I've picked up a little bit more knowledge in how Geasa works. Not enough to do something about it, that also requires some more energy, but it's still something that's worked itself out.
I think the ideal amount of people to play Geasa with is 4. I've noticed that most, or all of the games where I feel that the plot kept moving towards a central point. When you add more people it's still possible to do it, but you're probably adding on another hour or two to the game. If you're playing with 6 you should probably understand that you might need an extra session or two to complete your story. There's just so much that's going on that even if you want to get it towards any type of conclusion you're looking at probably 8 to 10 hours.
That leads me to the second point, which was kindly driven home by the people I played with at Dreamation. This game requires breaks. Frequent breaks. Being on all the time is kind of intense. Even in the most intense RPG there are moments when you don't need to give your full attention. Geasa doesn't allow that. I suggest that every two rounds you take a break, otherwise you'll start to run down quick. That's just a guideline. You might find that your group varies with their needs for breaks depending on the action and what's happening, but breaks are important.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Difference Between Criticism and Little Stars
I put out Geasa, and most of the people I know have really enjoyed it. That's not to say that my Aunt really likes my games, but that I really like my games and people that are strangers come up to me and say that they like it and people I know who won't bullshit me also say that they like it. I appreciate that kind of feedback.
That said, I show up on Drivethru RPG and I see that my "star rating" is 2 out of 5. In reality, I couldn't actually give a shit though my swearing my make people think that this isn't true. I'm mad, but not at the rating. I'm mad because it's the absolutely most useless thing I have ever seen in my life. It doesn't help anyone at all because it's just a freakin' arbitrary number. There's nothing critical about that at all, there's no way that anyone can make an informed opinion using that scale. There's no way that I can improve anything because there's no critical feedback what so ever.
I guess I'm just frustrated because I haven't heard anything back at all. There are 572 people who have picked up either the full version and/or the free version. Surely with all the people with lots of opinions everywhere someone has something to say about it at some point.
Until someone does, I ignore you. You pathetic number rating. You are no help at all.
That said, I show up on Drivethru RPG and I see that my "star rating" is 2 out of 5. In reality, I couldn't actually give a shit though my swearing my make people think that this isn't true. I'm mad, but not at the rating. I'm mad because it's the absolutely most useless thing I have ever seen in my life. It doesn't help anyone at all because it's just a freakin' arbitrary number. There's nothing critical about that at all, there's no way that anyone can make an informed opinion using that scale. There's no way that I can improve anything because there's no critical feedback what so ever.
I guess I'm just frustrated because I haven't heard anything back at all. There are 572 people who have picked up either the full version and/or the free version. Surely with all the people with lots of opinions everywhere someone has something to say about it at some point.
Until someone does, I ignore you. You pathetic number rating. You are no help at all.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Review - Kingdom of Nothing
I told you that I was gonna start just picking at random! Take that internet community!
At Dreamation I ended up picking up Kingdom of Nothing by Jeff Himmelman. Jeff does the writing as well as the illustrations for the book. It's the first book that Brennan over at Galileo Games published and it's the first one he didn't write. I've been meaning to pick it up ever since he started talking about it because I like pretty much everything Brennan has put out and it's in essence a horror game. These two things make it a quick sell for me.
However, when I picked it up I will admit that I had a reservation. You see, there's a comic artist in Toronto who decided that he was going to do a comic about the homeless people he saw around him in Toronto. If you've been downtown, there are a fair number of homeless people and they all have their own stories and are their own people and what the artist does is play on them and completely dehumanize them. The comic became about him rather than about the people he was supposedly writing about.
When I opened up the book, I was worried because even the best intentions can become problematic.
Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed.
Kingdom of Nothing is a game where you play people who find themselves as one of the Lost. Something large and traumatic happened to you and you find that people no longer pay attention to you. Even if you shake regular folk, you'll find that they forget you pretty quickly and you go back to being stuck in the Kingdom of Nothing. The goal of the game, is to get past the bad stuff that stands in your way and come out the other side.
The book itself is gorgeous, and the illustrations are breathtaking. Everything just seems to fit right. The hopefulness mixed with despair. The fact that you're dealing with your community of Lost and what goes on there is captured wonderfully in the illustrations.
Now, what makes this game great is the mechanic. I'm usually one for the story and screw the mechanic, but sometimes there comes something that is so perfect for how the game works that you can't really divorce the game from the mechanic. Don't Rest Your Head is like that, but Kingdom of Nothing has just completely blown DRYH out of the water for immersive mechanic. From the part in character creation where the book encourages the GM to be ruthless when it comes to taking away things that the characters might have had, to the idea that you use spare change as the way to see if you succeed sends chills down my spine as someone who creates games. I love the idea that the only way to get ahead is to be risky, or desperate. I just love the mechanic so much that I read it again, and I never do that unless I absolutely have to.
The other part of Character Creation that I really love is the fact that everyone writes up your secrets and it's up to the GM to try to weave them together. Usually it's not that hard, because you have to leave the trauma up there as something you forget. It's rife for props to come into play, if you like to make props, or other elements. I might even consider trying to use music if I could find a way to do it right.
The setting also makes you more aware of what's going on around you, or at least it did for me. When I was driving my autoshare car around doing errands I ended up looking at buildings that might be Lost places and what I might be able to do with them. How I could run a game and use a map of Toronto and mark these places down and how they might impact people.
If I do have a complaint about the game, it would be the couple of editing mistakes that appear here or there. There are a couple things that are duplicated in a bunch of lists. Also, there's a moment where it says that a dime is worth three successes and later on it says that it's worth only one. I'm going to stick with the dime as three because it fits with the theme and the progression.
For fifteen bucks I would highly recommend this game to anyone. If you're making a big purchase at IPR or if you see it at a con, it is totally worth the pick up cost.
TL;DR Version
Setting is chilling and appropriate. Book is beautiful to look at. Mechanic is perhaps the best woven in I've seen, even better than Don't Rest Your Head. At 15$ you should buy it now.
At Dreamation I ended up picking up Kingdom of Nothing by Jeff Himmelman. Jeff does the writing as well as the illustrations for the book. It's the first book that Brennan over at Galileo Games published and it's the first one he didn't write. I've been meaning to pick it up ever since he started talking about it because I like pretty much everything Brennan has put out and it's in essence a horror game. These two things make it a quick sell for me.
However, when I picked it up I will admit that I had a reservation. You see, there's a comic artist in Toronto who decided that he was going to do a comic about the homeless people he saw around him in Toronto. If you've been downtown, there are a fair number of homeless people and they all have their own stories and are their own people and what the artist does is play on them and completely dehumanize them. The comic became about him rather than about the people he was supposedly writing about.
When I opened up the book, I was worried because even the best intentions can become problematic.
Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed.
