Back when I was in high school I had these two friends that put together this "fake" band ala Spinal Tap. The name of the band was "Harvey Goes to Valala" which was an obvious play on "Frankie Goes Hollywood" and my high school and college nickname "Harvey" (long story). I say "fake" because it was supposed to be in fun, but my two friends really got into it to the point of "releasing" an album called "Pocket Full of Braincells" (also a full year before Spin Doctors came out with A Pocket Full of Kryptonite, no no there was nothing too that, something in the water in the late 80s/early 90s I am sure).
I liked the town, Valala, and always thought it was this out of the way place up north where the people were weird but had limited outside influences to keep themselves sane.
Valala, Alaska took various shapes and forms in my mind since the late 80s. It wasn't till the late 90s/early 00s that I considered using the WitchCraft game. I thought about it again when I was running a WitchCraft game online a few years back, "Vacation in Vancouver" which was a fun, but really dark and adult game (deaths in a prostitution ring that catered to supernatural clients).
The Valala game was going to be something along the lines of a weird Northern Exposure. A town full of odd folk and supernaturals. There was going to be humor, but dark.
Over the weekend I was doing laundry and found the "concert" shirt for the Harvey Goes to Valala World tour. All the towns were places where we all had run off to go to college. But it got me thinking about this game again.
I still think WitchCraft is a great choice for it, but again with dark humor and really strange people; both mundane and supernatural. Everything in most modern supernatural games are so serious. This would be. Sure things would still be dangerous. But the characters would all be locals and quirky ones at that.
With WitchCraft I could use all the supernatural types. I have always wanted a Werebear character in one of of these games. I also had this idea for an old and lazy vampire. Basically the opposite of every other vampire you have ever seen. He's old, ugly, poor and lazy. He survives by trapping animals.
I'd also have to include some crazy ass, conspiracy theory- believing, "prepper" guy. Someone living in a hole in the ground with his guns and cans of beans.
It was pointed out to me that this is a similar idea to Buffy. But mine would be less Joss Whedon and more David Lynch.
I would need to get some basic adventure ideas together. The trick is to take a normal supernatural adventure and do something bizarre with it. The first one I came up with was about a Sasquatch. In the normal adventure the Sasquatch is causing problems or killing the local livestock. In a "Buffy" version the Sasquatch is a demon. In the "Valala" version the Sasquatch is having sex with the females of the local moose population. The cries of the moose are keeping people up at night. The moose hanging around the outskirts of the city because they are enjoying are causing even more problems. So the issue is not "wow Bigfoot is reall!" it's "Bigfoot is real. And he is a nasty perv keeping everyone up at night."
If I come up with some more ideas I'll share them. Thought with what I have been thinking of lately you might not want me too!
I'll have to look to see what I have of this. I seem to recall making a map of the town at one point. It was on the water.
Though I think I am going to rename the town to be Valhalla, AK. Kinda like calling a town "Hell" or "Purgatory".
Showing posts with label unisystem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unisystem. Show all posts
Monday, February 25, 2013
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Review: Rogue Mage (2012)
What if someone held an apocalypse and nobody came?
That is an over-simplification, but it is the jist of what I get from reading a little bit of the Rogue Mage series by Faith Hunter. Now I need to be upfront here about a few things.
1. I have never read the Rogue Mage books, but they are something I have been aware of and I have been meaning to check out.
2. I know Christina Stiles and have worked with her (somewhat) in the past.
That out of the way, lets look at this game.
Rogue Mage is a new RPG from Christina Stiles and Faith Hunter, published by Misfit Studios.
It is a modern supernatural game, so I am already inclined to like it, but also inclined to be critical of it. I will work to balance this for this review.
The game is a d20 based one, but not 100% d20. There is a list of changes for those of us that pick up a d20 game and try to go as we always have. So no attacks of opportunity, no hp, no classes, no levels and so on. Mostly this resembles Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Ed quite a bit. The damage tracker is similar, but simpler. There is a Toughness save (like M&M) and Combat is a skill (like other games). So mechanics wise this is really an elegant system, but it doesn't add a lot of new material.
So like M&M all you need is a d20 to play.
Also this is the Player's book only. The Game Master's Guide will be out later.
Chapter 1 covers the basic rules of the game. I thought this was a touch odd, since we have not rolled up any characters yet, but I think the reasoning is that the rules are so simple that leading off with them allows you to read them once and then easily refer back to them as needed.
Chapter 2 covers the setting. You don't need have read the Faith Hunter books to use this game, something I think is very important. The books look good and I am looking forward to reading them, but I have this book now. Briefly the world changed with the return of the Seraphs on June 12, 2011. Day before my birthday. The war that follows engulfs the world and leaves it in shambles; in fact it is known as the Last War. The present day is 2117 (or 105 PA, post ap). Given Rush is in concert as of this writing 2112 would have been cooler for me, but hey. Immediately I am drawn to the parallels between this game and Eden's Armageddon. Except in Armageddon the war is still going on and it's 2018 (that seemed SO far away back when I was playtesting the game). The world though in Rogue Mage is more messed up with the new Ice Age and all the plagues. Tech is all over the place with advanced technology in the regions away from the ice to steam powered retro-tech.
Chapter 3 is Character Creation. There are abilities and skills familiar to most d20 games. Characters though have points in which to buy these similar to many other non-d20 systems and M&M. In addition there are Talents, Drawbacks and Magic. First up are the character races; neomage, third-generation kylen, human, seraph-touched, rogue daywalker, and second unforeseen (mule). These are detailed in the book and fit into the cosmology of the game. Races can be bought with character points, or in the case of humans, character points are awarded back to you. Attributes and skills are bought with points. Talents can either be normal, special or supernatural and have varying point costs. Drawbacks give you back points. There are also Luck points (think Hero or Drama points) and a virtue/taint tracker which is a new twist.
There is a character creation walk-through and many sample characters.
Chapter 4 deals with abilities; Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom and so on and saves.
Chapter 5 deals with skills. The list is a familiar one for anyone that has played a d20 game in the last 12 years. Of note though, Combat is a skill now. I rather like that to be honest. A trainable skill instead of a built in aptitude.
Chapter 6 covers Talents. Think of these as something similar to Feats or Qualities, or most like the Powers in True 20. Many of these are Feats from the SRD, but that is fine because they still work here. As you can imagine there are a lot of them here, a little more than 30 pages worth. Then we also get the Drawbacks. These are like negative feats. They take something from you, but you get Character Points in return. We get 10 pages of those.
ASIDE: While this game diverts a bit from the d20 mainstream, there is enough here that is the same to make you wonder if your other d20 resources might work with it. For that answer I would have to say I see no reason why not. Sure you are deviating from the source material more, but mechanically speaking, unless it relates to levels, classes or HP I can't see why it wouldn't work.
Chapter 7 is Magic. There is a lot here, not just in terms of rules for magic, but the spells themselves. Over 46 pages. Again some spells from other games could be converted and used here. One would need to figure out the point cost for casting them. I wonder if the spells from the d20 Call of Cthulhu would be compatible? Or even BESM d20 Advanced Magic. If so, then this game would open up a wealth of playing options.
Chapter 8 details Virtue, Money and Luck. Virtue and Taint stand in for the basic alignment system, but this also has more in-game effects. Virtuous characters are more resilient to some magics for example.
Wealth is a score, rather than a track-able resource like gold pieces. And Luck Points, like I mentioned are like Hero or Drama points.
Chapter 9 discusses Secondary Characters, aka NPCS.
Chapter 10 has equipment. It is an interesting mix of future and past tech and high tech and magic.
Chapter 11 details combat. Combat normally gets it's own chapter, but I would have figured it a little closer to skills. No matter, it is here and it tells you what you need to know. Of importance here is the damage track and conditions rules. Remember, there are no HP here, so this is how you know if you are good or about to die. This combat makes this game a bit more deadly than your typical d20 game.
We end with some fiction from Faith Hunter (each chapter had some too) and an Index.
The layout is clean and easy to read. The art is really good as well and really captures the feel of the game well I think. It is all black and white so it won't kill your printer.
There is a lot I really like about this game. First it has so much potential with things I am already doing. Secondly the fact that is also seems to fit in mechanically with a bunch of books I already have is also great.
I think I would have loved to have seen this as a Unisystem game. But I know there are a lot of reasons why that could not have been done. Plus the rules from Mutants & Masterminds, as I have done in the past, can be tweaked to give you a Unisystem like experience. To be 100% honest if there is anyone out there that could be trusted to do that it is Christina Stiles and Misfit Studios.
Something though is keeping me from absolutely loving this game though. I think it is because I have not read the books it is based on yet. I also think there is not enough information here on how to run a game. That is not a big deal for me really, I have 100s of books that tell me that. I don't know how to run one in this universe.
But these are not the shortcomings of this book; only my understanding of the world of this book.
I do hope the Game Master's Guide comes with a sample adventure.
Here is what I do know. Misfit Studios has done a a great job in the past with Unisystem products and Mutants & Masterminds ones. This rule set seems to be a perfect middle ground for them and I hope that we get to see it for more games.
1. I have never read the Rogue Mage books, but they are something I have been aware of and I have been meaning to check out.
2. I know Christina Stiles and have worked with her (somewhat) in the past.
That out of the way, lets look at this game.
Rogue Mage is a new RPG from Christina Stiles and Faith Hunter, published by Misfit Studios.
It is a modern supernatural game, so I am already inclined to like it, but also inclined to be critical of it. I will work to balance this for this review.
The game is a d20 based one, but not 100% d20. There is a list of changes for those of us that pick up a d20 game and try to go as we always have. So no attacks of opportunity, no hp, no classes, no levels and so on. Mostly this resembles Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Ed quite a bit. The damage tracker is similar, but simpler. There is a Toughness save (like M&M) and Combat is a skill (like other games). So mechanics wise this is really an elegant system, but it doesn't add a lot of new material.
