My day at Nunchcon 2.5

Nunchcon 2.5

So, yesterday I went to a small convention type thing here in Pittsburgh. It was run by +Jeff Johnston and +Melanie Johnston Apparently they do this about every six months or so. Opening up their huge house and having games all day (and night). They are awesome.

So, I got there at 11 yesterday and the first thing they did was give me a t-shirt. SWAG! I then sat down and started talking to people about gaming related stuff and waited for the first game I wanted to play.

Game one started around 2 and it was Tabletop Blockbuster by +John Sheldon and +Brianna Sheldon. I have played play-tested this game a few times now, but am always willing to do so again. If you have not heard of this game by them (or me), the game takes like the 80’s blockbuster action movies and brings them to life.

The fun part of this game is that you get to create the setting and each time the game is played, it seems the setting is more awesome than the previous one. We have played a fantasy setting as dwarves and fairies, super soldiers in ww2, operatives fighting the supernatural in the Korean War, and yesterday? The old west with a bit of magic and taking place in New Orleans. It never fails to be awesome.

They are actually almost done with this game and it has been great to see the game grow over the last several months.

Game 2 was World of Cyberpunk, a hack of World of Dungeons. Being a huge fan of Dungeon World (and the World’s game in general, I was excited to see how this game plays out. It was run by +Stras Acimovic whom I have to admit is one of the more engaging people I have ever played games with. He is just so enthusiastic and it is always awesome to see.

So, Cyberpunk was one of the first games I ever played and enjoyed. This game had that feel, but also had that feeling of the world’s game that I love. But since it was a hack of World of Dungeons, there were a few differences, like rolling for stats/gear/cyberware. You rolled 2d6 and if you got a 7-9 you got gear that gave you a +1, a 10-11 a +2, and if you rolled a 12 you got gear at +3. You could then buy that gear for whatever type of character you played. For example, I played an infiltrator so I got a suit that allowed me to blend in the shadows, which added a +1 to my stealth roll.

Now if you are lucky enough to get a 12, it can help you quite a bit since a +3 is a huge bonus in this game.  But the game itself was probably the most fun I have had playing a “world” game. Stras does such a good job of hitting you with the soft/hard moves and moving the story along.

So our job was to kill a high level board member from the GenTec Corp and take his head (which had data in it that was important. Man did us over think this, it was going to be a train job and we just spent far too much time planning. Eventually we killed the person, but lost our doctor along the way. It was a grand time.

Game 3 was Little Fears, also ran by Stras. 

Wow, that game was a bit creepy…which we were warned it would be. Horror rpg’s are not an easy thing to play. First it is harder to be scared as we get older, and second you have to buy into it and really go for it. Not to mention that since we played children ages 6-10, you have to be ok with children dying.

This isn’t easy for everyone which is why this game probably isn’t for everyone. We were told up front it was going to be scary as hell and that most of us would die. Sweet, bring it on!

You made characters by answering questions like what you are afraid of, who your best friend is, what items do you have that you believe are powerful. That last part I had a hard time with (of course it was also 2 in the morning). Imagine those things you knew to be true as a child, but as an adult you know aren’t. Belief is such a huge part of this game. Do you have a pair of shoes that you believe make you faster? Guess what, they do. Do you believe that Purple Heart of your fathers gives you protection against the monsters? Guess, what, it does. Things like that.

So playing children can be a lot of fun and Stras did a great job of painting a picture of horror. The game truly was a bit scary and the tension involved was high as we fought and ran our way from really disturbing monsters trying to kill us. One of us died, and was ripped apart right of in front of us.

It was awesome!

I would so play that game again.

Overall, a damn good day with great people. Oh, and did I mention they fed up pulled pork! Holy hell that was amazing. Not to mention the jello with cream cheese and pretzel. No, you did not read that wrong.

An update on creative things...

So, I have been working on both the game and the book that took place in the world quite a bit lately, and I feel excited about that.

Shadows over Kushara
I mean last night for the novel, I actually wrote 1500 words. I cannot remember the last time I have written that much in one setting. It was an amazing feeling and I really just want to keep the momentum going each day.

