Back from a long weekend away

I am back in Wellington after a long weekend away up in Auckland with the in-laws. It was really nice, but I'm feeling pretty wiped. I feel like I may be coming down with a cold as well, so it will be an early night for me.

However a nice surprise was that my copy of the RPG Umläut: Game of Metal was in the letterbox waiting for me when I got home. Umläut was one of the games I spotted in the Games on Demand room at Kapcon earlier in the year. It is a GM-less game where each player creates and plays a heavy metal band seeking fame and fortune. Given the fondness I and my fellow ex-Hamiltonian friends have for heavy metal (being of good bogan stock), I knew this would be a good choice.

I can't say much yet, but I understand it operates in a similar style to Piledrivers and Powerbombs where there are set pre-gig, gig and post-gig scenes in which the different bands try and gain more points than each other. Conflict resolution is done using playing cards, which makes it quick and effective.

I'll read it through and round up the lads for a few games before I post on it next, but in the mean time I'll leave you with this handy metal chronology to prepare you.

Cthulhu Dark

Things have been a bit mad lately with wedding and travel plans, so the old blog has been a little neglected, but I felt compelled to point out Cthulhu Dark, a rules light system that I stumbled across a couple of days ago. 

Written by Graham Walmsley - the author of a number of highly regarded scenarios for Trail of Cthulhu including 'The Dying of St Margret's' and the 'Dance in the Blood' - Cthulhu Dark is a minimal, two page rules system for Cthulhu roleplaying that focuses more on story and character than mechanics. Reading such a stripped down rules set is incredibly fulfilling. It presents a real common sense approach to gaming by providing the freedom to engage deeply and directly with the story without the rule set defining the game itself. I really like what I see.

Graham has also released some additional rules (well, rather rules in progress) that expand on the basic rule set and provide a little more 'depth' to the mechanics.

I have been kicking around the idea for a while of running a Cthulhu game via Skype with some mates from out of town (and country), and I can see this as being the perfect solution to finding an easy and quick system for that medium, though I might fiddle with things here and there. It also could be very useful in a convention setting as well.

I think there is a lot of potential in Cthulhu Dark for some quick and deadly fun, and I look forward to giving it a trial in the near future.

What are you LARPing about?

I have been reflecting on a conversation I had a couple of weeks back after a Cthulhu game about where traditional ‘table top’ RPGs end and live action roleplay (LARPs) begin. My feeling then, as it still is now, is that these two classifications are not as sharply demarcated as they seem, especially as the term semi-LARP is starting to be introduced. What defines a game as being one or the other, and who decides on the criteria?

Although I don’t LARP any more, I did back in my youth. I guess this has coloured my experience today and, as a result, I’ve always embraced a more immersive roleplaying experience when running and playing in table top games. Yes, this does often mean silly accents, action miming and actually talking ‘in character’. I have no problem with LARPers or LARPing, but I am just a little curious about the definitions.

On the surface it all seems pretty clear. A table top RPG is one where the players sit together with character sheets and play a game using dice or some other means to simulate resolution of conflict in a shared, imaginary world. A LARP is similar, but one actually dresses up as one’s character and play out the story with others to accomplish goals, with or without the use of a conflict resolution system. I am still not sure how to define a semi-LARP, but give me a good definition and I’ll give you a cookie.  

I feel that in many ways these definitions are hangovers from the early years of the hobby, when table top RPGing was far less character based and more like a tactical wargaming. I guess the definitions still ring true for beardy, old school D&D players who like to say “Kronad the Barbarian will charge down the darken tunnel and skewer those orcs”.

However, if we start to test the definitions, they start to unravel. What happens if Kronad’s player brings an additional level of physicality to his description by miming the skewering motion? Does that make it more LARP-like? What if (heaven forbid) they dress up to play? What if when playing Call of Cthulhu I mime smoking a cigarette? Does that make it a LARP or semi-LARP? What if I use a funny accent? How much physicality tips a game from being a table top game to a LARP?

