Post Apocalyptic Post

So in keeping with global catastrophes, it would seem that the Italian based Apocalypse game planned for the forthcoming rotation has failed its timely arrive roll. I suppose that's sort of post ironic but on the other hand we can just leave it until next time and it will be something to look forward to, though I'm always curious as to where the end of civilisations may take us. Of course it depends on the circumstances but in broad terms pandemics breed zombies, nuclear wars breed mutants, computers breed paranoia and aliens just breed.

We have already enjoyed a few great PA games over the years and the Wikipedia article is quite faithful in this respect. Its noteworthy that they list Eclipse Phase which we have played and which I very much enjoyed; a sort of Altered Carbon meets The Thing. An "eclipse phase" is the period between when a cell is infected by the virus and when the virus appears within the cell and transforms it. During this period, the cell does not appear to be infected, but it is.

I also recall The Morrow Project from my younger days which was reborn in 4th edition from its faithful fan base in 2013 but whilst I've not heard much feedback it still remains in retail. But I like the idea of characters blearily waking up from stasis pods in the far flung future.

So in a more present time frame GM Krzys will be advancing a Superhero kick starter, I believe in play test before its full release, as we continue to be more cutting edge than the Samurai version of Sweeny Todd.

Spoonerisms

So there is another aspect of GMing in particular and roleplaying in general that has hitherto remained unmentioned in these pages. As an ex teacher I have had plenty experience in addressing groups of people on a regular basis and whilst it comes naturally to some, even those unaccustomed to oratory do get into a stride quite quickly as dilemmas, plots and opinions tend to move everyone along very quickly - events make their presence felt despite whomever is running a game. The problem is when verbals get the better you in key moments it can both be very amusing but also if a bargain is struck in error then you can also be held accountable. Careless talk costs lives they say.

On the amusing side for example I did accidentally open a rectical during the Planescape last week rather than a rectangular portal but despite some reservations the entire party did eventually jump through to their finale. I have also tried assassinating someone using nothing more than the elephant of surprise, which is particularly awkward to keep handy during stealthy moments, and let us never forget the magnificent post mortem deduction from Sherlock Holmes that "He was battered to death with a blunt excrement". I also discussed running a Cider Punk with friends this week - a sort of Blade Runner / Farming epic.

Gratefully in other news, I do believe we are now agreed that GM Jack will step in with a 13th Age adventure which means we can offer the more well rounded portfolio of SciFi, PostApocalypse and Fantasy. So roll up, roll high, roll on and embrace your inner elf confidence.

Self Service Mortuaries

I love it when a plan doesn't come together. Whilst the games are starting to close now, there is always the feeling that someone will try and go off road at the last roundabout. A bit like a taking a child home from Disneyland, there can be a lot of kicking and screaming as well as occasional giant cuddly creature to contend with. The Planescape party is no exception and whilst I have to give credit to players that have been keeping 3rd level characters alive in the midst of fireballs, the last session has been a somewhat traditional English farce.

Having been asked to cremate a body and return the ashes as part of a portal spell component, our Planescape party have succeeded in precisely fifty percent of their objective, namely they have been wandering around town with a corpse. To be fair, its still quite fresh so there are no dogs following them at present and they did have to get out of a sticky situation quite quickly. Interestingly it's a dwarf's corpse which was fortunate as they did have an elvish cloak to wrap it in, rather than the other way around, so sort of posing as a Sigil Carpet Cleaning Company they were lucky that no one stopped them on their way home for a free sample.

The conversation then migrated toward the somewhat darker end of comedy as without a crematorium oven they were of course left debating whether to dismember the body and pop into a local bakery to finish the job or drop by a few Blacksmiths. They didn't consider a potters kiln as it happens but to be fair, floor space in Sigil is at such a premium, a luck check would be in order here. Never seen Dwarf as an optional topping on Dominoe's Pizza but they did decide to skip the local bread shops and appropriately enough return to the first plane of Hell to finish the job. No one tell the Monk.

