Friday, 14 October 2016
Thursday, 13 October 2016
Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
One result of that Star Wars game...
Discussion of medical Droids in Star Wars and why the Rebel has the nondescript 2-1B while the Emperor’s choice for surgery on Vader is a pitch-black room full of shiny black monster droids and smoke. In a thunderstorm.
It was obviously meant to evoke Frankenstein, but the revival there needed a storm to work. Here it just seems to be mood lighting.
In this case, the storm could be the result of the Emperor’s mood. (Only he and R2-D2 shoot lightning in the original trilogy, proving that both are embodiments of their sides of the Force. Ahem.)
But it got me thinking, a planet like Coruscant probably has weather control...
“Weather Control, this is the Emperor. Yes, Emperor. Haven’t you been watching the news? It’s been almost a day! Anyway, I want a storm over my palace. Yes, thunder, lightning, the whole deal. Sets the mood. No? Well then, I’ll have to do it by hand.”
(Sorry.)
It was obviously meant to evoke Frankenstein, but the revival there needed a storm to work. Here it just seems to be mood lighting.
In this case, the storm could be the result of the Emperor’s mood. (Only he and R2-D2 shoot lightning in the original trilogy, proving that both are embodiments of their sides of the Force. Ahem.)
But it got me thinking, a planet like Coruscant probably has weather control...
“Weather Control, this is the Emperor. Yes, Emperor. Haven’t you been watching the news? It’s been almost a day! Anyway, I want a storm over my palace. Yes, thunder, lightning, the whole deal. Sets the mood. No? Well then, I’ll have to do it by hand.”
(Sorry.)
Monday, 10 October 2016
The naming of things
I did basically one bit of prep for Star Wars this week - I wrote down a bunch of weird names in advance. It helped immensely, especially when the PCs returned to the site of a space battle and got a really good look for survivors roll.
Sunday, 9 October 2016
How to feel high-powered
A question on RPG.net for the poster’s birthday got me thinking about high-powered games and how to make them feel different from more down-to-earth ones. The answer I came up with:
Being able to ignore damage can really have this effect for me. I played the brick in a Marvel SAGA game and could routinely shrug off non-superpowered attacks and a lot of super-attacks as well - taking no damage while everyone else dodged never got old. I’ve played other superhero games where I’ve had highly capable characters in other fields, but in a game of frequent brawling this really did feel different.
Automatic successes are another way, especially in games with critical failure. Rolling a ton of dice can be fun, but no longer needing to roll can be too.
Both of these remove some uncertainty from the game, and knowing the PC can do something can be a real boost to confidence.
Maybe this comes from all the times I’ve had the dice mess up a character’s defining abilities at just the wrong moment...
Being able to ignore damage can really have this effect for me. I played the brick in a Marvel SAGA game and could routinely shrug off non-superpowered attacks and a lot of super-attacks as well - taking no damage while everyone else dodged never got old. I’ve played other superhero games where I’ve had highly capable characters in other fields, but in a game of frequent brawling this really did feel different.
Automatic successes are another way, especially in games with critical failure. Rolling a ton of dice can be fun, but no longer needing to roll can be too.
Both of these remove some uncertainty from the game, and knowing the PC can do something can be a real boost to confidence.
Maybe this comes from all the times I’ve had the dice mess up a character’s defining abilities at just the wrong moment...
Saturday, 8 October 2016
Midnight, Texas
The new series from Charlaine Harris, creator of True Blood, is starting on TV soon, and looks like... True Blood, just without HBO there to let it go hog-wild on the sex and violence.
A hidden little town serving as a haven for all kinds of supernatural beings is a nice reason for the whole mess of urban fantasy PC types to be all together, and to work together.
A hidden little town serving as a haven for all kinds of supernatural beings is a nice reason for the whole mess of urban fantasy PC types to be all together, and to work together.
An idea rises from the grave
I just started games for the academic year and now I have a crazy idea. Typical. Maybe next block...
For the record, the crazy idea was inspired by an article about terrible comics cover gimmicks featuring a Rob Liefeld spinoff comic about a special ops team of people who are totally deniable because they’ve been brought back from the dead.
For the record, the crazy idea was inspired by an article about terrible comics cover gimmicks featuring a Rob Liefeld spinoff comic about a special ops team of people who are totally deniable because they’ve been brought back from the dead.
Friday, 7 October 2016
What if they made more Star Wars spinoff movies in the 70s and 80s?
A brain fritz caused by seeing an article about The Warriors the same day I bought a Rogue One Jyn Erso figure, and imagining the young late 70s antiheroes of the former as dashing space adventurers. I may have to cut together a fake trailer running with this idea. Maybe based on one of the classic West End Games early adventures, like Strike Force Shantipole...
RPG Blog Carnival: Potions
The RPG Blog Carnival, which I should really check more often, hits October, with a theme of Potions. Which is a bit less Hallowe’en-y than expected, but hey, witches.
Potions suggest fantasy, so naturally I immediately think of uses in other genres...
Urban fantasy can have magical brews played fairly straight... Maybe the magic spells advertised on eBay really work - or maybe just the ones on Etsy.
The classic potion in horror is Dr. Jekyll’s formula, a kind of science-ish lycanthropy that reveals the worst in human nature.
Superheroes, especially in the Golden Age, have a lot of science-ish serums and herbs granting amazing powers.
Putting those three sort of together...
Scientists develop a Hyde-style monster serum and a lab accident exposes them to it. Instead of just one, a modern lab full of half a dozen.
And let’s say it varies its effectiveness with the target. Some of them are mean drunks for one night, some of them have relapses... and one was already kind of a psycho, and feels that humanity would benefit from the formula and freedom from inhibitions. Can the PCs stop him before the entire city goes Hyde?