Is it a matter of the rule set you use? Are games LARPs or semi-LARPs because of their lighter rules? If so, some of the new indie games have very light systems indeed, so how do they fit in this scheme?

Although these questions may seem pedantic, the point is that how you label and define something matters. I know, for example, that if I advertise a game as a LARP or semi-LARP, I will get a completely different crowd than if I advertise it as a table top RPG. This is important to me as I actually really like having LARPers in my table top games, as they tend to bring a greater level of physicality and immerse themselves more in the game than other players. This is not to say, however, that other players can’t or don’t.

In my mind this issue is also important as there was some discussion of having a separate LARP or semi-LARP scheme for Kapcon in the future, given the greater interest in those style games this year. I personally think this would be a really bad idea and it would further perpetuate a fairly meaningless classification systems and establishing a con-within-a-con, like those wacky Grayhawk guys or Harncon.  We should be encouraging everyone to participate in everything, as there are lessons to be share around. I mean, of course there are some people who only want to do one or the other, but I don’t think the organisation of the con needs to reinforce that.

So cast away such classifications, such divisions, such categories. It’s all roleplaying, so why not treat it at such?

As always, I am interested in your comment. Do you disagree with my definitions or characterisations? Should we encourage greater or lesser demarcation? 

For your Sunday afternoon amusement

Help me choose a system!

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I was thinking about starting up a fantasy RPG to add to my regular Cthulhu games, probably on a monthly basis. To be honest, fantasy has never been by favoured setting, unlike a lot of other people who had it as their ‘gateway’ setting. I got into roleplaying in the mid 1990s when fantasy roleplaying was arguable at its nadir, so grew up on a steady diet of science fiction (Cyberpunk 2020, Star Wars) and White Wolf, only coming to fantasy RPGs later where I approached them more cynically.

However, I am now feeling the urge to kick off a game and explore the clichés and tropes of the genre. Of course this bumps up against the problem of what system to use. This is where you guys come in, as I am hoping you can give me a steer on the best option to invest in amongst the many that are out there.

I had narrowed the field down a little so far. I am not a 'rules guy' at all, so don’t want to have to spend my consulting encumbrance tables or anything. I want something which is well supported with supplements, that actually has some roleplaying involved, and that has a richly detailed setting. I really see this as a pretty casual game where some mates get together, have some fun and chew some scenery.

The following readily spring to mind:

D&D - As I have said before, D&D and I have had a checked past, but it's the classic of the fantasy RPGs, so deserves consideration. But which version? I have discounted 3.5 as I don't want to read fifteen million books to figure out how to play the damn thing. Fourth edition or 'Essentials' could be a possibility, as I like the simplicity and flexibility, and the maps and counter thing seems interesting, but I can't get my head around what Wizards' are planning with the line.

D&D clone - Maybe a 1st edition D&D clone would fit the bill? Though I know very little, such a stripped down game could have potential, though I have my doubts about the amount of actual roleplaying that would be done.

Pathfinder - A well regarded products with lots of support, but it looks complex and unwieldy in a similar vein to D&D 3.5. Doesn't seems like my cup of tea unfortunately.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - Certainly fits the bill in terms of a rich background and a well supported line. Being an ex-wargamer (albeit a terrible one) I know and like the 'gritty' setting, but again there is the problem of which version. Second edition seems the more well regarded and well supported, and I did pick up a copy of the rules over Christmas cheap, but since it's out of print, acquiring products may be expensive and difficult. Third edition seems to be quite a radical departure and seems to polarise people, so I have my concerns. But I like the aesthetics of the game and the supplements seem pretty cool.

A Song of Ice and Fire RPG - I am a fan of the books and I have had good reports from those who have played it, though the limited support in terms of scenario suggests more back end work will be required than I'm angling for. There are also no dwarfs (except Tyrion of course).

Anyone got some thoughts on the relative pros and cons of the above systems and settings, or which one would best suit my needs? I am open to any and all suggestions. Also shout out if there is any amazing system I have missed, as I'm sure there must be. In return you'll get my everlasting gratitude and probably a beer in a pub sometime.

