But I don't want you to think that overthrowing an evil galactic empire is all fun and games. Characters will run great risks, possibly even dying in the process.
Or being captured...
Remember that great scene in Star Wars when Luke, Han and Chewie go down to the detention block to rescue the Princess? That can totally happen in my game.
It's also possible that the characters staging a rescue attempt will fail. Utterly.
It all boils down to missions. I'm in the process of understanding the mission procedure from the wargame so I can mimic it in the RPG. Note that I say 'mimic'; I'm not going for a one-to-one translation here. Rather my adventure design will be influenced by the missions suggested in the wargame, as modified by the current state of the rebellion and the empire both.
I'm going to adapt the Table of Missions from TSR's venerable spy game, Top Secret. The main points of the table for each mission type were the following:
* Information the players know,
* Information the players don't know, and
* Possible complications
Set this against the backdrop provided, with varying environments and races and levels of Imperial involvement, and you can see how the same mission at two different times on two different planets will be two different missions.
That should keep the players on their toes!
Bonus post!
D also stands for Diving Right In
Sure, I could sit down and work out all the different neat aspects of the wargame and how I expect to model them in an RPG. But it'll be more fun and more productive both to get the basics down and then get straight into adventure design!
So, within the coming week or so I aim to have prototype character conversions set up and the rudiments of the first mission (adventure) down on paper.
It won't be easy, but if I slack off now it'll never happen.
And that'd be D also -- for Damned Shame.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
C is for Cards
(Or as I like to think of it, Concentrated Array of Relevant Data)
There are really two kinds of cards I'll talk about here. The first is the 3x5 card I mentioned a couple days ago. I've started using them, and they're great at concentrating the focus of the task at hand.
(As a side note, I did consider moving up to the 4x6 card, but decided to tough it out. Go, me!)
The other kind is the card that comes with the game Freedom in the Galaxy (see examples).
Zina Adora and Adam Starlight are clearly the stand-ins for Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. Emperor Coreguya and Thysa Kimbo are non-Star Wars creations (since "The Empire Strikes Back" hadn't even come out when FitG was released). The Advisor Android might be a C-3PO analogue, and the cache of rare gems allows bribery or something (the errata notes it disappears after one use).
I like this approach. A lot of the info that the game contains is on the cards or the tables; as a result the rulebook is still only 32 pages. (Sure, that's long for a wargame, but if the info on the cards was included, it'd 64 pages at least! Additionally there would be much cursing and page-flipping attendant on each game.)
Then, you look at Magic: The Gathering, and the whole game is on cards!
I'm not going that far. I'll stick to character sheets and dice, thank you very much.
But I do like the idea of putting the things that don't go on character sheets on cards. Each possession, for instance, will go on a card. When a character has that item, he holds the card. (Between play, I'll paperclip it to the character sheet.) Each Imperial character will have a card, too -- which is not to say that I won't eventually make up a character sheet for each, but I shouldn't need it for routine play.
I'll also put the rebel characters on cards -- that way, I can surreptitiously make notes while the character is being played and the player might not know anything about it!
I'm also toying with the notion of putting the major elements of my adventures (aka "Missions") on cards, so that I can flip through them easily and not let some huge pile of papers intimidate me behind the screen.
And I also specifically bought colored 3x5 cards, so I can easily distinguish between types.
So, yeah, not that ground-breaking, I know. But I got C done! That's 3 days in a row. Better than my last effort.
There are really two kinds of cards I'll talk about here. The first is the 3x5 card I mentioned a couple days ago. I've started using them, and they're great at concentrating the focus of the task at hand.
(As a side note, I did consider moving up to the 4x6 card, but decided to tough it out. Go, me!)
The other kind is the card that comes with the game Freedom in the Galaxy (see examples).
Zina Adora and Adam Starlight are clearly the stand-ins for Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. Emperor Coreguya and Thysa Kimbo are non-Star Wars creations (since "The Empire Strikes Back" hadn't even come out when FitG was released). The Advisor Android might be a C-3PO analogue, and the cache of rare gems allows bribery or something (the errata notes it disappears after one use).
I like this approach. A lot of the info that the game contains is on the cards or the tables; as a result the rulebook is still only 32 pages. (Sure, that's long for a wargame, but if the info on the cards was included, it'd 64 pages at least! Additionally there would be much cursing and page-flipping attendant on each game.)
