What's going on? I don't know... but it looks like the old previous-Earth Superman has the key role and Donna Troy is involved in some major way and the Spectre is the Big Bad? Whatever it is, it's pretty evocative.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Random superpowers not random enough?
Try the Wiki!
Randomly Generate A Superhero Team!
"Okay, I can... solidify air! Ooh."
"Yeah? Well, I can... mimic the undead!"
"... How is that helpful?"
"Uh... depends on the undead?"
Randomly Generate A Superhero Team!
"Okay, I can... solidify air! Ooh."
"Yeah? Well, I can... mimic the undead!"
"... How is that helpful?"
"Uh... depends on the undead?"
Saturday, 14 January 2012
The (Classic) World (Of Darkness) ended eight years ago.
Specifically Vampire: the Masquerade with the release of Gehenna.
I always liked the offering of multiple apocalypses depending on how weird your game had become, from the quietly bleak "and then one day they were all just... gone" with a few vampires having a chance to become mortal and survive, all the way up to Antediluvian War with a few people having a chance to survive.
Still, it was weird to pick it up and open it, thirteen years after the game was announced, particularly after a run of great Revised supplements (including the Players Guide which is a gold standard of player and GM advice, and just came out about two months earlier) and not knowing what would follow.
I always liked the offering of multiple apocalypses depending on how weird your game had become, from the quietly bleak "and then one day they were all just... gone" with a few vampires having a chance to become mortal and survive, all the way up to Antediluvian War with a few people having a chance to survive.
Still, it was weird to pick it up and open it, thirteen years after the game was announced, particularly after a run of great Revised supplements (including the Players Guide which is a gold standard of player and GM advice, and just came out about two months earlier) and not knowing what would follow.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Mysterious Figures
This started as a Whoblog post, but as it's very much on the outside of Doctor Who it migrated to the more general blog.
Who is the Mysterious Woman passing through every first issue of the New 52? Who is the Observer? Who is the source of the classified documents? Who is the old man with the map in the corner of the tavern?
The unknown is a key part of many genre settings, and it can be spun in unexpected ways. The X Files thought a lot about why Deep Throat and his successors passed on secret information, while The Old Man With The Map is largely dismissed as a cliché but could become rather interesting if he were treated the same way.
What are their agendas? What are their origins? Why are they being so mysterious anyway?
And how would those on the outside perceive the PCs and their circle?
Who is the Mysterious Woman passing through every first issue of the New 52? Who is the Observer? Who is the source of the classified documents? Who is the old man with the map in the corner of the tavern?
The unknown is a key part of many genre settings, and it can be spun in unexpected ways. The X Files thought a lot about why Deep Throat and his successors passed on secret information, while The Old Man With The Map is largely dismissed as a cliché but could become rather interesting if he were treated the same way.
What are their agendas? What are their origins? Why are they being so mysterious anyway?
And how would those on the outside perceive the PCs and their circle?
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
RPGnet idea generators
So You All Wake Up In A... - Originally for a dystopic Future Past supers game, but inevitably grown a bit.
We're on a diplomatic mission! - The adventurers are dispatched to negotiate with a rival power. What kind of trouble do they get into? What indeed?
We're on a diplomatic mission! - The adventurers are dispatched to negotiate with a rival power. What kind of trouble do they get into? What indeed?
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
With moderate power comes moderate responsibility
Does your superhero team suck? Maybe it should be designed that way.
Goodness knows I've had some less-than-stellar PCs in my time.
Goodness knows I've had some less-than-stellar PCs in my time.
Monday, 9 January 2012
When your story becomes a fairytale
The Hobbit, the slightly animated storybook film from eastern Europe in the 60s. Complete with Bilbo in a bow tie, undue prologue, twelve missing Dwarves and a spare Princess.
See also the Soviet version that looks like early woodcuts.
Imagine how your PCs might feel about their exploits being rendered like that.
Or what the real people behind fairytales might turn out to be like.
See also the Soviet version that looks like early woodcuts.
Imagine how your PCs might feel about their exploits being rendered like that.
Or what the real people behind fairytales might turn out to be like.
V20 NIP
Speaking of new editions with open development...
link and pictures and things like that.
So now you can have a copy that you can let players get their grubby little paws on.
link and pictures and things like that.
So now you can have a copy that you can let players get their grubby little paws on.
D&D5
Coming soon, with open development in some areas and/or a wide open playtest.
As previously noted, I didn't start with D&D and didn't play it until over a decade after I started gaming, so I have no nostalgia for it and dislike lots of it. Despite this, I've played 2, 3 and 3.5 (which should really be counted numerically considering how long it lasted) so I am as ever the curious onlooker.
As previously noted, I didn't start with D&D and didn't play it until over a decade after I started gaming, so I have no nostalgia for it and dislike lots of it. Despite this, I've played 2, 3 and 3.5 (which should really be counted numerically considering how long it lasted) so I am as ever the curious onlooker.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
"I dunno, I'm making this up as I go." Indiana Jones, patron saint of PCs.