2011 in preview

Following on from my 2010 retrospective, I thought it would be good to briefly mention my roleplaying plans for 2011.

I am looking forward to my weekly Monday night game kicking off again. We still have more of Dan's Exalted Dragon Blooded game to run, which ended on a suitably dramatic cliffhanger, so I'm keen to see how things end up. I'm also amped to run some more Cthulhu for this group in the coming year. I'm not sure what form it will take yet, but it might be a follow up to last year's 'Empire State Secrets'. Thought I did read 'Tatters of the King' over the break and am very keen to run that as well, so I'll see how the group feels.

Dale's fortnightly 'Kingsport Tales' looks set to continue, with the odd game by Liam and hopefully myself thrown in as well. It seems like we'll be continuing our zany misadventures in Kingsport and possibly building up to 'Beyond the Mountains of Madness' later in the year. Dale has gone some university writing to do this year, so I'm keen to help out when needed running a game here and there to share the work load.

I've also got the hankering for another regular game - perhaps fortnightly for a slightly longer session on a Sunday afternoon or something. With some much Cthulhu on, I've kind of got the hankering for a fantasy game. What game and system, however, is a very complex question, which I'll have more to say on in the future.

I'm also hoping to do something with my Kapcon Cold City scenario this year, probably in the form of publication. It still needs some tidying up from from Kapcon and a little more tweaking, but it's not far off. I have given some half thought to entering it in next year's Scenario Design Contest, but I'll have to see how things pans out. I've also got another project that came to me just a couple of days ago. I don't want to say too much yet in case I jinx it, but if it forms up, I'll be sure to write about it here.

I also definitely want to run something for Fright Night this year as well and, if time allows, see if Marcus needs a hand organsing/running things. It would be very interesting to see how a con runs from the other side. And of course there is Kapcon 2012 to think about...

Finally I want to try and keep this blog updated more regularly. There will undoubtedly be gaps and breaks, but if I can get on a roll it will get easier.

Bring on gaming in 2011!

2010 in review

Since I have been attending Kapcon over the last couple of years, in many ways it has started to feel like the end of my ‘roleplaying year’. As the buzz starts to wear off, I thought I would take a moment to reflect on my gaming in 2010, as I got to busy to do it earlier, and look at what 2011 had in store.

2010 was a good year for me gaming wise. I have managed to get some regular games in and achieved most of my goals.

My fortnightly Thursday game mutated, had some wobbles, and has turned into a weekly Monday game. This game has been a lot of fun for me and had provided a good chance to start gaming again with some of my old Hamilton buddies. Having Alex join the group has added another dimension to our games and, although I suspect the line up may change again, I am looking forward to many new stories next year.

We use a rotating GM system for this game, so I was pleased that I was able to run regular Trail of Cthulhu campaign (Empire State Secrets) for a chunk of it. This was something I wanted to achieve in 2010 and I am happy that it was received so well.

I have also been lucky enough to play in a regular fortnightly Call of Cthulhu game run by Dale. This has been a great opportunity to play some classic Call of Cthulhu adventures, develop a character of a year and get to know a really good bunch of guys. It has also branched off into games for the same group ran by Liam, and this year I am keen to get a few games under my belt with them as well.

In addition to running and planning my Trail of Cthulhu campaign, I also wrote and ran a scenario for Cold City at Kapcon, the origins of which I have been sitting on for a while. I am glad I was able to take the concept from my mind, craft it and turn it into something useable that told a story.

So overall it has been good to be able to set goals and achieve them, and also to have the support of regular games.

Next up, what 2011 has in store...

Kapcon 2011 (Part Two)

Day two of Kapcon rolled around and I was again up early. With my supplies restocked and a headache taken care of, it was back down to Wellington High and pretty much straight into session four.

