RPGaDay 28 "Scariest Game"

I bet you were expecting yet another picture of Kult sitting here didn't you?

Nope, not this time. I've never gotten a chance to actually play Kult, so instead I will say it was a mashed up World Of Darkness campaign my friend John was running at one time. (Who, coincidentally also ran the craziest fucking game of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - After the Bomb)

Good Times.

This particular episode I wasn't playing a vampire (because vampires are lame) or any of the "normal monsters" in the WoD line up. I was playing a character named Alex Darkhorse Human Sorcerer.

I can't say I was scared so much as mentally disturbed by Johns description of the antagonist I was (powerlessly) facing. In this story it was a WoDized version of Baphomet who was draped in the skins of unborn children. We never got a chance to finish that game, I can't imagine things ended well for Alex, but it's one I will never forget. John is a consummate Storyteller

Thanks Buddy.

RPGaDay 26 "Coolest Character Sheet"

Besides this one?

Seriously, this shit is the bomb.

Okay Seriously?

 

Yeah, it is. It's simple and effective and gives you what you need right up front. No BS.

Cause this kinda shit scares the crap out of me..

RPGaDay 25 "Game no one wants to play"

My current group is fairly new to me (And for some, new to gaming as well) so I can't really say what they do and don't want to play. I'm pretty sure that out of all of us though I have the largest collection of games and they have only seen a few of those as options.

So with all that in mind I'm going to list some games that haven't gotten a fair share of play, yet.

At the top of the list is Brad Murray's Hollowpoint

I'm currently using Brads "Diaspora" FATE rules to accentuate my ongoing FATE based Eclipse Phase/Cyberpunk game and after reading Hollowpoint I think it'd be a great ride.

On a similar note:

I'd like to play this someday, but honestly the system is terrible, so I'll stick to the aforementioned Hollowpoint.

Jason Blair's Wyrd Is Bond

One of those games that has sadly sat on my shelf for years. I even did a small hack for it at one point where I replaced the "Gang Culture" mages into "Industrial Culture" mages. Genesis P Orridge and Ogre as your spiritual masters anyone?

I'd like a chance to play 3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars, especially for quick one shots

A little less indie but still fun looking would be Cosmic Patrol from Catalyst games.

Burning Empires (Burning Wheel)

Mouse Guard (Also Burning Wheel)

Last but not least is Magpie Games and Our Last Best Hope

RPGaDay 24 "Most Complex System"

I saw many entries that confused with the most Intellectual Game entry from Day 07. I did not make this mistake. (I cheated and read ahead). I've already read a few doozies tonight already, Twilight 2000, Hero, even Synnibarr and RoleMaster.

I don't own any of those. I have my own nightmares to contend with, thank you.

A lot of people are giving SLA Industries crap for being complex I hear. Combat can be a pain in the ass, but I wouldn't call it the most complex game. The Ebb, yeah I agree it needs a revised ruleset to clear all that up.

Pretty much any game with rules for hacking and netrunning, lets not discuss adding drones and rigging and magic and shit.. god...

Even as easy as I found the core system inside Cyberpunk 2020, the netrunning was a real pain, especially in realtime.

I think the win, however, goes to also one of my favorite games of all time. This game gives you the detailed SF setting on top of  a load of realistic data, STL space travel that takes days and months and a Ti Graphing Calculator to figure out timeframes.

Don't even get me started on keeping track of characters that may exist in multiple morphologies, including an information based simulation which can be backed up and stored in manifold states of experience with possible probable forks or copies which may or may not be willing to reintegrate with the core persona. 

Whew.

Oh I forgot, it's a fairly simple matter to just jump from one body to another any time you encounter a better suited or more expensive morph. (That doesn't mean you have to leave the body you're in either)

I can handle the core system, it's fairly simple, but character management can be a nightmare of paperwork.

RPGaDay 23 "Coolest Looking Product"

This is a tough one for me as I think, in their own way, almost everything I buy is cool looking. I'm not just talking about the art either, I'm talking about the whole design and package.

The Laundry

The Laundry books are sharp, well laid out, good typography and easy to read with great art and writing. I love the design though, it really captures the setting.

SLA Industries

As a friend said to me, this one is almost arousing.

Kult 2nd Edition 

The Core rulebook is gorgeous and creepy, and I love it, in fact I liked pretty much all the 2nd edition books. The Magic Guides were very well done, in full color. Hard to describe without being able to show off the insides.

Beyond the Boundaries

Heart Mind & Soul

Judas Grail

Inferno

RPGaDay 22 "Best Secondhand Purchase"

I'll admit, I gave up on gaming.

