#RPGaDay 2016 13: What makes a successful campaign?

#RPGaDay 2016

13: What makes a successful campaign?

The players. Probably the GM. Luck.

Okay, one element you can have some control over - what does and doesn’t go into the campaign. This can include tailoring to the group, who is at the table, but also in-campaign elements like the breadth of the setting, its Weird Level and so on. One of the reasons The Watch House lasted seven seasons (as did Buffy, and five for Angel) is that we could throw crazy high-concept adventures in with little or no warning or excuse. See above re Captain Rugged.

But it was ultimately the players and GM having fun at the table that kept them coming back.

(I’ll take “stating the obvious” for ten points.)

Part of that was the design of the game not to be high-risk in a way that can be stressful to play, with death and serious injury off the table unless the player in question found it interesting - so players could kick back, have their characters make jokes and be awesome in the face of horror, and some could bring the authorial distance and Whedon pain while others elected not to.

Rogue One, trailer two

December Sixteen.

I was already rather keen. I am now X much more rather keen.

#RPGaDay 2016 12: Next game?

#RPGaDay 2016

12: What game is your group most likely to play next? Why?

I have a regular group and a university games society (which contains some regulars who may constitute a group, some of whom are in my current game there).

Group: Dunno really. Hope we find out soon.

Society: Well, as ever I have a bunch of ideas. I’m nearly finished a two-year Vampire: The Masquerade game, which could continue but best to go out on a high. I’d like to get some use out of Leverage, ICONS, Night’s Black Agents, TimeWatch, although the ICONS campaign idea I have is probably the strongest of those... My always-there backup is Buffy. And my most viable idea is probably d6 Star Wars. Maybe classic Rebels, or maybe in the Resistance era. And remember that’s at most three slots, and I don’t want to GM in all of them. (Although the society currently encourages new games and/or re-recruiting every term, so technically it’s nine slots...) So, yeah.

Dunno really. Hope we find out soon.

#RPGaDay 2016 11: Which gamer most affected the way you play?

#RPGaDay 2016

11: Which gamer most affected the way you play?

I guess my brother, who did not go on to become a gamer, but despite this GMed my first session. And nearly TPKed the group in a side room encounter. I learned a lot in that one fight.

The Alpha Quadrant Olympics

How would the Quadrennial Sporting Event work in the Star Trek era?

An upset in the Micro-G Kabaddi as Team Earth faces off against newcomers Bajor...

#RPGaDay 2016 10: Largest in-game surprise?

#RPGaDay 2016

10: Largest in-game surprise you ever experienced?

CAPTAIN RUGGED.

That was quite a strange evening.

Storypath System Preview

Now free to download, a twelve-page preview of the Storypath System, to be featured in Trinity: Continuum and Scion second edition.

Message for Aeon Trinity operatives

A time of trouble approaches...

#RPGaDay 2016 9: What's in an ideal session?

#RPGaDay 2016

9: Beyond the game, what’s involved in an ideal session?

Relative peace and quiet. I’m not the loudest speaker you’ll ever meet. I don’t generally use music or sound effects, but if I can, cool.

And this is why I don't use miniatures terrain

I would never be satisfied until it looked like this table setup.

#RPGaDay 2016 8: How I read

#RPGaDay 2016

8: Hardcover, softcover, digital. What is your preference?

Hardcover rulebook and core sourcebooks big enough to require it, softcover for most supplements and trade-size rulebooks, physical copies for initial reading and in the character generation stage and well-tabbed PDFs on my tablet for reference at most sessions.

So, er... yes.

#RPGaDay 2016 7: Effects of RPGs

#RPGaDay 2016

7: What aspect of RPGs has had the biggest effect on you?

The other people involved. Second to that would be how much my writing has been seen as a result. (Hello other people who are seeing my writing right now!)

Dracula Vs. Gen Con

The Dracula Dossier scored big in the ENnies awards, including Product Of The Year.

To celebrate, the add-on book of Dracula adaptation reviews The Thrill Of Dracula features Night’s Black Agents rules for one unusual power.

It’s from Dracula Untold.

Yes, it’s what you think it is.

FIST OF BATS

#RPGaDay 2016 6: Community service

#RPGaDay 2016

6: Most Amazing Thing A Game Group Did For Their Community?

There’s a reason Irish con charity auctions won the Diana Jones award. Auctions, raffles, rerolls, marathons.

Speaking personally, getting two years’ Conpulsion auction proceeds helped a group I suggested gain charity status.

#RPGaDay 2016 5: What story does your group tell about your character?

#RPGaDay 2016

5: What story does your group tell about your character?

Flattering answer - the time the starship captain interrupted an invading alien commando’s speech about having blocked all beam weapons by throwing his blaster at his face.

Less flattering answer - the time they spent four months looking for some missing scientists. In my defence, they did find them in the end, and the bad guys had been moving them...

Promethean: The Created Second Edition

Promethean: The Created Second Edition is out in preview PDF, with physical books to follow.

#RPGaDay 2016 4: Most impressive thing another's character did

#RPGaDay 2016

4: Most impressive thing another’s character did

So many more options here.

The Watch House: Milli Versus Frankenstein! William The Dragon Slayer! Evil Jake! Natalie deciding not to be a princess! Matthew’s accidental creation of Captain Rugged!

The Door In Time: Kai mending the universe! Effie talking Trotsky out of allying with the Cybermen!

The time in Adventure! that Rocket Man got thrown out of a zeppelin sans rocket pack and adventuring archaeologist Lexi Forbes knocked out the goon holding it, grabbed it and dived out after him!

The Star Wars pilot Tylla Vaatu who fired a Star Destroyer engine through the rest of the ship!

The time a group of Dark Ages Vampire PCs failed to solve a mystery and framed a convenient scapegoat! Okay, that one’s kind of mean...

And of course Mr. Bennett.

#RPGaDay 2016 3: Character moment you are proudest of?

#RPGaDay 2016

3: Character moment you are proudest of?

Being the first investigator to die in a Call Of Cthulhu convention game run by creator Sandy Petersen. Dracula stamped on me, with the description “his foot goes through you like fresh snow.” I was, and remain, delighted. :)

#RPGaDay 2016 2: Best game session since August 2015?

#RPGaDay 2016

2: Best game session since August 2015?

Hmm. Well, the Nationals usually rates pretty high.

As a regular GM, the Christmas special of my Vampire: The Masquerade game.

(Day one aggregate, and, well, shucks.)

#RPGaDay 2016 1: How I roll

#RPGaDay 2016

1: Real dice, dice app, diceless, how do you prefer to “roll”?

Calling them real, not physical? ;)

Anyway, let’s go with physical. On a surface they won’t bounce off and get lost. (I’ve known players who could lose dice before picking them up.)

Even though I hardly ever roll as a GM since Cinematic Unisystem.