This meant 'Big Trouble in Little Freesboro' for Gamma World run by Luke, which I thought would be something light and zany to ease back into the day. Turns out I wasn't wrong. It was my first experience with the D&D4E/Gamma World system and Luke made it painless, even if the early morning start for my brain meant I was a little slow off the bat with the mechanics. Character creation itself was a sort of mini-game, and I ended up with a speedster/electrokinetic called 'Sparky', who also rode a motor cycle and owned a canoe. As you do! There was a nice mix of combat and roleplaying, and I glad we didn't push on to a third big combat. As a result, I would be keen to play some more in the future.

We finished pretty much right on time so, after some lunch and an involved chat about gaming with Igor, it was on to session five where I re-ran 'The Lesser Evil or the Greater Good'. Again the game went well and the players performed admirably. Everyone was starting to fade a little energy wise, but this meant the game had more of a subtle, 'noir' feel to it, with repeated spying and backstabbing going on amongst the team. The ending was also a thing of cinematic beauty.

After the break it was time for prize giving and a general giving of the thanks before session six. I opted for Liam's 'The Matter Involving the Moon' for Cathulhu (Call of Cthulhu for cats), as I had played in the preceding scenario to this one last year and was interested to see what happened in the squeal. I ended up playing Mr Wobbles, the overweight and narcoleptic, but extremely cute and wise housecat. 

Since everyone was feeling a little tired and we had some first timers who were looking a little confused about the whole 'roleplaying a cat' thing, I channelled the spirt of Winston Churchill and started chewing the scenery a little to get things going. Thankfully this put everyone in the right frame of mind and we were soon off on our zany cat adventures, which led us to many strange a exotic places. Liam ran a good game keeping the momentum of the story going, but also allow us enough roleplaying opportunities to channel our inner felines.

The evening saw Liam, myself and a couple of the Auckland guys head to Norm's after party which turned out to be a whole lot of fun. A late finish saw me fall into bed exhausted but happy for another year.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to Kapcon whether through playing, GMing or organsing. I had a great time, achieved what I set out to do and got to meet some awesome people.

Kapcon 2011 (Part One)

Well the high energy madness that is Kapcon is over for another year and, as usual, I had a great time. Not only was it an immensely satisfying weekend of roleplaying, it was also a great chance to talk games with people and generally bath in the reflected geek glory of New Zealand RPG scene.

Things kicked off on Friday night with the pre-con drinks at JJ Murphy’s on Cuba Street. The venue was well selected and it provided a chance for people to catch up with friends before the Con started. I joined in an interesting discussion involving Marcus, Dale and others about the nature of horror roleplaying before heading home to finish cutting out handouts and packing my kit for the morning.

I was up bright and early the next day and heading down to Wellington High School slightly optimistically in shorts and jandals. Round one saw me play in Idiot's Going down to Dunwich scenario for the Laundry Files RPG; a sort of Dilbert meets Lovecraft with a sprinkling of the IT crowd in the mix. Idiot ran a solid game with well constructed characters which proved a great introduction to the world of the Laundry Files. I've always found round one to be a bit of a hard slot for GMs as players are still warming up to the con, so Idiot did a great job of keeping the plot flowing and leading it on to satisfying conclusion.

Since we finished a little over time in round one, the break before round two saw me gobble up my lunch and set up for my first running of The Lesser Evil or the Greater Good, my Cold City scenario. I was a little unsure how it will all sit together after the playtest changes, but I shouldn't have worried as the players really came to the party and produced a great game. Special thanks need to go to one of the Auckland guys - Malcolm I think - for his great portrayal of Captain Bloom, which was possibly the toughest role. However everyone involved totally gave their all and the game really popped, leaving me a relieved GM.

Round three saw me back up Cold City with running The Herald of the Yellow Sign for Call of Cthulhu. Now this one I was worried about as I had offered to run it a couple of weeks before the con and only had time to read through it twice briefly before running it. My energy levels were also a little low. However I needn't have worried as the enthusiasm and willingness of the players to follow the story really lifted and re-energised me. It was especially nice to have a bunch of the Auckland LARPers in the group as they brought an additional level of characerisation and physicality that helped everyone get into character with ease. Special mention must also be made of the zombies groans coming from Siege Mentality II on the same floor as it provided a nice creepy backdrop to the story of dread Carcosa come to medieval Britain.

