Dungeon World the review

So, I finally got my copy of Dungeon World yesterday and here is my review of the book.

Part 1 The Game itself

It has been a long damn time since I have wanted to dungeon crawl. I just don’t play those kinds of games anymore and there are a lot of people out there that do. So, bully for them. But my point is that after I burned out on Dungeons and Dragons, this kind of game never even reached my radar. I was more into the story telling games like Fate.

Then I played the game once about 7 months ago and the narrative control amazed me, and the fact that it was so close setting wise to how D&D was, became irrelevant. The fact that it is such a rules light game also appeals to me since this is why I don’t want to play games like Burning Wheel due to how crunchy those games are.

Part 2 Playing the game

2D6. is what your roll to accomplish things in the game. Yes, you may have to roll a different die for damage, but the basic component is that you roll 2D6.

You have the basic attributes like D&D. Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Charisma, Wisdom, and Intelligence. Depending on what your score is, you can get a bonus to your roll.

When you are trying to do something you roll the 2d6, and one of the following happen:

On a 10+ You accomplish your task with little trouble

On a 7-9 You accomplish your task but with complications or trouble

On a 6 or lower you fail and the Gm tells you what happens and then mark XP

There are basic moves like hack and slash (roll+STR bonus), Volley (roll +Dex bonus, Spout Lore (Roll +INT bonus, Discern realities (Roll + Wis bonus) Defend a character (Roll + Con bonus), or Parley with an npc (Roll + Cha bonus).

The other thing that you do is defy danger. When your character acts despite an imminent threat, you say how you deal with it and roll.  For example, to dodge, you would use Dex. To hold on the edge of a cliff could be +Con. And so on.

Oh, and did I mention that the GM never rolls a dice. Not once. Craziness!

Part 3 Character types

This is nothing new to you. The classes are Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Thief, and Wizard.

I don’t need to say what these are, but each has its own starting moves, such as picking locks, spellcasting, shapeshifting, a signature weapons, and hunt and tracking to name a few.  You also can get racial benefits since you can play human, elf, dwarf, or halfing.

You also have bonds with the other players in the game that can be resolved and get xp, but more than that it is a way to get you connected with the rest of the party. I like this quite a bit.

Part 4 The Gm

The Gm has moves as well. They could be as simple as enemies, or a trap. But when the player does not make the roll, the Gm can cause some problems for the player. They could separate the players or even make them lose resources…or my favorite reveal an unwelcome truth.

This is just a small sampling of what they can do, but their job is to keep the story going. When the players decided to do something, they make a roll. Depending on the roll, the GM then looks at their lists of moves and chooses something like mentioned above.

After the first session, the GM then starts creating something called Fronts. Simply it is secret knowledge of dangers and threats for the players.  Things that the player care about and get used against them.  Fronts allow the GM to organize GM’s thoughts their thoughts to create the opposition.

There is good advice here is to how to get this started. By the time you are done you would be able to have Fronts created along with threats, places, people, etc. It was cool to read.

Part 6 The World/Monsters

The first part of this was creating steadings, towns, ect. It is very simple and I love how easy DW makes it to create the world you are playing in. You take a map and start with a few locations and off you go creating the world.

The steading creation gives you a lot of options on how to go about it.

Then there are the monsters that are stated out. Enough for you to definitely get going in the game.

Part 7 Advanced delving

One of the best things about this game is how hackable it is. People take the basic game play and then just go nuts with it. This chapter gives advice on how to create moves, classes, races, etc.

There is some great advice here and I am personally looking forward to doing that at some point.

The overview

Overall, this book is awesome. It is damn hard to make a game where I actually want to dungeon crawl again, and the rules are easy enough for new players to jump in and get going. Sometimes you just need to make things easier to really gain complexity. That is how this game feels. It is so damn simple to see, but there is so much you can do.

It takes everything I used to love about D&D, but only better. I heard someone say the other day that this is the D&D they want to play. 

I agree.

Game on!

Dungeon World!