To help with that, I bought a few binders and the clear thingies that go with them. I then printed out everything I have written for the novel and put them in them. The reason why this is important is that I work best when I have chapters printed. I then can go over them, and take notes in my notebook. It seems to be the only way I can do this consistently, but you do what you can to get stuff done.

Oh, and I named the main protagonist. Her name is Kira. Yes, I stole it from someone in my circles, cuz I freaking love the name.

Kushara's Fate
The nice thing about working on the novel, is it is helping shape the world as well. After reading +Deborah Teramis Christian's book on world building, it gave me ideas about how I want to start the world building process.

I have thought about the names of the two opposite factions. The ones in power were originally called the Devout, but I really don't like how everyone seems to think it is religious in nature, and for the most part I am avoiding religion in my world. Yes, it is possible my dislike of religion is rearing its ugly head.

But I had a conversation on here a while back with a lot of people and I think it was +Brad Murray that suggested the Doctrine. If it wasn't Brad, then I apologize. :) But the name ha really grown on m over time and I am leaning towards it now.

As for the resistance type group, I am liking the name the Resolute. Which is defined as:

Admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering. It just feels right and is something I have been trying to figure out for a while. I am still wavering on how much of the Fate mechanics I want to use. I am definitely using the aspect and some form of the skill pyramid, but am not sure about the dice. I am not sure it fits in the game. Or I could just be wanting to do something else. I am still trying to figure that out.

 

Myself as a Fate character. :)

So, I was sitting there at lunch today, roaming through Fate Accelerated and thought I should make myself as a character.

Why?

Hell, I don't know. I was bored, sue me. :)

It made more sense to use Fae rather than Fate Core. The approaches are more like real life and I don't really know how to use a gun. :)

High Concept-Temp looking for more
Trouble-My mouth has no filter
Aspect-Slightly obsessed with the Lord of the Rings
Aspect-Life has been hard for a while
Aspect-"I miss the Big Apple something fierce"

Good+3 Clever
Fair+2 Careful, Sneaky
Average +1 Forceful, Quick
Mediocre +0 Flashy

My review of World Building Tips by Deborah Teramis Christian

My review of World Building Tips by +Deborah Teramis Christian 

This came out of nowhere. I have been struggling for a few weeks as to how to start creating an entire world from scratch for the Kushara’s Fate game we are making. I still love the idea, but just figuring out where to start has been a serious problem.

So, then Deborah posted a link to this book a few days ago. A five dollar expense via amazon was not so taxing so I bought and dug into it. I was excited as the timing of this was amazing due to what I mentioned earlier.

Holy hell, it was awesome.

Now here it the thing about this type of book. They are only tips as you can use them or not. But what is great about it is that it points out things that have been roaming around the back of my mind and brought them to the forefront. That isn’t to say that there aren’t original thoughts in the book, because there are a plenty. My point is that sometimes someone can remind you of something that you know of and it just clicks.

For example. She goes on quite a bit talking about how rivers in a world are very important as the cities along the rivers tend to be places of commerce. This is something I have always kind of known, but not really thought about, but when reading this….BAM! It makes so much sense and really gives me thoughts about the world we are making. It was such a simple thing (in my mind) and she did an amazing job of going into detail just what this means.

This is where the book shines. Deborah talks about things from rivers and how they affect the creation of your world, oceans and capital cities, mountains and rain, the moon, volcanos, fauna and wildlife, guilds, illness and disease, herbalism in the world, currency and/or bartering.

There is so much win here I can barely contain how happy I am to have read this. If nothing else, it has done an amazing job of helping me organize my thoughts and give me ideas.

So, if you are someone that is making a game/novel that entails a lot of details about the world itself, I highly recommend this book.

Get it NOW!

You can also go to their website, where you can sign up for more tips and find out more information about world building. http://world-building.com/

Episode 3 of Fate Points

So, last night was the third episode of our Fate hangout, Fate Points.

We were lucky enough to have +Jason Morningstar come on the show and talk about have experience in creating Fight Fire for the Fate Core Kickstarter.