So like M&M all you need is a d20 to play.
Also this is the Player's book only. The Game Master's Guide will be out later.
Chapter 1 covers the basic rules of the game. I thought this was a touch odd, since we have not rolled up any characters yet, but I think the reasoning is that the rules are so simple that leading off with them allows you to read them once and then easily refer back to them as needed.
Chapter 2 covers the setting. You don't need have read the Faith Hunter books to use this game, something I think is very important. The books look good and I am looking forward to reading them, but I have this book now. Briefly the world changed with the return of the Seraphs on June 12, 2011. Day before my birthday. The war that follows engulfs the world and leaves it in shambles; in fact it is known as the Last War. The present day is 2117 (or 105 PA, post ap). Given Rush is in concert as of this writing 2112 would have been cooler for me, but hey. Immediately I am drawn to the parallels between this game and Eden's Armageddon. Except in Armageddon the war is still going on and it's 2018 (that seemed SO far away back when I was playtesting the game). The world though in Rogue Mage is more messed up with the new Ice Age and all the plagues. Tech is all over the place with advanced technology in the regions away from the ice to steam powered retro-tech.
Chapter 3 is Character Creation. There are abilities and skills familiar to most d20 games. Characters though have points in which to buy these similar to many other non-d20 systems and M&M. In addition there are Talents, Drawbacks and Magic. First up are the character races; neomage, third-generation kylen, human, seraph-touched, rogue daywalker, and second unforeseen (mule). These are detailed in the book and fit into the cosmology of the game. Races can be bought with character points, or in the case of humans, character points are awarded back to you. Attributes and skills are bought with points. Talents can either be normal, special or supernatural and have varying point costs. Drawbacks give you back points. There are also Luck points (think Hero or Drama points) and a virtue/taint tracker which is a new twist.
There is a character creation walk-through and many sample characters.
Chapter 4 deals with abilities; Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom and so on and saves.
Chapter 5 deals with skills. The list is a familiar one for anyone that has played a d20 game in the last 12 years. Of note though, Combat is a skill now. I rather like that to be honest. A trainable skill instead of a built in aptitude.
Chapter 6 covers Talents. Think of these as something similar to Feats or Qualities, or most like the Powers in True 20. Many of these are Feats from the SRD, but that is fine because they still work here. As you can imagine there are a lot of them here, a little more than 30 pages worth. Then we also get the Drawbacks. These are like negative feats. They take something from you, but you get Character Points in return. We get 10 pages of those.
ASIDE: While this game diverts a bit from the d20 mainstream, there is enough here that is the same to make you wonder if your other d20 resources might work with it. For that answer I would have to say I see no reason why not. Sure you are deviating from the source material more, but mechanically speaking, unless it relates to levels, classes or HP I can't see why it wouldn't work.
Chapter 7 is Magic. There is a lot here, not just in terms of rules for magic, but the spells themselves. Over 46 pages. Again some spells from other games could be converted and used here. One would need to figure out the point cost for casting them. I wonder if the spells from the d20 Call of Cthulhu would be compatible? Or even BESM d20 Advanced Magic. If so, then this game would open up a wealth of playing options.
Chapter 8 details Virtue, Money and Luck. Virtue and Taint stand in for the basic alignment system, but this also has more in-game effects. Virtuous characters are more resilient to some magics for example.
Wealth is a score, rather than a track-able resource like gold pieces. And Luck Points, like I mentioned are like Hero or Drama points.
Chapter 9 discusses Secondary Characters, aka NPCS.
Chapter 10 has equipment. It is an interesting mix of future and past tech and high tech and magic.
Chapter 11 details combat. Combat normally gets it's own chapter, but I would have figured it a little closer to skills. No matter, it is here and it tells you what you need to know. Of importance here is the damage track and conditions rules. Remember, there are no HP here, so this is how you know if you are good or about to die. This combat makes this game a bit more deadly than your typical d20 game.
We end with some fiction from Faith Hunter (each chapter had some too) and an Index.
The layout is clean and easy to read. The art is really good as well and really captures the feel of the game well I think. It is all black and white so it won't kill your printer.
There is a lot I really like about this game. First it has so much potential with things I am already doing. Secondly the fact that is also seems to fit in mechanically with a bunch of books I already have is also great.
I think I would have loved to have seen this as a Unisystem game. But I know there are a lot of reasons why that could not have been done. Plus the rules from Mutants & Masterminds, as I have done in the past, can be tweaked to give you a Unisystem like experience. To be 100% honest if there is anyone out there that could be trusted to do that it is Christina Stiles and Misfit Studios.
Something though is keeping me from absolutely loving this game though. I think it is because I have not read the books it is based on yet. I also think there is not enough information here on how to run a game. That is not a big deal for me really, I have 100s of books that tell me that. I don't know how to run one in this universe.
But these are not the shortcomings of this book; only my understanding of the world of this book.
I do hope the Game Master's Guide comes with a sample adventure.
Here is what I do know. Misfit Studios has done a a great job in the past with Unisystem products and Mutants & Masterminds ones. This rule set seems to be a perfect middle ground for them and I hope that we get to see it for more games.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
It was on this day...
12 years ago that I stayed home from work so I could be at my FLGS to buy a copy of the new D&D 3rd Edition Player's Handbook.
Sorry if I choose to be selective on how I remember this day.
In truth 9/11/2001 was also a watershed date for me personally. I had just gotten laid off from my "Dream job" in the Dot Com world (they had laid off 65% of their workforce that day). So I was home with a new baby when all the events went down.
I then spent the next few months (before I swallowed my pride and went back to teaching) working on various RPG products. One, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG, lead to many, many other projects that eventually landed me Ghosts of Albion.
Since 9/11/2001 was 11 years ago, it was also a Tuesday when it happened (perpetual calendars are 11 years long), so to me the "big anniversary" of something is not 10 years, but 11. Weird I know. But that is why it is on my mind more today than say this time last year.
Sorry if I choose to be selective on how I remember this day.
In truth 9/11/2001 was also a watershed date for me personally. I had just gotten laid off from my "Dream job" in the Dot Com world (they had laid off 65% of their workforce that day). So I was home with a new baby when all the events went down.
I then spent the next few months (before I swallowed my pride and went back to teaching) working on various RPG products. One, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG, lead to many, many other projects that eventually landed me Ghosts of Albion.
Since 9/11/2001 was 11 years ago, it was also a Tuesday when it happened (perpetual calendars are 11 years long), so to me the "big anniversary" of something is not 10 years, but 11. Weird I know. But that is why it is on my mind more today than say this time last year.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
So Long City of Heroes
It has been announced that City of Heroes, the Supers MMORPG is closing up shop.
http://na.cityofheroes.com/en/news/news_archive/thank_you.php
I never played CoH, but I did playtest the RPG version that Eden was working on back in the day.
Of course I stated up some characters.
What can I say? This was at the height of my involvement with The Dragon and the Phoenix.
I have to admit I liked how these turned out.
http://na.cityofheroes.com/en/news/news_archive/thank_you.php
I never played CoH, but I did playtest the RPG version that Eden was working on back in the day.
Of course I stated up some characters.
What can I say? This was at the height of my involvement with The Dragon and the Phoenix.
I have to admit I liked how these turned out.
Friday, August 31, 2012
D&D Zombies vs. The Walking/Running Dead
"Zombies are the new Vampires" - True Blood
Zombies are a great threat for lower level characters in any version of D&D. They can be deadly in groups, but are slow. They are affected by all the same magics other undead are, so Clerical turning or Radiant Powers really get to ..er...shine.
The trouble is that D&D-style zombies are stuck in in a old modality of just being undead shamblers. Think Shaggy from Scooby-Doo only more dead.
Zombies in the game All Flesh Must Be Eaten by Eden Studios are much more deadly and their bite is lethal, just not right away. Plus there are all sorts of Zombies in AFMBE including what we now call "quick" or ""fast" zombies.
Of course the question has been and will be asked again, "why not just use Ghouls?". Well simply put Ghouls are eaters of the dead. If thought about I'd add subtle demonic influences to them as well to reflect the Ghoul/Ghul relationship.
Improved Zombies
Let's take a page from modern interpretations via AFMBE and define a few new zombies. Instead of full blown stat blocks, I'll just talk about how to make changes to your current game's Zombie. Let's assume a couple of basics. First, Zombies have no intelligence, they are slow, attack last in any round and had HD roughly equal to twice a normal human (so 2 HD in older games). XP awarded for these needs to recalulated up.
The Hungry Dead
This zombies appear to be most like Ghouls. Their stats are the same as a regular zombie but once they kill a victim they begin to eat it. They turn as if they were one slot higher ("Ghoul" for older games).
Plague Zombies
These might be the scariest of all. They do not appear to be any different than a regular Zombie until they bite a victim. Then the differences are more apparent. They look and act like The Hungry Dead, but their bite spreads the zombie infection. Anyone that is bitten (a roll of a Natural 20) becomes infected and will become a mindless zombie in 1d6 rounds. They can be healed by a cure disease, but once dead they are dead forever. These zombies typically have twice the HD as their counterparts.
The Fast Dead
These zombies also appear as normal, until the move. These are no shamblers, these zombies know the value of running. They have an effective Dexterity of 16 and can attack normally (not last).
Alchemical Zombie
Stats-wise this is the same as any other zombie. The difference lie in how the zombie was made. The alchemical zombie comes for a vat of foul smelling liquids produced by an alchemist and not a necromancer. These zombies can not be turned.
These types can also be combined, so a Fast Plauge Zombie or a Hungry Alchemical zombie is possible.
The trouble is that D&D-style zombies are stuck in in a old modality of just being undead shamblers. Think Shaggy from Scooby-Doo only more dead.