As most people started preparing for the LARP, I headed off into town with Dave, an old Hamilton buddy, and some of his friends for a well deserved curry and a couple of beers. It was great fun catching up with him and chatting to Liz and Russell, though after a full belly we were all feeling the need for a rest, so I headed home to bed with thoughts of what day two of Kapcon held in store.

Long time, no post

Well is has been a long drink between posts, that's for sure. That has been mainly due to the inevitable Christmas and holiday shenanigans, but also because things have been a little quiet of the gaming front, with only the odd game here and there to keep me occupied.

However I haven't been totally inactive. I have been busy beavering away on my Cold City scenario for Kapcon, which is only in a few days time. I was hoping to keep a more detailed account/analysis of its progress, but once I overcame my block in completing it, it was all go.

I am very happy with how the story turned out. The feedback from my playtest was good and provided some useful advice on tweaks, but the real test will come on the weekend. Since I'm relatively new to the system (which I'm not very good at), so that gives me a little cause for concern, but it is a pretty forgiving system so should work out.

I am slightly bummed that after months and months of having the session full that someone has pulled out in the 11th hour, meaning I might have to run with only three players or with a walk up. Neither of these are big deals, but I guess I want to walk in with the status of having a full game. It's a bit of an ego thing.

Also, because the organisers were short, I offered to run a Call of Cthulhu scenario in the third session last week. I have only read it once before and haven't playtested it, so I'm running it a little raw, but it should come together OK.

All in all I'm really excited about Kapcon. I need to go now and keep working on my preparation, but I'll have plenty to say after the weekend. 

Dare you listen to the whispers?

A newish trailer for the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society's film version of The Whisperer in Darkness is out, and it looks amazing (PS. Migo)!:

These guys really set the bar for film adaptions of Lovecraft's work, with this the follow up their highly acclaimed version of The Call of the Cthulhu.

Things are still pretty mad here in the lead up to Christmas, but by a fortunate coincident both my copy of Cthulhu Dark Ages and the limited edition, hardback version of Masks of Nyarlathotep have arrived pretty much at the same time. This will keep me in happy reading once I find time to do it on top of everything else.

Less cool it fact that it seems the Chaosium website may not be entirely secure, with a number of purchasers being hit with fraudulent credit card transactions. I put an order through on the weekend and although I haven't had any problems, I canceled my card this morning anyway to be on the safe side. As is life.

A thought...

A little while ago - during the whole Chilean miner saga - I had an idea for a Cthulhu scenario set underground in a mine collapse. The characters would be miners who were trapped you see, so it would be a race between getting rescued and surviving whatever they had dug up.

That idea is going to be shelved in my mind for a while - maybe forever. I'm not given generally to public displays of grief and am pretty detached from any news I read or see, but this is a pretty dark day for our mild little corner of the world.

My gaming life

After a busy few weeks, it is nice to pause for a moment and reflect on some of the gaming I have managed to sneak in.

Since the first season of 'Empire State Secrets' finished, Dan has started running a Dragon Blooded Exalted game, which has been mighty good fun. Playing Exalted has been a new experience for me and one, to my surprise, I have really enjoyed. He has even set up a very slick blog for the game, which puts my Trail wiki to shame.

If I'm honest, the concept of Exalted has always left me a little cold in the past, but Dan has done a great job of introducing me to the setting and the features of the game that do make it so much fun (I have forgotten how satisfying it can be to roll handfuls of D10s). I that feel there is a nice symmetry at play here, in that I have 'talked around' Dan to Cthulhu, while he has got me on side with Exalted.

Dan also spent a lot of time and energy in running in depth preludes for the characters, which has worked really well. It has given us all a lot more 'depth' to our characters and this shows in the quality of the roleplaying. I haven't really used preludes as a technique before that much, but I'm looking at re-accessing that for the future seeing how well it has worked in this instance.

