After the Buffy adventure, and similarly a 1900-odd-word Doctor Who adventure, The October Country, I figured I should do something different for Vampire (Masquerade or Requiem, these would fit both with little effort, although the references and font style are Requiem-ish) so here's a cryptic essay and five somewhat developed plot hooks to catch unsuspecting vampires unawares as the nights draw in...
The Skies They Were Ashen And Sober
Part of A Night In The Lonesome October.
Last one. Couldn't resist.
Monday, 31 October 2011
Saturday, 29 October 2011
A Night In The Lonesome October: Buffy Hallowe(')en Adventure
PDF version - which is nothing fancy, but I trust is legible.
Probably also useful for other urban fantasy monster hunters, or supernatural-dealing low-level superheroes or the like.
Part of A Night In The Lonesome October. The idea's simple: something of unspecified length based on the above title. It comes from a Poe poem, and became the title of a Zelazny novel, but in general it suggests autumn, isolation, the approaching Hallowe(')en and general creepiness.
So what to do... well, restrict myself to adventure hooks, or slightly longer somewhat-developed adventures. There's one up already that runs over 2000 words. But what games? Well, my defaults tend to be Adventure!, Buffy, Vampire and Doctor Who. Adventure! doesn't quite mesh, although I have a plot hook to do with a fake haunted house that could work, that still leaves three...
Applicable photo, by Joanna Wilson
Probably also useful for other urban fantasy monster hunters, or supernatural-dealing low-level superheroes or the like.
Part of A Night In The Lonesome October. The idea's simple: something of unspecified length based on the above title. It comes from a Poe poem, and became the title of a Zelazny novel, but in general it suggests autumn, isolation, the approaching Hallowe(')en and general creepiness.
So what to do... well, restrict myself to adventure hooks, or slightly longer somewhat-developed adventures. There's one up already that runs over 2000 words. But what games? Well, my defaults tend to be Adventure!, Buffy, Vampire and Doctor Who. Adventure! doesn't quite mesh, although I have a plot hook to do with a fake haunted house that could work, that still leaves three...
Applicable photo, by Joanna Wilson
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
New Bremen: The Classic World Of Darkness chat game
New Bremen was the official moderated DigiChat game for White Wolf's classic World Of Darkness, like a global LARP (but played in a chatroom) running from 2000 to 2004 with thousands of players at its height.
Following a series of discussions about chat games at The Grand Masquerade, Ian Watson acquired the rights to revive New Bremen, as well as the official New World Of Darkness chat games, so as one of those several thousand players, I sent him the email bolded below to ask about his plans for the game.
Following a series of discussions about chat games at The Grand Masquerade, Ian Watson acquired the rights to revive New Bremen, as well as the official New World Of Darkness chat games, so as one of those several thousand players, I sent him the email bolded below to ask about his plans for the game.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Vampires and technology again
After this post:
Masquerade Anarchs in the present specifically but relevant to modern characters in any urban fantasy setting with old stick-in-the-mud authorities.
Of immediate relevance - my one house rule for Requiem is to eliminate the blurring of vampires on cameras and reflections, since London has half a million CCTV cameras.
See also Me Versus Dracula from the TGM guest photoshoot.
Of immediate relevance - my one house rule for Requiem is to eliminate the blurring of vampires on cameras and reflections, since London has half a million CCTV cameras.
See also Me Versus Dracula from the TGM guest photoshoot.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Vampire: The Requiem Actual Play trailer
APs take a while to write, and I only have one session's worth, so a bit early to show, but here's a hint of the creepy things that have happened so far...
Something lunges out of the dark.
Jerome wakes face down on a warehouse's concrete floor. The only open entrance is a skylight twenty feet above him.
Derick scowls as Camille looks down from a rooftop and casually drops off.
Stan's lip curls as Williams smiles and beckons over a half-starved runaway.
Carter looks at Jerome and sneers, and just for a moment we see blazing yellow eyes and a mouthful of serrated fangs like a bat's.