Zombies in the game All Flesh Must Be Eaten by Eden Studios are much more deadly and their bite is lethal, just not right away. Plus there are all sorts of Zombies in AFMBE including what we now call "quick" or ""fast" zombies.
Of course the question has been and will be asked again, "why not just use Ghouls?". Well simply put Ghouls are eaters of the dead. If thought about I'd add subtle demonic influences to them as well to reflect the Ghoul/Ghul relationship.
Improved Zombies
Let's take a page from modern interpretations via AFMBE and define a few new zombies. Instead of full blown stat blocks, I'll just talk about how to make changes to your current game's Zombie. Let's assume a couple of basics. First, Zombies have no intelligence, they are slow, attack last in any round and had HD roughly equal to twice a normal human (so 2 HD in older games). XP awarded for these needs to recalulated up.
The Hungry Dead
This zombies appear to be most like Ghouls. Their stats are the same as a regular zombie but once they kill a victim they begin to eat it. They turn as if they were one slot higher ("Ghoul" for older games).
Plague Zombies
These might be the scariest of all. They do not appear to be any different than a regular Zombie until they bite a victim. Then the differences are more apparent. They look and act like The Hungry Dead, but their bite spreads the zombie infection. Anyone that is bitten (a roll of a Natural 20) becomes infected and will become a mindless zombie in 1d6 rounds. They can be healed by a cure disease, but once dead they are dead forever. These zombies typically have twice the HD as their counterparts.
The Fast Dead
These zombies also appear as normal, until the move. These are no shamblers, these zombies know the value of running. They have an effective Dexterity of 16 and can attack normally (not last).
Alchemical Zombie
Stats-wise this is the same as any other zombie. The difference lie in how the zombie was made. The alchemical zombie comes for a vat of foul smelling liquids produced by an alchemist and not a necromancer. These zombies can not be turned.
These types can also be combined, so a Fast Plauge Zombie or a Hungry Alchemical zombie is possible.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Not to sound like a broken record...
But there are a couple of Kickstarters worth having another look at.
First is the D&D Documentary
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewpascal/dungeons-and-dragons-a-documentary
18 days to go and still more than 100k to make.
You funding other games, show this one some love too!
Band of Zombies for All Flesh Must Be Eaten has just under 2 hours left.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1801360072/all-flesh-must-be-eaten-rpg-band-of-zombies-source
The stretch goals make this one worth some of your attention. And money.
First is the D&D Documentary
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewpascal/dungeons-and-dragons-a-documentary
18 days to go and still more than 100k to make.
You funding other games, show this one some love too!
Band of Zombies for All Flesh Must Be Eaten has just under 2 hours left.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1801360072/all-flesh-must-be-eaten-rpg-band-of-zombies-source
The stretch goals make this one worth some of your attention. And money.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Friday Links
It is the Friday before Gen Con. While I am gearing up for some serious vacation time coming to me. I figure I'll send you out some link today.
First off, David from There's Dungeons Down Under is back, at least for 1 post.
Kenzer & Co are giving away HackMaster Basic for free! Crazy I know.
The Kickstarter for Band of Zombies for All Flesh Must Be Eaten has 21 days left to go. Get in on the Zombie WWII goodness. This promises to be a great book.
My boys and I have decided to start our 1st Ed AD&D game at Gen Con. Seems fitting and I don't have to haul all my minis and maps with me.
But to do that I need character sheets. While I have one of each type of the original AD&D sheets left, I didn't want to use them. Good thing we have the Mad Irishman and his collection of RPG Sheets.
Happy Friday everyone!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Band of Zombies Kickstarter
The newest Kickstarter is now up for Eden Studios' "All Flesh Must Be Eaten" Zombie RPG.
Band of Zombies is coming for your WWII Zombie fun!
I was a playtester for this one and I can tell you it was a lot of fun. But what makes this one cool are all the add-ons, stretch goals and things you can get for being a backer.
Eden has a history of high quality products and this book looks like it will live up to that.
Band of Zombies is coming for your WWII Zombie fun!
I was a playtester for this one and I can tell you it was a lot of fun. But what makes this one cool are all the add-ons, stretch goals and things you can get for being a backer.
Eden has a history of high quality products and this book looks like it will live up to that.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Games You Never Get to Play
When people talk about influences on their games and gaming life they typically mention the works of Fritz Leiber or Jack Vance or Tolkein or the other Appendix N names.
Not me. Well, yes I have read those, but they were not biggest effect on my games.
My Appendix N is full of Hammer Horror and In Search Of... and any more dozens of bad-wrong-fun horror and occult material from the 70s. It should be no surprise then that I gravitate towards games that let me do that sort of thing, Chill, Call of Cthulhu and of course WitchCraft.
But just as I am a product of 70's and 80's horror, there were other things going on then. Still lots of "leftover hippie shit" as I used to call it. Zodiacs, crystals, psychic powers. All the stuff that gets mixed in with magic and the occult, plus aliens, Atlantis, secret societies, Erich von Däniken and all that.
Basically all the stuff left over when you take out the horror and the magic from the big occult boom of the 70's.
What has this have to do with gaming?
Lots!
There is one game I have always wanted to play but doubt that I ever will.
It's not a game per-se but rather a campaign.
The game is one set in the 70s where all the characters are teens. They are also, unknown to them until the game starts, the children of the first successful alien-human hybrids. They look completely human, but each one has unique pyschic powers. No magic, all psychic. The drama comes in when the teens discover what they are and the government comes in to take them to a secure facility.
So you can see where this gets it's genesis. There were a ton of shows in the 70s about kids with powers or people being chased by the government. I want to put it in the 70s so I can avoid cell phones, gps and the like. Plus it was the last time teens could hitchhike across the US without people calling the cops. I'd work in mysteries of Atlantis, crystals with magic powers, strange MIB agents, aliens out to kill them all that great stuff. Setting it in the 70s also lets me bring in "future tech" like more powerful computers and things we use today.
The list of influences of this game go on and on. Basically I'd go to Wikipedia's Psuedoscience category and pick and choose.
My game system of choice would be Conspiracy X since I can use most of the mythos intact. The Unexplained would also work well as would a low powered Mutants & Masterminds game. Something like Damnation Decade, but with more danger and horror, and none of the alt-history.
I'd love to play it or even write it. But I doubt I'll have the time.
If I were to write it all out I'd call it "Star Child" sounds very 70s.
What games or campaigns do you really want to play but don't think you will?
Not me. Well, yes I have read those, but they were not biggest effect on my games.
My Appendix N is full of Hammer Horror and In Search Of... and any more dozens of bad-wrong-fun horror and occult material from the 70s. It should be no surprise then that I gravitate towards games that let me do that sort of thing, Chill, Call of Cthulhu and of course WitchCraft.
But just as I am a product of 70's and 80's horror, there were other things going on then. Still lots of "leftover hippie shit" as I used to call it. Zodiacs, crystals, psychic powers. All the stuff that gets mixed in with magic and the occult, plus aliens, Atlantis, secret societies, Erich von Däniken and all that.
What has this have to do with gaming?
Lots!
There is one game I have always wanted to play but doubt that I ever will.
It's not a game per-se but rather a campaign.
The game is one set in the 70s where all the characters are teens. They are also, unknown to them until the game starts, the children of the first successful alien-human hybrids. They look completely human, but each one has unique pyschic powers. No magic, all psychic. The drama comes in when the teens discover what they are and the government comes in to take them to a secure facility.
So you can see where this gets it's genesis. There were a ton of shows in the 70s about kids with powers or people being chased by the government. I want to put it in the 70s so I can avoid cell phones, gps and the like. Plus it was the last time teens could hitchhike across the US without people calling the cops. I'd work in mysteries of Atlantis, crystals with magic powers, strange MIB agents, aliens out to kill them all that great stuff. Setting it in the 70s also lets me bring in "future tech" like more powerful computers and things we use today.
The list of influences of this game go on and on. Basically I'd go to Wikipedia's Psuedoscience category and pick and choose.
My game system of choice would be Conspiracy X since I can use most of the mythos intact. The Unexplained would also work well as would a low powered Mutants & Masterminds game. Something like Damnation Decade, but with more danger and horror, and none of the alt-history.
I'd love to play it or even write it. But I doubt I'll have the time.
If I were to write it all out I'd call it "Star Child" sounds very 70s.
What games or campaigns do you really want to play but don't think you will?
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Free RPG Day: Free Stuff Here!
Please head to your FLGS (am will be going to mine)to get some great RPGs and accessories.
Here at the Other Side we don't want you to feel left out if you can't get to a game store.
So here, by permission of Eden Studios you can download the Ghosts of Albion Quick Start and Adventure Derby Day!
Derby Day was written by Garner Johnson who was invaluable help to me while writing Ghosts.
If you were ever curious about my game Ghosts of Albion, then this is your chance. Please download and try this out.
If you were ever curious about my game Ghosts of Albion, then this is your chance. Please download and try this out.
You can also use these rules to play the first ever Buffy Adventure The Dark Druid.
Please enjoy these courtesy of the Other Side and Eden Studios.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The Dark Druid
Originally posted here in 2010.
The Dark Druid: The Director's Cut
A bit of history. Back in 2002 Eden was getting ready to release their newest game, The Buffy the Vampire Slayer game. As you may know, I had already been playing a Willow/Tara focused WitchCraft game for about a year, so I was pretty excited by this. Well I got asked by Eden to write the first Buffy adventure that would appear in "Games Unplugged" along with an interview with C.J. Carella talking about the game.
I took an idea I had been working on for my other game (tentatively called "All Soul's Night") and thus the Dark Druid was born.
I had been reading a ton of Irish myths then. Among those were the stories of Fionn MacCumhaill ("Finn MacCool") and his foster mothers Bodhmal and Liath. It occurred to me that Liath and Bodhmal were lovers, and to tie it more directly to my work in Buffy, they were reincarnated later on into the form of Willow and Tara. Since that time anytime I read a story about Fionn MacCumhaill I can't help but read Bodhmal and Liath as lovers.
