Author: Phillip Wessels

Hey fellow Gauntleteers, thanks again and again for all of your support for Pack of Strays. Love y’all to bits.

Hey fellow Gauntleteers, thanks again and again for all of your support for Pack of Strays. Love y’all to bits.

Hey fellow Gauntleteers, thanks again and again for all of your support for Pack of Strays. Love y’all to bits.

Originally shared by Phillip Wessels

PACK OF STRAYS – now with an updated one-sheet version!

The text now mostly matches the version of the game in Codex – Beasts. It’s also featuring the new title design by Oli Jeffery and an illustration by Claudia Cangini. You’ll still want to get the Codex – Beasts version if you love the game, because it has amazing illustrations by Jesse Ross, the Mercy Falls setting by Jason Cordova, the Gauntlet City setting by Richard Rogers (& many other Guantleteers), as well as a full CATS introduction to the game.

You’ll also notice mention of having a “scratch”. That’s for the Codex – Moonlight version of the game, PACK OF STRAYS: WOLF RUN, coming May 1st!

Thanks again to everyone who has helped get Pack of Strays out into the world.

cc: Joe Beason

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1LY0MsvGmaCM1BqTXgxV3kxNWs

Happenings in Christmas Village Day 25 #HiCV

Happenings in Christmas Village Day 25 #HiCV

Originally shared by Phillip Wessels

Happenings in Christmas Village Day 25 #HiCV

A 25 day collaboration of magical holiday joy for queer gamers

HiCV 2017 features further development of last year’s content as well as brand new fun for Dungeon World and Monsterhearts.

Read more about HiCV: https://goo.gl/5wKs6e

The twenty-fifth day gives joy.

The big day is finally here. It’s been a fantastic pleasure working with everyone again on this. Last year was so rewarding, and this year even more so. Huge thanks and hugs for Michael G. Barford Richard Ruane Michael Prescott Lu Quade Yoshi Creelman James Mullen Greg Gelder Tomer Gurantz Ciel Ferma!

If there are any issues, please let me know and I’ll fix it ASAP! 🙂

If anyone wants to play HiCV content, feel free to comment below.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Z8yy-37YoUXCJUnnquyPcAAEirLOAcLE

I’m running a couple of Pack of Strays playtests this weekend and am looking for additional players.

I’m running a couple of Pack of Strays playtests this weekend and am looking for additional players.

Originally shared by Phillip Wessels

I’m running a couple of Pack of Strays playtests this weekend and am looking for additional players.

Friday 2/10/2017 4:30pm PST – With Jason Cordova​ Donogh McCarthy​ Michael G. Barford​

Saturday 2/11/2017 5pm PST with Yoshi Creelman​ Christo Meid​ – possibly continuing 2/25 at the same time

Please comment if you are interested.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1LY0MsvGmaCM1BqTXgxV3kxNWs/view?usp=drivesdk

Signal boosting!

Signal boosting!

Signal boosting!

It’s mostly been on the slack, but I’ve been playtesting this with the gauntlet community for a couple of months now and it’s been a real treat. If any more Gauntleteers want to give it a go please let me know!

Originally shared by Phillip Wessels

Hey everyone! I am putting Pack of Strays out for general playtesting before I put it out in the wild for real. Please reply to this post with your feedback. If you want me to run a game, we might be able to work that out; my general availability is weekday evenings and any time weekends. Leave a comment.

Pack of Strays is a werewolf pack hack of Lasers and Feelings (which is by John Harper). The first version debuted at BigBadCon (Sean Nittner) back in October. I made it during that weekend between games, and ended up playtesting it once before the end of the con. I’ve been working consistently on it since then. Note that this game is completely free; it’s under a CC BY-MC-SA 3.0 license just like Lasers and Feelings http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Play requires 1 GM and a pack of 3-5 players. You’ll probably want more than one session; it is closer to Monsterhearts than Lasers and Feelings in this way. Like Lasers and Feelings, you’ll need a bunch of d6 if you play it at the table.

Pack of Strays is about exploring the dynamics of the pack, especially around a vacuum of leadership. The alpha, Darcy, is revealed to have gone missing. They are a bunch of fucking monsters; their dependence on each other helps them cope. Note that this game can explore atrocious subject matter; player discretion is advised. You may want to use a safety tool like the X-Card. Just note that the game is about going out of control, doing terrible things, and relying on each other to pick up the pieces. YMMV.

Here’s the intro:

YOU WERE A STRAY OF SOCIETY. NOW YOU ARE PART OF A PACK OF WEREWOLVES! Sometimes you mess up. You do unspeakable things. It breaks you, but the pack makes it all a little easier to live with. The pack takes care of each other. You’ll keep going. You’ll find a way.

I’m looking for general feedback. Was anything unclear? Was it fun? What mechanics saw play? Would you play it again? Did you find yourself thinking about it after/between play? Did it cause bleed?

Extra big thanks to playtesters thus far Yoshi Creelman Christo Meid Jason Cordova Maxime Lacoste Saffire Rainbo Tor Droplets Lachiel Vaher David LaFreniere Daniel Lewis and other people who I am terrible for not recalling at this moment…

PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1LY0MsvGmaCM1BqTXgxV3kxNWs

Google Sheet for online play (I thnk you can copy it?): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UIxpmRBSYr_IQxb97zBBz9A_weekRX-M_g_HsUVDzzo/edit?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1LY0MsvGmaCM1BqTXgxV3kxNWs

If you don’t use bonds in DW (for example, if you use flags instead), how do you use Aid/Interfere?