Then, you look at Magic: The Gathering, and the whole game is on cards!
I'm not going that far. I'll stick to character sheets and dice, thank you very much.
But I do like the idea of putting the things that don't go on character sheets on cards. Each possession, for instance, will go on a card. When a character has that item, he holds the card. (Between play, I'll paperclip it to the character sheet.) Each Imperial character will have a card, too -- which is not to say that I won't eventually make up a character sheet for each, but I shouldn't need it for routine play.
I'll also put the rebel characters on cards -- that way, I can surreptitiously make notes while the character is being played and the player might not know anything about it!
I'm also toying with the notion of putting the major elements of my adventures (aka "Missions") on cards, so that I can flip through them easily and not let some huge pile of papers intimidate me behind the screen.
And I also specifically bought colored 3x5 cards, so I can easily distinguish between types.
So, yeah, not that ground-breaking, I know. But I got C done! That's 3 days in a row. Better than my last effort.
B is for Basic Roleplaying
I've been searching for quite a while now for my favorite RPG. I don't think I'll ever find it, but for the immediate future, BRP seems to be it.
The thing I like in particular is that the characters are pretty much human. Sure, Superworld allows for super-human abilities, and other iterations include magic, mutations, sorcery and high tech, but the basic character is recognizably human.
And, more to the point, stays that way.
The one gripe I've always had about D&D and similar is that as characters advance they become less human and more godlike. Look at a high level fighter in D&D. You can shoot him with a cannon and he'll shrug it off. High level magic-users can alter reality and also take a sword to the chest and laugh it off.
Whereas real people can be killed with a mere dagger.
BRP gives the options for (game mechanical) greatness, but retains the essential frailty of the human form. And I like that.
But then, there's another version of edition wars:
Sharp-eyed readers of this blog may have noticed that I specified that I'd like to use Chaosium's Worlds of Wonder to run SPI's Freedom in the Galaxy. The question may have arisen "Why not just use the current incarnation of Basic Roleplaying, aka the Big Yellow Book (aka BYB; or sometimes BGB for Big Gold Book). Especially, I might add, because I do own the Big Yellow Book.
But it's 400 pages!
I'm sorry. I love the idea of the game. I love the 16 page booklet I bought back in '83 or so. I love the way new games have continually added to the core rules.
But I just can't get through 400 pages of rules in any consistent or meaningful fashion.
Worlds of Wonder, on the other hand, has the 16 page BRP with which I'm familiar, plus three settings that are 18 pages each (including a mini-adventure!) Now, many of the Superworld rules won't be necessary, and most likely ditto for Magic World. In fact, I'm going to lean heavily on the BYB for inspiration. But the final rules I use will be more akin to WoW than BYB.
One reason is size, as mentioned above. But another reason is Awesome, as mentioned yesterday.
Magic World gives us Sorcery, which is almost directly repeated in the BYB as Magic. But only almost.
The BYB gives us tiers of power, depending on how one wishes to run one's game. For starting spells, the Normal tier gives 4, the Heroic tier 6, Epic 8 and Superhuman 10.
These all start at a %-value of the character's INT x 1 (although it does note that characters may spend skill points).
Magic World only gives the starting spell-caster 4 spells, like the normal tier. But they start at INT x 3.
(No, I won't be using spells in a science fiction game; this is merely illustrative.)
So, the older version gives more awesome characters (in my opinion) than the later one does.
Also, because of the aforementioned size, it's easier to carry.
Stay tuned tomorrow! Since I'm not following the strict rules of the A-Z thing anyway, I'm going to go ahead and post on Sunday! Any guesses what C will be?
The thing I like in particular is that the characters are pretty much human. Sure, Superworld allows for super-human abilities, and other iterations include magic, mutations, sorcery and high tech, but the basic character is recognizably human.
And, more to the point, stays that way.
The one gripe I've always had about D&D and similar is that as characters advance they become less human and more godlike. Look at a high level fighter in D&D. You can shoot him with a cannon and he'll shrug it off. High level magic-users can alter reality and also take a sword to the chest and laugh it off.
Whereas real people can be killed with a mere dagger.
BRP gives the options for (game mechanical) greatness, but retains the essential frailty of the human form. And I like that.