Happy New Games

So our festive frivolities have now been had over a few pints of ale and a particularly ridiculous 10 handed game of Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards. Whilst I was aware that there were also unsavoury things being done to unicorns, it was also nice to welcome a couple of new faces.

Whilst it's slightly fake news to say the games have now finished, we do have three lined up imminently as previously mentioned tho I think there will be plenty to do as players consider new characters and GMs consider their respective worlds. Note for the record that GMs Alessio and Elena are actually running a post apocalyptic scenario which I only mention as I was discussing with friends the other night whether after an actual apocalypse, all role playing games would then be post apocalyptic and would need rebranding. I've enjoyed several PA games in my time and its a large enough genre to explore almost every narrative from irradiated wastelands to enigmatic civilisations a billion years hence; my favourite being Gamma World I think.

Nevertheless my consideration is whether we need a fourth game prepped; I've not had an opportunity to ascertain where the Starfinder is at present tho we have lost a couple of members to the winds of fate but we have had others blown in. Whether the Starfinder rolls on or not I think its time for a roll call.

Merry pseudo random temporal intersection.

Finally rolled it !

Wind up

So whether one winds up a year or winds down for Christmas is a fair question but  as I am someone who, on balance, prefers endings to beginnings my attention is focused over the forthcoming weeks as we begin the seasonal and planet like rotation of our games. Christmas is an odd one, not just for flying bearded red men, but as people begin to slonk off early to associate with other genetically similar individuals, our numbers gently contract to a handful of local merry players and a collection of odd ball card games which do not require being totally sober. 

Nevertheless, its a question as to whether its better to get to a finale in before Christmas or afterwards, the key being that players won't be present if a game is concluded Christmas week. My preference is to close mid Jan and as it happens, and this is in keeping from last year but I believe at least one of the other games has now stopped.

So, coming soon to all of you in internet land, we already have prospective GMs and many suggestions of what they would like to run. There is a possible horror game of unknown origin from GM Dave, a possible Star Trek/ Ministry of Blades / Achtung Cthulu/ Cthulu/ deadlands from GM Jon, and I think a dual run Vampire for GMs Eleanor+Alessio. There may be some other contenders to add to the list in due course but there seems to be plenty of options at present. So for those who do new years resolutions, get yourself along to the biggest role playing club in town and for those who don't do new years resolutions, get yourself along anyway.

Visitation

Last week saw another of my semi regular visits to the Craft Beer Company and as always I remain as confused as ever regarding their somewhat alien operational model, though its always a pleasure to pop in and catch up with another group of like minded escape artists. The CBC Roleplayers do run 'The Strange Games Festival' in the woods over the summer months which has proved to be immensely popular with locals - not entirely a Larping affair, there are a number of social games such as Werewolf as well as various earth and turf throwing games played alongside a burger van or two. Simon had over a hundred customers this year and whilst I sort of help with the Railway Club admin, the idea of running a festival makes my mind boggle.

This time round however there were a meagerly seven of us who turned up to the pub, six GMs and one player, but it was a perfectly pleasant chat for an evening. Once again though I did inquire why an online group would meet physically as their Meetups site is still very busy turning over games in the virtual world, but by the end of the evening their ways were still shrouded in mystery to me.

For our part, our games are scheduled for rotation imminently, Think GM Mike is aiming for a Christmas finish which is very timely of him. Whilst I could have pushed for a seasonal end, there tend to be so many people away for the break of course, I wouldn't want anyone to miss out on any finale so I think three or four more session should carry us to mid Jan and we can enjoy silly games for those popping in over Christmas. The fun however has begun of rooting out new GMs for which the usual blackmail, guilt and intimidation rolls will be made.

Of note

Whilst I wax lyrical regarding my D&D and occasionally share the thoughts of a raving lunatic albeit my own or those of my fellow role players, I am polite enough to enquire after the other GMs at the end of an evening regarding the progress of their campaigns. Problem is that after a couple of beers and a head full of plot I don't really recall enough to put electron to blog. However, last week, GM Jamie was kind enough to offer me a note or more accurately, a collection of several notes passed between his players over the course of his Stars Without Number.

