As I was standing in the middle of the Academy last night, listening to the Wonder Stuff, I realised that it was roughly a year since I started my blogging exploits and my exploration of my various gaming hobbies. With that in mind, I thought it would be cute to examine where each of them is ... one year later!
Collectible Card Games?
DEAD as a dead thing from dead land. The WoW CCG passed me by with barely a whimper. The new iteration of Raw Deal looks interesting but without a group to play with and with limited time the likelihood of me rekindling the glory days seems to have passed. If there was a major casualty of the last year, it was CCGs.
Roleplaying?
Growing from strength to strength really. Have one game that has been played steadily for a while now (Pendragon). Have the embers of a 'fill in week' group that could well be doing Burning Wheel. I'm also starting a little rp project with my girls which could be fun or a disaster. Hey, and then there is my fledgling RP game which is currently in the very first stages of playtest. Loads of RP stuff going on.
Comics?
Still reading them, still enjoying them. No real change. Actually there has been an associated change in that I have started reading novels again, which waned a little for a while. Lots of input into the old grey matter.
Fanfiction?
Oh, big changes there! Rather than being the hobby that I aspire to, it's one that I am not actively involved in again. So I'm writing for the DCInfinity site with Green Lantern and Zatanna and it's a whole lot of fun. There seems to be the old inversely proportional relationship between my RP exploits and my fanfic exploits going on at the minute - some things never change really.
World of Warcraft?
Well, I'm still playing it but a lot of the enthusiasm has waned since the schism that shattered the quiet fun house that was the Dungeoneers. I'm once again at an impasse with it. I like playing it, but I'm going to have to pay it a little more attention if I am going to get the most from The Burning Crusade and I'm not sure I want to pay it more attention. Strange.
Anyway, thats about it really. Certainly things have stabalised a little with the removal of the CCG side of things and the retirement of my website empire. However, I'm always a builder so who knows what might be around the corner?
Neil
Monday, November 27, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Baby Steps
A few posts ago, I mentioned that I wanted to write a roleplaying game and since then, I have been reading and listening to quite a bit about the subject. Well, finally this weekend the ideas and concepts came together into something that resembled a system. It's nowhere near the outside world seeing it yet and has to get a large swathe of testing under it's belt BUT at least we have a start.
One thing that has become readily apparent is that whilst, in some of the current models of indie games, this could be a future money spinner - thats not what I want to achieve. I've set myself (initially) a little challenge.
1. The main rules shall be no longer than 12 pages of A5
2. I have to say everything I want to say about the system for the players in those 12 pages
3. There will be a 12 page 'GM' book as well - more of a discussion document than rules really.
4. Setting books will be 8 pages long.
Settings books? Well, what struck me was that the system I have created mirrors the gaming practices of my group pretty well, and thats a penchant for world building within game. Indeed, much of character creation revolves around the creation of the world as well as the character. However, it's very very difficult to create a world in a vacuum and even harder to create characters therein. So why not have tiny little seeder books which give the barest bones of a campaign for people to use/discard/adapt and moreover grow their characters from, changing the world as they go in character generation.
This is in no way, shape or form a handy dumping ground for ideas that I have had that never got past the conceptual stage...honest! However, the first one I have in mind is MI:666 - modern horror in a world where the Powers That Be *know* that Hell exists....
Anyway, progress is a good thing!
Neil
One thing that has become readily apparent is that whilst, in some of the current models of indie games, this could be a future money spinner - thats not what I want to achieve. I've set myself (initially) a little challenge.
1. The main rules shall be no longer than 12 pages of A5
2. I have to say everything I want to say about the system for the players in those 12 pages
3. There will be a 12 page 'GM' book as well - more of a discussion document than rules really.
4. Setting books will be 8 pages long.
Settings books? Well, what struck me was that the system I have created mirrors the gaming practices of my group pretty well, and thats a penchant for world building within game. Indeed, much of character creation revolves around the creation of the world as well as the character. However, it's very very difficult to create a world in a vacuum and even harder to create characters therein. So why not have tiny little seeder books which give the barest bones of a campaign for people to use/discard/adapt and moreover grow their characters from, changing the world as they go in character generation.
This is in no way, shape or form a handy dumping ground for ideas that I have had that never got past the conceptual stage...honest! However, the first one I have in mind is MI:666 - modern horror in a world where the Powers That Be *know* that Hell exists....
Anyway, progress is a good thing!
Neil
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
When Wheel meets Dragon...
It could be a long one this...