So, I have been going crazy lately with seeing all of the people on Google + getting their copies of the game. This is a game I am very excited about and the fact that something could even make me want to play a dungeon-crawl game is something that still surprises me every time I think about it.

Here is said book that was delivered today.

I played it once about 7 months ago or so at a gaming day in Pittsburgh. The funny thing is that I was wandering around looking for something to play and someone asked me if I wanted to play this.

I did not.

One listen told me it was too much like Dungeons and Dragons, which I had no interest in playing. It is possible I still have issues with D&D that I have not quite completely dealt with.

So, after getting talked into it, we took off and played the game.

I played a cleric. This is significant because I had not played any type of magic user in about 20 years. All stemming from an awful experience the very first time I played the game. So, I was a cleric of Thor and the narrative gameplay just blew me away.



Now, I finally got the book and am excited to play it again and then I want to run it as well.

It is good to be excited.

Why I think Evil Hat is the best. Period.

This doesn't mean I don't love other gaming companies, because I do. I spend quit a bit of money on other gaming companies. This is just why I love Evil Hat the most. :)

This story goes back a few years to my time in New York City.  June of 2008 to be exact. I was going to a mini convention in the city and one of the games people were talking about was Spirit of the Century. Now my gaming background comes from D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, etc. The old school games from the late 80’s to early 90’s.

I was also in the midst of being burned out on gaming. My group had been playing D&D 2^nd ed, and we moved on to 3.5…and I really, did not like it. Part of it is that I was burned out of D&D anyways, but 3.5 never really clicked with me. I played it a bit, but never enjoyed it.

Then I played Spirit of the Century.

I had not played any of the “indie” games before and it blew my mind. Just in the ways aspects are handled and the cooperative character creation. I could not believe it. Gone were the days of randomly dungeon crawling for no purpose. To be fair, I am not talking about our games for the most part. My friend Henry runs a pretty mean 2^nd ed. But that is what most of D&D did turn into for me. Just let’s go kill stuff and gather gold.

So after playing this game I immediately went online and bought the game, and also Don’t Rest Your Head.  Not long after I found out they were making games from one of my favorite series. The Dresden Files. I then began my campaign to be a part of their playtesting. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, but I did make myself a nuisance probably for a bit.

I was selected and life was awesome.

But the cool part about this was at this time we were making our own game. I asked Fred a few questions about game design, and he graciously answered them with quickly and with respect. This was before Google+ and everyone was blogging to get the world out on things. It was just damn cool of him to take time out of his life and answer questions to a fledgling game designer. He might say it wasn’t that big of a deal, but it left an impression on me.

I have always been impressed with Evil Hat. They go about game design and how to run a company doing that in a way that I have always appreciated.  The way they always try to answer questions. They started sending out .pdf’s to anyone that bought any of their products. Also, their honesty. The DFRPG game took much longer than they thought, but they were always there to tell you what was going on. Not making excuses per say, but at least with an answer. Was it an answer a lot of people liked? No, but silence is always worse.

Now they have made quite a few other games as well. So, the company has been doing well for itself for a while and yet there was always that rumor of the Fate Core book coming out. Sometimes I thought it would never happen, especially as time goes on. But every once in a while you would hear a small nugget about it. Just enough to make me go look for it again. Eventually the made the Fate website and started updating it as well.

So, now the book is in kickstarter. I have seen some crazy kickstarter’s and this if you asked anyone outside of the gaming sphere, would not be categorized as such. Like the freaking Shadowrun one that raised almost two million? Wow. But this has been really damn impressive to watch. They made their first goal in 12 minutes. As of right now, they are over 70k and it hasn’t even been 48 hours yet.

And the rewards? Nuts. People in the industry writing modules and mini-campaigns, and a tool-box for the game. A magical one and another just to help the game be more awesome. It will be in hardcover, since that was one of the first stretch goals. And on…and on….and on.

I mean, shit.

I have known the Fate community would love this book. Hell, even Fred knew that. But did anyone see this coming? They have almost 2400 backers?