The Sibyl sits alone, dressed in white, sticking plasters on her fingertips.
Something lunges out of the dark.
Jerome wakes face down on a warehouse's concrete floor. The only open entrance is a skylight twenty feet above him.
Derick scowls as Camille looks down from a rooftop and casually drops off.
Stan's lip curls as Williams smiles and beckons over a half-starved runaway.
Carter looks at Jerome and sneers, and just for a moment we see blazing yellow eyes and a mouthful of serrated fangs like a bat's.
The Sibyl sits alone, dressed in white, sticking plasters on her fingertips.
Thursday, 6 October 2011
The Fades
A new genre show from the BBC, and it's... Hunter: The Reckoning? Well, not far off it. People with "Angelic" powers fighting the flesh-eating walking dead, ghosts trapped on Earth unable to ascend who have figured out how to return to life and whose plan threatens an apocalypse. And our saviour is a dorky Inbetweeners-y kid. So no worries there...
One interesting note is that some of the Fades are individualised, notably the charming Polus (add him to your visual library of Nosferatu types) and the twitchy what's-her-angle Natalie, who the leading Angelic warrior seems to have known for a long time.
Having monsters whose behaviour suggests there's more going on than simple threat might intrigue players, and if they can seemingly appear and disappear at will this will help prevent "there it is, kill it" syndrome.
One interesting note is that some of the Fades are individualised, notably the charming Polus (add him to your visual library of Nosferatu types) and the twitchy what's-her-angle Natalie, who the leading Angelic warrior seems to have known for a long time.
Having monsters whose behaviour suggests there's more going on than simple threat might intrigue players, and if they can seemingly appear and disappear at will this will help prevent "there it is, kill it" syndrome.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
V20, observations
I have discharged my duty and given the not-mine copy of V20 to its waiting owner.
Some reactions to it: "Ooooh, so shiny..."
The Bradstreet Toreador illo: "oh, that's perfect, all the textures..."
The new Toreador clan weakness: "yeah, that works..."
Generally: "this is so cool, thank you!"
And in case that's made you want a copy, there might be a few left.
Some reactions to it: "Ooooh, so shiny..."
The Bradstreet Toreador illo: "oh, that's perfect, all the textures..."
The new Toreador clan weakness: "yeah, that works..."
Generally: "this is so cool, thank you!"
And in case that's made you want a copy, there might be a few left.
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Monday, 3 October 2011
What is the city's dreadful secret?
A wandering barbarian/outsider comes into contact with an advanced civilisation and is briefly attracted to its merits. However she later uncovers its dark secret...
Applicable to various wandering-hero types of settings, mostly mystical but not all.
Applicable to various wandering-hero types of settings, mostly mystical but not all.
Sunday, 2 October 2011
And so...
Vampire: The Requiem is go, Uncharted is not. Not a big surprise, evening is bigger than afternoon, so playing Matt's space opera game in the afternoon.
Four players, all somewhat (or in one case very) familiar with Vampire in either iteration, playing characetrs about to get thrown into the war about to begin. Heh heh heh.
Four players, all somewhat (or in one case very) familiar with Vampire in either iteration, playing characetrs about to get thrown into the war about to begin. Heh heh heh.
Thursday, 29 September 2011
V20 trailer
On Youtube to mark the general release of the PDF.
Compare the Requiem trailer I made last year and you can see I'm using the same DVD library. I could have gone more different, but I likes it.
(Indeed, thanks to the "vampire" episode I could probably cut a Vampire trailer together entirely from Alias. Cities at night, dark streets, boardrooms and ballrooms. There's a fair amount of imagery overlap between vampires and spies, especially superspies mingling with high society. It would lack Nosferatu, though...)
Compare the Requiem trailer I made last year and you can see I'm using the same DVD library. I could have gone more different, but I likes it.
