Literally a family, the Freemakers, stars of... a Lego Star Wars TV series. Interesting development. Unlike Rebels I presume this will not be canon...
Someone finding a connection to the Force and having to pick a side in the Galactic Civil War is certainly a workable concept.
A family as the basis for an adventuring party could be very interesting, if the players are up for it. With command structures often getting loose in RPG parties, would you be willing to play another PC’s child?
Friday, 12 February 2016
Thursday, 11 February 2016
Les Fantômes
Les Fantômes, one of the Allegiances I created for the new Trinity Continuum book, is being previewed on the Onyx Path front page. Seems kind of strange to be plugging something I did there!
Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Every rebellion begins with a single soldier.
Star Wars: Republic Commando nearly had one of two very different sequels - following Order 66 or rebelling against it. Obviously the second lets you carry on being a hero, while the first immediately suggests some fun gameplay if you don’t mind being the out-and-out bad guys.
(The bloody handprint on white trooper armour is quite the look...)
Building up a fighting force from the very beginning could be an interesting hook for a series. In a non-shooter game like an RPG, this could involve making alliances, acquiring supplies and disrupting enemy plans as well as direct combative action.
On the flipside I’ve thought about mundane soldiers hunting wizards before - specifically wondering how the S.A.S. would react to that time Death Eaters destroyed the Millennium Bridge in London on the way to Diagon Alley.
(The bloody handprint on white trooper armour is quite the look...)
Building up a fighting force from the very beginning could be an interesting hook for a series. In a non-shooter game like an RPG, this could involve making alliances, acquiring supplies and disrupting enemy plans as well as direct combative action.
On the flipside I’ve thought about mundane soldiers hunting wizards before - specifically wondering how the S.A.S. would react to that time Death Eaters destroyed the Millennium Bridge in London on the way to Diagon Alley.
7th Sea Second Edition. Not 2nd Edition.
A new edition of the 7th Sea RPG is on Kickstarter, hit its $30,000 funding in seven minutes, and is currently at nine times that.
Tuesday, 9 February 2016
Bryan Fuller's Star Trek
Bryan Fuller will be showrunning the as yet untitled new Star Trek series to launch next year. He has written for and worked in the setting before on Deep Space Nine and particularly Voyager, and has since gone on to create Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies and adapt Hannibal and the forthcoming American Gods. He can produce interesting and sometimes offbeat work within setting constraints and unique and wild stuff given free rein, so I suspect this show could be pretty interesting even for non-fans. We shall see what the future holds...
The X Files episode I always wanted to write...
Actually there were several, summarised in this RPG.net thread jamming on ideas, but I had a few... a relatively isolated mythology story about how other countries deal with UFO crashes, a mutant MOTW that would try to eat Mulder instead of Scully... and a riff on this particular trope...
A lawyer’s office. Mr Lee, the solicitor, shuffles his papers.
“As you may know, Mr Graves died leaving no children, so his estate is to be divided between his nieces and nephews here present.”
Seven pairs of eyes dart around the room, most of them filled with greed and disdain.
“However, the proviso of the will is that those seeking to inherit must spend the longest night of the year in Mr Graves’s childhood home, Graves End.”
“The haunted house?” asks Melanie Graves, one of the inheritors. Michael Torrance, an older cousin, snorts with derision.
“Those who are still within the house, and of sound mind and body, at sunrise, will divide the inheritance equally among themselves. Those were Mr Graves’s conditions. To ensure fair play, I have requested that two representatives of a suitable policing service be retained to stay in the house with you.”
All eyes turn on the man and woman standing by the door.
“Due to their expertise in this particular field, the FBI has sent Special Agents Mulder and Scully.”
Mulder grins sheepishly and Scully smirks at his discomfort.
GRAVES END
OUTSIDE ARKHAM, MASSACHUSETTS
A large Gothic manor perched on a hill surrounded by dense leafless woodland. As the line of cars draws up to the flat field at the bottom of the narrow drive, unseasonal lightning forks down and thunder crashes overhead.
“Nice touch...”
“Well Mulder, that’s another fine mess you’ve gotten me into...”
A lawyer’s office. Mr Lee, the solicitor, shuffles his papers.
“As you may know, Mr Graves died leaving no children, so his estate is to be divided between his nieces and nephews here present.”
Seven pairs of eyes dart around the room, most of them filled with greed and disdain.
