2019 RPGaDay 3: Engage

A lot of people talk about "player engagement" as being very important. And while I agree with that, I'd like to point out that the other side of that coin is just as important. That is, DM/GM engagement.

As a DM/GM, I like to interpret this as catering to my players, and specifically their characters. This is why, when setting out the parameters for character generation, I usually ask the players to tell me what their character's goals and dreams are. Are they bent on vengeance? Atonement? Fulfilling a promise? Is their goal a secret, or do they share it with their companions? Does it cause them internal strife because it goes against their moral compass?

I then take those nuggets of player creativity, and try to work them into the narrative of the story. And I usually try to make it an integral part of the over all campaign, where they have to deal with that element directly, with their party's help.

In this way, each character gets their moment to shine. To be the center of the story. And I usually let the players know up front that each of them will have this kind of focus at some point. I like to think it adds to their investment in the game. The anticipation of seeing their creativity given a spotlight.

2019 RPGaDay 2: Unique

Every character is unique. Even if it's only in a small way. Your fighter may have typical stats, use a longsword and shield, and come from a soldierly background. But, the fact that he has a penchant for rescuing small animals, and gets mad at senseless violence makes him somewhat unique.

Uniqueness is both overrated and easy to do in RPG's, in my opinion. All you have to do is put some thought into it. The great thing is that the thing that makes your character unique doesn't need to come into play in every scene. It may not even come into play every session. But, when it does, it can make for a memorable scene that will make an impression.

And sometimes, that unique trait shows itself to you when you least expect it. That one time you did something that didn't work out quite like you wanted, can lead you into something else that will work better than expected and suddenly define your character.

Case in point, a friend was using our group to playtest a couple of sessions he is running at Gamehole Con this year. As such, we were all playing pregens. I decided to go against type and not pick the half-orc barbarian, but instead play the tiefling warlock.

At one point we were in a fight, and I Eldritch Blasted a guy a few feet away. As you can imagine, this was probably a mistake, as that spell is rarely a "one-shot, one-kill" spell. So, when he turned around to confront my scrawny little butt, I panicked. I decided that I would try to convince him it wasn't me. "I didn't do it. Someone shot you then ran off out the front door!"

The DM made me roll, just to see how long he would hesitate before splitting my skull.  And what did I roll?

A natural 20.

The guy absolutely believed me, and ran off after someone that didn't exist (with a bit more egging on by me).

And that became my unique shtick. Making people believe something that contradicts what they see. It hasn't come up much since, but if I play that character again, I know how he's going to handle such a situation in the future.

2019 RPGaDay 1: First

In an effort to get back into blogging (yet again), and to dust off my writing skills a bit, I’m going to attempt the 2019 RPGaDay challenge.

Doing the math, it had to have been 1981 when it started. It actually began that summer, when my stepdad had decided to go back into the Air Force, and he convinced my mom to join up too. We lived in Coffeeville, KS at the time, and I had just finished 5^th grade. Since they were going to be in military training for many months, I was sent back to my hometown of Walnut Creek, CA to live with my mom’s parents. So, that fall I started 6^th grade in California.

Soon after school started, I met Richard Schmidt. We became fast friends because we both liked baseball, and probably some other stuff that 10-year old boys liked at the time. Then one day he asked me that fateful question: “Do you play D&D?” My response was, of course, “What’s that?” And then my life changed permanently on some level.

I wish I had cool stories about those early sessions. But I don’t. I’m not even sure we actually ever played. But, I do remember making characters while we were at school, and after school at his house. At the time my only reference for that kind of fantasy was the 1977 Rankin/Bass The Hobbit, and Ralph Bakshi’s 1979 The Lord of the Rings.

By my birthday that December, I was hooked, and I convinced my grandma to buy me the Moldvay boxed set. My 11^th birthday was spent at Chuck E. Cheese, followed by a sleepover with Richard and few other friends, including Jeff, who I knew from church. We played at playing D&D (I have a couple of pictures to prove we had the books out), but, again, I don’t think we actually played. In fact, my first recollection of actual play was a couple of months later when Jeff was over and he ran me solo through Slavepits of the Undercity, which his mom had bought for him to give me as a gift (I’m not sure any of us really understood the difference between Basic and Advanced D&D yet).

Anyways, that was my first taste of a larger world that would quickly encompass games from all sorts of genres, and would provide the foundation for my interests and tastes in entertainment for life.

Blogomancy

Arise, oh blog of mine! Come forth from the depths of obscurity and become my geeky voice once more!

Ok, let’s see if it sticks this time. I’m hoping to make blogging a regular part of my activities again. And since RPGs and other geeky pursuits seem to be my forte, I figured I would start with this one.

So, to that end, I have a few ideas. I’d like to do some general RPG-related posts. Something along the lines of how I game, how I feel some rules can be interpreted and/or altered, and maybe reviews of products. I’ll probably also review movies and books that could be relevant to gaming. If they aren’t, they’ll probably show up over on my personal blog. There will probably even be a few creations that I just want to share for your amusement.

I’ll also use this space to talk about projects I have in the works. I recently came to the sudden realization that I’ve become so obsessed with re-inventing the wheel by creating new mechanics and systems, that I have neglected playable content. So, in an effort to switch gears, I’ve started a list of projects for content to be used with existing systems (mostly 5e and Savage Worlds at this point).

In other news Gary Con is just around the corner (March 7-10). As always, we are going all four days. This and Gamehole Con here in Madison are our annual vacation destinations. Anyone else planning on being there? If so, what are you playing?