Kingdom of Nothing is a game where you play people who find themselves as one of the Lost. Something large and traumatic happened to you and you find that people no longer pay attention to you. Even if you shake regular folk, you'll find that they forget you pretty quickly and you go back to being stuck in the Kingdom of Nothing. The goal of the game, is to get past the bad stuff that stands in your way and come out the other side.
The book itself is gorgeous, and the illustrations are breathtaking. Everything just seems to fit right. The hopefulness mixed with despair. The fact that you're dealing with your community of Lost and what goes on there is captured wonderfully in the illustrations.
Now, what makes this game great is the mechanic. I'm usually one for the story and screw the mechanic, but sometimes there comes something that is so perfect for how the game works that you can't really divorce the game from the mechanic. Don't Rest Your Head is like that, but Kingdom of Nothing has just completely blown DRYH out of the water for immersive mechanic. From the part in character creation where the book encourages the GM to be ruthless when it comes to taking away things that the characters might have had, to the idea that you use spare change as the way to see if you succeed sends chills down my spine as someone who creates games. I love the idea that the only way to get ahead is to be risky, or desperate. I just love the mechanic so much that I read it again, and I never do that unless I absolutely have to.
The other part of Character Creation that I really love is the fact that everyone writes up your secrets and it's up to the GM to try to weave them together. Usually it's not that hard, because you have to leave the trauma up there as something you forget. It's rife for props to come into play, if you like to make props, or other elements. I might even consider trying to use music if I could find a way to do it right.
The setting also makes you more aware of what's going on around you, or at least it did for me. When I was driving my autoshare car around doing errands I ended up looking at buildings that might be Lost places and what I might be able to do with them. How I could run a game and use a map of Toronto and mark these places down and how they might impact people.
If I do have a complaint about the game, it would be the couple of editing mistakes that appear here or there. There are a couple things that are duplicated in a bunch of lists. Also, there's a moment where it says that a dime is worth three successes and later on it says that it's worth only one. I'm going to stick with the dime as three because it fits with the theme and the progression.
For fifteen bucks I would highly recommend this game to anyone. If you're making a big purchase at IPR or if you see it at a con, it is totally worth the pick up cost.
TL;DR Version
Setting is chilling and appropriate. Book is beautiful to look at. Mechanic is perhaps the best woven in I've seen, even better than Don't Rest Your Head. At 15$ you should buy it now.
Movie Mashup 2011 - Spade vs. Indy
Since I'm involved in a contest that doesn't end until June 1st, 2011, I figured that I would do what I did with Game Chef and do reviews for people who have put forth entries into the 1km1kt.net Movie Mashup 24 hour RPG competition. I put my game up already, but since I'm not really going to review my own stuff, I'd rather get feedback from other people, I turn my attention to those the other contestants.
I'm doing this because I know that feedback is important, and that it is rather notoriously hard to get. I offer free copies of a book to people who will do a review of the PDF and I still haven't gotten any reviews that fit the contest (though Ed at Robot Viking did one, which is always appreciated).
Anyway, I'll be doing this review using most of the criteria put out by the contest. Copying from the 1km1kt.net thread here are the criteria for judgement.
Don't worry too much about the Keeton part. That's a running joke on the site.
Today's game is Spade vs Indy by Tamás Kisbali aka Evil Scientist
Spade vs. Indy tells your right away what kind of game this is, and what movies were used to mash things up. This one uses the Maltese Falcon and the Indiana Jones movies to create a wonderfully film noir, pulp adventure experience. This one just kind of popped up for me, I hadn't been to 1km1kt.net in a while, so I didn't have the same sense of anticipation when I read the game but it's still a pretty damned good idea.
Proximity
Yes. This is what I see as a mashup. It's not one, or the other, but it takes elements from both movies and turns it into an original game. It's pulpy, and campy, and full of the potential for backstabbing, doomed romance, and mustached twirling villains. You always feel like you're in both movies, without feeling too much like you're in one or the other. Perfect.
Complete
100% complete. It would have been nicer to have a few more examples, just to make sure that some of the rules are clear. The game uses a card system to determine everything from stats to success. Not only do you have a set of cards for character creation and tricks, but you'll need a second one to be the random challenge difficulty.
Where the game shines in a place where it might fail is the role of the secondary characters. There are two main characters, your spade and your indy but if you've got more than three players then normally what you're left with is a bunch of unhappy players. However, here the associates get the fun job of trying to screw up the two 'main' characters to get what their characters want. It's a really elegant way to solve the problem of not being in the spotlight since it's not "your story."
Attractive and Professional
The few graphic elements in the pdf are nicely placed and are perfect for the setting. Same thing with the header fonts. The separate colours really make them pop well.
The standard body font is serviceable, unless we're dealing with quotes. That's when I want to take what's been done with the book and throw it out. Seriously jarring to have to deal with one of the quote marks on the bottom and the other on the top. It's the only thing I would change in the whole document, but it's a big one especially in the opening story text section where you're going to either capture your audience or lose them.
Extras
It's got the character sheet at the bottom, with a little nifty crest watermarked in it. The slots are big enough to place the cards in, but in reality I'd rather just write the number and suit down rather than have to worry about fixing the cards to the paper somehow.
Also, a little personal quip of mine. I'm kind of sad that it's got a No Derivative Clause in the Creative Commons License. I think this is a wonderful mechanic, to the point where I start to wonder how I can hack it. Just a personal qualm, nothing actually bad about the game itself.
Would I play it?
Hell yes. It's in the current, games I think that should win this contest.
I'm doing this because I know that feedback is important, and that it is rather notoriously hard to get. I offer free copies of a book to people who will do a review of the PDF and I still haven't gotten any reviews that fit the contest (though Ed at Robot Viking did one, which is always appreciated).
Anyway, I'll be doing this review using most of the criteria put out by the contest. Copying from the 1km1kt.net thread here are the criteria for judgement.
Poor you! Our panel of monkeys will be judging you on:
Must include an NPC called Keeton
Proximity: How close to the two films is it?
Complete: Is it complete? Could you run it?
Attractive: Is it attractive to look at?
Professional: How much effort went into layout and style?
Extras: Did they include actual cover, index, character sheet or any other cool things you get in a proper RPG?
Don't worry too much about the Keeton part. That's a running joke on the site.
Today's game is Spade vs Indy by Tamás Kisbali aka Evil Scientist
Spade vs. Indy tells your right away what kind of game this is, and what movies were used to mash things up. This one uses the Maltese Falcon and the Indiana Jones movies to create a wonderfully film noir, pulp adventure experience. This one just kind of popped up for me, I hadn't been to 1km1kt.net in a while, so I didn't have the same sense of anticipation when I read the game but it's still a pretty damned good idea.
Proximity
Yes. This is what I see as a mashup. It's not one, or the other, but it takes elements from both movies and turns it into an original game. It's pulpy, and campy, and full of the potential for backstabbing, doomed romance, and mustached twirling villains. You always feel like you're in both movies, without feeling too much like you're in one or the other. Perfect.