Please check out the video below.

If you would like to find out more information about the games Jason and Bully Pit make, go here. http://www.bullypulpitgames.com/

Gaming over the weekend...

So, I did quite a bit of gaming this weekend. Here is what happened.

Friday night. Star Wars D6 system

So +Jacob Poss  ran a Star Wars one shot on Friday night. It has been over a decade since I have played this game. I have very fond memories as it had one of my favorite characters of all time…Janus Darklighter. A bad ass Jedi that kicked ass and took names.

So, Jacob started by asking who are favorite star wars characters were. Mine is Wedge Antilles. Survive TWO Death Star runs, leader of Rogue Squadron and in the books helped take down Coruscant!

So, I played the brash pilot template. I had an A-Wing and we also had a Jedi, a tracker, and a fighter droid. We were sent to find certain pirates and get rid of them.

I got to have a cool scene where I kicked pirate ass that were flying Z-95 headhunters (I know, right?). I flew circles around them, killed a few, and then talked the rest out of fighting me, because they would just end up dead.

Things went wrong as soon as I got OUT of my ship. Starting rolling 1’s on the D6 (which meant you are screwed basically). Got shot a bit, could not fight worth a damn and was saved by a teammate that just blew everyone to hell with bombs. The poor Jedi? Was left behind for the most part and had a very passive role in the game.

Saturday Slot 1. The Quiet Year prep for an Apocalypse World game

So, we decided to run a session of The Quiet Year in prep for our AW game coming up at the Gasp Day in Pittsburgh. The people I have talked to about this never really gave this idea much of a chance, saying it was not the best way to setup the other game. That is fine, I went to people for their opinions and they gave them.  If you want to know a bit more about the Quiet Year, go here. As I am not going to talk much about the game itself. I already did on a previous post. http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/110152/The-Quiet-Year

But the game went well, as we created a post-apocalyptic world based in Pittsburgh.  It was a nice start to our AW game I think. The map is built out and there are a ton of NPC’s in the game. Or we can choose to play any of them ourselves of course. But needless to say there are plenty of things in the world that won’t like us. A chopper gang roaming the roads, a Hocus that is trying to get followers, the Frost Shepherds, a militant religious order. Just to name a few.

I still it to be a great start to our game.

Slot 2. Dungeon World.

So, I decided to change my character from a fighter to a thief. I am just much more comfortable with this type of character and the game finally lived up to it hype as the session was oh my god, fun! We had a ranger with a demented cat, a halfing druid, a barbarian, and my thief.

The funny thing is that between my backstory and how the session started for me; somehow my thief got caught stealing, not once, but twice. Hmmm. 

So I was inside a mountain, trying to find a talisman for the god Akatar, and started out being captured by kobolds. I know, right? I was rescued by the others and they had found the Heartstone in the previous session and were trying to escape. We then met with the Kobold King, whom turned into a really angry fire creature and tried to smite us. While the fight was going on, I found the talisman and some loot and helped in the battle (or tried I kept rolling poorly). Eventually the creature was taken out and the barbarian became their king. This was really cool and he now has two followers that give him a 3 armor and 3 extra damage in battle. Awesome! We eventually got out of the mountain; I stole the heartstone from the druid and ran. In the most awesome moment I have seen in gaming in a while, the druid changed into a bird chased me down. When he found me, he dove towards me and shifted into a bear. In MID air! Also, he made the transformer noise to go along with it, which had me laughing for about 5 minutes afterward. Needless to say, I gave the stone back and then they finished their mission. Also, we were attacked by ratmen, as I was misled as to the type of deity the amulet was actually for. We took them out with good teamwork.

This was so much fun and I cannot wait to run it again.

Slot 3. Tabletop Blockbuster

So, my friends +John Sheldon and +Brianna Sheldon are making their own game. It is a genreless game that really showcases what an action movie would be like. I have played it three times now in different levels of playtesting and we have been in ww2 setting as super soldiers, a fantasy setting fighting dinosaurs, and this time? A merc group sent into the Korean War to find an occult item of some power.