But then, there's another version of edition wars:
Sharp-eyed readers of this blog may have noticed that I specified that I'd like to use Chaosium's Worlds of Wonder to run SPI's Freedom in the Galaxy. The question may have arisen "Why not just use the current incarnation of Basic Roleplaying, aka the Big Yellow Book (aka BYB; or sometimes BGB for Big Gold Book). Especially, I might add, because I do own the Big Yellow Book.
But it's 400 pages!
I'm sorry. I love the idea of the game. I love the 16 page booklet I bought back in '83 or so. I love the way new games have continually added to the core rules.
But I just can't get through 400 pages of rules in any consistent or meaningful fashion.
Worlds of Wonder, on the other hand, has the 16 page BRP with which I'm familiar, plus three settings that are 18 pages each (including a mini-adventure!) Now, many of the Superworld rules won't be necessary, and most likely ditto for Magic World. In fact, I'm going to lean heavily on the BYB for inspiration. But the final rules I use will be more akin to WoW than BYB.
One reason is size, as mentioned above. But another reason is Awesome, as mentioned yesterday.
Magic World gives us Sorcery, which is almost directly repeated in the BYB as Magic. But only almost.
The BYB gives us tiers of power, depending on how one wishes to run one's game. For starting spells, the Normal tier gives 4, the Heroic tier 6, Epic 8 and Superhuman 10.
These all start at a %-value of the character's INT x 1 (although it does note that characters may spend skill points).
Magic World only gives the starting spell-caster 4 spells, like the normal tier. But they start at INT x 3.
(No, I won't be using spells in a science fiction game; this is merely illustrative.)
So, the older version gives more awesome characters (in my opinion) than the later one does.
Also, because of the aforementioned size, it's easier to carry.
Stay tuned tomorrow! Since I'm not following the strict rules of the A-Z thing anyway, I'm going to go ahead and post on Sunday! Any guesses what C will be?
Thursday, April 21, 2011
A is for...Awesome!
(Yes, I know, I'm starting over. And restarting a bit late. But hey, it's my blog; I'll do it if I want to.)
So for my upcoming Freedom in the Galaxy/Worlds of Wonder game, I've decided that A is for Awesome.
I've come up with campaign ideas before, but the big problem with virtually all of them is that the player characters won't come up against the really cool stuff until they're higher level -- sometimes much higher level. That takes time. And it can be dull getting there.
Besides, one of my big beefs with class/level games is that you pretty much want to start at first level so the character can "grow".
Screw that.
For this game, I want the characters to be grown already. Like starting out a D&D game at 5th level (or even higher). I don't want bumbling newbies, kids barely old enough to shave, trying to save the universe! I want professionals, sickened by the excesses of a corrupt Empire, willing to risk all to bring Freedom to the Galaxy.
So I've decided to go with pre-generated characters, based on the characters in the game.
Some will cry foul; rolling up one's own character is some sort of gawd-given right. Maybe. But they might turn out to be a putz. My way, every character has something going for him or her. (And speaking of her, what the heck is up with the entire Star Wars series? why is it that I can count the number of female characters on the fingers of one hand? But I digress.)
And the beautiful thing is, you don't have to play the same character every time. Say you come to every session. One time, you pay Rayner Derban. But the next time, Derban isn't even on the mission! What to do? Play another character, of course!
(I admit, this might cause problems. But I hope it won't.)
Anyway, these guys are going to be a bit over-the-top. And that's great. Roleplaying is supposed to be escapist. Just be glad you didn't have to work your way up to it from first level!
So, to summarize and to get to the title of this post: I'm going to be embracing the blog post "How to Awesome Up Your Players" from the awesome Jeff's Gameblog.
I've always been more restrictive than permissive in my GMing. And I see now that I don't want to be. So I'm making a conscious effort to do this.
Bonus post!
I didn't really jump on the A to Z bandwagon like a number of other old school bloggers did. I don't think that way, for one thing, and I have a hard time completing long projects like that.
But I'm thinking it might be good for me.
Plus, I got some good feedback on my last post, which gets me all juiced up to get started.
So, A is also for: All right, let's do this thing!
First of all, I have to admit that I finally understood something about myself after my last post. When I asked if it was a stupid idea, I didn't mean for someone to do this, I mean for me, specifically to do this. I didn't realize it at the time. I chalked it up to a standard self-effacing "I'm not special" kind of thing.
But it was actually a real concern. As near as I can tell (without a formal diagnosis), I have ADHD. This results in problems in undergoing long-term projects and the like. I've had this all my life, but only recently realized that that's what it is. It makes so much sense out of so many things that have happened to me/that I've done.
