RPGaDAY: Day 19: Sensational Session

Day 19: Sensational Session

For fairness I'm nominating two here. One that I've run and one that I played in.

Of course, I'll ramble around the topic as well.

Probably the most sensational session I ever played in was a D&D adventure that one of my first DMs ran for a group of us.

The Kirklees Military Modelling and Gaming Society was where I first played any roleplaying games. There were two DMs who took it in turns for our group, but after a while Jonny moved away with his family.

He invited us over to play an adventure he'd devised, so four of us travelled by train to Lytham for the weekend. 

We pretty much just gamed, ate and slept, but by the end we'd fought our way through the temple and defeated the lich. It was so close at the end that Jonny's mum drove us to the next station so we'd get a crucial extra twenty minutes.

Technically, I suppose this was several sessions, but it all flowed together so well that it seemed like one mammoth one.

Honestly, I don't now remember too many of the details, but the sense of sheer fun was immense.

I'm lucky enough to be able to share my hobby with my kids, and sessions played with them are always special.  But for a session where the gaming itself was sensational, I'm once again going back to the 4E campaign. 

On reaching Paragon Tier (11th to 20th level) the characters were all rewarded by being made Lords or Ladies and several were given grants of land. 

Grim had picked up on one of the underlying themes of Heroic Tier, a land struggling with it's identity and with different factions with often conflicting goals. He suggested to me that organising a grand fair on the frozen lake north of Threshold might help bring the people together. Between us we roughed it out, then next session the whole party pitched in with suggestions for what their characters could bring to the event.

The session I'm nominating is the next one, where we ran a timetable of events with the characters responding to various problems and threats (including traditional animosity between dwarves and elves, a vampire seeking victims and a missing child). There were also competitions to judge events to organise (and take part in) and just generally making sure things went smoothly.

Amazing fun for all of us, and it was a delight to see the players so engaged in a (largely) non violent activity that cost them quite a lot of gold.

Despite their good work bringing the community together, shortly after they all got arrested, as recounted yesterday. Still, that's the breaks when you're an adventurer.

#RPGaDAY24

RPGaDAY 2024: Day 18: Memorable Moment of Play

Day 18: Memorable Moment of Play

Is it cheating to say that there are so many that I couldn't possibly choose?

Yes?

Ok then. 

Well back in the ten year 4E campaign, when the characters had just reached Paragon tier, they investigated a mysterious valley of snow and ice. 

They ended up slaying the Frost Queen, along with one of her acolytes, who they knew to be a lass from a village back on Karameikos.

One player in particular found this difficult, and suggested that there should be some consequence*. The party were arrested and charged. If you know anything about Karameikos you can imagine their dismay on seeing that the initial judge was Baron von Hendricks, the Grand Duke's uncle. They deserved such elevated attention as they had recently been ennobled. One reward was exemption from taxes for a year.

Anyway, at the trial the halfling rogue from the neighbouring Five Shires was finding it all too much (guilty conscience?) He shouted out that she was a monster, she shouldn't be protected by the law, she wasn't a citizen, she wasn't even a tax payer!

A marvellous example of a player really invested in his character and showing real anger and frustration at the way the game world was treating him. It was a lovely touch of irony when the Baron replied "technically, neither are you".

If you want to know how it ended, the Duke's son took over the trial but they were still found guilty.  Due to extenuating circumstances, they had to perform a task as punishment. Cue the Baron rubbing his hands and exclaiming "I have a dragon that I need getting rid of ". 

Interestingly, if the players had simply been given a dragon slaying quest, they'd have happily gone ahead, but it would have meant a lot less to them. Setting it as a punishment meant that they really felt the consequences of their earlier actions.

I don't force characters to do specific things, I believe strongly in their choices mattering, this was a result of an earlier choice, and felt natural.

If you're wondering, they did get the dragon, eventually. They did lose Ozzie the wizard (again) and as the dragon flew off with the body, they had to hunt it down. But they triumphed, restored the wizard, and were able to humiliate the Baron into the bargain.

#RPGaDAY24

*The character was dead at the time (where else but an RPG would that statement make sense?) and was unable to intervene to save her.

The Severed Hand: Infantry Complete

Well I've done it. I've finished painting all the orc infantry for the Severed Hand at Ashak Rise*.

They've taken rather longer than I would have liked, but we had a run of hot weather where the paint dried on the brush faster than I could get it on the minis, and then there have been distractions in the form of RPGaDAY24 and the need to draw more maps for the D&D group.

There are a couple of minis here that have a lot of history for me, although these are recent replacements after selling off most of my collection.

ORC1 (WO-05) Angok

  ORC1 (WO-14) Gorb 

These two were the Leader and Standard for my orc bows many years ago.