First time seeing Raiders Of The Lost Ark on the big screen since it came out. The print looks to have been from around then, complete with BBFC A Rating. Scratchy and turning brown rather suits it, fortunately.
In other news, I found a nearly pristine copy of Adventure! in a charity shop for £2.50.
I think the world is trying to tell me something.
In other news, I found a nearly pristine copy of Adventure! in a charity shop for £2.50.
I think the world is trying to tell me something.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
So how would this character deal with that plot?
Shown at New Year (and I just discovered free on the BBC iPlayer until Monday afternoon) Race To Witch Mountain retools the 70s kids’ SF as a vehicle for Dwayne Johnson, alias The Rock. UFO cover-up agents chasing spooky alien kids in the modern world colliding with Johnson's affable asskicker. I imagine this is what Doctor Who fans fear when they imagine An American taking over the show. Thing is though, it’s great fun, mostly because hanging out with Johnson as he elbows bad guys in the face usually is, particularly when he’s doing it inside an out-of-control flying saucer heading for Las Vegas.
Compare and contrast Paul, which is pretty much the same story but featuring a much more expensive alien, and with the heroes being Simon Pegg and Nick Frost playing up their geek cred to about 150%. The results are totally different but also highly entertaining.
It’s another reason why recurring plots like the Six Staples keep cropping up - every new bunch of characters approaches them in a different way, and part of the fun is seeing these familiar stories getting a new spin.
Compare and contrast Paul, which is pretty much the same story but featuring a much more expensive alien, and with the heroes being Simon Pegg and Nick Frost playing up their geek cred to about 150%. The results are totally different but also highly entertaining.
It’s another reason why recurring plots like the Six Staples keep cropping up - every new bunch of characters approaches them in a different way, and part of the fun is seeing these familiar stories getting a new spin.
Possible New Year Projects
A Season Of Vampire. Sure, Vampire isn't a TV show (it was, sort of, briefly, but let's not go there) but it's a good structure for dramatic gaming.
A Season Of Star Trek. I pretty much have one lying around ready to go.
A Series of Primeval. Which is what, seven episodes? I can probably manage that.
A box set of Adventure! movies.
Applicable requests considered.
A Season Of Star Trek. I pretty much have one lying around ready to go.
A Series of Primeval. Which is what, seven episodes? I can probably manage that.
A box set of Adventure! movies.
Applicable requests considered.
Charles Addams and Family
A hundred years old today as marked by Google.
The original goth comics, the Addams Family moved to TV in the 60s and then animation, the cinema and lately Broadway, and seeing the series daily after school one year may have affected me at an impressionable age.
Plenty of his short strips could go straight into the starts of stories, and the Family themselves could be inspirational. A whole family of monsters going about their daily business in a skewed version of normal life? Sounds like a plan, possibly a background for a whole table of PCs.
An early connection was to Ray Bradbury, when he illustrated "Homecoming" and Bradbury's eerie Eliot family nearly became a picture book. Only that first picture was ever done, becoming the cover for the collection From The Dust Returned in the US. (Which makes me rather annoyed to have a UK edition.)
And the man himself always had a crossbow handy. Just in case.
The original goth comics, the Addams Family moved to TV in the 60s and then animation, the cinema and lately Broadway, and seeing the series daily after school one year may have affected me at an impressionable age.
Plenty of his short strips could go straight into the starts of stories, and the Family themselves could be inspirational. A whole family of monsters going about their daily business in a skewed version of normal life? Sounds like a plan, possibly a background for a whole table of PCs.
An early connection was to Ray Bradbury, when he illustrated "Homecoming" and Bradbury's eerie Eliot family nearly became a picture book. Only that first picture was ever done, becoming the cover for the collection From The Dust Returned in the US. (Which makes me rather annoyed to have a UK edition.)
And the man himself always had a crossbow handy. Just in case.
Friday, 6 January 2012
"They're odd, aren't they? People."
Eternal Law, from the creators of Ashes To Ashes, is a quirky legal drama. About angels. Rumpole vs Wings Of Desire.
Angels and demons out in the world (here very much on the QT) is a common fantasy motif, but in this case it's particularly about looking at the human condition from an outside perspective, with the law cases letting them in to see new people every week as well as giving it a (slightly disconnected) cops-n-docs drama narrative to hang the fantasy elements off.
There are angel and demon games out there, as well as games like Promethean where the PCs have no human pasts to compare to their inhuman states, but they can be harder to play than formerly-human characters like vampires or human-plus mages and the like. Still, having one in an ensemble (like Spock or Data) can add to a mixed group in a thoughtful game.
Angels and demons out in the world (here very much on the QT) is a common fantasy motif, but in this case it's particularly about looking at the human condition from an outside perspective, with the law cases letting them in to see new people every week as well as giving it a (slightly disconnected) cops-n-docs drama narrative to hang the fantasy elements off.
There are angel and demon games out there, as well as games like Promethean where the PCs have no human pasts to compare to their inhuman states, but they can be harder to play than formerly-human characters like vampires or human-plus mages and the like. Still, having one in an ensemble (like Spock or Data) can add to a mixed group in a thoughtful game.
Jeanne D'Arc
The Maid Of Orleans was born 600 years ago.