But I refuse to let it be a handicap! I'm going to do this thing, because I believe in it and because some of my favorite bloggers have responded positively to it. I'll finally be running the game I want to run.
Y'see (if you'll pardon the digression), every time I've run a game I've pretty much run it straight out of the box. I take the designer's word for how to do things, and usually run the enclosed scenario (if there is one -- and I can't recommend the one from LotFP:WFRPG enough, it's a doozy!)
I've never "rolled my own" as so many of the old school have. This gives me the chance to do that.
I put together a list earlier of some of the many things I'll need to address. Here's a partial list:
Aliens
Professions
Character Conversion
Spaceship rules
Army rules
Environments (*)
Equipment
and the list goes on.
(*: Environments is a special one from FitG; each world may have one or more of the following:
Urban, Wild, Liquid, Subterranean, Air and Fire -- each of which has its own characteristics)
Okay, just that list almost overwhelmed me. I knew if this was to work I'd need a powerful ally. And I have one: The humble 3x5 card. Anything important gets a 3x5 card. If it doesn't fit, it needs to be broken down into smaller things. (I may not be able to write a 128 page worldbook, but by gawd I can write a 3x5 card!) Focus is the key.
So, when I run this, expect to see my 3x5 card box at the table. It'll be my constant companion, my memory, my campaign-in-a-box.
It just might make things even possible. Because I really want this to happen.
(Hmm, now what the heck to I do for a "B"?)
So for my upcoming Freedom in the Galaxy/Worlds of Wonder game, I've decided that A is for Awesome.
I've come up with campaign ideas before, but the big problem with virtually all of them is that the player characters won't come up against the really cool stuff until they're higher level -- sometimes much higher level. That takes time. And it can be dull getting there.
Besides, one of my big beefs with class/level games is that you pretty much want to start at first level so the character can "grow".
Screw that.
For this game, I want the characters to be grown already. Like starting out a D&D game at 5th level (or even higher). I don't want bumbling newbies, kids barely old enough to shave, trying to save the universe! I want professionals, sickened by the excesses of a corrupt Empire, willing to risk all to bring Freedom to the Galaxy.
So I've decided to go with pre-generated characters, based on the characters in the game.
Some will cry foul; rolling up one's own character is some sort of gawd-given right. Maybe. But they might turn out to be a putz. My way, every character has something going for him or her. (And speaking of her, what the heck is up with the entire Star Wars series? why is it that I can count the number of female characters on the fingers of one hand? But I digress.)
And the beautiful thing is, you don't have to play the same character every time. Say you come to every session. One time, you pay Rayner Derban. But the next time, Derban isn't even on the mission! What to do? Play another character, of course!
(I admit, this might cause problems. But I hope it won't.)
Anyway, these guys are going to be a bit over-the-top. And that's great. Roleplaying is supposed to be escapist. Just be glad you didn't have to work your way up to it from first level!
So, to summarize and to get to the title of this post: I'm going to be embracing the blog post "How to Awesome Up Your Players" from the awesome Jeff's Gameblog.
I've always been more restrictive than permissive in my GMing. And I see now that I don't want to be. So I'm making a conscious effort to do this.
Bonus post!
I didn't really jump on the A to Z bandwagon like a number of other old school bloggers did. I don't think that way, for one thing, and I have a hard time completing long projects like that.
But I'm thinking it might be good for me.
Plus, I got some good feedback on my last post, which gets me all juiced up to get started.
So, A is also for: All right, let's do this thing!
First of all, I have to admit that I finally understood something about myself after my last post. When I asked if it was a stupid idea, I didn't mean for someone to do this, I mean for me, specifically to do this. I didn't realize it at the time. I chalked it up to a standard self-effacing "I'm not special" kind of thing.
But it was actually a real concern. As near as I can tell (without a formal diagnosis), I have ADHD. This results in problems in undergoing long-term projects and the like. I've had this all my life, but only recently realized that that's what it is. It makes so much sense out of so many things that have happened to me/that I've done.
But I refuse to let it be a handicap! I'm going to do this thing, because I believe in it and because some of my favorite bloggers have responded positively to it. I'll finally be running the game I want to run.
Y'see (if you'll pardon the digression), every time I've run a game I've pretty much run it straight out of the box. I take the designer's word for how to do things, and usually run the enclosed scenario (if there is one -- and I can't recommend the one from LotFP:WFRPG enough, it's a doozy!)