Complete
100% complete. It would have been nicer to have a few more examples, just to make sure that some of the rules are clear. The game uses a card system to determine everything from stats to success. Not only do you have a set of cards for character creation and tricks, but you'll need a second one to be the random challenge difficulty.
Where the game shines in a place where it might fail is the role of the secondary characters. There are two main characters, your spade and your indy but if you've got more than three players then normally what you're left with is a bunch of unhappy players. However, here the associates get the fun job of trying to screw up the two 'main' characters to get what their characters want. It's a really elegant way to solve the problem of not being in the spotlight since it's not "your story."
Attractive and Professional
The few graphic elements in the pdf are nicely placed and are perfect for the setting. Same thing with the header fonts. The separate colours really make them pop well.
The standard body font is serviceable, unless we're dealing with quotes. That's when I want to take what's been done with the book and throw it out. Seriously jarring to have to deal with one of the quote marks on the bottom and the other on the top. It's the only thing I would change in the whole document, but it's a big one especially in the opening story text section where you're going to either capture your audience or lose them.
Extras
It's got the character sheet at the bottom, with a little nifty crest watermarked in it. The slots are big enough to place the cards in, but in reality I'd rather just write the number and suit down rather than have to worry about fixing the cards to the paper somehow.
Also, a little personal quip of mine. I'm kind of sad that it's got a No Derivative Clause in the Creative Commons License. I think this is a wonderful mechanic, to the point where I start to wonder how I can hack it. Just a personal qualm, nothing actually bad about the game itself.
Would I play it?
Hell yes. It's in the current, games I think that should win this contest.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Casual Fridays - Another one
I'll stop posting here about it, but my late Casual Friday post (because of PAX east and Camping) is up. I would suggest checking it out!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Twitterverse - Let's LOLsob at this.
There were a series of tweets that I came about 1/4 of the way into that turned into something that was full of head-desking fun-ness. I'm copying the tweets over so you can see the timeline. This would be ridiculous if it wasn't SO FREAKING TRUE!
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends gaming cannot be apolitical if you consider that the personal is political and you are donning the mantle of another person
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends feminism: it's at your d&d table
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Yep, that's pretty much it exactly.
GeekyLyndsay
Chompy and I are on the way to dnd! Oh also my husband.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Have fun, Lyndsay and Chompy!
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends the husband got us into a big combat, we may all die
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay YAY party wipe in big combat! That'll teach you to let your husband do anything in the game.
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends I know right
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay this is why you have to think carefully before allowing men at the gaming table, they're very disruptive to the game
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends they make bad decisions based on emotion, rather than logic. Tsk
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Exactly! Plus they are distracting at the game table and try to ply their masculine wiles against other gamers.
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends they're only at the table because they want attention, they aren't serious about the hobby like us women.
firestormink
@GeekyLyndsay @dazedsaveends Hey, I'm not like that! I mean, I'm just one of the gals, right?
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Yeah, really. And they're all "so and so's husband" or "so and so's boyfriend" -- WORST when they're the DM's boyfriend!
GeekyLyndsay
@firestormink @dazedsaveends you're a special credit to your gender but you will never truly be one of us. Keep trying though.
dazedsaveends
#dnd tip: Ladies, having a hard time getting your boy to play a girly game like D&D? Get him a manly @dragonchow dice bag - boys like gifts
dazedsaveends
Women, check out http://bit.ly/fR1LGl - a great "gateway" gift for your non-gaming boyfriend! Boys are attracted by bright colors & letters.
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends and then they play a crappy fighter because it's easy and they don't have to care about it. men bring down the game.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay I'm not saying all boys are bad gamers; I knew a few who could keep up with the women, but it just isn't natural for them.
firestormink
@GeekyLyndsay @dazedsaveends I usually get asked to play Healers. When I ask why I get told it's because my gender is nurturing and stuff.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Oh dear, is your tag-along husband playing a fighter? I give the boys a simple class like that so they don't get confused.
dazedsaveends
@firestormink @GeekyLyndsay Someone has to play the Healer, & you can use your fatherly instincts. Just don't bring your kid to the table!
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends and I mean, if men want to get into a hobby like this don't get all insulted by my sexual comments and advances
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends it's a compliment. Men need to get used to it, it's part of the hobby.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Yeah, it's not fair for the women to have to change the way we play just because some boys want to join in too.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay There's a certain culture to gaming, and it's decidedly feminine. Boys are welcome as long as they don't upset things.
GeekyLyndsay
@firestormink @dazedsaveends look play a healer but don't get all fatherly on my tough fighter. She's not emotional like that.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay One boy I played with got upset at all the chainmail codpiece jokes, but it's just gaming culture. We like guys! They're hot!!
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Mmm, chainmail codpieces. That reminds me, know any artwork of sexy but still powerful male characters? So hard to find :(
firestormink
@GeekyLyndsay @dazedsaveends Totally. What's wrong with those dicks? I can take a joke. What me show off my approval of your actions!
dazedsaveends
There's nothing misandrist about liking chainmail codpieces. Male bodies are meant to be sexy! We can't help what we like, we're women.
dazedsaveends
I only like the tastefully done chainmail codpiece artwork, of course, not huge bulges. more than a handful/mouthful is a waste!!
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends I know, I love seeing sexy make characters but they cover up so much. Don't be a prude!
dazedsaveends
@firestormink @GeekyLyndsay I'm glad we have boys like you into gaming who can take a joke! also I bet you have a pretty penis.
dazedsaveends
There's nothing wrong with sexy chainmail codpieces. sure they're not realistic, but this is FANTASY gaming, right?
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay I'm going to write a book mocking all the sexist women gamers who ostricize boys. It'll be called "The Quintessential Boytoy."
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay My clever plan to mock misandric women will be to repeat sexist stereotypes about boy gamers & characters. WHAT A RIOT
GeekyLyndsay
@firestormink dick pics or get out, I know @dazedsaveends will back me on this LOL!!
dazedsaveends
@therobotviking It started when @GeekyLyndsay insisted on bringing her husband along to gaming. boys just usually don't fit in at RPG tables
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay @firestormink Let's think about this productively... how can we get more boys into gaming? without changing gaming of course.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay The hard part of course is that gaming just doesn't appeal to boys. we can try anyway--maybe give them chocolate on crithits?