She's one of those remarkable characters history throws up, a peasant girl turned knightly commander and saint, a GURPS Who's Who shoo-in, an exemplary Paladin, a good candidate to be the slayer...
How would your PCs deal with an epic hero? If they're worthy of the title themselves they might be glad to meet a peer, even if their goals conflict. If they're nobodies, or even villains, it could provide a telling contrast.
Having a living legend around for any length of time risks the shadow of the GMPC, but a single guest appearance could put the PCs and their actions into perspective.
She's one of those remarkable characters history throws up, a peasant girl turned knightly commander and saint, a GURPS Who's Who shoo-in, an exemplary Paladin, a good candidate to be the slayer...
How would your PCs deal with an epic hero? If they're worthy of the title themselves they might be glad to meet a peer, even if their goals conflict. If they're nobodies, or even villains, it could provide a telling contrast.
Having a living legend around for any length of time risks the shadow of the GMPC, but a single guest appearance could put the PCs and their actions into perspective.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
One Shot GM Fu
I had never heard of The GenCon 2008 Convention Game Prep Book before today, but it's good stuff. There's a fair bit on tropes, which may be familiar but is always worth considering. Five scenes is a good rule of thumb for a three or four hour adventure.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Want to be in a Vampire: The Masquerade book?
Children Of The Revolution open call
There has to be someone you can put up for that...
And in related news, Justin Achilli thinking about the True Hand. Of whom I was never a fan, but I can see the appeal of the bits he highlights.
There has to be someone you can put up for that...
And in related news, Justin Achilli thinking about the True Hand. Of whom I was never a fan, but I can see the appeal of the bits he highlights.
Monday, 2 January 2012
Prequels
Tonight ITV are showing Endeavour, about the future Inspector Morse's first murder investigation. Besides having to work as a period crime drama, it risks not measuring up to a much-loved classic.
And on that note, if you say "the prequels" around genre fans you're sure to get a reaction.
Ever run a prequel to an existing game, as a break-from-the-norm session or elsewhere?
It affects action sequences since we know X can't die here (assuming death is on the table in the game anyway) but what other changes does it bring?
What session-friendly things happened in the PCs' or the setting's past?
Will revealing some of their past lessen the mystery of a character's origins and motivations, or will it add depth to their portrayal? And do they want to play the obvious antecedents or something different? (The same question goes for sequel games, naturally.) What would the players really want to explore?
Same system or something else? If it's the same PCs a few years earlier, the same system would be easiest, but if it's a new and different group like the current PCs' parents (or the previous crew of their starship, or the previous holders of their mystical artefacts, etc.) you could change to another system that better evokes a difference in play style. Or a previous edition of the regular game, just to be that bit more meta.
Who do the players play if all the current PCs (or their parents, or whatever) aren't around?
Andy's player in The Watch House once suggested running a session about when the PCs' parents were students, since several of the PCs were the children of Watchers and other in-the-know types. He never actually did it, but it still lead to discussion of who was around, who they'd be played by as de-ageing the grownup actors would be cheating, and which players would be which characters.
Meanwhile, I did once run a prequel to a Vampire: The Masquerade game with one of the same PCs, just with some dots crossed out. Having first appeared in a 40s game, he went on the return in another game set in the 90s (then the present) and then pre-return in the 70s. He didn't have anything kind to say about the cars of the decade.
Of course, a more dramatic prequel for a Vampire game would involve the PCs as mortals, or the players as their normal PCs' sires, for example.
And on that note, if you say "the prequels" around genre fans you're sure to get a reaction.
Ever run a prequel to an existing game, as a break-from-the-norm session or elsewhere?
It affects action sequences since we know X can't die here (assuming death is on the table in the game anyway) but what other changes does it bring?
What session-friendly things happened in the PCs' or the setting's past?
Will revealing some of their past lessen the mystery of a character's origins and motivations, or will it add depth to their portrayal? And do they want to play the obvious antecedents or something different? (The same question goes for sequel games, naturally.) What would the players really want to explore?
Same system or something else? If it's the same PCs a few years earlier, the same system would be easiest, but if it's a new and different group like the current PCs' parents (or the previous crew of their starship, or the previous holders of their mystical artefacts, etc.) you could change to another system that better evokes a difference in play style. Or a previous edition of the regular game, just to be that bit more meta.
Who do the players play if all the current PCs (or their parents, or whatever) aren't around?
Andy's player in The Watch House once suggested running a session about when the PCs' parents were students, since several of the PCs were the children of Watchers and other in-the-know types. He never actually did it, but it still lead to discussion of who was around, who they'd be played by as de-ageing the grownup actors would be cheating, and which players would be which characters.
Meanwhile, I did once run a prequel to a Vampire: The Masquerade game with one of the same PCs, just with some dots crossed out. Having first appeared in a 40s game, he went on the return in another game set in the 90s (then the present) and then pre-return in the 70s. He didn't have anything kind to say about the cars of the decade.
Of course, a more dramatic prequel for a Vampire game would involve the PCs as mortals, or the players as their normal PCs' sires, for example.
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