I am not going to into the system much here, mostly due to the fact that it is still being playtested. But you have power/weapons which give you d6, and then you add relevant skills to it to add more. Then you roll a crapload of dice to see what happens. 5 and 6 are successes and you compare it to what the Gm rolled for the result.

You then create your character by choosing attributes, powers, skills, weapons, and trait.

What makes this game so much is just how actiony it feels. Our three characters were a vampire, The Sarge, and my character the Tank. Nicolas the vampire was the Dracula type, not to be confused with the sparkly, pansy ass vampires of our current age.  The Sarge was the grizzled old veteran driving our awesome military vehicle aptly named the Hammerhead. I was a big dude, with even bigger guns and armor.

There is also a mechanic that allows you to define things in the world, and another to allow you to re-roll missed dice. Very Fate Point in some ways, but nicely added.

One phenomenal thing this game does it that it allows the players to support each other in a way that is amazingly effective…and kickass at the same time. First the Sarge had a power that gave us a bonus if he gave a motivational speech. When he activates this as long as we are near him, we automatically get 3 extra dice to use on our roll. Next, if the Sarge knows I am tussling with that uber werewolf (which I was), he can say he is helping me by distracting it with grenades or something. He the rolls and the amount of successes he gets are added to may roll. Think about that for a second. My character already started with 12 dice (weapon+attributes), plus the 3 dice for the speech. Now I would get however many more dice if he succeeded the roll.

Holy hell, I had so many dice in my hands.

So, he would set things like that up. My character would do things like kick doors down and say cheesy one line. Bad ones like when the Sarge was worried that we were fighting werewolves, I turned to the “camera” and say while lock and loading my gun, “It’s ok, they all bleed the same Sarge”. It was like that all game long and awesome.

I am excited about his game. One because it is fun to play. Two because John and Brie are really good at taking feedback about their game. Everyone says they want honest input, but a lot of people then get offended that you dared say something bad about their creation. Seriously? I have seen the game improve from the first playtest they did back fall/winter. They go about this the right way and actually listen to what people say. Which to me is a no-brainer, but enough people don’t do that that it is nice to see when people actually do.

One last thing, I got to play with +Stras Acimovic twice yesterday and it is always a great experience. So much freaking energy and creativity is brought to any game by Stras. Great stuff.

A gaming update...

An update on things going on in my gaming world.

Hangouts. I have not done much of this lately as my life got super busy in the last month or so. I would still like to get some Fate Core in, and am planning on running Dragon Age and Dungeon World soon. The community I started is still going well. You can check it out here. https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/101466247068767710475

I am still trying to find ways to make it better, but that is kind of slow going.

Gaming. Have done a bit of gaming on the weekends, which will continue this weekend at the Gasp gameday here In Pittsburgh.  Going to play a bit of setup for Apocalypse world using The quiet year, then on to Dungeon World and last either some Fate Core, or playtesting a game friends are making.

Fistful of Fate.  I just recently started working on this hack again. There is some interest out there and am trying figure out a good way to do a gunfight (high noon style).  I have made a few of the “classes”, so I am ready to move on with this.

Kushara’s Fate.  I have not done much on our game in the last few months.  Time has been crazy and I have sitting back and watching all the Fate hacks out there.

I do have to say this. I am wondering how much of Fate I actually want to use at this point. The aspects and skills are something I still like. Although I want to change how the skills work since I am a bit tired of the pyramid. It works, but I just want to see something different. Which is why when I played a dragonriding Fate Core game over the weekend, I was surprised to see it did a lot of the same things I was thinking. I am not going to elaborate on that as I don’t want to say too much about his game, but we had a lot of the same ideas.

This is making me wonder if I have waited too long to really make a Fate game? Everyone is hacking it to death and every time I think I have cool idea, I see that someone else has had the same idea. This doesn’t mean I have given up on the idea, but I just want to think hard about how much of it I want to use. There is still a large part of me that wants to use some other kind of dice mechanics (not that I know what), but we shall see.

Either way, I think it is time to start working on the setting itself. We can do that as we figure out what we want to do with the game.