The original featured, rather prominently, Willow and Tara, as to be expected. I had to make some changes to make it playable for others and to make it an "intro" or season opener type episode. The plot dealt with an enemy from the Cast's past as a portent to greater evil in the future. It was designed to be a opening episode of the season, but one that may or may not be directly related to the seasonal arc. We were going to use this i n part of the great "Djinn" story, but that never happened.
Fast forward a few years and I was finishing up work on Ghosts of Albion and another adventure that sprang from "All Soul's Night" called "Blight" (which I have played at Gen Con before). I felt it was time to bring back the Dark Druid and restore it to the mythology that I had created in my games. Now you can have it too. So it became a Prequel or an Episode 0 for my huge Willow & Tara series, The Dragon and the Phoenix. This adventure and the Dragon adventures were designed to feature Willow and Tara. My players were extremely pissed off at Tara being killed, so this was our way of getting our own way.
I updated it not only to fit better with my world-myths, and with some of the work I did on Ghosts of Albion and the adventure Blight. In fact you can run Blight and The Dark Druid as co-adventures, separated by time.
The story is rather direct and linear. This was partly due to the nature of the story and what is was supposed to do (introduce new players to the game) and part of just me writing for the Buffy game for the first time. I have opted not to change that here, despite nearly 10 years of Cinematic Unisystem adventure writing since then. It is supposed to be a quick, fun little adventure dealing with past lives.
The episode was well received and even has a bit on Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffyverse_role-playing_games#Adventures
It was the first. The start of a series of adventures that led me personally down a crazy path. It's hard to gauge the effect it has had, it was so fundamental. From this point my writing increased maybe a 100 or 500 fold. Hard to say really.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
More Free Downloads
In the interest of providing you, the reader of the Other Side, only the finest in gaming accessories I give you a couple more more character sheets I have used in the past.
These were designed for my "Willow & Tara RPG", which was a mix of Eden's Buffy, WitchCraft and Ghosts of Albion games.
The Character sheet is a one page deal. The Journal is nine pages to track everything for your Unisystem character.
These were designed for my "Willow & Tara RPG", which was a mix of Eden's Buffy, WitchCraft and Ghosts of Albion games.
The Character sheet is a one page deal. The Journal is nine pages to track everything for your Unisystem character.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Eldritch Skies
Eldritch Skies is the new SF/Lovecraft/alt-history game from Battlefield Press.
A few disclaimers are in order first I think.
1. I have worked with John Snead in the past ("The Magic Box" for Buffy) and personally think he is a great guy. 2. I reviewed a playtest copy of this several months ago to "check the math" on the Unisystem rules. 3. I have a project coming up with Battlefield Press.
So what can I say about Eldritch Skies?
Let's go basic. Certainly there is the feel of Aliens here more than say Avatar. One thing though for certain, this is not Star Trek, Star Wars or anything like that. Though to be fair, Trek did have a story by Robert Bloch and it was very Lovecraftian in tone. Also if that is what you want (SW or ST) then the rules will support that. This book is Lovecraft as SciFi (dark SciFi to be sure), but not so much as horror.
Chapter 1 deals with the recent history and the present day, 2030. The history of the world here is slightly different. Think of it as if all those Lovecraft stories were true and humanity found a way to start using some of that alien tech/magic to get to the stars. There is a history and the changes start out subtle till we get to the 90s. We get to the present day and now we are stepping out into the reaches of space and we find wonders and horrors.
Chapter 2 is Character Creation and Chapter 3 is Game Rules. The game system is Cinematic Unisystem. The same system that powers my own Ghosts of Albion and other games like Army of Darkness, Buffy and Angel. So if you are familiar with those games then you will be familiar how this one works too.
Like other CineUnisystem games there are three "levels" of characters, Civilians, Operatives and Veterans. Unlike other CineUnisystem this game uses the Secondary Attribute Speed, from Classic Unisystem.
For Qualities and Drawbacks there are all the expected ones, Fast Reaction Time, Nerves of Steel, etc. But there are also a lot of "Ab-Human" abilities, such as Deep One Hybrid and Sorcery (it is not the same as Buffy's) and some augmentations.
The rules are same as other Cine Unisystem games with some additions to support the game, ie lots of gear.
Chapter 4 is Arcane Secrets including the secrets of hyperspace. Not just how to travel, but the biggest issue of the hyperspace madness. This is the keystone of the game. What separates this from other Unisystem games and it from other Mythos games.
Chapter 5 deals with the Realms of the Mythos. These are the worlds known to humankind. This also includes the psychic Dream Realms. This is a very cool chapter that had to be a lot of fun to write. Tons of new worlds ready for you to use and have adventures on.
Chapter Six: Eldritch Threats and Wonders: The monsters and creatures of the settings. Includes the mythos creatures, humans and ab-humans. If you have any passing interest in mythos monsters or expanding your CineUnisystem games with more creatures, then this chapter is worth the price of the book alone. Yes, you can play it as is. Or use it in your Buffy, Army of Darkness or Ghosts of Albion games.
Chapter Seven is the Director's section on how to run a game. This includes setting the tone and what to do.
The Appendix has rules for using the Classic Unisystem and a bunch of tables for your ease. No character sheet though.
I think one of the troubles about playing games like D&D and even to a degree Call of Cthulhu is we have tended to categorize the mythos creatures as well, Mythos Creatures. They often times are "Stated up" as gods or some other similar sort of being. We tend to forget that while humans may have worshiped them in cults most were not in fact gods at all. Powerful alien beings yes, but not so much gods. Looking at them again as aliens is a deft move and this change of the point of view makes this book less Buffy-doing-Aliens and more Armageddon/ConspiracyX-doing-Event-Horizon.
What I really, really like about this is it treats the Mythos Creatures as aliens and magic as advanced science. The Thing is a good example of Lovecraft as SciFi story.
Also this book remembers that Lovecraft's stories were also not all about tentacle monsters and evisceration. Sure we have the Mi-Go, but this more about the madness that lies between the stars. Honestly to get a better feel of what you can do here, take the Sam Rockwell movie Moon and assume there are outside alien influences on the whole thing. We never see the aliens, except for maybe when Sam's character sees a Mi-Go with a brain tube at the very end.
I mentioned the playtest files because I'll admit I was not initially a fan of this game when I first read it. But I was focusing on the crunch rather than the fluff. The Unisystem parts were (and are) fine. But since it's release I have grown to like it more for both the crunch and the fluff.
Now that I have come back to it I really like it. I Am not 100% sure I'll play the game "as-is", I might re-do it a bit and set it in 2130 so I can include some ConX or Armageddon background. Or I might just take Chapters 5 and 6 and use them with my Ghosts of Albion games.
Needless to say this thing screams "Use me with All Tomorrow's Zombies" and it would be right. Using the Classic conversion guide in back makes ATZ a perfect add-on for this game.
If you like SciFi, Lovecraft, the Mythos or Unisystem, or all the above, then this is a great game to get.
A few disclaimers are in order first I think.
1. I have worked with John Snead in the past ("The Magic Box" for Buffy) and personally think he is a great guy. 2. I reviewed a playtest copy of this several months ago to "check the math" on the Unisystem rules. 3. I have a project coming up with Battlefield Press.
So what can I say about Eldritch Skies?
Let's go basic. Certainly there is the feel of Aliens here more than say Avatar. One thing though for certain, this is not Star Trek, Star Wars or anything like that. Though to be fair, Trek did have a story by Robert Bloch and it was very Lovecraftian in tone. Also if that is what you want (SW or ST) then the rules will support that. This book is Lovecraft as SciFi (dark SciFi to be sure), but not so much as horror.
Chapter 1 deals with the recent history and the present day, 2030. The history of the world here is slightly different. Think of it as if all those Lovecraft stories were true and humanity found a way to start using some of that alien tech/magic to get to the stars. There is a history and the changes start out subtle till we get to the 90s. We get to the present day and now we are stepping out into the reaches of space and we find wonders and horrors.
Chapter 2 is Character Creation and Chapter 3 is Game Rules. The game system is Cinematic Unisystem. The same system that powers my own Ghosts of Albion and other games like Army of Darkness, Buffy and Angel. So if you are familiar with those games then you will be familiar how this one works too.
Like other CineUnisystem games there are three "levels" of characters, Civilians, Operatives and Veterans. Unlike other CineUnisystem this game uses the Secondary Attribute Speed, from Classic Unisystem.
For Qualities and Drawbacks there are all the expected ones, Fast Reaction Time, Nerves of Steel, etc. But there are also a lot of "Ab-Human" abilities, such as Deep One Hybrid and Sorcery (it is not the same as Buffy's) and some augmentations.
The rules are same as other Cine Unisystem games with some additions to support the game, ie lots of gear.
Chapter 4 is Arcane Secrets including the secrets of hyperspace. Not just how to travel, but the biggest issue of the hyperspace madness. This is the keystone of the game. What separates this from other Unisystem games and it from other Mythos games.
Chapter 5 deals with the Realms of the Mythos. These are the worlds known to humankind. This also includes the psychic Dream Realms. This is a very cool chapter that had to be a lot of fun to write. Tons of new worlds ready for you to use and have adventures on.
Chapter Six: Eldritch Threats and Wonders: The monsters and creatures of the settings. Includes the mythos creatures, humans and ab-humans. If you have any passing interest in mythos monsters or expanding your CineUnisystem games with more creatures, then this chapter is worth the price of the book alone. Yes, you can play it as is. Or use it in your Buffy, Army of Darkness or Ghosts of Albion games.
Chapter Seven is the Director's section on how to run a game. This includes setting the tone and what to do.
The Appendix has rules for using the Classic Unisystem and a bunch of tables for your ease. No character sheet though.