(Indeed, thanks to the "vampire" episode I could probably cut a Vampire trailer together entirely from Alias. Cities at night, dark streets, boardrooms and ballrooms. There's a fair amount of imagery overlap between vampires and spies, especially superspies mingling with high society. It would lack Nosferatu, though...)
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Jim Henson
Today's Google Doodle marking Jim Henson's 75th birthday with digital puppets created by the Henson Company.
I talked a bit about how you might reflect his ideas over in t'Whoblog, but I thought I'd talk a bit more here as well. His "will this work, try it and see" attitude ran through his work, from seeing The Muppet Show when I was a kid, learning with Sesame Street, seeing films like The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth when they came out.
I've been involved with puppetry here and there, and it's definitely affected my storytelling, writing, and of course my GMing. Everything from reinterpreting mythologies to a bit of Brian Froud in some character art.
And above all the desire to entertain. Because...
"When people told themselves their past with stories, explained their present with stories, foretold the future with stories, the best place by the fire was kept for... the storyteller."
There will always be a place by the fire for you, sir.
I talked a bit about how you might reflect his ideas over in t'Whoblog, but I thought I'd talk a bit more here as well. His "will this work, try it and see" attitude ran through his work, from seeing The Muppet Show when I was a kid, learning with Sesame Street, seeing films like The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth when they came out.
I've been involved with puppetry here and there, and it's definitely affected my storytelling, writing, and of course my GMing. Everything from reinterpreting mythologies to a bit of Brian Froud in some character art.
And above all the desire to entertain. Because...
"When people told themselves their past with stories, explained their present with stories, foretold the future with stories, the best place by the fire was kept for... the storyteller."
There will always be a place by the fire for you, sir.
Thursday, 22 September 2011
This year's theoretical games
Adventure! (or Hollow Earth Expedition) in World War II... or now.
Vampire: The Requiem - or V20 in theory but I'd rather have the two-standard-books version of the latter to actually take to a gaming table, though. My Masquerade always looked fairly Requiem-y anyway.
Supers, probably Icons.
Emergency fallback Doctor Who like the last two years.
That's about it, plan-wise, really. Depends on players.
Vampire: The Requiem - or V20 in theory but I'd rather have the two-standard-books version of the latter to actually take to a gaming table, though. My Masquerade always looked fairly Requiem-y anyway.
Supers, probably Icons.
Emergency fallback Doctor Who like the last two years.
That's about it, plan-wise, really. Depends on players.
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
The Grand Masquerade
That longer post I promised ya.
V20 is heavy. Really heavy. Really pretty too. And a nice minor update, a "Revised, Second Edition" with things like the Tremere being more susceptible to Blood Bonds and the Gangrel animal features normally being temporary and the Toreador weakness making them obsessed by beauty rather than frozen in awe by it.
The print-on-demand or Now In Print version will be two books, which might well be more handy session-to-session, certainly more than the limited edition super-shiny version signed by about twenty people which I don't want most gamers getting their grubby paws on. So hopefully that'll get into FLGSes and I can buy it there.
No Big Huge Announcement this year - Onyx Path and Mummy The ? were both known about already, and the big presentation at the Succubus Club was about the fashion styles being planned for the MMO, rather than something like a gameplay demo. It was cool though, and you should have heard the collective groan when the Brujah guy jabbed himself in the cheek. And it did slyly reveal that the seven classic clans would be the only ones available to begin with.
Tim Bradstreet was very cool all round after sitting by him on the flight from Atlanta to New Orleans (which was the flight after the one I was supposed to be on, so I lucked out there). I'll have to let him know how much the original VTM portfolio he gave me goes for at the Conpulsion auction. In like seven months time.
I bought one for myself too, naturally.
I played a tabletop Requiem game, then went to the MMO Q&A, where I got my question answered... How are they dealing with night? Since it's Vampire and Mortal in the main, it'll be night all the time.
The chat panels got me all nostalgic about New Bremen. There'll never be one that big again, as it was The Official Moderated Chat, and eight years after it closed all the others seem to live in its shadow to some extent.