Angok wears a rather fancy hooded tunic in black with yellow accents and hood, presumably taken from the human units wearing yellow and black.

I converted Gorb to hold a standard pole, rather as I did with the Fantasy Regiments orc here (though I suspect I didn't do as good a job back then). 

The Citadel designers had the same idea, the standard in Harboth's Orc Archers Regiment of Renown uses the same basic body with a standard, though, never having owned them, I only recently found this out.

Gorb has a russet tunic like the ones worn by the elves here, however, he's had to tear it to get in on.  He also has a shield with a red dragon or wyvern design, probably also from an elf.

ORC1 (DA-04) Skindag the Rad

Talking of converting standards, Skindag was originally a duel weapon orc.   I've never really liked these, due to my one unit of them being uniformly awful on the tabletop (I suspect I never worked out how to get their undoubted superior combat abilities into contact, the lack of shields made them more vulnerable to missiles).

I thought I'd sold them all off, but I found this chap lurking in a box. He'd lost one of his weapons, so I'd initially thought about just using him as a normal sword armed orcs. But he'd look odd with a shield held up in the air, unless he's catching elven arrows. Then I thought he'd make a great standard bearer, and I wanted one for the tribe anyway. 

0508/18 Orc Mugger

The Orc Mugger is one of Trish Carden's Orc Villagers, though with his metal greaves and what looks like some sort of belt of riveted plates, he looks a lot more martial than most of the range.

ORC 08 w. Bow, Firing

This orc is a Marauder orc. With his bell-bottoms I couldn't resist giving him striped pants. His bow is an elven bow, I painted it like the handle and tips of the elf here.

0501/14 Dwarfsmiter

This is my version of Hagar Sheol, given that I'm never going to own the specific minis. To make him look a bit more like the illustration, I gave him a shield slung over his back with a greenstuff/milliput strap. On the cover of the scenario book he has a glorious bright red cloak, but my mini is wearing a fur cloak, so I gave it a red lining to keep the theme.

These two archers are fairly ordinary, both are Kev Adams sculpts from Harboth's Orc Archers.  I've already painted a couple of RRD3 (j) Trooper 6 before. RRD3 (k) Trooper 7 is a new sculpt though. There's no cloth on them, but they both have shields taken from fallen foes. 

I've also experimented with adding bow strings. It works quite well, but I still want to work on it.

So is that the Severed Hand finished? 

Well no.

What Next?

There's the ten hobhounds to do, and I've a couple of different options for them.

But looking forward I will add more to the tribe. I've mentioned before about the possibility of collecting a unit with two-handed weapons. If they don't have shields, there's little to tie them to any particular tribe, they could be a part of any of the tribes I've already got, or perhaps they hire themselves out as mercenaries. 

I've also got eight orcs with crossbows which would add more missile power.

The tribe currently has no form of cavalry (other than the hobhounds). I only have one pretty much complete orc boar rider (the standard bearer, missing the top of his standard), though I do have a few later orc riders. They seem very expensive on the second hand market, at least, the ones with metal boars do, and I'm definitely not a fan of the plastic boars. 

Then there are war machines. I've got a stone thrower and a bolt thrower, and, of course, the Old School Miniatures chariot.

So I'm not going to run out of Severed Hand orcs to paint any time soon. Not forgetting the other two tribes. I've had a few thoughts about what to use for them too. The Kwae Karr will be based largely around the Fantasy Regiments orcs, though I'm unsure about what to do for the ten archers.

I'm not sure about the Vile Rune, but I've a few of the old Fantasy Tribes orcs, and they are always fun to collect and paint.  It would be nice to field forty of them, but that's a lot of collecting minis that seem expensive, especially given that few people admit to actually liking them.  I certainly do like them, and they bring back memories of buying minis at the old Games Gallery store in Newcastle back in the late 70s and early 80s.

But before I paint any more orcs (except, possibly, the Vivandiere), I'm going to do a dwarf or two, and possibly some terrain.

*Yes, I know that the standard bearer is lacking, well, a standard. I'm waiting until all the standard bearer minis are finished before adding the flags.

RPGaDAY 2024: Day 17: RPG with an Engaging Community

Day 17: RPG with an Engaging Community

Ah, now then.  I'm the wrong person to really ask about this.  Despite the fact that I write a blog, I use social media very little. So if we are, as I suspect, talking about an online community, I have very little experience.  I really need the online equivalent of The Diogenes Club.

I am a member of a couple of active Facebook Groups, Rivers of London and D&D for Old Dudes.  There's a generally respectful tone on these, especially the former, but I don't interact much with them.

I used to be fairly active on Yogsothoth.com, which again, was a pretty friendly and helpful place.