Or of course, there’s the classic of all classics, the Love Potion...
Potions suggest fantasy, so naturally I immediately think of uses in other genres...
Urban fantasy can have magical brews played fairly straight... Maybe the magic spells advertised on eBay really work - or maybe just the ones on Etsy.
The classic potion in horror is Dr. Jekyll’s formula, a kind of science-ish lycanthropy that reveals the worst in human nature.
Superheroes, especially in the Golden Age, have a lot of science-ish serums and herbs granting amazing powers.
Putting those three sort of together...
Scientists develop a Hyde-style monster serum and a lab accident exposes them to it. Instead of just one, a modern lab full of half a dozen.
And let’s say it varies its effectiveness with the target. Some of them are mean drunks for one night, some of them have relapses... and one was already kind of a psycho, and feels that humanity would benefit from the formula and freedom from inhibitions. Can the PCs stop him before the entire city goes Hyde?
Or of course, there’s the classic of all classics, the Love Potion...
The Player on TV
The Player is coming to British TV, on Spike starting on the 21st. As far as I know only the nine episodes exist so it will end rather abruptly, but it’s still nice to have a chance to see it on TV.
In the meantime, this John Rogers interview was new to me. Spoilers!
In the meantime, this John Rogers interview was new to me. Spoilers!
Thursday, 6 October 2016
Modern Robin Hoods?
This series pilot sounds like it’s about a figurative modern Robin Hood setup, not a literal one like the Camelot urban fantasy cop show. Being modern Robin Hoods is a pretty common idea for thief protagonists - it’s mentioned in the original pitch for Leverage for example - taking from the rich and giving to the poor.
But not generally taking it as far as dressing like Green Arrow, living in the woods and fighting with quarterstaffs.
So now I want to do that, of course.
The ousted heir of a family company which always looked after its home town until a ruthless corporate raider usurped it, fighting back with theft and trickery, on the run from the corrupt local sheriff... It would be tricky to get the PCs to go for the silver arrow trap though... and trickier still to end with a swordfight with Guy of Gisbourne... hmm...
But not generally taking it as far as dressing like Green Arrow, living in the woods and fighting with quarterstaffs.
So now I want to do that, of course.
The ousted heir of a family company which always looked after its home town until a ruthless corporate raider usurped it, fighting back with theft and trickery, on the run from the corrupt local sheriff... It would be tricky to get the PCs to go for the silver arrow trap though... and trickier still to end with a swordfight with Guy of Gisbourne... hmm...
Wednesday, 5 October 2016
Diversity and inclusion
Rose Bailey discusses diversity and inclusion in RPGs and OP in particular, with Cronistas das Trevas.
After the shine comes off the future
“Since I was a boy, I’ve dreamed about being a cop and living on the moon. But now I’m here, it seems like the party’s over and everybody’s going home.”
This is the premise of Mooncop by Tom Gauld, best known for short cartoons in places like The Guardian looking askance at genre norms (some of which I’ve linked to before).
Post-apocalypse SF and post-Golden-Age fantasy are both pretty common, but an okay future that’s a bit past the exciting frontier era not so much. Settings tend to be about the exciting bit, after all. It would be a good start for a more slice-of-life approach though.
This is the premise of Mooncop by Tom Gauld, best known for short cartoons in places like The Guardian looking askance at genre norms (some of which I’ve linked to before).
Post-apocalypse SF and post-Golden-Age fantasy are both pretty common, but an okay future that’s a bit past the exciting frontier era not so much. Settings tend to be about the exciting bit, after all. It would be a good start for a more slice-of-life approach though.
Monday, 3 October 2016
Daredevil Season One
Daredevil Season One. Yes, I know, Season Two, and Jessica Jones, and as of this weekend Luke Cage, but it came out on shiny discs today so I can watch it on my TV rather than my computer, so it’s time to talk about it again. So there.
A human or very-slightly-superhuman vigilante hero operating at night is a sensible place for a sub-universe to start (see also Arrow) because everybody knows the archetype (hint: Ben Affleck also played Daredevil and now...) and fighting crime is a sound basis for TV.
We get stunts (including one stunt sequence everybody talked about) more than effects. Human gang bosses, anonymous thugs with guns and the occasional ninja are enough of a threat so we don’t have to worry about adapting villains. Avoiding publicity means the world can look a lot like ours even though it has heroes and gods fighting aliens somewhere else.
There are entire RPGs for street-level supers, as well as sourcebooks for wider-ranging supers RPGs. Focusing on the crime, it would be possible to do with something like Gumshoe, or Angel for the action.
A human or very-slightly-superhuman vigilante hero operating at night is a sensible place for a sub-universe to start (see also Arrow) because everybody knows the archetype (hint: Ben Affleck also played Daredevil and now...) and fighting crime is a sound basis for TV.
We get stunts (including one stunt sequence everybody talked about) more than effects. Human gang bosses, anonymous thugs with guns and the occasional ninja are enough of a threat so we don’t have to worry about adapting villains. Avoiding publicity means the world can look a lot like ours even though it has heroes and gods fighting aliens somewhere else.
There are entire RPGs for street-level supers, as well as sourcebooks for wider-ranging supers RPGs. Focusing on the crime, it would be possible to do with something like Gumshoe, or Angel for the action.
Sunday, 2 October 2016
New academic year, new games
Playing: D&D 5th Edition, Spelljammer setting, in the style of Eclipse Phase. My goodness, so many ways to get Advantage and therefore roll the d20 dice and pick the best one. Crazy indie game!
GMing: Star Wars d6 1E. Rebels. Only three of the seven are Force sensitive!
GMing: Star Wars d6 1E. Rebels. Only three of the seven are Force sensitive!
Saturday, 1 October 2016
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