All of this proves that I am kind of an Evil Hat fan boy at this point. Also, that they are the best damn gaming company out there. That is my opinion, so those of you that do not agree, don’t get your knickers in a twist. Is just what I think. :)

Oh in case you weren't convinced. Look at the freaking picture at the top. A cop with a gun, a female samurai (or ninja or just badass with a sword) and a huge gorilla that looks ready to take someone's head off. Enough said.

My dungeons and dragons hypocrisy...

So a good friend of mine has decided he wants to run a 2^nd edition Dungeons and Dragons game. I said I was interested in play. If anyone has followed me at all the last few years they know how I feel about D&D at this point. For those of you that do not know, let me explain.

The very first game I ever played (way back in 1991), was D&D. Except for the first encounter where I died and nearly quit the game forever (a story for a different day), I became hooked. It was not the easiest game to learn, but I got the hang of the rules and such and enjoyed myself.

It became a gateway for other games as well. Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, and Champions to name a few.

But over the years something happened.

I got burned out of the game. Our gaming group played it pretty consistently for a few years and I just lost all the desire to play the game at all. We used 2^nd edition, which was the game I started playing back in the day. We then decided to go to 3.5, which is where my disconnect began. I have never liked any other version other than 2^nd edition, and that has not changed to this day. I especially have no interest in 4^th edition, or the 5^th that is coming out.

But I also began to have an irrational anger toward the game. This was right when I started playing indie games such as Spirit of the Century, Dog’s in the Vineyard and the like. I was fascinated by the newer games coming out that seemed (at least to me) be more about the story and less about the fighting.

So, for years I have argued against playing the game and focused on the indie games I love. If someone brought it up in conversation, I would voice my displeasure and move on.

That brings us to today. My friend never even thought of asking me if I would want to play…for obvious reasons. We were together last night with a few other people and it came up and I said I would like to play. He seemed shocked, especially since I think I had even made a comment out D&D earlier.

I am such a hypocrite. But I also just want to game and the 2^nd edition D&D is one that I know and can at least enjoy.

I even find myself oddly looking forward to it. Now I am off to amazon to find me a 2^nd edition players handbook!

So, I guess I still really don't like the D20 system.

Apparently, I still have a major dislike of anything d20.

This is not me bashing the system as much as just realizing that I don’t want to have anything to do with it.

To be fair, I got into gaming playing D&D 2^nd ed, and still have fond memories of that game. It was the game that got me into gaming in the first place. So without it, I may have never got into gaming at all. For that I am grateful.

It started in 1991, and I played that game (along with others such as Call of Cthulhu, cyberpunk, champions, etc.) for a good decade. Then I had a few years where I did not play anything, mostly due to not being able to find people to play with.

Then I moved to NYC in 2003 and started my own sci-fi/fantasy book club. From that I found people wanting to game, and we started playing 2^nd ed again. It was fun, especially getting to introduce new people to gaming. I had a blast.

Then it changed.

I started to get bored with the game, and a few other things happened at the same time.  The first thing was an introduction to the indie game scene by playing Spirit of the Century. This changed how I viewed gaming and I started to go into a different direction. The second thing that happened is that we started to make a game and I realized our game was just a clone of D&D.

I don’t think we meant for that to happen, but it did.

Not to mention at this time it seemed like every game was becoming a d20 game.  Or it could be that I was so burned out of D&D that it ruined other d20 games as well.

So, anyone that knows me already knows this.

But last weekend we were at half-price books, and I came across and old star wars box set for 7 bucks. Part of me remembered that Wizards made a D20 star wars game, but I blocked that part of my mind and could not wait to get back home. See, I had played star wars years before it was a D20 game and it was AWESOME.

So, when I got home, I started reading the book and realized it was the Wizards version which was D20. It was so disappointing to me, and once I got a few chapters into the game, I was already done with it. It just annoyed the hell out of me. lol.

So, apparently, even though I have not played a d20 game in probably 4 years or so, I am still annoyed with the system enough that I don’t even want to read the book in a setting I love. This may never change, and if that is the case, that is ok.