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends men change the dynamic of the table and don't get my sense of humor. It's just not how I game. This can't be my fault at all.
dazedsaveends
#dnd tip: Try to think about how to make your campaign appeal to boys too, not just women gamers. Maybe add more horses?
dazedsaveends
I guess when it comes down to it, gaming just doesn't offer anything for boys, being so women-centric. So why bother trying?
firestormink
@dazedsaveends @GeekyLyndsay Maybe we could, I don't know, maybe let me have a say in what's going on? Maybe offer an opinion? Ideas?
dazedsaveends
#dnd tip: Don't make all your male NPCs into shallow caricatures defined primarily by gender; they can be as interesting as the women NPCs!
dazedsaveends
@firestormink ... haha that's cute, but @GeekyLyndsay and I are trying to work this out. Don't you have to make me a sandwich or something?
dazedsaveends
Maybe we need more examples of strong male characters in chainmail codpieces. With long, broad swords. Mmmm. That'll get boys into gaming.
dazedsaveends
#dnd tip: Throw in roleplaying opportunities for male players, who usually aren't into the tactical combat as much as women gamers are.
firestormink
@dazedsaveends @GeekyLyndsay OT can I copy this down and post it on that blog thing I does?
dazedsaveends
@firestormink How cute, you have a little blog? Is it about boys in gaming?
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay I usually don't allow more than one boy at the table, because whenever you have two, they start catfighting for attention.
dazedsaveends
I do like that they hired @mikemearls to write his "Confessions of a Boy Gamer" column so that Dragon magazine isn't just a big beaver-fest.
firestormink
@dazedsaveends @GeekyLyndsay I do have a blog. I write about games and designing and writing. I talk about men and games all the time!
dazedsaveends
@firestormink It's such a good thing you're doing by being a boy gamer. Haha I keep getting you confused with the other boy gamer who blogs!
dazedsaveends
@firestormink I bet you get hit on all the time by the women you play with, haha
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends gaming cannot be apolitical if you consider that the personal is political and you are donning the mantle of another person
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends feminism: it's at your d&d table
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Yep, that's pretty much it exactly.
GeekyLyndsay
Chompy and I are on the way to dnd! Oh also my husband.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Have fun, Lyndsay and Chompy!
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends the husband got us into a big combat, we may all die
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay YAY party wipe in big combat! That'll teach you to let your husband do anything in the game.
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends I know right
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay this is why you have to think carefully before allowing men at the gaming table, they're very disruptive to the game
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends they make bad decisions based on emotion, rather than logic. Tsk
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Exactly! Plus they are distracting at the game table and try to ply their masculine wiles against other gamers.
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends they're only at the table because they want attention, they aren't serious about the hobby like us women.
firestormink
@GeekyLyndsay @dazedsaveends Hey, I'm not like that! I mean, I'm just one of the gals, right?
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Yeah, really. And they're all "so and so's husband" or "so and so's boyfriend" -- WORST when they're the DM's boyfriend!
GeekyLyndsay
@firestormink @dazedsaveends you're a special credit to your gender but you will never truly be one of us. Keep trying though.
dazedsaveends
#dnd tip: Ladies, having a hard time getting your boy to play a girly game like D&D? Get him a manly @dragonchow dice bag - boys like gifts
dazedsaveends
Women, check out http://bit.ly/fR1LGl - a great "gateway" gift for your non-gaming boyfriend! Boys are attracted by bright colors & letters.
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends and then they play a crappy fighter because it's easy and they don't have to care about it. men bring down the game.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay I'm not saying all boys are bad gamers; I knew a few who could keep up with the women, but it just isn't natural for them.
firestormink
@GeekyLyndsay @dazedsaveends I usually get asked to play Healers. When I ask why I get told it's because my gender is nurturing and stuff.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Oh dear, is your tag-along husband playing a fighter? I give the boys a simple class like that so they don't get confused.
dazedsaveends
@firestormink @GeekyLyndsay Someone has to play the Healer, & you can use your fatherly instincts. Just don't bring your kid to the table!
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends and I mean, if men want to get into a hobby like this don't get all insulted by my sexual comments and advances
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends it's a compliment. Men need to get used to it, it's part of the hobby.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Yeah, it's not fair for the women to have to change the way we play just because some boys want to join in too.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay There's a certain culture to gaming, and it's decidedly feminine. Boys are welcome as long as they don't upset things.
GeekyLyndsay
@firestormink @dazedsaveends look play a healer but don't get all fatherly on my tough fighter. She's not emotional like that.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay One boy I played with got upset at all the chainmail codpiece jokes, but it's just gaming culture. We like guys! They're hot!!
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay Mmm, chainmail codpieces. That reminds me, know any artwork of sexy but still powerful male characters? So hard to find :(
firestormink
@GeekyLyndsay @dazedsaveends Totally. What's wrong with those dicks? I can take a joke. What me show off my approval of your actions!
dazedsaveends
There's nothing misandrist about liking chainmail codpieces. Male bodies are meant to be sexy! We can't help what we like, we're women.
dazedsaveends
I only like the tastefully done chainmail codpiece artwork, of course, not huge bulges. more than a handful/mouthful is a waste!!
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends I know, I love seeing sexy make characters but they cover up so much. Don't be a prude!
dazedsaveends
@firestormink @GeekyLyndsay I'm glad we have boys like you into gaming who can take a joke! also I bet you have a pretty penis.
dazedsaveends
There's nothing wrong with sexy chainmail codpieces. sure they're not realistic, but this is FANTASY gaming, right?
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay I'm going to write a book mocking all the sexist women gamers who ostricize boys. It'll be called "The Quintessential Boytoy."
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay My clever plan to mock misandric women will be to repeat sexist stereotypes about boy gamers & characters. WHAT A RIOT
GeekyLyndsay
@firestormink dick pics or get out, I know @dazedsaveends will back me on this LOL!!
dazedsaveends
@therobotviking It started when @GeekyLyndsay insisted on bringing her husband along to gaming. boys just usually don't fit in at RPG tables
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay @firestormink Let's think about this productively... how can we get more boys into gaming? without changing gaming of course.
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay The hard part of course is that gaming just doesn't appeal to boys. we can try anyway--maybe give them chocolate on crithits?
GeekyLyndsay
@dazedsaveends men change the dynamic of the table and don't get my sense of humor. It's just not how I game. This can't be my fault at all.
dazedsaveends
#dnd tip: Try to think about how to make your campaign appeal to boys too, not just women gamers. Maybe add more horses?
dazedsaveends
I guess when it comes down to it, gaming just doesn't offer anything for boys, being so women-centric. So why bother trying?
firestormink
@dazedsaveends @GeekyLyndsay Maybe we could, I don't know, maybe let me have a say in what's going on? Maybe offer an opinion? Ideas?
dazedsaveends
#dnd tip: Don't make all your male NPCs into shallow caricatures defined primarily by gender; they can be as interesting as the women NPCs!
dazedsaveends
@firestormink ... haha that's cute, but @GeekyLyndsay and I are trying to work this out. Don't you have to make me a sandwich or something?
dazedsaveends
Maybe we need more examples of strong male characters in chainmail codpieces. With long, broad swords. Mmmm. That'll get boys into gaming.