I have been voraciously reading Burning Empires and wallowing in the wonderful structure of the game. One very interesting bit is the splitting and allocation of screen time into Conflicts, Building, Intersital and Colour phases. In the text, Luke Crane actually says that some experienced roleplayers may be rolling their eyes at the constructed nature of it, but it is what we do naturally anyway - just writ large. I was indeed, one of those eye-rollers.
Cut forwards to our session of Pendragon. It's 489 and nothing much was happening. Next year, 490, is a HUGE year with battles and stuff apparently. This is the lull before the storm. Bearing this in mind, I was quite interested in seeing what Nigel would come up with, especially as we are a player down. The game started as usual with the post Winter Phase, pre Winter Court activity and the perennial question 'Is there anything you want to do?'
And yes, my eyebrow raised as I thought 'Hmm...it's a potential building phase, isn't it?'. So I thought, what could I do? And then I made a decision - I would not do anything trivial. If I did something it would have to serve the story and generate some sort of conflict. So I stayed at home and looked after the babies.
At Winter Court it become apparent that Sir Jarradan has been blown off by Rhiannon and she has turned her attentions to Sir Merrick. This was quite a revelation and hammered home one of the parts of the game that sometimes gets missed. It's been over two YEARS since the scheming harridan started whispering in the ear of the aspiring household knight, and he is still an aspiring household knight. So she has cut her losses and gone elsewhere. In 'normal' games radical change like that takes months of play but in Pendragon it can be realistically done in two weeks. Thats interesting...
And then a saxon trundles up to Sarum and the game changes for me totally. The Black Bear clan have been so pissed off by my overt twatting of the Saxons that they have declared 'blood feud' on me and my family. Now THATS interesting. Naturally I accepted it with vigour but now I have reason to start really *playing*.
- I start taking a greater interest in the disposition of the Saxons with Sir Madoc and Sir Brastias (that'll be an intersital moment, I believe)
- I send a message back to my clan in the Long Isles warning them of the impending clash with the Saxons. (building and bringing my family in Ireland into play for the first time)
- I look to extend my communication with the band of mercenary Kerns that fight for Uther (more building)
And then, I authored a scene where Brion (in preperation for his imminent rise to Pagan Knight) goes to Glastonbury to receive the blessing of Morrigan. He sacrifices the sword given to him by Sir Madoc for his actions at Bayeux and accepts, voluntarily, a Geas. Now, I have no idea whether this will benefit me in the future but it HAMMERED home more about my character than anything else I have done before, in my eyes. It was a colour scene that could be used later for something greater.
Onwards and a possible moment with Rhiannon as Merrick invites me to dine with them. Epona (bless her) declines on my behalf. Now, lets look at that. I've been constantly bleating on about how proud I am about having the kids and my great wife. We appear to act as one when it comes to matters of her sister. Thats very cool whether intentional or not and acts as a sure sign that if something nasty is going to happen to my family, for dramas sake, it should happen to Epona... but after what happens next, will anyone be silly enough?
We go to war with Cornwall and after their surrender we march to reinforce Lindsey. There the three of us intercept a Saxon raiding party - six foot soldiers and a chieftain. We take their shield wall head on with a charge and smash it and I engage the Chieftain. Sir Merrick tries to intervene and I snarl him off - *my* fight. We kill them, but the Chieftain is unconscious. I wake him up and then despatch him with this rather chilling message.
"This is a message, to your Gods from mine. Kill me if you can... Survive if I let you!" and off comes his head. ECWs Taz never delievered that line in a more appropriate setting! Later we stumble on 15 saxon raiders from the Black Bear tribe. Rather than battle them (which would have been very foolish) I confront them and hurl the Chieftains head at their feet, proclaiming that this was just the first of many that would fall until they called off their feud.
And then the game ended before the Winter phase.
Maybe the catalyst for this was during the last session when Sir Brion was described as 'likeable' and 'sociable' etc. by the court. Maybe it was to ensure that Brion=Hardass Warrior archetype is not forgotten or missed again? I dunno, but a definite darker turn for the character has ensued - all fuelled by the need to protect his family (thats Love:Family 18 folks...) and suddenly he is SO MUCH MORE entertaining to play!
Great great game. Can't wait till the next session. It struck us, on the way home, that the two games in question - Pendragon and Burning Wheel - aren't actually that different in their outlook. You have to force the drama or as Ian has pointed out on fandomlife.net, it is like being in the middle of your own medieval documentary!
Later, I plan to burn Brion as a Burning Wheel character, to see whether my idea is right.
N.