I think one of the troubles about playing games like D&D and even to a degree Call of Cthulhu is we have tended to categorize the mythos creatures as well, Mythos Creatures. They often times are "Stated up" as gods or some other similar sort of being. We tend to forget that while humans may have worshiped them in cults most were not in fact gods at all. Powerful alien beings yes, but not so much gods. Looking at them again as aliens is a deft move and this change of the point of view makes this book less Buffy-doing-Aliens and more Armageddon/ConspiracyX-doing-Event-Horizon.
What I really, really like about this is it treats the Mythos Creatures as aliens and magic as advanced science. The Thing is a good example of Lovecraft as SciFi story.
Also this book remembers that Lovecraft's stories were also not all about tentacle monsters and evisceration. Sure we have the Mi-Go, but this more about the madness that lies between the stars. Honestly to get a better feel of what you can do here, take the Sam Rockwell movie Moon and assume there are outside alien influences on the whole thing. We never see the aliens, except for maybe when Sam's character sees a Mi-Go with a brain tube at the very end.
I mentioned the playtest files because I'll admit I was not initially a fan of this game when I first read it. But I was focusing on the crunch rather than the fluff. The Unisystem parts were (and are) fine. But since it's release I have grown to like it more for both the crunch and the fluff.
Now that I have come back to it I really like it. I Am not 100% sure I'll play the game "as-is", I might re-do it a bit and set it in 2130 so I can include some ConX or Armageddon background. Or I might just take Chapters 5 and 6 and use them with my Ghosts of Albion games.
Needless to say this thing screams "Use me with All Tomorrow's Zombies" and it would be right. Using the Classic conversion guide in back makes ATZ a perfect add-on for this game.
If you like SciFi, Lovecraft, the Mythos or Unisystem, or all the above, then this is a great game to get.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Z is for Zombie
"Zombies are the new Vampires." - True Blood
Funny quote and mostly true. Thanks to the various "Dead" and "Resident Evil" movies, not to mention new TV shows, Zombies have never been more popular.
Actually I have never cared for Zombies. Sure I enjoy them as much as the next horror guy, but I'd rather read about ghosts, vampires or almost anything else really.
Same is true for games. But I have to admit that one of my favorite games is All Flesh Must Be Eaten.
WotC may have D&D and White Wolf has the vampires, but when it comes to wipping out hordes of the walking dead then you need this book and Eden has it.
All Flesh Must Be Eaten (AFMBE) is THE premire Zombie roleplaying game. Everything you need to know is here and it uses the fantastic Unisystem game system so beginners can play it fast and pros still enjoy it. Plus it is 100% compatible with all of Eden's games like "WitchCraft", "Armageddon", "Ghosts of Albion" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". With the d20 conversion guide in back, it is also compatible with tons of d20 games.
I enjoy it because it is so flexible. The power rating can be altered to suit your mood. So street level normals armed with baseball bats to gods walking the earth again.
What makes AFMBE so nice is the collection of Dead Worlds that Eden publishes for it. And like the core book, these are also compatible with other Eden games.
All Tomorrow's Zombies takes AFMBE and makes it Zombies...IN SPACE!! And in Cyberspace and all sorts of "SF" tropes with zombies thrown in. An excellent "Zombie World" book from Jason Vey and Eden. If you like AFMBE and are a fan of Sci-Fi then this is a must buy. Even if you don't then there are plenty of high tech devices to use in other games, such as Conspiracy X.
Pulp Zombies is a collection of Pulp Era Deadworlds. This one focuses on the two-fisted action adventures of the 1930s. A special emphasis is given on the mystical side of the pulps and of course Nazi Zombies.
Enter the Zombie is Kung Fu action theatre at's its best. Emulate the action from Enter to Dragon to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to the latest John Wu film to Big Trouble in Little China. There is more though too. Expanded Chi powers, role-playing in mytho-historical Japan and China or the streets of Hong Kong and San Francisco. Plenty of options for characters, players and Zombie Masters.
Fistful o' Zombies where the Quick and the Dead are often the same thing. Plenty of new character archetypes for a wild west game. Whether the wild west of Clint Eastwood or Gene Autry. New qualities and drawbacks and plenty of weapons from the time. I use this along with other Victorian era games. The gem though in this one is the conversion notes between the original Deadlands game and AFMBE.
Zombie Smackdown. I was not sure what to think about this one. But I am glad I got it. I am not a fan of Professional Wrestling, but the mix of wrestling and zombies is too cool to pass up. Plus there are plenty of good rules for matches and even Luchador wrestlers. You can do your Santo-inspired character justice.
Dungeons and Zombies brings D&D to the Classic Unisystem fold. There are rules for using more WitchCraft like magic in your AFMBE game. This book covers all the tropes including many new races such as elves, dwarves, halflings and orcs. High Fantast, Low Fantasy. King Arthur and Lord of the Rings-style play. Combine it with WitchCraft to get a full range of magical abilities. Combine with Terra Primate for tons of new adventure ideas and races. And of course use the AFMBE-Revised appendix to converst any d20 information you need. Far more flexible than most d20 based fantasy games. Really well written and one of my favorite Dead World books from Eden.
ARRGH! Thar Be Zombies! I'll admit I am not a fan of pirates. I enjoy the recent round of pirate movies, but that is the exception rather than the rule. What makes this book so good is that pirates and zombie just seem to go together well. And while I may not be a fan of pirates I am a fan of ghost ships crewed by zombies. So I use this in a modern WitchCraft game instead. The ship to ship battle rules are great and provide an extra layer when using them with All Tomorrow's Zombies. The voodoo in this book is a short hand version of the Vodun from WitchCraft, but still nice to have.
One of the Living is something akin to a "Players Handbook" for AFMBE. The focus is more on new skills, qualities and drawbacks for the characters; not so much for the zombies. Though there is plenty of Zombie Master only information. In particular is how to run long campaigns instead of the one shots that AFMBE are really good at.
Worlds of the Dead: A Collection of Deadworlds is a collection of smaller "Dead Worlds" that don't have enough material for their own books. Great for a starting idea, fleshing out an game of your own or adding to one of the other Dead Worlds from the other books. Since it is also 100% compatible with Eden's other games, they can be added to those as well.
Atlas of the Walking Dead. Part Monster Manual, part scholarly overview of the myths of the world. Full of creatures including some I had never heard of (and that is saying something!) A must have for any of the Dead Worlds or any of Eden's other games. If you are a Zombie Master then you need this book. If you play horror games then is one of the best works on various zombies you can buy.
Book of Archetypes, Book 1 and Book 2. Pre-generated archetypes for AFMBE, but usable in any Eden Unisystem game. Players can use these as starting points for characters. Zombie/Game Masters can use them as pre-gens, NPCs or anything they set their mind too. Over 30 archetypes in each book plus new qualities and drawbacks.
With these you will be ready for the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse.
Actually I have never cared for Zombies. Sure I enjoy them as much as the next horror guy, but I'd rather read about ghosts, vampires or almost anything else really.
Same is true for games. But I have to admit that one of my favorite games is All Flesh Must Be Eaten.
WotC may have D&D and White Wolf has the vampires, but when it comes to wipping out hordes of the walking dead then you need this book and Eden has it.
All Flesh Must Be Eaten (AFMBE) is THE premire Zombie roleplaying game. Everything you need to know is here and it uses the fantastic Unisystem game system so beginners can play it fast and pros still enjoy it. Plus it is 100% compatible with all of Eden's games like "WitchCraft", "Armageddon", "Ghosts of Albion" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". With the d20 conversion guide in back, it is also compatible with tons of d20 games.
I enjoy it because it is so flexible. The power rating can be altered to suit your mood. So street level normals armed with baseball bats to gods walking the earth again.
What makes AFMBE so nice is the collection of Dead Worlds that Eden publishes for it. And like the core book, these are also compatible with other Eden games.
All Tomorrow's Zombies takes AFMBE and makes it Zombies...IN SPACE!! And in Cyberspace and all sorts of "SF" tropes with zombies thrown in. An excellent "Zombie World" book from Jason Vey and Eden. If you like AFMBE and are a fan of Sci-Fi then this is a must buy. Even if you don't then there are plenty of high tech devices to use in other games, such as Conspiracy X.
Pulp Zombies is a collection of Pulp Era Deadworlds. This one focuses on the two-fisted action adventures of the 1930s. A special emphasis is given on the mystical side of the pulps and of course Nazi Zombies.
Enter the Zombie is Kung Fu action theatre at's its best. Emulate the action from Enter to Dragon to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to the latest John Wu film to Big Trouble in Little China. There is more though too. Expanded Chi powers, role-playing in mytho-historical Japan and China or the streets of Hong Kong and San Francisco. Plenty of options for characters, players and Zombie Masters.
Fistful o' Zombies where the Quick and the Dead are often the same thing. Plenty of new character archetypes for a wild west game. Whether the wild west of Clint Eastwood or Gene Autry. New qualities and drawbacks and plenty of weapons from the time. I use this along with other Victorian era games. The gem though in this one is the conversion notes between the original Deadlands game and AFMBE.
Zombie Smackdown. I was not sure what to think about this one. But I am glad I got it. I am not a fan of Professional Wrestling, but the mix of wrestling and zombies is too cool to pass up. Plus there are plenty of good rules for matches and even Luchador wrestlers. You can do your Santo-inspired character justice.
Dungeons and Zombies brings D&D to the Classic Unisystem fold. There are rules for using more WitchCraft like magic in your AFMBE game. This book covers all the tropes including many new races such as elves, dwarves, halflings and orcs. High Fantast, Low Fantasy. King Arthur and Lord of the Rings-style play. Combine it with WitchCraft to get a full range of magical abilities. Combine with Terra Primate for tons of new adventure ideas and races. And of course use the AFMBE-Revised appendix to converst any d20 information you need. Far more flexible than most d20 based fantasy games. Really well written and one of my favorite Dead World books from Eden.