dazedsaveends
#dnd tip: Throw in roleplaying opportunities for male players, who usually aren't into the tactical combat as much as women gamers are.
firestormink
@dazedsaveends @GeekyLyndsay OT can I copy this down and post it on that blog thing I does?
dazedsaveends
@firestormink How cute, you have a little blog? Is it about boys in gaming?
dazedsaveends
@GeekyLyndsay I usually don't allow more than one boy at the table, because whenever you have two, they start catfighting for attention.
dazedsaveends
I do like that they hired @mikemearls to write his "Confessions of a Boy Gamer" column so that Dragon magazine isn't just a big beaver-fest.
firestormink
@dazedsaveends @GeekyLyndsay I do have a blog. I write about games and designing and writing. I talk about men and games all the time!
dazedsaveends
@firestormink It's such a good thing you're doing by being a boy gamer. Haha I keep getting you confused with the other boy gamer who blogs!
dazedsaveends
@firestormink I bet you get hit on all the time by the women you play with, haha
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Movie Mashup 2011 - The Great Garbage War
Since I'm involved in a contest that doesn't end until June 1st, 2011, I figured that I would do what I did with Game Chef and do reviews for people who have put forth entries into the 1km1kt.net Movie Mashup 24 hour RPG competition. I put my game up already, but since I'm not really going to review my own stuff, I'd rather get feedback from other people, I turn my attention to those the other contestants.
I'm doing this because I know that feedback is important, and that it is rather notoriously hard to get. I offer free copies of a book to people who will do a review of the PDF and I still haven't gotten any reviews that fit the contest (though Ed at Robot Viking did one, which is always appreciated).
Anyway, I'll be doing this review using most of the criteria put out by the contest. Copying from the 1km1kt.net thread here are the criteria for judgement.
Don't worry too much about the Keeton part. That's a running joke on the site.
Today's game is The Great Garbage War by Alistair Morrison
The idea behind this was to take Wall-E and Mars Attack. What I love about this challenge is that these are two very different movies and bringing them together isn't something that comes easily in my head. This means that there's a good chance for a rather pleasant surprise when it comes times to reading the game, that or it could go horribly wrong. Either way, I think a kudos is needed whenever someone goes out on a limb and this game is by far the most going out on the limb game I've seen.
Proximity
The game is less of a mash-up of two movies to create a new game, but taking Wall-E extending it and putting Mars Attack in. It feels like a bit of fan fiction in that regard, ridiculous silly fan fiction, and this isn't a knock on the idea or the game. Fan Fiction is a type of mash-up, especially if you add outside elements of other fannish things (movies, books, etc.). However, much like my complaint about A Fistfull of Darkness it feels more like Mars Attacks slapped at the end of Wall-E rather than a combination of the two movies. I think if you take Mars Attack as one of the movies, that's going to be the nature of the beast. It's hard to take "Martians invading the planet" and not have it feel like you've just thrown it in the middle, or the end, of the other movie.
Complete
This is a lovely complete game. The mechanics are pretty simple roll a bunch of d6 depending on your stats and 5s and 6s count as successes. The system is pretty lethal, which makes sense because Mars Attacks is all about the death and destruction part, and quick. The biggest and brightest part is the probability table, which I think makes picking a difficulty number easier for anyone wanting to run this.
Attractive and Professional
The book is layed out well, and rather well written. There are definitely a couple of chuckle worthy moments. I'm going to give the book a fail on two points, and they might seem minor but they're important even if you're going to do free work. There are two movie stills in the book, and that's a big no-no. They aren't copyright free, or even under a creative commons license. If you want to be professional about stuff, taking something that you don't have the rights to is a very large mistake and I'm going to have to point it out here. Yes, it is only 2 stills but that's two stills too many.
Extras
There are lots of lovely charts and appendices at the end to help you reference things quickly if needed. The character sheet has all the details and everything you need to play which is in keeping with how well the book is layed out and how clean it looks.
Would I play it?
I'm still undecided. I'm leaning more towards the not, because there are a lot of other games so far I'd like to play in the contest and I have a limited time. Yeah, very undecided. The mechanics are easy to pick up, but I'm not sure if I'm convinced that thematically this is something I'd want to play. I'll probably be mulling this for a while.
However, again, Kudos needs to be given for trying to mash these two films up.
I'm doing this because I know that feedback is important, and that it is rather notoriously hard to get. I offer free copies of a book to people who will do a review of the PDF and I still haven't gotten any reviews that fit the contest (though Ed at Robot Viking did one, which is always appreciated).
Anyway, I'll be doing this review using most of the criteria put out by the contest. Copying from the 1km1kt.net thread here are the criteria for judgement.
Poor you! Our panel of monkeys will be judging you on:
Must include an NPC called Keeton
Proximity: How close to the two films is it?
Complete: Is it complete? Could you run it?
Attractive: Is it attractive to look at?
Professional: How much effort went into layout and style?
Extras: Did they include actual cover, index, character sheet or any other cool things you get in a proper RPG?
Don't worry too much about the Keeton part. That's a running joke on the site.
Today's game is The Great Garbage War by Alistair Morrison
The idea behind this was to take Wall-E and Mars Attack. What I love about this challenge is that these are two very different movies and bringing them together isn't something that comes easily in my head. This means that there's a good chance for a rather pleasant surprise when it comes times to reading the game, that or it could go horribly wrong. Either way, I think a kudos is needed whenever someone goes out on a limb and this game is by far the most going out on the limb game I've seen.
Proximity
The game is less of a mash-up of two movies to create a new game, but taking Wall-E extending it and putting Mars Attack in. It feels like a bit of fan fiction in that regard, ridiculous silly fan fiction, and this isn't a knock on the idea or the game. Fan Fiction is a type of mash-up, especially if you add outside elements of other fannish things (movies, books, etc.). However, much like my complaint about A Fistfull of Darkness it feels more like Mars Attacks slapped at the end of Wall-E rather than a combination of the two movies. I think if you take Mars Attack as one of the movies, that's going to be the nature of the beast. It's hard to take "Martians invading the planet" and not have it feel like you've just thrown it in the middle, or the end, of the other movie.
Complete
This is a lovely complete game. The mechanics are pretty simple roll a bunch of d6 depending on your stats and 5s and 6s count as successes. The system is pretty lethal, which makes sense because Mars Attacks is all about the death and destruction part, and quick. The biggest and brightest part is the probability table, which I think makes picking a difficulty number easier for anyone wanting to run this.
Attractive and Professional
The book is layed out well, and rather well written. There are definitely a couple of chuckle worthy moments. I'm going to give the book a fail on two points, and they might seem minor but they're important even if you're going to do free work. There are two movie stills in the book, and that's a big no-no. They aren't copyright free, or even under a creative commons license. If you want to be professional about stuff, taking something that you don't have the rights to is a very large mistake and I'm going to have to point it out here. Yes, it is only 2 stills but that's two stills too many.