“However, the proviso of the will is that those seeking to inherit must spend the longest night of the year in Mr Graves’s childhood home, Graves End.”
“The haunted house?” asks Melanie Graves, one of the inheritors. Michael Torrance, an older cousin, snorts with derision.
“Those who are still within the house, and of sound mind and body, at sunrise, will divide the inheritance equally among themselves. Those were Mr Graves’s conditions. To ensure fair play, I have requested that two representatives of a suitable policing service be retained to stay in the house with you.”
All eyes turn on the man and woman standing by the door.
“Due to their expertise in this particular field, the FBI has sent Special Agents Mulder and Scully.”
Mulder grins sheepishly and Scully smirks at his discomfort.
GRAVES END
OUTSIDE ARKHAM, MASSACHUSETTS
A large Gothic manor perched on a hill surrounded by dense leafless woodland. As the line of cars draws up to the flat field at the bottom of the narrow drive, unseasonal lightning forks down and thunder crashes overhead.
“Nice touch...”
“Well Mulder, that’s another fine mess you’ve gotten me into...”
Monday, 8 February 2016
Chariot - doomed weird Atlantis
Crowdfunding now, Chariot from Wood Ingham. Short version from here:
The mechanics are based upon a hand of Tarot cards, and are scene-based. You get a hand of cards; you add attribute + points pool + card; if you get one of the Major Arcana or a Court Card, you get bonues and non-standard things happening. No dice, just cards.
As for the setting, it's Atlantis, albeit Atlantis based upon classical occult literature as filtered through the imagination of the writer - me - when I first encountered it as a teenager. So it's full of Lemurians and Rmoahals and blue-skinned cyborg amazons riding technologically enhanced sea dinosaurs. It has a year or two before it sinks, and the PCs are those who are destined to shape the destiny of those who survive.
Conspiracies and credibility
The X Files is back, and the conspiracy to keep all its secrets is still terrible at keeping secrets.
Alone Against The Dark
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. does something different, even to the title card, as we see what happened to Simmons in those ominous blue shots in 4,722 Hours. As well as being steeped in references (NASA timing and names, and I think that Astronaut may be Impossible) it really runs with a solo premise and guest appearance.
Since I started with solo gamebooks, the one-on-one session never seemed like a particularly odd idea to me. I will note previously stated warnings about a single player tearing through plot at great speed due to lack of debates and distractions and multiple player turns in combat and the like. The time will pass... maybe not like 4,722 hours in one, but pretty fast.
Since I started with solo gamebooks, the one-on-one session never seemed like a particularly odd idea to me. I will note previously stated warnings about a single player tearing through plot at great speed due to lack of debates and distractions and multiple player turns in combat and the like. The time will pass... maybe not like 4,722 hours in one, but pretty fast.
Year Of The Monkey
It’s New Year in the Chinese Zodiac, and year of the Monkey. The monkey is a major feature in Chinese mythology, not least the anti-hero of Journey To The West, which to a certain generation in the UK was the basis for MONKEY and a long-term influence on us. I’ll talk more about this over on the Whoblog, where I at times ramble about this kind of thing.
Divided We Fall
Ever had inter-party conflict actually be awesome? PC versus PC, obviously, not player versus player - that only works if the game is meant to be antagonistic, like Fiasco, Paranoia, social LARPs and some tournament adventures.
Both times I’ve seen PC versus PC really work have perhaps inevitably been in The Watch House, with PCs temporarily going evil and having to be stopped. One was played straight, a creepy and tricky Angelus-style possession of Jake the psychic by an ancestor and his player showing why e often runs horror games, and the other for laughs with Andy the werewolf split into his beast and human halves and his player portraying both sides as rather hapless. In both cases everything played out in the open and the players all knew to make it as bad as possible for each other.
I’ve never seen a straight-up ideological conflict play out successfully. I’d be interested to give it a shot, but it would need the right motivation... as well as a chance for the PCs to fight each other and it be awesome.
Both times I’ve seen PC versus PC really work have perhaps inevitably been in The Watch House, with PCs temporarily going evil and having to be stopped. One was played straight, a creepy and tricky Angelus-style possession of Jake the psychic by an ancestor and his player showing why e often runs horror games, and the other for laughs with Andy the werewolf split into his beast and human halves and his player portraying both sides as rather hapless. In both cases everything played out in the open and the players all knew to make it as bad as possible for each other.