ARRGH! Thar Be Zombies! I'll admit I am not a fan of pirates. I enjoy the recent round of pirate movies, but that is the exception rather than the rule. What makes this book so good is that pirates and zombie just seem to go together well. And while I may not be a fan of pirates I am a fan of ghost ships crewed by zombies. So I use this in a modern WitchCraft game instead. The ship to ship battle rules are great and provide an extra layer when using them with All Tomorrow's Zombies. The voodoo in this book is a short hand version of the Vodun from WitchCraft, but still nice to have.
One of the Living is something akin to a "Players Handbook" for AFMBE. The focus is more on new skills, qualities and drawbacks for the characters; not so much for the zombies. Though there is plenty of Zombie Master only information. In particular is how to run long campaigns instead of the one shots that AFMBE are really good at.
Worlds of the Dead: A Collection of Deadworlds is a collection of smaller "Dead Worlds" that don't have enough material for their own books. Great for a starting idea, fleshing out an game of your own or adding to one of the other Dead Worlds from the other books. Since it is also 100% compatible with Eden's other games, they can be added to those as well.
Atlas of the Walking Dead. Part Monster Manual, part scholarly overview of the myths of the world. Full of creatures including some I had never heard of (and that is saying something!) A must have for any of the Dead Worlds or any of Eden's other games. If you are a Zombie Master then you need this book. If you play horror games then is one of the best works on various zombies you can buy.
Book of Archetypes, Book 1 and Book 2. Pre-generated archetypes for AFMBE, but usable in any Eden Unisystem game. Players can use these as starting points for characters. Zombie/Game Masters can use them as pre-gens, NPCs or anything they set their mind too. Over 30 archetypes in each book plus new qualities and drawbacks.
With these you will be ready for the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse.
Friday, April 27, 2012
X is for Conspiracy X
(and X-files too!)
One of my all time favorite shows is the X-Files. It was a fantastic myth of everything that made for good TV in the 90s. Sure it went on a little too long, but when it was good it was the best thing on TV.
So it should be no surprise that I enjoy similar themed games. I like Alternity Dark Matter and I mentioned the Unexplained earlier. But my favorite has been Eden Studios' Conspiracy X.
So today X is for Conspiracy X.
ConX (as it is called) comes in three different editions. There is the original rules, a GURPS version and the newest Unisystem version which makes system-wise compatible with WitchCraft RPG (but still not thematically compatible). I have all three, but I prefer the newest Unisystem version, not just for the system, but it brings ConX out of the paranoid 90s and into the post millennial, post-9/11 world.
So what is ConX about? Well the basic system is Classic Unisystem so I won't detail that all here.
The premise is that the U.S. Government has been in contact with three different alien races over the last few decades and how they have all these various plans for the world. In addition to all of this there are rival government agencies and all sorts of unrelated (or related) weirdness going on. The focus is much more psychic powers and MKULTRA than the magic and covens of WitchCraft.
Con X 2.0 also has rules for more equipment, weapons, and governmental agencies. The coolest mechanic in the game though has to be the Pulling Strings one. Very useful when working through the myriad of governmental bodies you will need to deal with. These alone make it worth the price if you play any other Classic Unisystem game.
Ok, so my love for the WitchCraft RPG is well known and well documented. Creating a WitchCraft world of adventures, situations or even meta-plots of my own are nearly second nature to me.
But I also like Conspiracy X. A lot. The games are not really thematically compatible and both have very different points of view on magic, gods, monsters and the like.
If you like conspiracies and the X-Files, Con X is your game. If you want to run a paranormal game, but don't want to get bogged down in myths, legends and want your magic to be somewhat more controlled then Con X is your game.
Here is another way to look at it. You are a character in a Modern Paranormal game. Suddenly a glowing figure appears before you. What is this creature? If you say Alien, then play ConX. If you say Demon, then play WitchCraft. Both games can be used for horror, ConX is dark sci-fi, WitchCraft is dark fantasy.
Plus it will be a feature of this years Free RPG Day! So stop into your local game store and pick a free game.
So it should be no surprise that I enjoy similar themed games. I like Alternity Dark Matter and I mentioned the Unexplained earlier. But my favorite has been Eden Studios' Conspiracy X.
So today X is for Conspiracy X.
ConX (as it is called) comes in three different editions. There is the original rules, a GURPS version and the newest Unisystem version which makes system-wise compatible with WitchCraft RPG (but still not thematically compatible). I have all three, but I prefer the newest Unisystem version, not just for the system, but it brings ConX out of the paranoid 90s and into the post millennial, post-9/11 world.
So what is ConX about? Well the basic system is Classic Unisystem so I won't detail that all here.
The premise is that the U.S. Government has been in contact with three different alien races over the last few decades and how they have all these various plans for the world. In addition to all of this there are rival government agencies and all sorts of unrelated (or related) weirdness going on. The focus is much more psychic powers and MKULTRA than the magic and covens of WitchCraft.
Con X 2.0 also has rules for more equipment, weapons, and governmental agencies. The coolest mechanic in the game though has to be the Pulling Strings one. Very useful when working through the myriad of governmental bodies you will need to deal with. These alone make it worth the price if you play any other Classic Unisystem game.
Ok, so my love for the WitchCraft RPG is well known and well documented. Creating a WitchCraft world of adventures, situations or even meta-plots of my own are nearly second nature to me.
But I also like Conspiracy X. A lot. The games are not really thematically compatible and both have very different points of view on magic, gods, monsters and the like.
If you like conspiracies and the X-Files, Con X is your game. If you want to run a paranormal game, but don't want to get bogged down in myths, legends and want your magic to be somewhat more controlled then Con X is your game.
Here is another way to look at it. You are a character in a Modern Paranormal game. Suddenly a glowing figure appears before you. What is this creature? If you say Alien, then play ConX. If you say Demon, then play WitchCraft. Both games can be used for horror, ConX is dark sci-fi, WitchCraft is dark fantasy.
Plus it will be a feature of this years Free RPG Day! So stop into your local game store and pick a free game.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Conspiracy Y?
Reading a book about conspiracy theories and how they can be easily debunked.
But it has me in the mood for a serious Conspiracy X game with heave doses of paranoia, subjective reality and black ops every where.
Might have to try that sometime.
But it has me in the mood for a serious Conspiracy X game with heave doses of paranoia, subjective reality and black ops every where.
Might have to try that sometime.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Sabrina the Witch
Oddly enough one witch I almost never talk about is Sabrina The Teen Aged witch.
Not because I don't like her, I just don't know all that much about her. I knew of the Archie comic, but never read it. I watched the old Filmation Saturday Morning Cartoon and enjoyed that. I never watched the TV series though with Melissa Joan Hart or the cartoon spun off from it.
Truthfully I never gave her much thought other than starting up a sheet for her in Buffy with a note to watch some of the episodes. My idea then (2001-2002) was to have the MJH version meet up with the Cast. That never happened since I went full on into another series. She never even guest stared in my next series about witches, which is kind of a shame really.
It probably would have stayed that way until fellow Eden writer Thom Marrion hadn't included her in his "Swinging 70's" character write-ups. Course there she was "Sabrinia, the Late-20 to Early-30s Witch".
http://edenstudiosdiscussionboards.yuku.com/sreply/34780/Swinging-Seventies-
But I liked the idea so much that I thought I'd update that version of her. I always wanted an older matriarch sorta witch character in my game. Someone that was not active in the normal affairs, but had history. Plus I also wanted someone that pretty much had the entire supernatural world owing her favors.
And of course I was dying to use Stevie Nicks as casting in something. Given my history with her, it had to be something special. Sabrina as a character might not have been my first choice, but I am happy how it all worked out.
Sabrina the Late Middle Aged Witch
(based on Thoms original)
Note: All respect to Thom Marrion for this. This is an idea I had kicking around in my head for a while. Plus I have ALWAYS wanted to use Stevie Nicks as the Queen of Witches in my games. I was listing to the "Wild Heart" today and decided to do this.
Sabrina Spelman-Krinkle
Age: 63, played by Stevie Nicks
Very Experienced Investigator (Semi-Retired)
Name: Sabrina Spelman-Krinkle
Motivation: Not much motivates her now
Creature Type: Human
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Constitution 2, Intelligence 4, Perception 4, Willpower 5
Ability Scores: Muscle 10, Combat 12, Brains 16
Life Points: 26
Drama Points: 20
Special Abilities: Attractiveness +2, Contacts (Supernatural) 5, Emotional Problems (Depression, -2), Love (Tragic), Magic Family, Occult Investigator, Occult Library(Amazing), Secret (She's a witch who belongs to a powerful magical family), Magic 8, Supernatural Senses (Basic and the Sight)
Maneuvers
Name;Score;Damage Notes
Dodge;12;;Defense Action
Grapple;14;;Resisted by Dodge
Kick;11;8;Bash
Magic;21;Special;Varies by spell
Punch;12;6;Bash
Thom gives us an idea of what Sabrina was doing in the 70s since that time Sabrina married her long time love Harvey Krinkle which was no end of controversy, a Spelman marring a mortal (though it had been done before) and eventually she rose up in ranks in the Witches Council. After the death of Samantha Spelman-Stephens, Sabrina was the logical choice as the successor to the Queen of Witches. Logical to everyone except to Sabrina herself and maybe Harvey (but not like the Council cared for his opinion), it was in fact their mistreatment of her husband and their non-magical daughter (though their other children were magical) that she finally took on the role. She had hoped to change the Council from the top down. The trouble was the Witches Council is an old organization and moves slow. It took her months to even get them to install a computer in her office.
After years of fighting the system Sabrina is now tired of fighting. Her reason to fight, Harvey, died a couple of years ago and now she is not much more than a figurehead with the true operations of the Witches Council being run by Tabitha Stephens.
