  With my father being in the military at the time, we were painfully aware that if missiles were launched, we were a target.

This may have something to do with all of the kids on the military bases being huge James Bond fans.  We watched the movies, he was a hero to us the same as John Wayne.

We understood the need for people like James Bond in our reality, they kept the bad guys at bay.  But it was not some kind of Rambo kill them all setup.  Spies were classy, and smart, not to mention they had toys that made even Batman jealous.

In my mind, there has probably never been a more real RPG than the Victory Games James Bond 007.

RPGaDay2 2014: First RPG GameMastered

I am not 100% sure about this, but the first game I actually remember GMing was James Bond 007.

Talk about a cool game!  Who does not want to be a secret agent with cool toys and a license to kill?

The introductory adventure is actually the Island of Dr No!  Rules for ranged combat, SCUBA diving, gambling and just all around being cool and sophisticated.

Looking back, there were definitely some strange things going on, system-wise, but the game really was fun.

Now, even though I still love the game, I cannot fathom running this for a group of people the way it sits.  As per the James Bond universe, there are only ever nine "00" agents.  These agents are usually solo, or working with SAS agents.  For a long time, there were only 2 or 3 of us playing at a time, so it was no big deal.  As I grew older, and found more gamers, running a game of JB007 became something of a problem.  Everyone wanted to be a "00" agent, but who can blame them?

I still have the same boxed set from way back when, and the Q Manual.  In the 90s I was able to pick up a copy of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Thrilling Locations and For Your Information.

I still absolutely love this game.

RPGaDay1 2014: The First RPG I Played

Like many people, the first RPG I played was Dungeons and Dragons.

My grandmother bought it and sent it to my sister and I as a Christmas present one year.  It was a pretty red box.

1980 Cover

We read it, I barely understood it, but I wanted to play it.  My sister, being five years older than me, was of course, not interested in playing the game with her little brother.

Not too long afterward, we were visiting some friends in Alabama while my dad was going through some training.  These friends had a son close to my sisters age.  I was able to get a chance to play.

I died, horribly, because the DM did not want me playing because of my age.  I was 9 or 10, the DM was 16 or 17 and my sister was 15 or so.

Dirk the Dimwit was no more.

No deterrent for me, I ended up continuing to play when we were stationed in Arizona.  Met a few people at school and I fell in love with the game.

From there, everything snowballed.

Dungeons and Dragons, Twilight 2000, James Bond 007, Star Frontiers, you name it, we played it.  We converted our favorite TV shows and movies to the different game systems we were playing.  We even converted them all over to Dungeons and Dragons.

Then the big "Satanic Panic" happened.

Dungeons and Dragons was satanic, the lead figures had demons in them, you could hear them scream if you melted them, and various other misconceptions were laid upon me.

But James Bond, Star Frontier and Star Ace were absolutely fine.

At one point, I was in a boys home.  Dungeons and Dragons was not allowed, so we made up our own using the rules that I could remember off the top of my head.  I was a full-blown gamer at this point.

From there, things just kept moving.  I traveled further and further down the gaming path.  I have never looked back.