I have enough indie games I love to make up for it.

Fate Part 1. Why Fate?

I will be blogging about different parts of Fate over the next months. I will try to do about one a week (if possible).  Over the next months, I also plan to try to get as many of the fate games as possible. There are a few of them out there now, and I look forward reviewing all of them.

So, I guess the way to start this off is to ask the question, why Fate? Actually, someone else had sent me an email on Google+ asking that question, so it seemed like a great place to start.

My friends and I had been gaming for a while. But the only game we ever seemed to play was Dungeons and Dragons, which was ok for a while. We played 2nd edition, and it has always had a soft spot in my heart, because it was the first game that I ever played and you never truly forget your first, right? But one of the problems with 2nd edition is when we brought new gamers into our group via our book club; it was a very difficult game to explain how to play. Just start with Thac0 and watch their eyes glaze over.

So, over time, I started getting burned out of the game. Tired of just running around killing everything. I had not ever played an “Indie” game before, and we even tried to mix it up a little by playing Vampire: Dark Ages and then later Shadowrun. Which I am not a huge fan of either of those games, especially the later.

Then I joined a group in NYC called www.nerdnyc.com an online community where people meet others that like the same things and you get together and actually do them. Shocking, I know. Now a lot the people on there are D&D fans (which is fine), but it is a very diverse group of people.

So, through them, I found out about a small gaming convention taking place in NYC, and I went. At the con, I stumbled into a game called Spirit of the Century. I had never heard of the game before, and sat down to play it. It was so much different from what I was used too, and it took a bit fore me to get used to the fact that I wasn’t really combat oriented. The use of aspects, instead of your typical attributes was confusing at first. But after playing it for a few minutes, I loved it. It didn’t hurt that SotC is a pulp game, and I love pulp.

So after that, I immediately went online, found their webpage, and learned about other games they had made. Then something crazy happened. I found out they were making a Dresden Files Rpg.  What? At this time, my friends Chris and Amy had already gotten me addicted to Jim Butchers Dresden Files, and I was really excited about this.

The first thing I did was sign up to be one of their play testers and was approved. I cannot even explain how excited I was to hear back from Fred Hicks on this. I created a group on Livejournal so people could talk about the playtest experience and even got my own group to help with it.

At this point, I was hooked on the Fate system. I loved how simple it is for new gamers to actually pick up and play, and there is something awesome about when a player actually gets how the aspects work. You can see the light bulb go off when they truly get it. But the system allows you so much control as a player, which is nice to be able to push the game in the direction you actually want it to go. Not to mention, it is more about role-playing than combat.

The funny part of all this is as much of a fan as I am of the system, I have played SotC four times, and I have yet to play Dfrpg. I am hoping that will change cuz when I start our Dfrpg game up again, someone is going to rotate in, so I can actually play.  I have also recently started reading Diaspora and it is very interesting and very well written.

Setting is everything...

I did a post talking about mechanics a few weeks ago, and how problematic they can be.  Mechanics are an important part of the game, but it is never what hooks me into one.  Don't get me wrong, there are mechanics in a game that I really like, but that is never why I want to play the game.  

But that is never what actually hooks me into a game.  First thing is always the setting.  I look at the games I have loved in my life, and the first thing that usually sticks out is the setting the game uses.

• Call of Cthulhu.  Dark, gothic setting based on H.P. Lovecraft stories.
• The Dresden Files Rpg.  Urban fantasy setting, based on The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
• Dogs in the Vineyard.  Set in the Old west, tumbleweeds going by, rough land and people.  
• Dungeons and Dragons.  We played in the Forgotten Realms setting, which I love

And others that I may not have liked (or haven't playe)

• Vampire: Dark Ages
• Shadowrun
• Dread
• 3:16

So, to me, setting is one of the most important aspects of the game.  But there are a few types.  

There is a physical setting the is created from the ground up.  The Forgotten realms setting is like that.  They created people, places, gods, maps, etc.  So much information that you as the GM just have to find a place to start your adventure.  I am a big fan of this type of setting.  I love information about the world and it was the first rpg I ever played.