I’ve never seen a straight-up ideological conflict play out successfully. I’d be interested to give it a shot, but it would need the right motivation... as well as a chance for the PCs to fight each other and it be awesome.
Sunday, 7 February 2016
And this for the championship...
If Super Bowl 50 were actually a fight between a bronco and a panther, I’d know who to bet on.
As this quiz shows, really big sporting events are now logistical nightmares and the biggest are laws unto themselves.
The BBC made a comedy about the 2012 Olympics that was often less absurd than reality, and that’s before you get to the security issues which are at times utterly terrifying. Throw in a side order of corruption in stadium building and sponsorships and you’ve got plenty of trouble even if the PCs never step onto the field. One of the first games I ever ran was about murder at the ancient Olympics...
As this quiz shows, really big sporting events are now logistical nightmares and the biggest are laws unto themselves.
The BBC made a comedy about the 2012 Olympics that was often less absurd than reality, and that’s before you get to the security issues which are at times utterly terrifying. Throw in a side order of corruption in stadium building and sponsorships and you’ve got plenty of trouble even if the PCs never step onto the field. One of the first games I ever ran was about murder at the ancient Olympics...
Saturday, 6 February 2016
Beowulf: Return To The Topic
Beowulf: Return To The Shieldlands has proved to be less monster-of-the-week than I expected, with episodes that build on each other and the second MOTW being a monster-of-two-weeks instead.
It also doesn’t have Beowulf in it very much all things considered.
He’s the leader of the adventuring party that goes off and has adventures while the other half of the show is the Game Of Thrones bit about Rheda and her family and advisors being shifty and political at Heorot. Seems like a good fit for troupe-style play as the players make two different characters in two groups whose actions only affect each other a bit.
It also doesn’t have Beowulf in it very much all things considered.
He’s the leader of the adventuring party that goes off and has adventures while the other half of the show is the Game Of Thrones bit about Rheda and her family and advisors being shifty and political at Heorot. Seems like a good fit for troupe-style play as the players make two different characters in two groups whose actions only affect each other a bit.
Friday, 5 February 2016
Thursday, 4 February 2016
Wizard Schools
Hogwarts not the biggest or most advanced wizard school in the Potterverse, that being Uagadou in Uganda. And I immediately want to see stories set there.
Wednesday, 3 February 2016
Tuesday, 2 February 2016
Really strange traditions
It’s Groundhog Day... again.
Resisting the temptation to just repost that link, I will observe that Groundhog Day the movie - magic time loop - is less weird than Groundhog Day the tradition - using whether an animal sees its shadow to predict the length of winter. (As Steve D notes, fiction has to make sense.) Which would you be more likely to put into one of your sessions?
Of course I could see it getting into a game with a high enough Weird Level that it actually works, and various interested parties fight over whether this happens or not.
Resisting the temptation to just repost that link, I will observe that Groundhog Day the movie - magic time loop - is less weird than Groundhog Day the tradition - using whether an animal sees its shadow to predict the length of winter. (As Steve D notes, fiction has to make sense.) Which would you be more likely to put into one of your sessions?
Of course I could see it getting into a game with a high enough Weird Level that it actually works, and various interested parties fight over whether this happens or not.
Monday, 1 February 2016
Strike Force
An updated edition of one of the greatest supplements ever, Strike Force by Aaron Allston, is on its way, Kicking now.
I backed it for the PDFs of the new and original versions, $20 with a $10 add-on. The physical book is $30... and $52 shipping anywhere except the US. Some of the team are posting on RPGnet so I mentioned this concern there.
The response: "As much as we would like to charge less, if we hit our stretch goals and this book becomes hard-cover and full-color, that price represents what it's going to cost via First Class International (the least expensive international service) along with handling and packaging to all nations besides Canada and Mexico. We very much feel your pain: but don't have a realistic and better option."
I backed it for the PDFs of the new and original versions, $20 with a $10 add-on. The physical book is $30... and $52 shipping anywhere except the US. Some of the team are posting on RPGnet so I mentioned this concern there.
The response: "As much as we would like to charge less, if we hit our stretch goals and this book becomes hard-cover and full-color, that price represents what it's going to cost via First Class International (the least expensive international service) along with handling and packaging to all nations besides Canada and Mexico. We very much feel your pain: but don't have a realistic and better option."
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