Sold almost everything except my Kult books, my Cyberpunk 2013/20 books and some limited press stuff I knew I'd regret getting rid of. Sadly I'd also lost a lot in the flurry of interstate moves I had undertook at one period. All for a stupid girl.... that's another story.

I'm going to say right off that none of these are the best because for one reason or another I found a game at Half Price books or on Amazon that I had cherished at some point in my life.

Yeah, whatever.

This is from some of the same guys that did Kult, fantastic Fantasy setting.

Noticed that pattern? yeah I didn't get rid of those on purpose.

I already had a copy of this that I'd held onto since it came out, but at that price I had to buy it. (I only paid half the original price)

Last one I bought was this

RPGaDay 21 "Fave Licenced Game."

I only have a few licenced game products, so this list will be quick. I won't be listing one of these licenced games because I'm saving it for a later post. I generally shy away from games like these because, for the most part, I don't feel like I can capture the essence of the original work.

Mouse Guard. 

Wonderful game, design and setting but I still couldn't grasp the system as it's used here. Too easy to brush past the conflict in my opinion.

 Atomic Robo

This looks really fun to play, but I'm not so sure about sustained dramatic play. Haven't finished reading it yet, but I can't see this becoming my favorite. Good for some fun one shots though I bet.

Which leaves me with

The Laundry

If you haven't heard of The laundry yet, then for fuxks sakes please go find out what I'm talking about. This game and it's multitude of sourcebooks are based on the world created by Charles Stross in his Bob Howard books. Bob works for the British Laundry service which is equal parts Dilbert, with insane office politics, James Bond because it's a secret British intelligence service and H.P. Lovecraft because they aren't just fighting spies and criminal masterminds. They get to fight those too, but the real focus is keeping TERRORS FROM BEYOND in their place.

RPGaDay 19 "Favorite Published Adventure"

As a whole I don't really do published adventures, I tend to just make shit up as I go along. It's either fly by the seat of my pants or more ideally "planned" improv. I only own a few, Three of those are for Kult so it should be obvious I enjoy them.

Kult is great, but the published adventures leave me feeling dated these days, so I'm picking something a bit newer.

Dat Back Cover Blurb.

The End Times are upon us. The Sleeper stirs in his pyramid. The clock ticks towards midnight. Time to go to work. GOD GAME BLACK ushers in the apocalypse for your Laundry Files games. The stars are coming right, and there's no more room for error. In conjunction with the latest novel in the Laundry Files series, THE APOCALYPSE CODEX, this book opens up terrifying new vistas of a world plunging towards apocalypse. Inside, you'll find: * External Assets - the people (and things) that don't quite fit on any org chart, but are on the front line of this secret war * Updated personnel rosters for key characters, and rules on updating your game * The inner workings of the Black Chamber, the US Government's own occult intelligence agency * The horrors of the Sleeper's Pyramid, and the Laundry's watch on the Wall of Pain * Three new adventures that run parallel to the events of THE APOCALYPSE CODEX. GOD GAME BLACK. We can't afford to lose.

Fuck yeah, who doesn't love a good APOCALYPSE?

RPGaDay 18 "My Favorite Game System"

Over the years I have encountered an endless variety of game systems. I've also watched the quasi-evolution of a few as well, D&D comes to mind right off the bat in that regard, and while it might work I never really enjoyed it.

The first game system I remember thinking "Wow, this is a good system" was R. Talsorians Interlok system. It was clean and crisp and ultimately deadly to characters who went guns blazing into whatever encounter was on the table. Interlok was used in a variety of games. From Cyberpunk & Cybergeneration to Mekton and Bubblegum Crisis and was later revamped and tooled with the old Hero system to give us Fuzion.

d10 + Skill + Stat +Modifier vs d10 + Skill + Stat + Modifier

How simple is that?

In between then and now there were a ton of systems we played with. There was BRP (Basic Role Playing), Chaosiums In House system mainly used for their flagship Call of Cthulhu, but also used for Stormbringer and the newer Laundry files RPG. I've always like BRP for its ease of use and 1-100 mechanic.

I wasn't a huge fan of Dice Pool systems like White Wolfs series of games Vampire, Mage, Wraith and Werewolf that used a crapton of d10s or even Shadowrun and it's insatiable need for millions of d6s. It worked smoothly, but I hated having to carry around more than a set of dice.

it might slow some people down but sometimes I like the crunchy stuff. Don't get me wrong, simplicity has a place but sometimes I need some numbers to make me feel that something has been accomplished. The crunchiest thing I own these days outside of Pathfinder is Eclipse Phase which is based loosely on the same d100 mechanic as BRP. 

On the flipside I also love FATE, which is a direct pull from Steffan O'Sullivans FUDGE system with some added bits to make the game more Story Oriented. As a system it's easily adaptable and easy to understand which makes it a boon for introducing new players to games like these.