Extras
There are lots of lovely charts and appendices at the end to help you reference things quickly if needed. The character sheet has all the details and everything you need to play which is in keeping with how well the book is layed out and how clean it looks.
Would I play it?
I'm still undecided. I'm leaning more towards the not, because there are a lot of other games so far I'd like to play in the contest and I have a limited time. Yeah, very undecided. The mechanics are easy to pick up, but I'm not sure if I'm convinced that thematically this is something I'd want to play. I'll probably be mulling this for a while.
However, again, Kudos needs to be given for trying to mash these two films up.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Review - @dragonchow dice bags are awesome
Adam Jury was nice enough to introduce me to Lyndsay over at Dragonchow dice bags. I had a good time talking with someone who was cool, fun, interesting over twitter. Since she did the dice bag thing I decided that I would get a couple of his/hers dice bags (yes, I will occasionally be that geeky) for Amber and I.
I recommend that if you are in the market for a dice bag that you get one.
First of all, she's incredibly easy to talk to when it comes to getting what you want. If you have a particular fabric in mind and an idea of what you want, she's right there with you helping with what might be a good idea or a bad idea. Super communication, which makes any online purchase a breeze.
I will admit, when I first saw it I was like, "It's only this big?" because I'm used to dice bags needing to be enormous to hold any amount of dice. Then I put all my dice in there and went, "Oh, I've still got lots of room!" The flat bottom design means that you get a lot of space in a compact package. I love it!
The whole experience with the bags has been nothing but positive. It was so great that if you know if you have someone who wants a dice bag, send them to see Dragon Chow. If you want to get more information here are the places you can go.
Twitter - @dragonchow
URL - dragonchow.com
Also, I'll see if I can get Amber to model hers.^_^
You can see the his/hers bit. We both picked a colour and then just switched which one was on the inside and which one was on the outside.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Movie Mashup 2011 - Djinnbusters
Since I'm involved in a contest that doesn't end until June 1st, 2011, I figured that I would do what I did with Game Chef and do reviews for people who have put forth entries into the 1km1kt.net Movie Mashup 24 hour RPG competition. I put my game up already, but since I'm not really going to review my own stuff, I'd rather get feedback from other people, I turn my attention to those the other contestants.
I'm doing this because I know that feedback is important, and that it is rather notoriously hard to get. I offer free copies of a book to people who will do a review of the PDF and I still haven't gotten any reviews that fit the contest (though Ed at Robot Viking did one, which is always appreciated).
Anyway, I'll be doing this review using most of the criteria put out by the contest. Copying from the 1km1kt.net thread here are the criteria for judgement.
Don't worry too much about the Keeton part. That's a running joke on the site.
Next on the docket - Djinnbusters by Jens Thuresson (aka Groffa)
Djinnbusters is a game that takes Disney's Aladdin and Ghostbusters and combines them to have the players be ghost hunters in an Aladdin like setting. Now I will admit that I was both interested and cringing slightly when I heard this mash up. I was excited because I wanted to see the outcome and cringing because I still hadn't recovered fully from the Game Chef Fist Full of Native Use series from November. However, I think it does a pretty good job says me without really any background other than Arabian Nights (and by that I mean the book, honestly.)
Proximity: The game is a pretty good mash-up. You've got the setting from one, and a rather iconic object from the film in the lamp, and puts the Ghostbusters spin on it. I know this might sound like I'm going against what I said, with the previous review of A Fistfull of Dollars and Dark City, but there it didn't really give me the same kind of grit that I expected. Here we've got two comedies and a game that is actually pretty serious. You get jobs from Iago, which I will never hear any GM do without hearing Gilbert Godfrey's voice in my head, where you then go to try and find ways to weaken the ghosts that you encounter. It's got the magic carpet, with a personality, which I think is really important to me because the carpet was perhaps the best character in Aladdin.
Complete: It's a great little game. It uses the Good at / Bad at / Impossible at kind of mechanic and a very simple die roll. This is good because what really makes the game shine is the example where you're busy trying to figure out what makes the ghosts weak. I would totally make the players actually do what they thought they had to do in order to defeat the ghost. Sing songs, warm up those pipes folks. If it's dance, you'd better get ready to get up. If you had to throw things, you might want to start balling something up to throw. I might draw the line at like feeding it grapes, but just barely.
Attractive/Professional: It's nothing particularly special to look at. The art is all hand drawn and rather cute actually. It doesn't really convey the kind of seriousness the game has. I mean, as serious as any game that will get the players dancing to try to defeat ghosts can get. It would have been nice to get a couple more images in there that might have helped, but that's a small quibble.
It's a very functional document and does what it should do. That's really all you can ask from a book done in 24 hours. I blame Dr. Lang and his "how to layout a free rpg" guide.
Extras: It's got the character sheet, and a title page and a GM section which is always appreciated. It even has the "Don't enter here" page to help make sure the players really want to know how the thing works. I say that because the players knowing how the ghosts mostly work doesn't really impede the process.
Would I play it? Hell yeah. I would run it just to have my players dancing about. I think this one is my current favourite (sorry Alone in the Woods) so far but there's been a burst of new ones and we'll see how it goes.
I'm doing this because I know that feedback is important, and that it is rather notoriously hard to get. I offer free copies of a book to people who will do a review of the PDF and I still haven't gotten any reviews that fit the contest (though Ed at Robot Viking did one, which is always appreciated).
Anyway, I'll be doing this review using most of the criteria put out by the contest. Copying from the 1km1kt.net thread here are the criteria for judgement.
Poor you! Our panel of monkeys will be judging you on:
Must include an NPC called Keeton
Proximity: How close to the two films is it?
Complete: Is it complete? Could you run it?
Attractive: Is it attractive to look at?
Professional: How much effort went into layout and style?
Extras: Did they include actual cover, index, character sheet or any other cool things you get in a proper RPG?
Don't worry too much about the Keeton part. That's a running joke on the site.
Next on the docket - Djinnbusters by Jens Thuresson (aka Groffa)
Djinnbusters is a game that takes Disney's Aladdin and Ghostbusters and combines them to have the players be ghost hunters in an Aladdin like setting. Now I will admit that I was both interested and cringing slightly when I heard this mash up. I was excited because I wanted to see the outcome and cringing because I still hadn't recovered fully from the Game Chef Fist Full of Native Use series from November. However, I think it does a pretty good job says me without really any background other than Arabian Nights (and by that I mean the book, honestly.)
Proximity: The game is a pretty good mash-up. You've got the setting from one, and a rather iconic object from the film in the lamp, and puts the Ghostbusters spin on it. I know this might sound like I'm going against what I said, with the previous review of A Fistfull of Dollars and Dark City, but there it didn't really give me the same kind of grit that I expected. Here we've got two comedies and a game that is actually pretty serious. You get jobs from Iago, which I will never hear any GM do without hearing Gilbert Godfrey's voice in my head, where you then go to try and find ways to weaken the ghosts that you encounter. It's got the magic carpet, with a personality, which I think is really important to me because the carpet was perhaps the best character in Aladdin.