I have been voraciously reading Burning Empires and wallowing in the wonderful structure of the game. One very interesting bit is the splitting and allocation of screen time into Conflicts, Building, Intersital and Colour phases. In the text, Luke Crane actually says that some experienced roleplayers may be rolling their eyes at the constructed nature of it, but it is what we do naturally anyway - just writ large. I was indeed, one of those eye-rollers.
Cut forwards to our session of Pendragon. It's 489 and nothing much was happening. Next year, 490, is a HUGE year with battles and stuff apparently. This is the lull before the storm. Bearing this in mind, I was quite interested in seeing what Nigel would come up with, especially as we are a player down. The game started as usual with the post Winter Phase, pre Winter Court activity and the perennial question 'Is there anything you want to do?'
And yes, my eyebrow raised as I thought 'Hmm...it's a potential building phase, isn't it?'. So I thought, what could I do? And then I made a decision - I would not do anything trivial. If I did something it would have to serve the story and generate some sort of conflict. So I stayed at home and looked after the babies.
At Winter Court it become apparent that Sir Jarradan has been blown off by Rhiannon and she has turned her attentions to Sir Merrick. This was quite a revelation and hammered home one of the parts of the game that sometimes gets missed. It's been over two YEARS since the scheming harridan started whispering in the ear of the aspiring household knight, and he is still an aspiring household knight. So she has cut her losses and gone elsewhere. In 'normal' games radical change like that takes months of play but in Pendragon it can be realistically done in two weeks. Thats interesting...
And then a saxon trundles up to Sarum and the game changes for me totally. The Black Bear clan have been so pissed off by my overt twatting of the Saxons that they have declared 'blood feud' on me and my family. Now THATS interesting. Naturally I accepted it with vigour but now I have reason to start really *playing*.
- I start taking a greater interest in the disposition of the Saxons with Sir Madoc and Sir Brastias (that'll be an intersital moment, I believe)
- I send a message back to my clan in the Long Isles warning them of the impending clash with the Saxons. (building and bringing my family in Ireland into play for the first time)
- I look to extend my communication with the band of mercenary Kerns that fight for Uther (more building)
And then, I authored a scene where Brion (in preperation for his imminent rise to Pagan Knight) goes to Glastonbury to receive the blessing of Morrigan. He sacrifices the sword given to him by Sir Madoc for his actions at Bayeux and accepts, voluntarily, a Geas. Now, I have no idea whether this will benefit me in the future but it HAMMERED home more about my character than anything else I have done before, in my eyes. It was a colour scene that could be used later for something greater.
Onwards and a possible moment with Rhiannon as Merrick invites me to dine with them. Epona (bless her) declines on my behalf. Now, lets look at that. I've been constantly bleating on about how proud I am about having the kids and my great wife. We appear to act as one when it comes to matters of her sister. Thats very cool whether intentional or not and acts as a sure sign that if something nasty is going to happen to my family, for dramas sake, it should happen to Epona... but after what happens next, will anyone be silly enough?
We go to war with Cornwall and after their surrender we march to reinforce Lindsey. There the three of us intercept a Saxon raiding party - six foot soldiers and a chieftain. We take their shield wall head on with a charge and smash it and I engage the Chieftain. Sir Merrick tries to intervene and I snarl him off - *my* fight. We kill them, but the Chieftain is unconscious. I wake him up and then despatch him with this rather chilling message.
"This is a message, to your Gods from mine. Kill me if you can... Survive if I let you!" and off comes his head. ECWs Taz never delievered that line in a more appropriate setting! Later we stumble on 15 saxon raiders from the Black Bear tribe. Rather than battle them (which would have been very foolish) I confront them and hurl the Chieftains head at their feet, proclaiming that this was just the first of many that would fall until they called off their feud.
And then the game ended before the Winter phase.
Maybe the catalyst for this was during the last session when Sir Brion was described as 'likeable' and 'sociable' etc. by the court. Maybe it was to ensure that Brion=Hardass Warrior archetype is not forgotten or missed again? I dunno, but a definite darker turn for the character has ensued - all fuelled by the need to protect his family (thats Love:Family 18 folks...) and suddenly he is SO MUCH MORE entertaining to play!
Great great game. Can't wait till the next session. It struck us, on the way home, that the two games in question - Pendragon and Burning Wheel - aren't actually that different in their outlook. You have to force the drama or as Ian has pointed out on fandomlife.net, it is like being in the middle of your own medieval documentary!
Later, I plan to burn Brion as a Burning Wheel character, to see whether my idea is right.
N.
Friday, November 03, 2006
What can RPGs learn from MMOs?
Another little thread on rpg.net, another musing thought rumbling in my head that has been answered.
