GM/MC question! I try to ask questions that all may potentially benefit from. So….
GM/MC question! I try to ask questions that all may potentially benefit from. So….
For your NPC’s in any given system:
Do you have a default format or character keeper that you use to keep track of them?
Also, what pertinent information or traits do you make sure you notate?
I ask, because I’ve basically been disorganized about it up to this point, but I’d like to do better/be more efficient about it. (Especially since I’ve got an Urban Shadows game coming up in a few weeks)
So today, I followed in +Tim B’s footsteps and ran a one-shot of The Indie Hack today.
So today, I followed in +Tim B’s footsteps and ran a one-shot of The Indie Hack today.
My personal goal was to do a short, very old-school type Dungeon Crawl, and see how the system handled it.
Here’s a review in brief:
1. Is the game easy to pick up? Yes!
Character creation + teaching the system over hangouts took took about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Not too bad, but I wish I had allotted more time for this.
2. Can you run an OSR module using this system? Absolutely!
You can do it quite well. Traps, monsters, and mystical dangers can be done easily and in a satisfying way. I do not know how a “Big Boss” combat would go. I have yet to try that out in-game.
3. Is it fun? Heck yes!
The dice mechanic is super good. No matter which way the dice swing, it’s exciting! Also, the aid/interfere is AMAZINGLY FUN. It’s flexible as well, in that it can be played well in lieu of planning, but also can reward having a layout/dungeon map/pre-planned home-brewed content.
4. Who would it not be fun for?
People who are looking for the true-blue OSR experience complete with crunch, experience tracking, in-depth advancement, and complex spellbooks.
Also, people who don’t like story games, adding to the fiction themselves, and looser rules which can be somewhat re-interpreted on the fly.
In summary:
It’s a great system! I imagine it would be difficult to NOT enjoy yourself while playing.It’s really fun to GM. The players seemed to enjoy themselves too. (Though, my time management was not perfect this time around.)
I get the feeling that a full multi-session adventure would do well in the system.
Thanks Slade Stolar for making the game, and all who gamed with me; new friends Christian Hundahl and Andrew Fish and veterans Jim Cummings and Jennifer Erixon
So, the January 4-Shot of The Sprawl is done. Mission Complete! I am so happy with the story we told and the collaboration of all the players.
While the characterizations the players brought out were sometimes hilarious, the circumstances were grim, and the world we put together was definitely a cyberpunk dystopia. I was truly happy and satisfied as a GM with every character’s arc. It’s great to see things come full circle.
A fixer was left bleeding out in an abandoned warehouse. A hunter was left with burnt out cyberwear, drinking away his pain. A soldier left town and all she trusted behind, to find a new life. A driver stripped himself of his Identity and created a new one.
No one escapes unscathed, when entagled in The Sprawl.
Just a shout out and a thank you to Rebecca Stueve Pawel Solowczuk Chris Thompson and Kax ja Was great fun!
So, having played “The Sprawl” a whole boatload, here is my super brief review.
So, having played “The Sprawl” a whole boatload, here is my super brief review.
Thorns:
Learning curve. If you are coming from another PBTA game, this is definitely harder to improv than something like dungeon world.
In box rules don’t encourage long campaigns.
Mission structure can be restrictive and repetitive.
Clock mechanics don’t quite line up with danger level onscreen.
Cred system is too simplistic for its own good.
It takes too long to get new cyberwear, and it will probably suck when you get it.
Roses: All the moves. They are amazingly well written and give the players quite a bit of fictional say, even in the crappiest situations. They absolutely support the mission-based action. The MC pages are great too.
Overall:
Biggest general issue,with the game; Sometimes if you plan too much, the session can be meh. If you plan too little, it can also be meh. The sweet spot can be a little to hard to hit. Like I said…. learning curve.
That being said, I love this game. When you do it right… WOW! it does exactly what it is supposed to, and more. I think the moves are amazingly good, and gives you exactly what you need to do a high action high stakes mission.
Play it at least once with an experienced mc, see the magic, and if you want to run a campaign, message me, I have some do’s and dont’s for you.
I think many could benefit from a little discussion here.
I think many could benefit from a little discussion here.