Complete: It's a great little game. It uses the Good at / Bad at / Impossible at kind of mechanic and a very simple die roll. This is good because what really makes the game shine is the example where you're busy trying to figure out what makes the ghosts weak. I would totally make the players actually do what they thought they had to do in order to defeat the ghost. Sing songs, warm up those pipes folks. If it's dance, you'd better get ready to get up. If you had to throw things, you might want to start balling something up to throw. I might draw the line at like feeding it grapes, but just barely.
Attractive/Professional: It's nothing particularly special to look at. The art is all hand drawn and rather cute actually. It doesn't really convey the kind of seriousness the game has. I mean, as serious as any game that will get the players dancing to try to defeat ghosts can get. It would have been nice to get a couple more images in there that might have helped, but that's a small quibble.
It's a very functional document and does what it should do. That's really all you can ask from a book done in 24 hours. I blame Dr. Lang and his "how to layout a free rpg" guide.
Extras: It's got the character sheet, and a title page and a GM section which is always appreciated. It even has the "Don't enter here" page to help make sure the players really want to know how the thing works. I say that because the players knowing how the ghosts mostly work doesn't really impede the process.
Would I play it? Hell yeah. I would run it just to have my players dancing about. I think this one is my current favourite (sorry Alone in the Woods) so far but there's been a burst of new ones and we'll see how it goes.
Just a quick tip ...
Dear people who made this ad on Drivethru RPG:
You might want to consider all the non male GMs that are work hard to give their players a great and fun experience in their gaming lives. They work just as hard, frequently having to deal with a lot more crap that male GMs don't have to put up with. They too deserve an ad that doesn't exclude them.
Really, it's not that hard to do either.
Here are some example copies:
No GM, No Dice ... Bribe them with something Nice
No GM, No Dice ... Give gifts to keep rolling.
Think of your GM ... Think of your Character ... Get your GM a gift that keeps your character breathing.
Now, are they all good copy? Not really. But when your ad excludes half of the population you can clearly make the argument that it's bad copy too.
You might want to consider all the non male GMs that are work hard to give their players a great and fun experience in their gaming lives. They work just as hard, frequently having to deal with a lot more crap that male GMs don't have to put up with. They too deserve an ad that doesn't exclude them.
Really, it's not that hard to do either.
Here are some example copies:
No GM, No Dice ... Bribe them with something Nice
No GM, No Dice ... Give gifts to keep rolling.
Think of your GM ... Think of your Character ... Get your GM a gift that keeps your character breathing.
Now, are they all good copy? Not really. But when your ad excludes half of the population you can clearly make the argument that it's bad copy too.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Reviews and stuff
Okay, since bribery clearly isn't working I'm going to do something I probably shouldn't do. I'm going to start giving reviews in order to get reviews. If you want me to review something (I still owe people reviews of the 24 hr RPG) let me know and I'll do one here and post it up on drivethru and IPR.
If not? I'll just start picking things at random.
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Surely nothing could go wrong with this idea.
If not? I'll just start picking things at random.
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Surely nothing could go wrong with this idea.
Dreamation 2011 - Critical! and Geasa
There's a convention that I like to go to, and it's Dreamation. I find a pile of wonderful people there who I love talking to as well as get to play with a pile of games. Some of them are even my own.
There were two games that we ran. The first one was Geasa, and I ran a lot of it since it's the new game that we're pushing, and the second one was Critical!: Go Westerly! We got a couple of interesting insights playing these games.
Geasa
I only had one game of Geasa go off, there were four scheduled.
Lesson One:
Try to produce more hype for the game. I was hoping to get at least two of them off because I want people to play the game. They need to play it, or at least hear about it to want to play it. Must bust out the marketing chops, which we all know that most writers suck at this part of the biz.
The game went off fairly well. We did a lot of exploring in France just before the revolution. This was funny to me because this was the second time that someone decided to do that and one time was in Hamilton so there is no way that they were able to collaborate on this. I should probably find a way to write up a setting book for this time period because apparently it's pretty popular. I think I'll blame Montseigneur 1499 for this.
Lesson Two:
Make sure that you schedule a break. Geasa is a pretty demanding game and the fact that people just kept going means that it broke down pretty quickly near the end. I think if I give people that 15 minute break between every two times the game goes around the table then it will refresh the mind and give people the chance to do what they need to do. Must remind myself about that for the next time I run the game.
I also need to sit down and give people a slightly better overview of what they can and can't do. They can tell what their characters are doing, they can define anything for an NPP but they can't tell things about the other players. That's stepping on toes and should probably be reigned in better. Anyway, I think it went well and hope people enjoyed the game.
Critical!:* Go Westerly
Wow. This game went off so much better than I thought it would. Not that I thought it would be bad, but I didn't think it would be this much fun. The players really did have a good time with the characters and it was silly, but at no point in time did it because goofy, and that's my biggest worry. I don't want this game to be thought of as some sort of equivalent of Munchkin: The RPG or something like that. It needs to be able to stand on it's own funny.
Here were some lines during the game carefully written down by Geoff Bottone, who is one half of the creative team on this. They are listed by character, not by player.
Mary the Wench
Urist Axebeard, Tall Dwarf
Barnabas Ramsey, Wizard
Daffodianna, the Very Nice Bard
Angelique Doto, Quillsman
Marten Iij, Priest of the Thief
Stelph the Elf
What I got to do!
I got to play with Brennan and Amber with a couple of Brennan's games. I got to play Three Black Crows, Three Dead Men and Sparks from the Fire both games that Brennan did for various contests. They were both an amazing good time. Amber and I both agreed that had we not been so exhausted we probably would have had even more fun, which is amazing when you consider the fact that we had a great time. It seriously was one of the big highlights and I recommend that you pick up Three Crows and check out the rest of the games from Galileo Games. Seriously good times there.
Also, Brennan has a bag of awesome. It's making me want to scour through ebay to find something similar. It was just too amazing.
All in all it was a great con. I can't do anything but recommend any of the dexposure cons if you can make it. Not only are they a great and good time, you'll get to see and play a bunch of games with some amazingly awesome people.
I was just disappointed that my games conflicted with my chance of being a Cosmic Roadie!
There were two games that we ran. The first one was Geasa, and I ran a lot of it since it's the new game that we're pushing, and the second one was Critical!: Go Westerly! We got a couple of interesting insights playing these games.
Geasa
I only had one game of Geasa go off, there were four scheduled.
Lesson One:
Try to produce more hype for the game. I was hoping to get at least two of them off because I want people to play the game. They need to play it, or at least hear about it to want to play it. Must bust out the marketing chops, which we all know that most writers suck at this part of the biz.