I’m getting a good variety this year, with multiple genres of gaming. I usually pick a theme and try to follow that as much as possible. But, the pickings get slim relatively quickly, and since I couldn’t purchase my ticket until a couple of weeks after the event registration opened, I have to take what I can get. And that’s perfectly ok with me. Still a lot of good stuff there.

Anyways, let’s get this thing started with a standard question. What are you playing this week?

Current State, Part 1

Ho there, friends! Long time no see. Sorry if anyone has missed my ramblings, but life kind of dragged me away from my blogs for a long time. I think I’m ready to get back into the swing of things.

As an aside, I am going to continue the practice of doing my gaming-related blogging here, and my life-related blogging over at In the Words of Tom. I invite you to follow both, but if you are only interested in the gaming stuff, that’s totally cool.

Anyways, so where have I been, and what I have I been playing/running? Well, when last I posted here, my group was playing Turtle Island. As you may recall, this is a 5E game set in Pre-Columbian North America. We started out in the Upper Maine region, and ended the first leg of the campaign on the shores of the Great Lakes. Many monsters from Native American mythology were met, some friendly, some not. But, we managed to survive. At that point the DM put the campaign on hiatus.

During the interim, the other regular DM in the group, who had previously run a 3.5E campaign that lasted 5 years in real-time, ran us through a moderate campaign based on the Mass Effect video game series, using an original system that he wrote from the ground up. Going in I decided I was going to help him work out any kinks in his system as it related to hand-to-hand and melee combat. So, I made a character was a literal ninja. The latest in a long line of ninjas from a family that traced its lineage back to feudal Japan. If you know anything about Mass Effect, that’s a pretty long time.

Over all the game went pretty well. Given the fact that the GM is a literal Rocket Scientist, there was a few higher math concepts that we Liberal Arts majors had a hard time grasping at first. But once we got into the flow of things it was pretty fun. He has recently stated that he is almost ready to release a revised set of rules, which he says have been slimmed down and simplified a bit. Kind of eager to see that, honestly.

Next time I’ll talk about what I’ve been working on, and what’s coming up!

Stepping back in time

So, as many of you may know, Gamehole Con V is coming up. It was iffy about whether I was going to be able to make it this year. Money is tight, and real life crises keep popping up. I was offered a way in for free, and I was glad to have that as a backup, but I still wanted to buy my ticket and be a player all weekend. To me, that’s where the fun is.

Well, long story short, we decided that, since Gamehole and Cary Cons are basically the only “vacations” I get each year, we would prioritize them. So, when the funds were available, I bought my ticket and registered for games. Which makes me a happy gamer.

This year, I wasn’t able to get into any of the “high end” games (I really wanted a Conan and/or Star Trek game), but I did fill my days with a lot of cool stuff. Below is my schedule.

A lot of familiar games, so that’s nice. But, the one I am most excited for is the Werewolf: the Wild West game.

Back in the mid-90’s I had moved to San Diego after getting out of the Army, and started school at a local community college. While waiting for class to start one night, I was reading a Forgotten Realms novel, and a guy asked if I played [D&D]. I said I did, but I was new to the area and didn’t have any friends to play with. He invited me to join his group who were playing something similar, but not D&D.

That weekend I was introduced to some people who would become some of my best friends, and to the World of Darkness, in the form of Vampire: the Masquerade. I gave it a good try, and it was fun, but I had a hard time wrapping my brain around vampires as “heroes.” Later, I was introduced to Werewolf: the Apocalypse, and I immediately fell in love. THAT was my kind of game! Unfortunately, we didn’t really get to play it much, as our core group changed membership often. But, I still kept up with the WoD games, and pined for giving them another go for years.

Last year, I had the idea of running a Werewolf game at Gary Con, but that fell through (mainly because I’m horrible about getting things written on time). I was going to put it off and do it at Gamehole, but the same thing happened. However, my idea gave my wife the WoD bug too, and since she loves running Con games, she decided to do an old-school Vampire game. Last night, our current gaming group gathered for a break from our D&D game (mainly because a few players were unavailable), and made Vampire characters for her to use as Pregens.

I was originally planning on joining in on her Vampire game, but I discovered that during her time slot there was a Werewolf: the Wild West game with openings. I am so excited for this. Mainly because Werewolf. Plus, it’s the Wild West (which has become a new passion since I started reading a lot of westerns lately). And the premise just sounds too cool to not do:

"It is 1859. A Garou has gone rogue, and is leading a pack of Bagheera through the South, killing humans, in complete violation of the Litany. The Litany is the law, and no Garou is above the law. Your pack will have to find the renegades and bring them to justice..."

Does that sound wicked awesome or what???

Yeah, I’m excited for this Con. But, I’ve never had a “bad” experience at Gamehole, so it’s to be expected. Anyone else going? This will be my fifth.

Basic Arcana

I was pleasantly surprised to get an email today from someone who bought my first product, Basic Arcana, and had high praises for it. He also asked about the possibility of a POD version. Honestly, I hadn't ever given that much thought.

Right now, Mutants & Marvels is the only product of mine that has a POD option, I believe.  And I don't think it has sold more than a couple of copies.  So, the idea of putting more products out there with that option kind of felt like a waste.

However, since I know I can probably get at least one sale, I'm considering it for Basic Arcana.

Now, as I am wont to do, I am wondering if there are any improvements I can make to the product before doing so. Any modifications that users would find useful? Maybe some new content to fill a gap?

As always, any changes I make will be reflected in the PDF version as well. So, if you bought that, you would be able to re-download it for free with the updated content.

Hmmm, things to ponder.