However dont let her apathy fool you, Sabrina saw more of the supernatural before age 17 than most teams of occult investigators see their entire lives. Like the previous Queen of Witches, her (great) Aunt Samantha, Sabrina has the full might and power of the Council at her disposal. Though it would take something considerable to get her attention.
In your games: Sabrina looks over her life and sees the wasted years fighting the council, working to keep the council and her family both happy and she has ended up here, older, alone and pleasing no one. Her stats have not changed much to reflect this stagnancy of her life. Think Queen Victoria after Albert died. I even have her wearing black.
Also I like the idea that if you bring her into the game it needs to be for a really good reason.
Not because I don't like her, I just don't know all that much about her. I knew of the Archie comic, but never read it. I watched the old Filmation Saturday Morning Cartoon and enjoyed that. I never watched the TV series though with Melissa Joan Hart or the cartoon spun off from it.
Truthfully I never gave her much thought other than starting up a sheet for her in Buffy with a note to watch some of the episodes. My idea then (2001-2002) was to have the MJH version meet up with the Cast. That never happened since I went full on into another series. She never even guest stared in my next series about witches, which is kind of a shame really.
It probably would have stayed that way until fellow Eden writer Thom Marrion hadn't included her in his "Swinging 70's" character write-ups. Course there she was "Sabrinia, the Late-20 to Early-30s Witch".
http://edenstudiosdiscussionboards.yuku.com/sreply/34780/Swinging-Seventies-
But I liked the idea so much that I thought I'd update that version of her. I always wanted an older matriarch sorta witch character in my game. Someone that was not active in the normal affairs, but had history. Plus I also wanted someone that pretty much had the entire supernatural world owing her favors.
And of course I was dying to use Stevie Nicks as casting in something. Given my history with her, it had to be something special. Sabrina as a character might not have been my first choice, but I am happy how it all worked out.
Sabrina the Late Middle Aged Witch
(based on Thoms original)
Note: All respect to Thom Marrion for this. This is an idea I had kicking around in my head for a while. Plus I have ALWAYS wanted to use Stevie Nicks as the Queen of Witches in my games. I was listing to the "Wild Heart" today and decided to do this.
Sabrina Spelman-Krinkle
Age: 63, played by Stevie Nicks
Very Experienced Investigator (Semi-Retired)
Name: Sabrina Spelman-Krinkle
Motivation: Not much motivates her now
Creature Type: Human
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Constitution 2, Intelligence 4, Perception 4, Willpower 5
Ability Scores: Muscle 10, Combat 12, Brains 16
Life Points: 26
Drama Points: 20
Special Abilities: Attractiveness +2, Contacts (Supernatural) 5, Emotional Problems (Depression, -2), Love (Tragic), Magic Family, Occult Investigator, Occult Library(Amazing), Secret (She's a witch who belongs to a powerful magical family), Magic 8, Supernatural Senses (Basic and the Sight)
Maneuvers
Name;Score;Damage Notes
Dodge;12;;Defense Action
Grapple;14;;Resisted by Dodge
Kick;11;8;Bash
Magic;21;Special;Varies by spell
Punch;12;6;Bash
Thom gives us an idea of what Sabrina was doing in the 70s since that time Sabrina married her long time love Harvey Krinkle which was no end of controversy, a Spelman marring a mortal (though it had been done before) and eventually she rose up in ranks in the Witches Council. After the death of Samantha Spelman-Stephens, Sabrina was the logical choice as the successor to the Queen of Witches. Logical to everyone except to Sabrina herself and maybe Harvey (but not like the Council cared for his opinion), it was in fact their mistreatment of her husband and their non-magical daughter (though their other children were magical) that she finally took on the role. She had hoped to change the Council from the top down. The trouble was the Witches Council is an old organization and moves slow. It took her months to even get them to install a computer in her office.
After years of fighting the system Sabrina is now tired of fighting. Her reason to fight, Harvey, died a couple of years ago and now she is not much more than a figurehead with the true operations of the Witches Council being run by Tabitha Stephens.
However dont let her apathy fool you, Sabrina saw more of the supernatural before age 17 than most teams of occult investigators see their entire lives. Like the previous Queen of Witches, her (great) Aunt Samantha, Sabrina has the full might and power of the Council at her disposal. Though it would take something considerable to get her attention.
In your games: Sabrina looks over her life and sees the wasted years fighting the council, working to keep the council and her family both happy and she has ended up here, older, alone and pleasing no one. Her stats have not changed much to reflect this stagnancy of her life. Think Queen Victoria after Albert died. I even have her wearing black.
Also I like the idea that if you bring her into the game it needs to be for a really good reason.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Déjà vu: Scaring the Dickens out of Your Players: Ghosts of Albion
Here is my post for the Déjà Vu Blogfest.
This post was originally posted on December 19th 2009 and was viewed by what I could tell as many as 9 people since. I felt it deserved another look due to the timing (it is close to the Anniversary of A Christmas Carol's publication) and now Ghosts of Albion is out in stores, so it is all a good fit.
Scaring the Dickens out of Your Players: Ghosts of Albion
On this day in 1843 Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, also known more simply as A Christmas Carol.
The story of Scrooge, Tiny Tim and the Ghosts is now a timeless Christmas classic retold in prose, stage, film (the 1951 version with Alistair Sim is my personal favorite), even animation and various parodies, homage and pastiches.
Such is the timelessness of this tale that it is perfect fodder for a Christmas themed episode. Even it is good enough for Doctor Who it is good enough for us right. Given that is a quintessential English tale of ghosts in the early Victorian age then it is perfect for Ghosts of Albion.
Jacob Marley
Motivation: To walk the Earth for his sin of greed, warn Scrooge of his fate.
Creature Type: Restless Spectre
Life Points: 30
Drama Points: 1
Attributes
Str: (2)
Dex: (2)
Con: (2)
Int: 4
Per: 3
Will: 4
Ability Scores
Muscle: (10) Combat: (0) Brains: 16
Qualities and Drawbacks: Attractiveness -1, Cursed, Ghost, Telekinesis, Unique Kill
Manoeuvers
Name Score Damage Notes
Deflect 19 - Magic defence action
Telekinesis 17 varies Effectiveness Str 5
Jacob Marley is the former business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge. He had died seven years before on Christmas Eve and is now confined to Earth to pay for his sins of greed and not helping his fellow man. He wears the shackles of his sins in form of heavy chains attached to ledger books, money boxes and heavy keys.
Marley cannot be killed or dispatched by normal means. He is similar to a Poltergeist, but even the means to remove those troublesome spirits are not effective on him. Marley consequently will not attack, nor even reveal himself to others but Scrooge. Though anyone with Magic or Innate Magic will be able to see him and interact with him.
Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist is a German word meaning the Spirit of the Times, used to describe the general feeling or atmosphere of a particular period in time. In the Ghosts of Albion game Zeitgeist is quite literal. Each time can manifest as a spirit or ghost. This is not a ghost of someone that has passed as most spirits, but more of a collective consciousness given magical form. A Zeitgeist can have any power, quality or drawback that a ghost may have. Since they are more of reflection of a particular time a Zeitgeist also can't be destroyed, though many exist only under very specific conditions.
Ghost of Christmas Past
Creature Type: Zeitgeist
Life Points: NA
Drama Points: 5
Attributes
Str: -
Dex: -
Con: -
Int: 5
Per: 6
Will: 5
Ability Scores
Muscle: NA Combat: NA Brains: 18
Qualities and Drawbacks: Archaic, Ghost, Manifest, Telekinesis, Unique Kill
The Ghost of Christmas Past appears to be both young and old at the same time. His hair is long and white, but his face is smooth. He speaks in a somewhat archaic manner.
This spirit shows their charge their memories of the past. A bitter old man like Scrooge is shown times when he was young and denied love from his abusive father and the loss of his sister. There are wonderful scenes in the 1951 movie with Scrooge and Marley that typify what this spirit does.
Ghost of Christmas Present
Quote: Come! You have never beheld the likes of me!
Creature Type: Zeitgeist
Life Points: NA
Drama Points: 5
Attributes
Str: (4)
Dex: (2)
Con: (5)
Int: 5
Per: 6
Will: 5
Ability Scores
Muscle: NA Combat: NA Brains: 20
Qualities and Drawbacks: Ghost, Manifest, Telekinesis, Unique Kill
This spirit is the most living of the lot. He appears as large man wearing green robes. His image invokes comparisons to Father Christmas or even the Pagan Green Man or Winter King. Though his appearance can vary greatly from year to year. He tells Scrooge that he has over 800 brothers, implying that he will no longer exist after midnight on Christmas and next year there will be a new Ghost of Christmas.
His task is to show Scrooge what he is missing and what his own greed has wroght.
The Ghost of Christmas Present has two horrible companions with him. They represent the greatest sources of suffering in the world. A boy, Ignorance and a girl Want. The spirit warns Scrooge to beware them both but especially of the girl.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Creature Type: Zeitgeist
Life Points: NA
Drama Points: 5
Attributes
Str: -
Dex: -
Con: -
Int: 4
Per: 4
Will: 7
Ability Scores
Muscle: NA Combat: NA Brains: 14
Qualities and Drawbacks: Chill of the Grave, Ghost, Manifest, Telekinesis, Unique Kill
This spectre is more horrifying than all the others. He is a grim Death-like figure shrouded in a robe and hood that never speaks but shows Scrooge visions of his future; the death of Tiny Tim, his own lonely death and callousness in which people view his passing.
Using the Ghosts in Your Story
Dickens used A Christmas Carol not only to pay some bills, but to address some serious social issues. The same set up can be used as a special Christmas episode in your on going game. The set up may seem a bit clichéd now nearly 170 years later, but they still work. The trick is not adding the Ghosts to your game, but figuring out the proper character or plot hook.
Keep in mind that as Directors you are not likely to get the same change of heart Scrooge had out of your characters, so instead focus on using the Ghosts to tell an important tale or show the characters a brief glimpse into their (possible) future.