Where a picture can tell a thousand words, likewise a small role playing note can reveal all. I must admit its been several years since I have enjoyed a mischievous missive and there is nothing better for ramping up paranoia and generally escalating any perfectly agreeable situation, so here are a few notes of note from the impeccably disciplined crew of the SWN Spaceship:

"Do I know anything about the Captain from his Spacebook page ?"

"Browse the Captain's pirate porn collection."

"Order pizza and leave the empty boxes in the Captain's cabin."

I sense a lot of work during the crew's next annual reviews.

I think the funniest note I ever had was passed to me by another player in an AD&D a very long time ago before the internet happened.

"Dark brown wood stain, 9.99 at B&Q"

Needless to say, it didn't help.

Au struck

When building any sort of plot or mystery into a scenario there comes a point where you have to reward the players. Its all very well dragging people through the chompers but in order to keep engagement there must be a point to life. A challenge in and of itself is fair enough but its really only a value to to a Monk philosopher or perhaps a Warrior seeking to challenging himself but on a more day to day basis the rest of us have expectations and attachments to stuff we can use to buy other stuff.

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This is also true of a role playing party and despite some of my monsters not quite getting the best of everyone, credit where credit is due and some of the party decisions have resulted in successful outcomes. So with regard to the D&D I did have the irony of delivering them a couple of large chests filled with gold as well as several critical  papers regarding mission intelligence. The irony of huge amounts of gold is that there is only so far you can stuff your pockets before your trousers fall down and this is particularly tru eof the Monk who seems to be only wearing a thong. Still, it wont stop them from trying.

Historically, I have tried to hand out rewards more in keeping with the characters themselves - I recall that after a particularly long and arduous adventure I rewarded a high level Paladin with the opportunity to move a mountain into the sea at the request of her God. This did not go down very well at all and whilst I can understand someone being a bit pissed off at the lack of treasure, from the characters perspective, a Paladin should really be over whelmed with joy at a the chance to server their deity directly. It was a test of faith of course and there would have been a huge reward for simply accepting the challenge but sadly the player got angry and the character turned away from their order.

So these days I err down the gift certificate route  but as always to keep things interesting, always be careful of getting what you ask for.

Hangovers

If you drop a Teifling and a Dragonborn from a tower at the same time which hits the ground first ? Clearly Galileo would have an opinion here and the irony that that he lived in the same town as Dante is not lost on me; it does seem that gravity works just as well on the plane of Hell as it does above ground. Though not the same for Pandemonium where you are pulled to any one of the nearest surfaces, the rest of the Planes do have an occasional respect for Physics. Nevertheless even with vestigial wings, both of our party members did enjoy rolling their falling damage.

A bit like a reverse mouse trap (from the board game not the hardware store), I did give the party an option of entirely circumnavigating a tower defending a bridge over the river Styx and carrying on with their RECONNAISSANCE mission, but no, off with the armour and on with the gymnastics as our intrepid 5e team directly assaulted the building Spider Man style. The problem was an overhanging parapet where dwarves were shooting back but appropriately enough the Monk, with his deft use of Chi and Matrix Arts was the only character to successfully scale the walls, though I was very pleased to shave off a few hits from the others. 

I think we are well beyond the lesson learning stage now as it wasn't long after that the Mage blew open the door with his funeral bolts and shortly afterwards helped fell a Helmed horror though narrowly missing a natural 20 of mine parried by the Dragonborn. I must look up the rules on that one actually. I am also starting to worry about the Monk somewhat as for a meditative character he is now running around covered in blood beaten out of his enemies and stuffing Dwarven Beard trophies down his thong. Long story...

Winter Wonderland

Its a little early I know but the mince pies have been deployed for some time now in the supermarkets and subliminal shopping center music has become decidedly more suspicious. I am unsure whether RPG companies get any sort of sales runs over Xmas; as awkward as it is to put a book in a sock, I suppose there are a lot of other stocking fillers by way of dice, miniatures and spell components but there are a few frozen environments out there if you really are looking forward to a white christmas.