I've never "rolled my own" as so many of the old school have. This gives me the chance to do that.
I put together a list earlier of some of the many things I'll need to address. Here's a partial list:
Aliens
Professions
Character Conversion
Spaceship rules
Army rules
Environments (*)
Equipment
and the list goes on.
(*: Environments is a special one from FitG; each world may have one or more of the following:
Urban, Wild, Liquid, Subterranean, Air and Fire -- each of which has its own characteristics)
Okay, just that list almost overwhelmed me. I knew if this was to work I'd need a powerful ally. And I have one: The humble 3x5 card. Anything important gets a 3x5 card. If it doesn't fit, it needs to be broken down into smaller things. (I may not be able to write a 128 page worldbook, but by gawd I can write a 3x5 card!) Focus is the key.
So, when I run this, expect to see my 3x5 card box at the table. It'll be my constant companion, my memory, my campaign-in-a-box.
It just might make things even possible. Because I really want this to happen.
(Hmm, now what the heck to I do for a "B"?)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Freedom in the Galaxy?
So, what I'm thinking I'd like to do is run this:
...only not as a wargame, but as the basis for a RPG. Using this:
Does this sound like a completely stupid idea?
I mean, I can see an immediate criticism: Why don't I just run Star Wars?
The answer to that is that I've tried. I used the original WOTC (3e era) set, before they revised it and then created a whole new game (from what I can gather). I've also looked at but not played the old West End game. Neither one really did it for me.
So that leaves me in the now, with two specific criticisms:
1) I don't want to learn a new system. More importantly, I don't want to read thick hardcover gaming books, and
2) Star Wars has too much baggage for my taste. I'd like to start with something less well known, so people can approach it fresh. (Plus I don't want George Lucas looking over my shoulder the whole time -- that's how I felt when I ran SW before...)
Anyway, that's where I'm at right now. Comments appreciated.
...only not as a wargame, but as the basis for a RPG. Using this:
Does this sound like a completely stupid idea?
I mean, I can see an immediate criticism: Why don't I just run Star Wars?
The answer to that is that I've tried. I used the original WOTC (3e era) set, before they revised it and then created a whole new game (from what I can gather). I've also looked at but not played the old West End game. Neither one really did it for me.
So that leaves me in the now, with two specific criticisms:
1) I don't want to learn a new system. More importantly, I don't want to read thick hardcover gaming books, and
2) Star Wars has too much baggage for my taste. I'd like to start with something less well known, so people can approach it fresh. (Plus I don't want George Lucas looking over my shoulder the whole time -- that's how I felt when I ran SW before...)
Anyway, that's where I'm at right now. Comments appreciated.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
And I have it in my hands
From order late on Friday night (possibly Saturday morning; I can't be sure) to receipt on Monday.
Never let it be said that Noble Knight Games dallies once an order is placed. I've had this fast of service from them before (of course, it's right along I94 from them to me, but that's beside the point).
So, now I have my Worlds of Wonder boxed set.
Coincidentally, I also now have the first three printings of BRP. It's not OD&D, but it is an interesting evolution nonetheless. Not many actual changes, just formatting and rearranging and the like. Characters are functionally equivalent.
Anyway, I'm happy with what I have, and I'd probably be willing to run it at the drop of a hat.
Just sayin', is all.
Never let it be said that Noble Knight Games dallies once an order is placed. I've had this fast of service from them before (of course, it's right along I94 from them to me, but that's beside the point).
So, now I have my Worlds of Wonder boxed set.
Coincidentally, I also now have the first three printings of BRP. It's not OD&D, but it is an interesting evolution nonetheless. Not many actual changes, just formatting and rearranging and the like. Characters are functionally equivalent.
Anyway, I'm happy with what I have, and I'd probably be willing to run it at the drop of a hat.
Just sayin', is all.
Friday, April 15, 2011
I got it!
I just received my confirmation email from Noble Knight Games for my order for a copy of Chaosium's Worlds of Wonder box set.
I'm sure I paid too much for it, but I don't care. I'm going to own it, and I'm happy.
This makes my earlier post about Janus that much more likely to happen...
I'm sure I paid too much for it, but I don't care. I'm going to own it, and I'm happy.
This makes my earlier post about Janus that much more likely to happen...
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