The game went off fairly well. We did a lot of exploring in France just before the revolution. This was funny to me because this was the second time that someone decided to do that and one time was in Hamilton so there is no way that they were able to collaborate on this. I should probably find a way to write up a setting book for this time period because apparently it's pretty popular. I think I'll blame Montseigneur 1499 for this.
Lesson Two:
Make sure that you schedule a break. Geasa is a pretty demanding game and the fact that people just kept going means that it broke down pretty quickly near the end. I think if I give people that 15 minute break between every two times the game goes around the table then it will refresh the mind and give people the chance to do what they need to do. Must remind myself about that for the next time I run the game.
I also need to sit down and give people a slightly better overview of what they can and can't do. They can tell what their characters are doing, they can define anything for an NPP but they can't tell things about the other players. That's stepping on toes and should probably be reigned in better. Anyway, I think it went well and hope people enjoyed the game.
Critical!:* Go Westerly
Wow. This game went off so much better than I thought it would. Not that I thought it would be bad, but I didn't think it would be this much fun. The players really did have a good time with the characters and it was silly, but at no point in time did it because goofy, and that's my biggest worry. I don't want this game to be thought of as some sort of equivalent of Munchkin: The RPG or something like that. It needs to be able to stand on it's own funny.
Here were some lines during the game carefully written down by Geoff Bottone, who is one half of the creative team on this. They are listed by character, not by player.
Mary the Wench
As a duly-authorized employee of the tavern, offering to sell the tavern's provisions to the hungry Kobolds for gold. Thereby ending the battle with the kobolds with her unusually high common sense. Also, frequently using her common sense to help others.
Urist Axebeard, Tall Dwarf
When confronted with flying fairies: I can't reach them with my axe? Can I throw it at them? I really don't like fairies.
Urist: Wait, there's a plaque on this wall. And it says, "Perend Adventure Tours Dungeon Complex, Room A5? That...doesn't make any sense."
Urist: What's my name? You don't really care, do you? You'll just call me, "dwarf," anyway, so whatever name you give me is fine.
Mabel: Oh, excellent! You shall be known as El Tallface!
Barnabas Ramsey, Wizard
Discovering, through discourse with a kobold that he had captured, that the kobold was both a) very intelligent and b) a licensed therapist. Then the two of them proceeded to have a very nice conversation as they headed to the kobold lair (pronounced "lay-er" by the kobolds), where they found the others mired in traps and negotiations.
Taking out the entire group of anarcho-punk fairies by shouting, "this is ridiculous! We live in a feudal society! You can't tell me that you've just come up with this extremely advanced, modern, political system on your own in what is, essentially a vacuum! I don't believe it! I just don't believe in these fairies!"
This lead to the fairies keeling over and dying, because someone didn't believe in them. Everyone else was very careful not to clap.
This entire exchange with Aelae the Necromancer. It's paraphrased. The actual exchange was even more awesome.
Barnabas: You may be evil, but you don't have to be a jerk!
Aelae: Sure I do, it's in the contract.
Barnabas: You have a contract to be evil?
Aelae: Yes! I graduated from the Wizardry with a major in Necromancy and a contract that says that I get to be a jerk whenever I want!
Barnabas: Really? You're a graduate of the Wizardry? Me too. But I was valedictorian!
Aelae: So was I.
Barnabas: Oh.
Aelae: Incidentally, if you're a graduate of the Wizardry, what are you doing slumming it in this dungeon with these idiots? Shouldn't you be teaching classes?
Barnabas: I don't...have...a graduate degree...Um...Can you write me a letter of recommendation, maybe?
Barnabas: "I know, I'll summon a fire elemental. That should solve the problem. This is a dungeon, nothing in here should catch on fire."
Mary: "What about the wooden kiosks outside?"
Barnabas: "Fire elementals don't buy things."
Daffodianna, the Very Nice Bard
Played by, possibly, the nicest person at the table. She was quiet and sweet, and played songs that gave everyone bonuses virtually all the time. She also conjured an impressive goblin-repelling force bubble out of song. And, was responsible for this little exchange.
Player: Okay, now that combat's over, I'm trying to do (something not combat-related, I forget what it was). Do I still get the Bard's song bonus?
Daffodianna: No. I don't play music when combat's over. There's no point. It's just not exciting.
Angelique Doto, Quillsman
Bartender: Okay, you're standing at the end of the stairs. The basement floor has collapsed out from beneath you and you see the remains of the basement, about twenty feet down, in another cavern.
Angelique: I jump down! Hoorah!
Things like the following happened all the time, but this was by far the coolest example of Angelique. Who had no weapons or armor of any kind.
The players fight two skeletons. Urist kills one. Angelique says.
Angelique: I do a leaping dive roll, grab the skull of the skeleton that Urist just killed, and throw it really hard at the other skeleton. Success!
Bartender: Okay, you hit the skull with the skull in the back of the...skull...The other skeleton crumbles. It looked awesome, by the way.
Marten Iij, Priest of the Thief
Marten: "I'm not going hunting for kobolds. All we're going to do is run into traps."
Marten (upon seeing a woman trapped in a heavily trapped room with whirling death blades and the like): Ma'am, is it all right if I try to steal from you? (He knew that if he was robbing her, his chance to succeed would be higher).
Stelph the Elf
Stelph's constant running patter about how he was better than everyone else (in both incarnations) was just hilarious. And then there was this:
Bartender: The undead are pouring through this tunnel, which looks like it's been hastily dug. Roots from trees on the surface protrude through the ceiling in a lot of places.
Stelph: I use my nature-based magic to convince the trees to attack the tunnel, because I am a Defender of the Forest. I fail. Oh, nature, why have you foresaken me.
And this:
Bartender: The elf introduces herself to you as Tulip. She flicks her blue hair absentmindedly, stares at the floor, and says, "heeey." (this was me, channeling Ke$ha, though Stelph doesn't have a beard).
Stelph: Heeey. I'm two hundred.
Bartender: "I'm 198."
Stelph: Oh. Really? Well, huh.
What I got to do!
I got to play with Brennan and Amber with a couple of Brennan's games. I got to play Three Black Crows, Three Dead Men and Sparks from the Fire both games that Brennan did for various contests. They were both an amazing good time. Amber and I both agreed that had we not been so exhausted we probably would have had even more fun, which is amazing when you consider the fact that we had a great time. It seriously was one of the big highlights and I recommend that you pick up Three Crows and check out the rest of the games from Galileo Games. Seriously good times there.
Also, Brennan has a bag of awesome. It's making me want to scour through ebay to find something similar. It was just too amazing.
All in all it was a great con. I can't do anything but recommend any of the dexposure cons if you can make it. Not only are they a great and good time, you'll get to see and play a bunch of games with some amazingly awesome people.
I was just disappointed that my games conflicted with my chance of being a Cosmic Roadie!
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