I feel like I’ve become a decent arbiter of rules, and practiced GGG to the best of my ability. People generally seem to have fun at my virtual table. But I realised there is still much to learn.
One of my players actually kicked me in the feels ( Jennifer Erixon) when her character totally 180’ed and turned from a plucky and quirky Druid to a disheartened and distant shell of herself. Upon meeting the deity she worshipped and being disappointed in it’s deceptive practices and narrow ideals. It was well done, through no effort or intelligence of my own.
I then realized how I can take my GMing to the next level: I must learn to craft better stories and help facilitate these emotional moments when I can.
Just a general discussion question: If you feel you are a good GM; How did you learn to make your stories more emotionally engaging?
Mid-Day PBTA, I’m happy to say, is alive and well! Hoohah! I am thankful for everyone who signs up for these sessions. Selfishly, it allows me to game during a time convenient for me, and also gives me something to look forward to at the beginning of the week. Mondays are soooooo much better now!
Uncharted Worlds has been great fun. I feel like a seasoned sci-fi afficionado can have a ton of fun MC’ing this game. I am not a “deep cuts” kind of sci-fi fan, but am still very much enjoying the experience.
(Faction creation is amazing, jump points are amazing. Fictional freaking gold, and so simple to employ. I can elaborate if anyone cares. :D)
Shout out to the people I gamed with this week! You have all been stellar.
Angela Murray Pawel Solowczuk Sam Niembro
Jim Cummings Jennifer Erixon
Life has gotten a touch busier, and my non-fun workload greater. And so, my Saturday Morning Dungeon World games…. are almost done for good! What an amazing RPG journey for 2016! It’s been great meeting and GMing for so many gauntleteers! Thank you to all the players who have encouraged me, and given me legitimate joy in 2016. I bid the time slot a heartfelt farewell.
Today, during Saturday Morning Cartoons, I think I finally nailed down my GM’ing.
Today, during Saturday Morning Cartoons, I think I finally nailed down my GM’ing.
I didn’t have a crazy adrenaline spike, I didn’t sweat it when I wasn’t sure how a situation would play out. The players gave me the space to move the play along at an exciting pace, and still frame a scene properly. I prepped just enough to run smoothly without bogging any particular situation down.
I wasn’t worried about furiously trying to run perfectly, or making sure no one was bored EVER.
I just really, REALLY, enjoyed the experience, and so did the players.
That’s not to say other sessions haven’t been good, or even great, but this is the first time I felt 100% comfortable as a GM, like I was just talking with friends.
I owe a lot of that to The Gauntlet, and the positive player culture. So thanks for letting me cut my teeth here, and become better.
Shout out to
Alex Chalk Jim Cummings Johannes Carlsten, you have made great characters, and I am already looking forward to next week.
I usually don’t game gush too much, but we had a great session this morning.
I usually don’t game gush too much, but we had a great session this morning. I’m hoping that when I and others get excited about the games we play, it prompts others to get started running and playing more games.
So….. I tried to be a kind GM, but Dungeon World refused. After a few truly awful rolls, one of which was a max damage roll from a monster, our first adventurer from the Vaara Campaign went to the black gate. An offer was made to Princess Cormorant, by death itself, to betray her new alliance with her former enemy, the Fae Witch Feldred. The princess chose honor in death, rather than guilt in life, and went beyond the black gate to dine with human and fae alike, existing in harmony at last.
R.I.P Cormorant of Toufleaux. May you achieve your compendium class in the great beyond.
j0rdi Jørund Kambestad Lie Jeremy Strandberg James Etheridge
Thanks for making the prep and stuff I do worth every second. Always looking forward to next session!
Alright! It’s great that the Patreon has taken off! To anyone who has contributed and/or participated, thanks! In celebration, I’ve updated a few of my game sessions (Dates 10/22, 10/29, 11/5, and 11/12)
In case you are new to The Gauntlet, or I’ve steered you here from another place, Jason Cordova and Richard Rogers of “The Gauntlet Podcast” run RPG sessions on Google Hangouts almost every Saturday Morning under the title “Saturday Morning Cartoons”. Because it is a time that works for many people, and games fill up quickly I try and run something too. Hope to game with you soon!