In the D&D vein there is a kickstarted Norse Campaign setting by way of the "Svilland Saga". Whilst its 5e inspired, rather than high fantasy, the magic belying the realm is more pagan reflecting omens, spirit magic and runes. Typical combat scenarios draw upon bloody raids and feudal politics between warring settlements in the high arctic and the Norse Gods meddle in the affairs of kings and adventurers alike. Ice giants and trolls are among other cold spirits that walk the land.

If you fancy going to an ice planet just for a short break there is always the iconic Traveller. Dating back to 1977 it's in its 2nd edition now since 2016 under the Mongoose brand and has also had several novels set in its universe. There is a planet generation system but does include a temperature setting depending on how Christmasy you want to be - you could even adjust the rotation of your world so it stays Christmas all year round.

There is also a lesser known author Michael Scott Rohan who has created an RPG off the back of his novels, the first of which is The Anvil of Ice. The Winter of the World rpg system was published by Cakebread and Walton in 2017 and does ship with optional 5e rules but the core system does contain enough to get started. Interestingly enough the system does include the subterranean world of the Duergar - which is possibly connected with the dwarves of the same name in Forgotten Realms. This also reminds me of the Dwemer and Druegar in Skyrim for which the atmospheric immersion in its biting mountainous winds is unparalleled, including the killer chickens.

Reconnaissance

So I have tried to introduce a new concept for the D&D party, namely "being careful". There is certainly a natural curiosity when it comes to exploration and of course there is always the draw of possible treasure around the next corner. Add to this anyone who plays any sort of adventure based video games will be well acquainted with the slightly obsessive compulsive feeling of absolutely having to clear out the last dusty corner of that dungeon. So as the Planescape party seem also to be happily dungeon hoovering I deliberately put in a higher challenge rated monster, namely in this instance, the Salamander. With an above average change of killing someone I had planned to sober up a somewhat hack and slay rhythm to the game

Did things go to plan ? Obviously not. Whilst my theory was sound I had neglected to remember that every individual enemy would also have an individual weak spot. Having lined the party up against my creature High Noon style, the first action from the Wizard was to cast grease no less. Immediately the Salamander failed its dex and took the prone condition - and given that one of its two attacks was using its body then its only remaining attack was at disadvantage. A snake's dexterity can only really come from its traction on the ground and whilst it took several rounds to kill the creature I was at least able to do some damage with its polearm and the occasional thermal blast consequence of attacking it.

Problem now is that the creature I specifically put in place in order to be avoided as part of a reconnaissance mission has now spurred the party on to tackling rest of the world. As always I shouldn't have judged and simply let the adventure lean on the characters organically. Either way, I would have had more success with a large number of angry ducks.

Pumpkin day

Following on from last weeks post, I duly note that Call of Cthulu is suddenly available on Steam. With only a couple of hundred "Mostly positive" responses its not something that leaps out at me and whilst computer based horror games are tangential to role playing its interesting that they are leveraging the brand as I am aware that the 7th ed table top did struggle financially in the first instance.

Of note, there is also the re-release of Helmgast's "Kult" now under the Modiphius brand. In a more ironic and seasonal twist, its history began in Sweden in the early nineties but gained controversy as it was actually mentioned in a parliamentary bill to remove funding from youth groups involved in role playing. This was due to the murder of a 15 year old by his slightly older friends who allegedly were influenced by the game. Either way, new copies are now finally reaching their very patient backers.

I also own a GURPS "In Nomine" for some reason. A Steve Jackson creation, players embody the eternal cold war struggle between angels and demons as they fight over the souls of humans. Oddly enough the system appeared in 1997, the same year Buffy kicked off, ushering in an era of supernatural TV series. Sporting a wonderful D666 mechanic, three D6s are rolled for resolving actions; the first two are added to gain a success or failure, the third indicates the extent of the particular result.

Other than the Chill, which I am particularly fond of, my horror rpg experience ends there really bar the B movie system "It came from the Late Late Show". A system that is more horrific for its hammed up acting and bad quotes than the steam powered zombie robot Nazis that chase the players around. Bring on The Blob.