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.

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.

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.

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...

GM Notes: Dragons in the Dome

I was recently exposed to a review of the D&D 5th edition unboxing, and the biggest complaint the person had was in regards to the basic set not having enough monsters to last until the PHB or MM is released.  This triggered an inquiry, how many monsters do you really need?

So I started thinking about the games I usually run:

• Talislanta: tons of beasties, but I mostly use the races as the badguys
• D&D: lots of monsters, but I tend to only use a few
• SLA Industries: Carriens, Carnivorous Pigs, Manchines...the occasional weird thing I make up or convert from somewhere else (occasional meaning approx once in 10 missions)

Then I started looking at games I used to run:

• Vampire: Humans, Werewolves, Mages
• Werewolf: Humans, Vampires, Mages, Werewolves, Spirits
• Mage: Humans, Vampires, Werewolves, Robots, Demons
• Blue Planet: the occasional Aborigine
• Star Frontiers: Sathar, the occasional alien creature

Am I just slacking as a GM?

I remember running a game of D&D where the big bad was a werewolf, and there were a few zombies; in another campaign the baddies were all orcs, a couple of wolves and a bear.

Another campaign I ran took place almost exclusively, around 80% of the campaign, was inside the city walls of Greyhawk, and even outside the city walls I vaguely remember a goblin patrol; and another the only non-PC race badguys were some trolls and deep dwarves.

I guess what I am trying to say here is pretty simple, you do not need a ton of creatures to make a fun campaign.  Having 1000 different monsters available is not going to make a difference if you are only going to use 4 or 5 of them.

Also, it seems it would crowd the world.

Next time you create an adventure for your players, think about this: if the villain, or big bad, is not required to be a different monster, keep to something you already have.  If you really, really want to use a particular monster, think about the ecology of the creature and how it will fit into your world as a whole, if there is one, there are bound to be more.

Looking through various forums and adventure modules it seems to me that people will use what is available without thinking about using what they need.

Do you really need an Illithid at the head of a Saughin cult of the squid god?  Why not just use a regular Saughin, boost its power and give it some minor spell-casting ability?  Otherwise, you are having to not only fit the Saughin into your campaign world, but also the Illithid.

Just some thoughts and rambles, enjoy your game.

GM Notes: Multiple GMs, Same World

As an experiment for our Friday night SLA Industries game, we have decided to rotate out GMs.  Here are what I see as the Pros and Cons of this format.

The Pros:

• People who normally only GM get a chance to play
• Players who have mission ideas get a chance to run
• Nobody has to make new characters
• One rule set to rule them all

The Cons:

• Different strokes for different folks, world ideas
• The players that GM find out some of the secret stuff regarding characters
• Different "House Rules" per GM can cause confusion

The Pros are pretty self-explanatory, and obviously beneficial, so this post is going to focus on the Cons and ways to get around them, for us at least.

Different Strokes for Different Folks
Especially in a game like SLA Industries, this can cause some unintentional issues.  For example, a character that is approved under one GM may not be appropriate for another GMs game for one reason or another.

In the current game, a player has a PC that has a package (class) that another GM does not allow, therefore, when I am running the player is welcome to play that PC, but when the other GM is running he is not.

This can make for some very interesting events in the PCs lives.  For example, I run my SLA Industries game a little more low-tech than (at least) two of the other GMs.  PC cellphones are closer to the early to mid 1980s style of cellphone, while the other two GMs allow the PCs to have smartphones.

In the last session I ran, one of the PCs went to pull out his cellphone to take a picture.  The PC pulled out the cellphone...and then confusingly put it back, not knowing why he pulled it out in the first place.  This works perfectly with my campaign style.  Now, I will admit, when it was my turn to play I took pictures of just about everything with my cellphone, including sending in a picture of a fingerprint to have it run against a database.

The Players that GM has Secret Knowledge
This just has to boil down to a trust mechanism.  Yes, because I GM, I know your character is working undercover, but my character does not, and I hope I have your trust that I will not use that knowledge in-game.

Different "House Rules" per GM
This is something that the four of us acknowledge openly.  We have actually created a FB group specifically for discussions of this nature to attempt to solidify a standardized set of house rules when possible.

So far, so good.

The biggest Con I really see:  I have about 50 mission ideas, and I only run once every four weeks!

ENJOY YOUR GAME!