I finally realised why I like parts of WoW and why some of my roleplaying habits may have changed.
WoW delivers the 'explore places, kill things, take their stuff and get tougher in the process' needs that 'traditional' rpgs - like D&D3e - deliver normally and do it 100% better. The gameplay has the social interaction (via voicecomms) and the fantastical scenery but without worrying about modifiers and AoO and other such nonsense. Basically, WoW does D&D better than D&D does.
(and as an aside, when we have played D&D post-WoW, it has been very difficult to take the game seriously when combat happens and not degenerate into a reference-fest.)
However, with that itch well and truly scratched, my other requirements from roleplaying - social advancement, character development, storylines and such - have to be dealt with within the games I am choosing to play.
Is that one of the contributing factors to my current chomping away at new and relatively obscure RPG material? Maybe it is. Who knows?
Neil
I finally realised why I like parts of WoW and why some of my roleplaying habits may have changed.
WoW delivers the 'explore places, kill things, take their stuff and get tougher in the process' needs that 'traditional' rpgs - like D&D3e - deliver normally and do it 100% better. The gameplay has the social interaction (via voicecomms) and the fantastical scenery but without worrying about modifiers and AoO and other such nonsense. Basically, WoW does D&D better than D&D does.
(and as an aside, when we have played D&D post-WoW, it has been very difficult to take the game seriously when combat happens and not degenerate into a reference-fest.)
However, with that itch well and truly scratched, my other requirements from roleplaying - social advancement, character development, storylines and such - have to be dealt with within the games I am choosing to play.
Is that one of the contributing factors to my current chomping away at new and relatively obscure RPG material? Maybe it is. Who knows?
Neil
Talkin' bout a Revolution (Part Two)
What thing revolve? Wheels. What things make my brain revolve? Burning Wheels!
I picked up Burning Empires last night and oh, is it a thing of beauty. £26 of pure gaming BLING! It's like a roleplaying version of the Gideon bible. Hard backed, novel sized and arted (so no worries about reading this bad boy in public!) 650+ pages of crisp, glossy, colour game with copious, relevant artwork. And with all these embelishments, it's still a fully functional and very well produced game.
What it does is take the Burning Wheel mechanic and graft.... no, graft is the wrong work - merge it with a very distinct setting. The human galaxy is being invaded by these little worm things called the Vaylen (very Mr Mind for the comics literate of you) who control bodies and subvert wills. Your characters for the central protaganists in the resistance against the almost unstoppable march of the Worm. Oh theres a whole lot more to it than that, but thats the central plot.
However, it is the realisation of the plot that makes this so sweet. As a group you 'burn' the world that the invasion takes place on - developing the exact physical, social and governmental structure that will fire your play. Your characters are all very experienced, central figures - 7-8 lifepaths (normal BW uses 4-5). The campaign structure is built around the progression of the Invasion - moving from infiltration of the populace to the usurption of the decision makers and then the military invasion. As a campaign it looks awesome. Reading the first couple of chapters just fills you with ideas and when you're done with the Worm-thing, I reckon the system and what it creates could well be used to model any number of plucky rebellions against the evil Empire of Doom campaigns.
It is a beautiful thing indeed. The sad thing is that with our teeth firmly into the Great Pendragon Campaign (Battle of Lindsey coming soon!) the chances of me ever getting to run this monster under our current structure is low. I'd either have to set up a second RP night (not likely considering the time constraints of this one) or find a new group of players to try it out on (and thats a hit and miss affair at best.)
One for the future maybe?
Neil
I picked up Burning Empires last night and oh, is it a thing of beauty. £26 of pure gaming BLING! It's like a roleplaying version of the Gideon bible. Hard backed, novel sized and arted (so no worries about reading this bad boy in public!) 650+ pages of crisp, glossy, colour game with copious, relevant artwork. And with all these embelishments, it's still a fully functional and very well produced game.
What it does is take the Burning Wheel mechanic and graft.... no, graft is the wrong work - merge it with a very distinct setting. The human galaxy is being invaded by these little worm things called the Vaylen (very Mr Mind for the comics literate of you) who control bodies and subvert wills. Your characters for the central protaganists in the resistance against the almost unstoppable march of the Worm. Oh theres a whole lot more to it than that, but thats the central plot.
However, it is the realisation of the plot that makes this so sweet. As a group you 'burn' the world that the invasion takes place on - developing the exact physical, social and governmental structure that will fire your play. Your characters are all very experienced, central figures - 7-8 lifepaths (normal BW uses 4-5). The campaign structure is built around the progression of the Invasion - moving from infiltration of the populace to the usurption of the decision makers and then the military invasion. As a campaign it looks awesome. Reading the first couple of chapters just fills you with ideas and when you're done with the Worm-thing, I reckon the system and what it creates could well be used to model any number of plucky rebellions against the evil Empire of Doom campaigns.