Unfortunately just as we were getting into a good rhythm, one of our players had to go off and do something awesome like go to Antarctica. He'll be back in a few months, so the collective decided to hold fire until his return. Which is the perfect opportunity for me to throw some Cold City into the mix...

My other regular game is Dale's 'Kingsport's Tales' for Call of Cthulhu. This game continues to be a lot of fun and I have been involved in it for well over eight months now. Dale runs the game very well and rolls very easily with all our off the wall ideas. Playing the Innsmouth scenarios were a particular highlight, though all the different adventures have been strong. 

It has been particularly refreshing to work with some of the often maligned Dreamlands material, something for which I now have a new appreciation.

The only slight downside for me is that I still don't feel like I have a handle of my character's 'point of difference' in the game. Since we're usually playing with a big group (5-7 people), I feel his characteristics and mannerisms are perhaps too subtle and he blends a little into the background. His skills (like researching, history, persuading) also overlap with others in the group, so this has led to him being less involved at times than perhaps I would have liked him to be. This is something that is more of a 'roleplaying issue' for me than a 'game issue' for Dale, so I will keep working it through and see what I can do. 

However, this doesn't detract from the fact that I enjoy the game immensely and look forward to it. Perhaps the best part has been getting to meet a good bunch of guys to game with!

I really want to get my Kapcon scenario finalised in the next couple of weeks as well to have a playtest before Christmas, so say tuned to hear more about that!

Not so quiet published

I am a little slow off the mark in mentioning this one, but Pelgrane Press have recently released 'Not so quiet', the Trail of Cthulhu adventure some of the Kingsport guys and I play tested a while back.

Reading through it I was pleased to see they adopted some of the suggestions we made and have provide additional guidance is some of the areas we identified. 

All in all it is a really tight little scenario, though I still think that if I ever run it again I will make some extra changes to suit my own style of play more.

If nothing else, however, it is one of the more compelling treatments of the First World War I have read of in a gaming product.

FFG: Mansions of Madness

Fantasy Flight Game's latest Cthulhu themed offer looks to be a  stunner, with a follow up to Arkham Horror called Mansions of Madness. 


It looks awesome and has the high production value associated with their games. What I am particularly excited about is the range of plastic miniatures that come with it, which look perfect for tabletop Cthulhu. Aren't they awesome?


It is also interesting to see FFG further blurring the lines between 'board games' and 'RPGS, as Mansions of Madness seems to stray into that territory, at least from my cursory inspection. I certainly enjoy Arkham Horror, but have heard some very mixed reviews about their take on Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. This, however, will certainly be on the top of my Christmas list. 

Fright Night 2010

On Saturday night I was treated to a wonderful evening of horror themed role playing at the fourth annual Fright Night, held at the suitably atmospheric Turnbull House here in Wellington. It consisted on two session of fine gaming that ran the gambit from spooky to strange to horrific.

It was also a good chance to catch up with the various Wellington role playing locals and game with some new people. I had a great time and the whole night seemed to go very smoothly (at least from my end).

Below are more detailed reviews of the games I played in. There not too spoilerific, but probably best to avert your eyes if you're keen to play them in the future.

After a brief welcome and pre-amble, it was off to the first round game, which for me was 'Splinter of Corruption' run by Doug. I signed up for this one because I was keen to see how Dark Heresy plays as I've always thought that the Warhammer 40,000 universe would be a great backdrop for a role playing game. Doug didn't disappoint and ran an atmospheric and richly textured game, in which our novice inquisitor team sought information on the dark fate of Commissar Nihilius and his squad. It had a nice '80's sci-fi movie feel to it and I could feel the spirit of Aliens coursing through it.

I played a Novice Cleric called Castus who did his best to support his brothers and encourage them to follow the one truth path of the Emperor (he also proved more than a little handy with a hammer). I think our team was a little out of its depth in terms of leadership and adopted a very direct approach to the investigation, but this only added to the game's dramatic finale. We were a little pushed for time, though I understand that Doug intends to run this at Kapcon, so with a few minor tweaks this game will really do the business.