Then you have something similar, but a little different.  The Dresden Files RPG has a world of canon that if you have read the books, you are very familiar with.  Yet, you also get to create the city it takes place in, along with places, npcs, aspects, and characters.  Amazing stuff.  I love both of those, because they have so much information about the world.  I am an information junkie.

Then you have games where the setting could be entirely based on a time period or genre.  Spirit of the Century based on the 1920's, where you characters are pulpy.  Again the location of the game can be wherever you wish, but the setting itself is based on the pulp aspect of it.    

Then you have a game like Hollowpoint, where the setting can be whatever you wish.  But no matter what, you are a badass that has a job to do.  Kicking someone elses ass.  You can do all kinds of actual settings for this.  You can be renegade cops, starship troopers, assassins, knights of the crusade, or the seven samauri. The setting is inter-changable

The bottom line is this.  I love settings, and that is how I get hooked.  This is why when talking about our own game, I want to nail the setting.  We are creating a game from the ground up, which is a daunting task.  But one that I am excited for and I think it will be awesome.

Character death

A lot has been said today on Google+ concerning character death in rpg’s. So, I thought I would put my two cents in.

I think a lot of it depends on three things. The game you are playing, the GM, ad your fellow gamers.

The game.  Dungeons and Dragons has always been a game that you could potentially die. It is a combat first game that has only gotten more so as time goes by. My very first D&D character(and first rpg experience) did not make it five minutes in the game. I have seen seriously bad ass characters bite it cuz the GM rolled a few 20’s and wiped them out. It has happened to me both as a player and a gm.

Then you have a game like Spirit of the Century. I am not saying you cannot die in this game, because you can. But I have always felt like it was a game that the pulp heroes are created to succeed. Oh and look awesome doing it. Swinging by a chandelier, defusing a bomb, escaping off of a airship that is on fire…those type of thing . But then you take the Dresden Files, which uses the same Fate system for the most part. All of a sudden, you can g.t taken out fairly easily (or concede). Is just how much more dangerous that game is.

 Last, you have Call of Cthulhu. Not only can your character die, but it is just a matter of time until you lose your mind. I love this fucking game and need to play it again. Sorry, I do tend to get distracted b all things Cthulhu.

Yes, there are other type of games out there, this was just a small example. 

The GM.   This can so many ways depending on whom is running the game. I used to game someone that was a marine, and it was damn duty to try to kill us…oh and quickly. But I have also ran with people that seem to shy away from trying to kill you. Make your life difficult, but not kill you

I am somewhere in the middle. I want there to be a threat of death, but I don’t want it to be all the game is about.

Oh, and don’t think that the GM isn’t affected by his mood. I once went into a situation just after fighting with my girlfriend at the time. I was in a pissed off mood and because of that wanted the players to die. It isn’t really cool when this happens, but it does.

Fellow gamers.   Again, not everyone has an opinion on this. But not knowing how they will react can bring an epic sized temper tantrum.

So a few tips about character death. Especially when it comes to new gamers.

• If it there first time playing, you may not want to kill them. Remember the D&D character I mentioned earlier? It took me almost three hours to have people explain the game and make a character. It was D&D 2^nd edition and I made a wizard. I had 3 hp, and I died in the first fight. I was so pissed I almost left and to this day have never played a wizard in any other game.
• NO ONE likes to die their first time out. You want them to come back, not be pissed off that the DM killed you. Gaming should be fun and people want to do kick ass things. They cannot do that if you are killing them five minutes into the game. Give them time to enjoy it as much as you do…and then kick their ass. J
• Don’t assume you know how they will react. In that same campaign of D&D (about 3 years later) another play had a seriously bad ass wizard. Powerful spells, magic items galore, etc. His character died by a dragon. He was so pissed off, he quit the game and never came back. Was a bit much really, but was a serious hissy fit.
• Talk about it. It helps if you are on the same page. If you are running the game, ask your players how they feel about it. Hell, if it is that dangerous of a campaign, they may even make a spare character just in case. I have done that.
• Don’t be a dick. If you do kill a character, try not to gloat about it. I have seen that and it is just such a douche move. I have been on both sides of this and when you realize just how much of a jerk you were….that is such a crappy moment. You can lose the respect of everyone at your table quickly this way.