It is a beautiful thing indeed. The sad thing is that with our teeth firmly into the Great Pendragon Campaign (Battle of Lindsey coming soon!) the chances of me ever getting to run this monster under our current structure is low. I'd either have to set up a second RP night (not likely considering the time constraints of this one) or find a new group of players to try it out on (and thats a hit and miss affair at best.)
One for the future maybe?
Neil
Talkin' bout a Revolution (Part One)
Two posts, two subjects - one applicable title! Thats Value!
Regardless of my fervour in avoiding them, I keep getting dragged back to CCGs. Whether it is an underlying need to participate in some form of collective competition, an addiction to collecting or simply a desire to be closer to a massive group of friends around the world, they always pop up now and again.
The WoW CCG has been released and it is very simple, very smooth and looks very nice. This, essentially, is the local game if it is anything and my participation would be reliant on the guys down the pub buying into it as well. I'm not sure they will, because a lot of them have dumped out of the CCG game in favour of the MMORPG world totally. It's still a tantalising prospect - getting in one the ground floor of something new and exciting. Possibly meeting new players as well. The one deciding factor could well be the expense - £2.99 a booster is too much in my beer-economics view of the world.
And then there is Revolution.
The new incarnation of Raw Deal is coming for Christmas and it is wonderful. Through my previous associations with Comic Images, I have been privy to a full set of the final spoilers and I have to say that the reimagining of the game is spectacular. It's like a reset to Premier with five years of experience and design heaped into the mix. The game promises to be MUCH faster, have far fewer dull negative play experiences (the new mechanics make mono-decks and pure control decks almost impossible to achieve), smaller quicker tournaments, better prizes and some engaging new deck construction techniques.
And the reason why this game doesn't fall foul of the 'local players needed' problem? Well, there are some nearby players in Middlesborough and Scarborough and York. Thats relatively near obviously, but I'm a big lad, I can travel. And this morning I received the great news that the Middlesborough manager has decided to run Revolution-only tournaments. That buys me in, in all probability.
The overriding stipulation for my participation however will be fun over involvement. Controlling my urge to help out, get involved or any other sort of organisation has to be kept under control. A year ago, I was pretty much at the centre of all things Raw Deal and it consumed my life and spare time. I can't afford to let that happen again. Of course, that means I may have to actually BUY cards - a new and scary prospect if ever there was one....
We shall see what comes around (see the revolution motif? hehehe)
Neil
Regardless of my fervour in avoiding them, I keep getting dragged back to CCGs. Whether it is an underlying need to participate in some form of collective competition, an addiction to collecting or simply a desire to be closer to a massive group of friends around the world, they always pop up now and again.
The WoW CCG has been released and it is very simple, very smooth and looks very nice. This, essentially, is the local game if it is anything and my participation would be reliant on the guys down the pub buying into it as well. I'm not sure they will, because a lot of them have dumped out of the CCG game in favour of the MMORPG world totally. It's still a tantalising prospect - getting in one the ground floor of something new and exciting. Possibly meeting new players as well. The one deciding factor could well be the expense - £2.99 a booster is too much in my beer-economics view of the world.
And then there is Revolution.
The new incarnation of Raw Deal is coming for Christmas and it is wonderful. Through my previous associations with Comic Images, I have been privy to a full set of the final spoilers and I have to say that the reimagining of the game is spectacular. It's like a reset to Premier with five years of experience and design heaped into the mix. The game promises to be MUCH faster, have far fewer dull negative play experiences (the new mechanics make mono-decks and pure control decks almost impossible to achieve), smaller quicker tournaments, better prizes and some engaging new deck construction techniques.
And the reason why this game doesn't fall foul of the 'local players needed' problem? Well, there are some nearby players in Middlesborough and Scarborough and York. Thats relatively near obviously, but I'm a big lad, I can travel. And this morning I received the great news that the Middlesborough manager has decided to run Revolution-only tournaments. That buys me in, in all probability.
The overriding stipulation for my participation however will be fun over involvement. Controlling my urge to help out, get involved or any other sort of organisation has to be kept under control. A year ago, I was pretty much at the centre of all things Raw Deal and it consumed my life and spare time. I can't afford to let that happen again. Of course, that means I may have to actually BUY cards - a new and scary prospect if ever there was one....
We shall see what comes around (see the revolution motif? hehehe)
Neil
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