If you don’t use bonds in DW (for example, if you use flags instead), how do you use Aid/Interfere?

If you don’t use bonds in DW (for example, if you use flags instead), how do you use Aid/Interfere?

This was a ton of fun and I couldn’t have done it without Gauntleteers Michael G.

This was a ton of fun and I couldn’t have done it without Gauntleteers Michael G.

This was a ton of fun and I couldn’t have done it without Gauntleteers Michael G. Barford and Yoshi Creelman ! Merry Christmas everyone!

Originally shared by Phillip Wessels

Happenings in Christmas Village Day 25 #HiCV

A 25 day community collaboration of magical holiday joy for queer gamers

Finally, Christmas day gives joy! Huge thanks to the wonderful contributers Michael G. Barford Yoshi Creelman Ciel Ferma Stephanie Bryant

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1LY0MsvGmaCd1V0LVp2eDl6VUU/view?usp=sharing

Hey fellow Gauntleteers! You are awesome and you make awesome content!

Hey fellow Gauntleteers! You are awesome and you make awesome content!

Hey fellow Gauntleteers! You are awesome and you make awesome content!

Originally shared by Phillip Wessels

Happenings in Christmas Village Days 1 & 2 #HiCV

A 25 day community collaboration of magical holiday joy for queer gamers

HiCV will be fully released on a Christmas Day, Sunday December 25th, as an online zine filled with content for games like Dungeon World and Threadbare. During Christmas weekend I will be running sessions using its content and I welcome anyone & everyone to participate!

The roleplaying community is fantastic and supportive. We have an opportunity to shine and bring some of that goodness to our fellow gamers who are queer and may not have high hopes for an enjoyable Christmas this year. As you may or may not know, being queer around the holidays can be a rough experience, as many queer folks do not have relationships with their families. The reality for a lot of queer people is that if they do not have holiday plans with friends, they do not have holiday plans. Let’s fill any voids out there with some roleplaying magic! The aim is to provide content for a light, warm, playful experience. As a note, queer people don’t necessarily want play that is heavy with queer issues.

If you have any questions, please ask.

HOW WILL COLLABORATION WORK?

Each day I will post an element (see below), simply to help give inspiration. These are not binding; please submit what you want. There will be several forms for submitting different plug-and-play content such as impressions, set piece moves, compendium classes, hirelings/followers, and monsters/enemies. You can also post contributions in the comments. Please assume I will be curating, editing and cutting content, although I aim to be as inclusive as possible.

ELEMENTS OF CHRISTMAS VILLAGE

The first day of Christmas gave: SNOW (technically I missed this by a day… please use it!)

The second day of Christmas gave: BELLS

Submit an impression – An impression is a short colorful detail. Think: senses, cultural indicators, background going-ons. https://goo.gl/forms/wOYPUgEFhxXUdvFq1

Submit a set piece – A set piece is a trap, obstacle or machination within a scene. https://goo.gl/forms/lJ6srt6J5ZSboGyN2

Submit a microfront – A microfront is a present danger that can escalate within a single scene or session. https://goo.gl/forms/inAMjJ5sPBMaiL6J2

Submit a compendium class – A compendium class is a collection of moves a player gains access to after something special happens to them. After taking the first move, they may take the other moves as improvements. https://goo.gl/forms/bf7vNHzqI4CW59W53

Submit an ally/hireling/follower – These characters will help the player, upon a condition, a favor or simple payment. https://goo.gl/forms/vPzXz7RFIhKvExDj1

Submit an item – Items can be any object, but if you submit one it should be something special or magical. https://goo.gl/forms/lOjgU1DcY9g1M6J33

Submit a monster/enemy – Monsters and enemies are NPC adversaries usually facing the players as an immediate danger. https://goo.gl/forms/aWGPZpOX0g7p6xzM2

Still looking into Threadbare content!

You can also submit feedback anonymously: https://goo.gl/forms/F3YYB2ydrUJUjOGq1

So I have some friends I want to run Dungeon World for, but one of them has some reservations.

So I have some friends I want to run Dungeon World for, but one of them has some reservations.

So I have some friends I want to run Dungeon World for, but one of them has some reservations. We played Apocalypse World in the past, and there were some mistakes I made in running it, so he was turned off of totally unplanned play. He basically wants to be railroaded, or at least have that sort of adventure/campaign structure as a backdrop for the game. I just have the main DW book; does anyone know of any pick-up resources which could help me provide this without a lot of preplanning? Or should I get busy writing my own using fronts and grim portents?

Anyone interested in playtesting a werewolves hack of Lasers and Feelings this weekend?

Anyone interested in playtesting a werewolves hack of Lasers and Feelings this weekend?

Anyone interested in playtesting a werewolves hack of Lasers and Feelings this weekend? I made it during Big Bad Con and have been preparing it for release. I’m just looking for a bit more feedback. 🙂

Learning moment from gaming tonight: Don’t get wrapped up in creating an interesting character from a…

Learning moment from gaming tonight: Don’t get wrapped up in creating an interesting character from a…

Learning moment from gaming tonight: Don’t get wrapped up in creating an interesting character from a historical/mythological perspective and lose sight of whether the other players will actually be OK with it. There’s a lot of disturbing stuff that happened in the past and just because it may be setting-appropriate doesn’t make it passable. Doesn’t help that I am pretty tolerable of squicky stuff but I think I’ll be checking myself more on this in the future, especially playing online. Mature themes are perhaps best reserved for those you know well.

I’m worried I may have made a bad impression but I did my best to turn it around. I think even though these situations are uncomfortable it is good to talk about it and find another way. I think that helps build trust too.