Keep in mind that theseare just my opinions, and if you don’t agree with them…that is fine.

What is our game about?

Well, I have already spoken about why I want to make a game.  why I am making a game And the dilemma behind making a game.  game designing dilemna   

So, now we move on to the next thing I want to talk about…what is our game about. 

The name of our game (for now at least) is Perdition.  It is a fantasy setting that deals with a culture based on elements and how it affects every part of their lives.   Yeah, part of this comes from my love of the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher.  

The world was normal once, and then came what is now known to be The Fury.  The world was ravaged by the elements and after a time, it changed the world and the people living in it.  It started slowly at first, people being able to manipulate the elements.  People were terrified of this and rarely used it.  Then over time people began to see how much power it gave them, and they embraced it.  Shocking I know.  The world is also a very dangerous place since the Fury still comes from time to time to ravage the world even further.

The elements are your typical ones.  Air, earth, fire, and water.  Although I am still considering whether to add more to that such as spirit, light, and darkness.   Every single person in the world is born with an affinity of an element.  A rune  is marked on their body, like a tattoo.  There is status involved (both positive and negative) and there are a very small percentage that are born with either the ability to have all of the elements, or none.  Every character in the world has some access to the elements...even if it is just something small.  For instance if you are born with an affinity of fire, you may be able to bring up a small flame to help see in the dark.  Or if you have earth, you may always know which direction you are going.  Someone with air can use it to levitate a small distance.  Oh and if you have the water affinity, you can breathe under water.  Simple things like that, regardless of what kind of character you want to play. 

But of course there are people in the world that think they need to rule.   The Devout simply want everyone else to recognize their authority.  Is that so much to ask?  They are willing to crush anyone that doesn’t agree with them.  Then you have Perdition.  The rebellion as you will.  Though, they are not always nice about it.  This is a true rebellion, where black and white get murky and people live in the gray.  They do what they have to do to survive.  We also may have two other groups (not sure yet), one that is just trying to hide, and one that just wants to stir the pot and cause chaos.  This will probably be redone. 

 

We want the world to a focal part of the game.  Since it is an elemental game, we want the elements to play a big part in it.  Weather will be a huge factor in the game.    The world is a dangerous place.  Constantly there are floods, volcanoes, tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes… you get the point.  You have to fight

Amongst all of this, you have the Orders.  Each person is approached at a certain age by one of the Orders of the world.  Only a small percentage of the world (maybe 5-10%) are chosen for this.  You do NOT have to join them, but again there is a prestige factor involved, not to mention a safe haven from the world.    I plan on redoing this since they seem a bit too confined and remind me way too much of class system games, which I don’t want to do anymore.  More on this later. 

Yeah, without knowing it we had created a game that seemed too much like Dungeons and Dragons.  Five years ago, this did not bother me, since that is what we played.  But times have changed, and I am not really into the old school games anymore.  I haven’t played D&D in a while and am all about the indie gaming scene now. 

So, I am in the process of reading all the notes and everything we actually did in the game.  I already know I that the game I see, is not the game I want to make.  I still want to keep the setting, and the elemental aspect of it.  I still want to have Orders in the world, but restructured and not as rigid.  I want to be more flexible in everything else.  I love the Fate system, and I think I want to play around with the game being at least kind of like it. 

Oh, the other thing I want to change (and forgot to mention up to this point).  The world was populated by five different races…humans, elves, orcs, sylphs, and saurials.  Just another indication as to how “D&D” the game felt.  I would like the world to be nothing but human (with maybe one other).  Different lands with different races of humans. 

At some point I have to talk to my co-author Henry…and see if he agrees with any of this.  J  But for now, I am just getting my thoughts in order, so I can have a plan of attack.

