Eloy’s gaming progress report for January 2016:
1) Finished my Swords Without Master Play by Post. Complete success. Thanks to the way the game is written, there is a specific order and sequence of events that prevents the usual chaos that ensues when you have a regular PbP in which one guy posts 5 times a day and another posts once a day. The structure keeps it by turns. The fact that it’s on PbP means that the posts are well thought out and the resulting story is very good. My plate is full for February, so I’m taking a break from this, but my players have started a second session. Will monitor that.
2) Still playing and enjoying Richard Rogers ‘s Apocalypse World 2E PbP. I’ve had to decrease my own posting frequency a bit, due to increased RL workload, but it’s still going strong. I think the story is getting better!
3) Started GMing a new Burning Wheel campaign, planned to be a long term affair. Especially excited about this one, as the players show a lot of enthusiasm, and after years of trying, one of my best friends has finally grokked the Beliefs system. He is really enthusiastic about the game now, where before he was only lukewarm. (No pun intended). I love that prepping for the game takes maybe 15 minutes and that most of the prep goes unused, because the players take things in unforeseen directions. GMing the game feels like being a player in many other games. You’re along for the ride too. It’s the players who drive, not the GM.
4) Game of Thrones game has restarted after a looong hiatus since November. One of the players left, and our first session was a bit rocky. Trying to get back into it is a bit hard. Cliffhanger ending means next session starts with a big duel in which my character is participating. I hope that a bit of action will rekindle my love for this game, which has seriously stalled.
5) Have played 3 sessions of Dogs in the Vineyard run by Dan Maruschak . We’re done with our first town and the game is very interesting. It seems quite focused on the internal struggles of the PCs, rather than events around them. Yes, there’s unrest in the towns, and heresies and some demonic possession, but the real issue seems to be how our characters grow and change. Very introspective thing. I like it. It’s 2 players and 1 GM. Feels very intimate. Learning a lot.
6) 4th session of Mouse Guard 2E should be coming up in a couple of games. We had a scheduling problem with our last session, which resulted in a last minute cancellation, so I don’t know what’s going to happen next session. Trying to build momentum and passion back up once things have cooled for too long is difficult. I have a friend who once told me that the key to running a successful game is to play every week. Don’t miss a session. Keep it going. There’ll be bad days, yes, but commitment and constancy will see you through. I think he’s right. Too bad Real Life sometimes gets in the way.
7) Declined an invitation for an online Ars Magica game. I really want to give that game a try, but, given my RL commitments right now, I know I can’t devote the offline hours necessary to deal with AM. It requires a lot of bookkeeping and decision making between sessions, which I know I can’t commit to. I need games that require low or 0 prep in my part. Reading the instructions is not a problem, because you do that one time. It’s the weekly expenditure of time that kills me.
8) Enthused watching The Expanse and listening to the audiobook. I really want to play some old school sci-fi like this. My 2 thoughts are: a) hack Burning Empires into a generic sci-fi game or b) try Classic Traveller, which I’ve been led to believe, is really cool. I missed Traveller in the eighties, though I remember reading a module or 2 in Dragon Magazine back in the day and being intrigued. I loved Star Frontiers, Top Secret, Villains and Vigilantes, as well as Moldvay D&D, Stormbringer 1st and second editions, so this should be cool. On advice from Samuel Dillon , I bought the CD from Far Future enterprises and I am now fully Classic Travellered-up. Now all I need to do is find an online game to join… I know Doyle Tavener is the Gauntlet OSR official representative, but I understand Stars Without Number is his particular poison (Still, those rules are free, so I picked up a copy too, just in case.)
How about you? What have you been up to?
When you say ‘Game of Thrones game,’ do you mean the Song of Ice and Fire RPG? If so, I’m curious how that is. It doesn’t seem like it would appeal to me, mechanically, but I love the setting and the idea of the players being part of the same house.
When you say ‘Game of Thrones game,’ do you mean the Song of Ice and Fire RPG? If so, I’m curious how that is. It doesn’t seem like it would appeal to me, mechanically, but I love the setting and the idea of the players being part of the same house.
yes. A Song of Ice and Fire RPG. The mechanics are interesting. Remind me of a much more complicated version of PDQ#. There is a complex system to handle upkeep of the house. There are subsystems to handle Intrigue and Warfare, basically equivalent to the Combat system. They are all kind of deadly,which is appropriate given the source material, but then, those good at one subsystem tend to be poor at the other systems, which is to be expected, and I guess serves to make for a balanced party. Overall it’s not bad.
There are supplements with stats for the characters in the books, as well as a bestiary and even a sorcery supplement. Some of the supplements are quite cheap on pdf, too.
yes. A Song of Ice and Fire RPG. The mechanics are interesting. Remind me of a much more complicated version of PDQ#. There is a complex system to handle upkeep of the house. There are subsystems to handle Intrigue and Warfare, basically equivalent to the Combat system. They are all kind of deadly,which is appropriate given the source material, but then, those good at one subsystem tend to be poor at the other systems, which is to be expected, and I guess serves to make for a balanced party. Overall it’s not bad.
There are supplements with stats for the characters in the books, as well as a bestiary and even a sorcery supplement. Some of the supplements are quite cheap on pdf, too.