A good example for a modern Cinematic game would be a demon hunter who is dedicated only to her mission ignoring family, friends and loved ones, in a sense becoming like the monsters she hunts. The Ghosts then in order show her what her life has been like in the past before her calling, what her friends and family are doing without her around, and then her grim and dark future. Too easy? Yeah, the future is likely to dark and grim regardless, but this where the twist comes in. Our demon hunter is still alive, but everyone she loves is either dead or lost to her. She finds that she is becoming less human (metaphorically speaking) and have more in common than the monsters she kills. Maybe she breaks into nest of vampires and they have set up a small Christmas tree and are giving each other presents. Sure the presents might be live kittens, but it is the thought that counts.
The purpose is to show our chosen demon hunter that without family, friends and even love, none of what she does matters. You can kill a 1,000 monsters, there is another 10,000 right behind him. Loved ones are often all you really have.
Merry Christmas!
Who else is doing this do over day? See all the participants here: http://dlcruisingaltitude.blogspot.com/2011/11/deja-vu-blogfest.html
This post was originally posted on December 19th 2009 and was viewed by what I could tell as many as 9 people since. I felt it deserved another look due to the timing (it is close to the Anniversary of A Christmas Carol's publication) and now Ghosts of Albion is out in stores, so it is all a good fit.
Scaring the Dickens out of Your Players: Ghosts of Albion
On this day in 1843 Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, also known more simply as A Christmas Carol.
The story of Scrooge, Tiny Tim and the Ghosts is now a timeless Christmas classic retold in prose, stage, film (the 1951 version with Alistair Sim is my personal favorite), even animation and various parodies, homage and pastiches.
Such is the timelessness of this tale that it is perfect fodder for a Christmas themed episode. Even it is good enough for Doctor Who it is good enough for us right. Given that is a quintessential English tale of ghosts in the early Victorian age then it is perfect for Ghosts of Albion.
Jacob Marley
Motivation: To walk the Earth for his sin of greed, warn Scrooge of his fate.
Creature Type: Restless Spectre
Life Points: 30
Drama Points: 1
Attributes
Str: (2)
Dex: (2)
Con: (2)
Int: 4
Per: 3
Will: 4
Ability Scores
Muscle: (10) Combat: (0) Brains: 16
Qualities and Drawbacks: Attractiveness -1, Cursed, Ghost, Telekinesis, Unique Kill
Manoeuvers
Name Score Damage Notes
Deflect 19 - Magic defence action
Telekinesis 17 varies Effectiveness Str 5
Jacob Marley is the former business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge. He had died seven years before on Christmas Eve and is now confined to Earth to pay for his sins of greed and not helping his fellow man. He wears the shackles of his sins in form of heavy chains attached to ledger books, money boxes and heavy keys.
Marley cannot be killed or dispatched by normal means. He is similar to a Poltergeist, but even the means to remove those troublesome spirits are not effective on him. Marley consequently will not attack, nor even reveal himself to others but Scrooge. Though anyone with Magic or Innate Magic will be able to see him and interact with him.
Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist is a German word meaning the Spirit of the Times, used to describe the general feeling or atmosphere of a particular period in time. In the Ghosts of Albion game Zeitgeist is quite literal. Each time can manifest as a spirit or ghost. This is not a ghost of someone that has passed as most spirits, but more of a collective consciousness given magical form. A Zeitgeist can have any power, quality or drawback that a ghost may have. Since they are more of reflection of a particular time a Zeitgeist also can't be destroyed, though many exist only under very specific conditions.
Creature Type: Zeitgeist
Life Points: NA
Drama Points: 5
Attributes
Str: -
Dex: -
Con: -
Int: 5
Per: 6
Will: 5
Ability Scores
Muscle: NA Combat: NA Brains: 18
Qualities and Drawbacks: Archaic, Ghost, Manifest, Telekinesis, Unique Kill
The Ghost of Christmas Past appears to be both young and old at the same time. His hair is long and white, but his face is smooth. He speaks in a somewhat archaic manner.
This spirit shows their charge their memories of the past. A bitter old man like Scrooge is shown times when he was young and denied love from his abusive father and the loss of his sister. There are wonderful scenes in the 1951 movie with Scrooge and Marley that typify what this spirit does.
Quote: Come! You have never beheld the likes of me!
Creature Type: Zeitgeist
Life Points: NA
Drama Points: 5
Attributes
Str: (4)
Dex: (2)
Con: (5)
Int: 5
Per: 6
Will: 5
Ability Scores
Muscle: NA Combat: NA Brains: 20
Qualities and Drawbacks: Ghost, Manifest, Telekinesis, Unique Kill
This spirit is the most living of the lot. He appears as large man wearing green robes. His image invokes comparisons to Father Christmas or even the Pagan Green Man or Winter King. Though his appearance can vary greatly from year to year. He tells Scrooge that he has over 800 brothers, implying that he will no longer exist after midnight on Christmas and next year there will be a new Ghost of Christmas.
His task is to show Scrooge what he is missing and what his own greed has wroght.
The Ghost of Christmas Present has two horrible companions with him. They represent the greatest sources of suffering in the world. A boy, Ignorance and a girl Want. The spirit warns Scrooge to beware them both but especially of the girl.
Creature Type: Zeitgeist
Life Points: NA
Drama Points: 5
Attributes
Str: -
Dex: -
Con: -
Int: 4
Per: 4
Will: 7
Ability Scores
Muscle: NA Combat: NA Brains: 14
Qualities and Drawbacks: Chill of the Grave, Ghost, Manifest, Telekinesis, Unique Kill
This spectre is more horrifying than all the others. He is a grim Death-like figure shrouded in a robe and hood that never speaks but shows Scrooge visions of his future; the death of Tiny Tim, his own lonely death and callousness in which people view his passing.
Using the Ghosts in Your Story
Dickens used A Christmas Carol not only to pay some bills, but to address some serious social issues. The same set up can be used as a special Christmas episode in your on going game. The set up may seem a bit clichéd now nearly 170 years later, but they still work. The trick is not adding the Ghosts to your game, but figuring out the proper character or plot hook.
Keep in mind that as Directors you are not likely to get the same change of heart Scrooge had out of your characters, so instead focus on using the Ghosts to tell an important tale or show the characters a brief glimpse into their (possible) future.
A good example for a modern Cinematic game would be a demon hunter who is dedicated only to her mission ignoring family, friends and loved ones, in a sense becoming like the monsters she hunts. The Ghosts then in order show her what her life has been like in the past before her calling, what her friends and family are doing without her around, and then her grim and dark future. Too easy? Yeah, the future is likely to dark and grim regardless, but this where the twist comes in. Our demon hunter is still alive, but everyone she loves is either dead or lost to her. She finds that she is becoming less human (metaphorically speaking) and have more in common than the monsters she kills. Maybe she breaks into nest of vampires and they have set up a small Christmas tree and are giving each other presents. Sure the presents might be live kittens, but it is the thought that counts.
The purpose is to show our chosen demon hunter that without family, friends and even love, none of what she does matters. You can kill a 1,000 monsters, there is another 10,000 right behind him. Loved ones are often all you really have.
Merry Christmas!
Who else is doing this do over day? See all the participants here: http://dlcruisingaltitude.blogspot.com/2011/11/deja-vu-blogfest.html
Friday, December 2, 2011
Conspiracy X 2.0 Kickstarter 2, Paranormal Sourcebook
Eden had a hugely successful Kickstarter for Conspiracy X that they are doing it again. This time for the Paranormal Sourcebook.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1801360072/conspiracy-x-rpg-the-paranormal-sourcebook?ref=users
Among other things, you can get a hardcover copy of the book, pdf and my favorite, a deck of Zener Cards.
A great add-on to the game really. Yeah you could make or buy your own, but getting these is still a really cool deal.
So check it out!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1801360072/conspiracy-x-rpg-the-paranormal-sourcebook?ref=users
Among other things, you can get a hardcover copy of the book, pdf and my favorite, a deck of Zener Cards.
A great add-on to the game really. Yeah you could make or buy your own, but getting these is still a really cool deal.
So check it out!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Delays
Hey everyone.
I know. I am late with a few projects.
Not to get into too deeply, but have had some illnesses and surgeries at home (everyone is fine, except for me and I have a bad cold) and work has been really, really busy.
So without further ado here is the status of various projects.
Eldritch Witchery
Done. In the hands of the editor now. There might be rewrites.
The Witch
85-90% done.
I am working on some of the spells and had to redo how I do ritual magic in Basic Eras games.
This one I am going to hold off on till Dec. 22. The release will include blog posting on Befana, The Christmas Witch.
Vampire Queen Adventure
Done. Need to get it typed up and sent off.
Here There Be Dragons...
Slower progress here. But we have a lot of ideas and have been working on it a lot.
Bought some more art yesterday for it too.
We are hoping to release it on April 23, 2012; St. George's Day.
In the meantime Ghosts of Albion should be out in stores by the end of this month!
I know. I am late with a few projects.
Not to get into too deeply, but have had some illnesses and surgeries at home (everyone is fine, except for me and I have a bad cold) and work has been really, really busy.
So without further ado here is the status of various projects.
Eldritch Witchery
Done. In the hands of the editor now. There might be rewrites.
The Witch
85-90% done.
I am working on some of the spells and had to redo how I do ritual magic in Basic Eras games.
This one I am going to hold off on till Dec. 22. The release will include blog posting on Befana, The Christmas Witch.
Vampire Queen Adventure
Done. Need to get it typed up and sent off.
Here There Be Dragons...
Slower progress here. But we have a lot of ideas and have been working on it a lot.
Bought some more art yesterday for it too.
We are hoping to release it on April 23, 2012; St. George's Day.
In the meantime Ghosts of Albion should be out in stores by the end of this month!
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