As we finished the first round game a little behind schedule, there was only time for a very brief break before I was into round two. In this round played 'Rivers of Gold', a Trail of Cthulhu based scenario run by Mike. I was really interested to be a player in a Trail game again as it has been a while since I had been in that position thanks to my GMing duties. The game was set in the Otago gold fields during the gold rush, with my fellow players and I taking on the role of a group of gold prospectors, who uncovered more than they expected in a previously uncharted part of the country.

I played Alex Masters, a young half-Maori, half-Scot who, against his better judgement, loyally followed his mate Bill into an increasingly bizarre world. I gather there may have been some mix-up with the character allocation as Alex was a quite a different man to the answers I provided to Mike's pre-game questionnaire. Nevertheless he was a lot of fun to play and for a while there I hoped he might make it through 'unchanged'.

Mike ran a very tight and polished game, which achieved its aim of producing more chills than frights, while teasing out the final mystery to the very end. Indeed it is a sign of the scenario's strength that despite being quite a linear and constrained scenario, those features didn't distract from the overall experience. For me it channelled the better aspects of Lovecraft's more science fiction orientated works, and some elements wouldn't have seemed out of place in The Colour out of Space. The other players too all really worked their characters well and proceed some genuinely creepy moments. We perhaps could have used a little more time to round things off at the end as it felt a little rushed, but that is only a very minor blemish.

So overall Fright Night more than delivered. A big thanks to Dale and co. for organising the event, and both Doug and Mike for running excellent scenarios. This has certainly set the bar for Kapcon and the mind is whirring already on what I can organise for Fright Night 2011. Hopefully I'll see some more of you there as it really was a great night.

Towards the Mountains of Madness

I am rubbing my hands together in glee at the moment and Dale is busily preparing to start running 'Beyond the Mountains of Madness' for our Call of Cthulhu group.

Based on the Lovecraft novella At the Mountains of Madness, this is widely regarded as one of the best RPG campaigns ever published for any system. A long and hard journey to a forbidden Antarctic world await the characters, who face not only the environmental challenges, but also the mythos horrors that reside in that frozen wasteland. In other words, a hell of a lot of fun!

I am looking forward to taking my New England author Michael St Croix and matching him against this challenge. It should prove some great opportunities for role playing and character development, as well as some nice dramatic parts as well. I've also got some nice ideas for a back up character - an obsessed astronomer - if things get really bad.

I am also going to encourage Dale to take advantage of the amazing props available for this campaign at the Propnomicon site, which I have mentioned previously, as they are simply amazing (such as this photo I have included shows).

Who would have thought I would be so keen to experiences those lurking terrors hidden beyond the ice!

D&D and a geek confession

Last week while browsing through Wargames Supply here in Wellington, I picked up a copy of Wizards of the Coast's (WOTC) new starter box for Dungeons & Dragons. This is designed as an introduction to the game for new players and is modelled specifically on the famous 'red box'(right down to the design) of earlier fame. I grabbed a copy due to the fact it is disgustingly cheap and because I am it's target market.

That's right, I have a geek confession to make. I have never really played D&D (or any derivative) before, or had much interest in doing so. Although this means I cannot make a fully informed review of the product, I can add a few thoughts from that fresh perspective.

But first a little background on the lack of D&D in my gaming life. I entered the hobby in the early 1990s through a gateway drug called Warhammer 40,000 and, unlike a lot of other gamers, my first RPG love was not D&D but R. Talsorian Game's Cyberpunk 2020 (which deserves it own write up). I was of course aware of D&D being around (how could I not as it dominated our local comic store), but to be honest it didn't really grab me, in part due to the seemingly impenetrable rules and the overwhelming number of products required ("so wait, I need to buy how many rulebooks?"). The nineties was also the time when that behemoth of the RPG world TSR was going through the doldrums creatively and was taking a huge hit financially trying to compete with WOTC in the collectible card game market (anyone remember Spellfire?)