As of this writing though I have to tell you I've really grown to love the Apocalypse Engine system, notably Apocalypse World and more noticeably Dungeon World. It gives me the classic feel of OSR with the added storytelling elements that I've grown to like from some modern game systems.

In the end, I don't think I have a favorite system of all time. I like a variety of systems for use in different kinds of games. New systems are always coming out so I'm sure that a new game will come out that I will rave on at a later time.

RPGaDay 17 "Most High Larity Game Whazit."

I know paranoia is getting a lot of play in this category but I wanted to share my favorite. I wanted to say that HOL is the funniest game I've played, but since that game is completely unplayable I cannot.

So I chose Tales from the Floating Vagabond.

How could I not when I can play a disgustingly cute furry thing that can dodge short range gunfire?

RPGaDay 16 "Game I wish I owned"

You mean besides all of them?

I wish I still had a copy of this.

Hands down this is the best Supers themed game I have ever owned and of all the supers games I had the most fun playing and it makes me sad that we will never see it in print again. 

On the subject, I miss this game too.

RPGaDay 15 "Pow Pows (Mostly) Asian Noodles Stand"

Boosters come here for the hot Japchae, Shields come for the ice coffee and the Pho. Solos and Console Cowboys stop in between runs to catch a quick bowl of Hawaiian Saimin or Banh Canh Cua. Those in the know can get more than just noodles, but absolutely no one comes for trouble. Pow Pows is neutral territory.

Pow Pow has been selling (mostly) noodles on this street corner for well over two decades. He's got a reputation, first for always being friendly and smiling and second for his ability to deal with all the chaos the streets have to offer. 

Even without his professional clientele around Pow Pow need not worry about violence, he can take care of himself of course but since he's has been known to feed orphans and the homeless on cold nights there is always a helping hand around, and likely if you grew up around here he's probably fed you when you didn't have any other means.

What else does Pow Pow offer besides noodles? Well, you'd have to ask him what else he's got in tonight. it could be anything. He's always open and always on site, either in the kitchen or upstairs.

John Po (AKA Pow Pow) Fixer

INT 7, REF 8, TECH 5, COOL 10, ATTR 5, LUCK 8, MA 6, BODY 5, EMP 8

SKILLS Streetdeal 7, Human Perception 6, Streetwise 8, Fast Talk 7, Expert (Noodles)9, Awareness 5, Handgun 5, Forgery 7, Pharmaceuticals 6.

RPGaDay 14 "Th Hve Page One"

I/WE AM/ARE 

“Your head's like mine, like all our heads; big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. Big enough to hold the weight of oceans and the turning stars. Whole universes fit in there! But what do we choose to keep in this miraculous cabinet? Little broken things, sad trinkets that we play with over and over. The world turns our key and we play the same little tune again and again and we think that tune's all we are.” 
― Grant Morrison, The Invisibles, Vol. 1: Say You Want a Revolution

This is Th Hve, a contemporary psychorealist experience. Th Hve is set in the same world as the one we live and work in; this is the world of Mass Consensus. The headlines are all the same even if they may have different causes than what we are told.

Attached, like miasma, is the fear and pain of living in a world absent of our control. In Th Hve this evil is not being directed by some malevolent deity or some supernatural agency, but rather it seeps like a poison from the very depths of our own consciousness.

What the fuck are you going on about?

I can't tell you what Th Hve is any more than I can explain the nature of reality itself. I’m not even sure I understand what it is, but I can tell you what it is not.

It isn't a place. There is no where to go to if one could visit it. It is all places, Th Hve is the Macrocosm of all realities.

It isn't a thing. Th Hve is not something you can touch, it is not physical, not in our linear reality. It is all things, contained within The Macrocosm.

It isn't a person. Certainly not flesh and blood it is not one intelligence, it is all intelligence, contained in all things. It is not a god.

To put it simply, we are Th Hve.

This is dichotic

We are the creator and the created. We made the apparatus of creation to build ourselves a place to be.

We have given ourselves form and coherence in an attempt to push away the chaos of the void and experience life from within, to be allowed to live and die and forget and live again.

We built a perfect kingdom and turned it into a prison. Being built by consensus, it was easy to get lost in it. Because we forgot we became entrapped in a loop of ignorance, separating ourselves from each other and from knowing. When we turned off those things that really connected us we threw away the key. Kept locked away inside as it all slowly begins to constrict around us.

One might think of humanity as independent yet interconnected pieces in a network. Without Th Hve we would be isolated and alone with nothing but our own thoughts.

Th Hve is aware, it is aware of all the suffering we live through and all the suffering we cause.