Everything is subject to change since my views on games have changed in the last 5 years.  Please be patient and if you can, try to keep the comments positive.  J  They can still be constructive, but I am all about the positive here.  

Why am I making a game?

How it came to be.

There are a lot of reasons why people choose to create their own game, so I don’t imagine my reason is going to really blow anyone’s mind with my answer. 

You know the scene.  You are sitting around with your friends and talking about gaming.  Your frustration in how things may be done in the game.  For me it was Dungeons and Dragons 2^nd Edition.  Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of fond memories playing this game.  It was the game that got me hooked into gaming 20 years ago. 

So around five years ago we were playing a bunch of 2^nd Edition, and it started to wear on me.  My problem with D&D has always been that it was a bit too rules extensive, and trying to teach new people how to play the game?  Good luck.  By the time you got to Thac0, it was a mess.  So this is how this started.  We started to wonder if we could make a game that was not as confusing, and easier for new people to learn.  Most of our newer players came from our book club and had no experience in gaming at all. 

So on a trip back from a Renaissance Faire that was rained out, we started talking a script for a movie.  Or Chris did, since he was the one thinking about it.  In the story, people were getting killed by monsters from a rpg they were playing.   After talking about it, we decided to make a game for the movie.  A very simple game.

Or so we thought.

Then all those thoughts  of thinking we could make a game we actually wanted to play started coming out.  The three of us (Chris, Henry, and myself) started wondering if we could design something more.  So, it turned into something much, much, more.  We call it Perdition.

Why it is important?

I miss creating.  I have always felt better when I was creating something.  I am written most of my life, and remember how often my life seemed better while I was actually doing it.  Then came a new type of creation with the RPG. 

It was awesome.

It was a new kind of euphoria.  Because we were creating an entire world.  I will talk more about the game on a later date, but it is a world that the elements are a major force, and the creation aspect of that was something I loved so much. 

But even more than that, there is a sense of accomplishment (even on a game that is nowhere near done) that comes with the creation of it.  Even small parts that you finish can make you feel great about what you are trying to do. 

What does the future bring?

The one thing I have to do is get consistent with all of it.  It has been a little over a year since we have actually done anything, and I am in the process of moving back towards starting designing the game again.  I just have to re-read everything and see where we are. 

The funny thing is when we started we had created a D&D clone without even realizing it.  Then I started playing indie games and fell in love with them.   How simple the games can be, and how they are more about roleplaying, instead of it being all about rules.

But beyond that I am really excited about getting back into the game

Gaming and horror, and Cthulhu, oh my!

One of my favorite game of all time is Call of Cthulhu.  Back when I first started gaming I started out with 2^nd edition Dungeons and Dragons.  That game will always have a special place in my heart, but after playing it for a year or so…I needed to play something different.  Then a friend of mine introduced me to two things that changed my life a bit. 

The first was Call of Cthulhu.  What a great game, where you get crazier the more you play it.  Not to mention it was set in the 1920’s, which made the setting that much more dark and gloomy.  That was always driven home by the artwork you have seen associated with the game (and others like it) since.  The second thing I was introduced to was H.P. Lovecraft.  Not every one of his stories were what you would consider “good”, but the imagination it took to write them was crazy to me. 

I have loved horror since I was a kid.  I remember being really young and I was at a drive-in to see the Exorcist.  I was a terrified child, and it scared me so much I could not even watch it.  Which is funny, because I am still too afraid to watch that movie.  But my love of horror took off after that.  Do you remember just how creepy the first Nightmare on Elm Street was?  It is easy to laugh at now, but it came out when I was around 14.  That movie gave me nightmares for weeks. 

Then you have horror novels, which I tend to not get into as much anymore.  I feel like everything has been so commercialized that it is hard to be afraid of them anymore.  I remember when vampires and zombies used to be scary.  Now you have Twilight and all those ridiculous mash up books with zombies.  The most recent I read for my book club was about The Beatles, whom were zombies.  This book made me so mad I wanted to find the author and smite him somewhat. 