D&D took a further hit in my development with the emergence of White Wolf's 'World of Darkness' series of games. White Wolf set itself up in opposition to TSR in many ways with its dark focus on edgy, mature themes and preference (at least in theory) for story and narrative over mechanics (this also deserves a post of its own). It seemed far more interesting, vivid and exciting than what I perceived as the formulaic, overly mechanistic and predictable features of D&D.

My friends and I consumed veraciously everything put out by White Wold in the mid-to-late nineties as TSR stumbled and fell, although it is interesting to note how many of the accusations brought against TSR started to become 'business as usual' for White Wolf as its market share grew (more on this another day). 

In hindsight, it is interesting how this experience has shaped me as a gamer. I still prefer strong narrative based games that are character driven, and always put a great deal of stock in the 'mood'(including ambiance and scene painting) of a game. I am also pretty awful at learning new systems and, to be honest, to this day I still have a slight suspicion of anything involving a D20. So as a result of all this, I have tended to avoid D&D as a game. The few experiences I have had have been either unsatisfying or confusing (or both). 

However, the buzz about D&D fourth edition has been positive in some quarters and I have been encouraged to try it, even though I am suspicious of its 'wargamey' feel. But I'm not one to hold a grudge, so I thought I would have a crack in this instance.

So enough history and on to the product itself. The starter box is part of WOTC's D&D 'Essentials' line which is designed to hark back to a simpler, arguably purer form of the game. I can't make a full judgement about product (or the line) given I haven't read it all, but from the little I have looked over, it's good. 

Character creation is pitched like a 'choose your own adventure' game, so it doesn't get bogged town in technical terminology, and it also takes the reader through a basic combat to familiarise him or her (most likely him) with that side of the rules. It also comes with some quite neat extras, like maps, tokens, dice and cards. Although, as one would expect, it focuses heavily on combat, it also provides some options for non-combat related actions during the game and even a little roleplaying.

I plan to keep posting some thoughts here as I (slowly) work my way through it, but I think there is enough here to inflict a night's entertainment on my friends. It may even be enough for me to give D&D a second chance, though I still have my suspicions. 

Any of you out there have any thoughts on the 'red box' or D&D in general? What about formative roleplaying experiences? This is something I think I could write a lot more about...

Still here...

Wow it has been over a month since the last post. It has been a pretty flat out September for me with work, study and wedding planning occupying a lot of my energy. However, I'm back now, so on with the roleplaying update.


Due largely to the overseas excursion of one of our players, we have yet to kick off Dan's Exalted game with the Trail of Cthulhu group, but I have a neat character and am looking forward to getting into it in the next couple of weeks.


I have been largely keeping up with Dale's Cthulhu game and we have just finished the most epic and enjoyable 'Escape from Innsmouth'/'Raid on Innsmouth' campaign. The Shadow Over Innsmouth is one of my favourite Lovecraft stories and so I have always been keen to play (and one day run) this scenario. It was a lot of fun and Dale more than did it justice in his GMing, as well as showing me the skills needed to pull it all off.


I have also been doing some more thinking about next year's Kapcon. I have decided to go ahead with running the Cold City adventure I mentioned back in August, as I had some inspiration on how to bring it all together. It's now titled 'The Lesser Evil or the Greater Good' and I hope it will succeed in its aim of forcing the players to make some hard decisions. You can check out the blurb on the Kapcon website. I'll be calling for playtest victims volunteers in the next couple of months in order to get it nice and tight to fit into the three hour slot.


Speaking of that, I'm still tossing up whether to run another game (probably Trail) at Kapcon. I was looking at running Graham Walmsley's 'The Dance in the Blood' which has now been released and I have downloaded, though I'm little uncertain if it will fit into the three hour Kapcon slot. It's a very atmospheric adventure, so may require longer than the three hours provided at Kapcon, though the premise and 'twist' is very satisfying. I'll keep you all posted on how that one goes.


Other than that, things are looking good for the next while with Fright Night coming up later in the month and my regular groups kicking on. Now to start writing that scenario...