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.