So that brings us back to gaming.  I started playing CoC when I was around 22 or so.  I remember sessions of that game that were terrifying.  I kind of miss that.  Now I am 40 years old, and sadly I realize the older we get, the harder it is to be afraid.  Imagination gets replaced with pragmatism and logic.  Don’t get me wrong, my inner child is still running the show, but it much harder to be afraid now.  Maybe that is because life is scary and I have looked down the barrel of a gun before.  We have things like 9/11 to remind us of how frail we actually are. 

That is not to say that other people have any problem with this.  Roleplaying as rule means you have to step outside of yourself and buy into whatever setting the game you are playing uses.

I have not really played many new games that deal with fear.  I still plan on playing Don’t Rest Your Head with my gaming group at some point.  That game has the capability of being creepy if the right person runs it.  I also really like Trail of Cthulhu.  It just brings me back to when I was a 22 year kid learning how to game.  Not to mention, I am a big fan of the Gumshoe system Pelgrane Press came up with.  I have played that game 5 or 6 times and I love, love, love it.  I also still want to play Mutant City Blues, but that is a whole different type of game. 

Which brings me to the game they made last year that I REALLY want to play.  Fear Itself. http://www.pelgranepress.com/site/?page_id=420

I only found out about this recently, and boy does it look promising.  I want to have that feeling of walking down in to a basement and wondering if something is going to try to eat my face.  (Smile).  I miss the adrenaline rush of that type of feeling.

So, I guess the questions I am asking myself, is can I still be afraid of things in the dark?  I hope so.  I would love to find a game that can bring all of that feeling back.  That tension of knowing something dark and dangerous is around the corner. 

What are your thoughts on this?  What games out there has the kind of feeling I am looking for?  Suggestions? 

Game designing: the delemna

I am not a game designer, but I want to be one.  It isn’t about making money, mostly due to the fact that a lot of people say you cannot make money in the industry as it is.  Maybe you can, maybe you can’t, that isn’t really the point.  The point is to do something that allows me to be creative.  I try to write, but I have the same problems with that, and it just isn’t as much fun. 

Me and a few  friends decided we were going to make our own game.  This actually came about around four years ago or so on the way back a Ren faire.  A lot of goofy things can happen on a two hour drive in the rain, and this one came from the idea of a script for a horror movie where people were killed playing a rpg.  J  I know.  But decided we wanted to make a game for the movie and sat down and started coming up with ideas.  The funny part of this was that we had been playing 2^nd edition Dungeons and Dragons for a while and began to burn out of it (mostly I was).  So we thought, hey let’s make a game we would want to play!  The result?  Our game Perdition (a work on progress)

This probably isn’t that original of a story (except the horror movie/ren faire part), but everything has to start somewhere, right? 

There have been a few problems.

Problem 1.  Lack of discipline.  It is something I am working on, but overall we aren’t great at it.  Too much time between us actually working on the game. 

Problem 2.  Trying to come up with something original.  There are so many people out there making games right now.   It is both great (from a gaming point of view), and annoying (from a designing point of view). 

Problem 3.  Being on the same page.  When you are making a game with someone else, you have to try to find a way to come to a common voice for the game.  Not always easy.

We have actually put a lot of work into it, but not so much in the last few years.  I have had life issues for a while (and still do), so gaming in general has taken a back seat.  Yeah there are all kinds of excuses, and I know I have made my own share.  So, here I am trying to get my mind set in doing this again. 

I miss the feeling of creation that came with making our game.  I miss feeling that it was important at one time and that we could not wait to get back to talking about it.  Also the camaraderie that came with it all.

I am still trying to figure other things out, but I definitely want to get back into the game.  I want to see this through, and that is something I have always struggled with.  But it will require me (well, us) to have to do the work to get this finished.  I know I am excited at the prospect of getting back to it.

So, I am trying to pump myself up for this.  I see so many people that are successful at making their own games and I cannot deny, I love the idea of seeing my name on a gaming book at some point.  J