I stopped myself prodding Rose about Requiem too much, instead chatting quite a bit about Buffy and Doctor Who and Cavaliers Of Mars. A bit about Never Let Go, and of course some direct Requiem talk, about Strange, Dead Love and how Mirrors and Dance Macabre go to make Requiem Second Edition in suitably toolkit-y form.
And, Dracula bodypopping. (Heads Will Roll, on the Succubus Club playlist)
V20 is heavy. Really heavy. Really pretty too. And a nice minor update, a "Revised, Second Edition" with things like the Tremere being more susceptible to Blood Bonds and the Gangrel animal features normally being temporary and the Toreador weakness making them obsessed by beauty rather than frozen in awe by it.
The print-on-demand or Now In Print version will be two books, which might well be more handy session-to-session, certainly more than the limited edition super-shiny version signed by about twenty people which I don't want most gamers getting their grubby paws on. So hopefully that'll get into FLGSes and I can buy it there.
No Big Huge Announcement this year - Onyx Path and Mummy The ? were both known about already, and the big presentation at the Succubus Club was about the fashion styles being planned for the MMO, rather than something like a gameplay demo. It was cool though, and you should have heard the collective groan when the Brujah guy jabbed himself in the cheek. And it did slyly reveal that the seven classic clans would be the only ones available to begin with.
Tim Bradstreet was very cool all round after sitting by him on the flight from Atlanta to New Orleans (which was the flight after the one I was supposed to be on, so I lucked out there). I'll have to let him know how much the original VTM portfolio he gave me goes for at the Conpulsion auction. In like seven months time.
I bought one for myself too, naturally.
I played a tabletop Requiem game, then went to the MMO Q&A, where I got my question answered... How are they dealing with night? Since it's Vampire and Mortal in the main, it'll be night all the time.
The chat panels got me all nostalgic about New Bremen. There'll never be one that big again, as it was The Official Moderated Chat, and eight years after it closed all the others seem to live in its shadow to some extent.
I stopped myself prodding Rose about Requiem too much, instead chatting quite a bit about Buffy and Doctor Who and Cavaliers Of Mars. A bit about Never Let Go, and of course some direct Requiem talk, about Strange, Dead Love and how Mirrors and Dance Macabre go to make Requiem Second Edition in suitably toolkit-y form.
And, Dracula bodypopping. (Heads Will Roll, on the Succubus Club playlist)
Sunday, 18 September 2011
The Grand Masquerade
A lengthier report to follow, but for now...
Hello Russell!
Hello Ian!
Winning the "it's a small world" category, the Spanish couple who organised the V20 Europe collection campaign made a trailer with people from... Embraced in Edinburgh.
With any luck I will soon have a new facey-book photo.
V20 is enormous.
The Gangrel animal features weakness is now temporary.
Tim Bradstreet is made of win as well as the widely-known awesome.
At 3.51 this morning I saw Dracula bodypopping to a song I know from glee.
... Life is strange sometimes.
Hello Russell!
Hello Ian!
Winning the "it's a small world" category, the Spanish couple who organised the V20 Europe collection campaign made a trailer with people from... Embraced in Edinburgh.
With any luck I will soon have a new facey-book photo.
V20 is enormous.
The Gangrel animal features weakness is now temporary.
Tim Bradstreet is made of win as well as the widely-known awesome.
At 3.51 this morning I saw Dracula bodypopping to a song I know from glee.
... Life is strange sometimes.
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Hello from the Grand Masquerade
I will have more to say next time I post, I imagine.
In the meantime, Matt M McElroy is compiling a book of essays on Vampire: The Masquerade and held this page up to me specifically. :) So expect to see some early ramblings here and then a sharpened up version there.
In the meantime, Matt M McElroy is compiling a book of essays on Vampire: The Masquerade and held this page up to me specifically. :) So expect to see some early ramblings here and then a sharpened up version there.
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