Most of my online RPG interactions have been through The Piazza, but this covers a wide range of games, so I can't really nominate it for any particular RPG.  I was particularly involved in the Mystara boards when I was running my 4E campaign, and I still look in on the Nentir Vale stuff as that is relevant for my 5E campaign*.

I do find that I'm prone to spending too much time online if I let myself, and RPG forums are particularly addictive.  I'm also aware that not everyone is at their best online, so there's always the danger of taking or giving offence. I have left Facebook groups in the past when I felt the general tone of posts had deteriorated, regardless of where the unpleasantness was directed.

If I consider more face to face interactions, then in the past I've been a regular attendee at various games shops and clubs.  These tend to have a reasonable community of players (and far fewer GMs), and they can be pleasantly welcoming and inclusive.  

It's been a while since I took part in any of these local groups though. The pandemic forced my RPGs online, and for geographic reasons I'm still there.

MEGAforce (the Monday Evening Gaming Association), which played through the 4E campaign, is now a (highly enjoyable) card and board game group.

It sounds like I'm not really part of a wide gaming community, but I've met many great people through RPGs, some of whom are still good friends. I'd never have met the likes of Bodvoc, T'Other One, Grim or Andy but for gaming, and I'm still in contact with a couple who I met, and who met each other, back in the seventies through gaming.

So thank you RPGs for introducing me to some wonderful people.

#RPGaDAY24

* Yes, I am aware that neither of these editions are the ones for which the campaign worlds were developed.  This might tell you a lot about my attitude to gaming. Or life in general.

RPGaDAY 2024: Day 16: RPG that's quick to learn

Day Sixteen: RPG That's Quick to Learn

I'm always surprised how quickly new players pick up D&D. Well designed starting scenarios and pre-generated characters can get new players up and playing (a shout out here to the first 5E Starter Set, The Lost Mine of Phandelver. Not perfect, but very good, and far better that the two sets that followed it). 

This is an argument against the increasing multitude of options, especially for new players.  The players' choices should always matter, but to begin with it helps if these choices are 'what to do?', rather than 'which of the hundreds of options I have do I use now?'.

But there are other games that are as easy or easier to learn. 

RPGs that provide Quickstart rules are great. You might not learn all the rules, but certainly enough to play, and, importantly, enough to decide if it's for you. 

Savage Worlds do some great Quickstarts, often promoting their published settings.

HeroKids is another, and is a great way to introduce younger people to RPGs

I will note, however, a trend for Quick to mean 'only a little bit faster than normal'. I got a free Quickstart recently for an OSR* that topped out just short of 100 pages. This included pre-generated characters and a short adventure, but still.

If you carefully poke around on the internet you'll find even shorter RPGs. I have one called Microlite d20, which is very much an OSR game, but because there's so little to it, its fast to get running, and it's adaptable to different genres.

But I'm supposed to make a decision here, and I'm once again nominating Rivers of London. The ENNIE award winning scenario The Domestic is a great way to learn both how to create a character and how the basics of the game work. It's available to download free from Chaosium's website. 

If you want something a little darker, Alone Against the Flames does a similar thing for Call of Cthulhu, though you'll also need the free quickstart rules, also available on their website.

And because I just can't stop typing sometimes, I'll mention the D&D 4E Red Box.  This included a choose your path adventure which worked in a very similar manner.  The Red Box was a starter set, and featured a Red Dragon very familiar to those of us who remembered the old Basic D&D boxed set.  

The mini adventure featured one character who was accompanying a dwarven merchant.  When goblins attacked, choices such as 'do you solve problems by fighting or magic?' helped guide the player to create their first character.

There are a couple of strikes against it though; the starter set came out long after the game was first published, and, well, it's 4E.

#RPGaDAY24

*Old School Renaissance, basically any game that aims to recreate the feel of the original dungeon crawling games.

RPGaDAY 2024: Half Time Thoughts

As we're about half way through the month, I thought I'd step away from the questions briefly and try to explain my background in gaming, which might give some clues as to where I'm coming from with some of my answers.

If I get the opportunity to ramble on a bit more, all the better.

Firstly, thanks to my good friend Grim who suggested I take part in this. 

Massive thanks also to Autokratik, who organises these every year.

I've been playing RPGs for nearly 47 years. Long time readers of my blog know that I was trying fantasy wargaming for even longer. 

When I started sixth form I joined the Wargaming Society. A couple of weeks later, one of the older members told us about this great new game that he'd tried at the club in town. I went along the following week and was hooked. I persuaded my friends to try and pretty soon the college wargames club was a D&D club.  We later branched out into other RPGs, but there wasn't that much around back then.

Nothing really displaced D&D (then Advanced Dungeons and Dragons) until after university.  After my last final I bought the second edition of Call of Cthulhu, the one published by Games Workshop.  This was another immediate hit, though it's fair to say that our early investigations were still rather 'dungeonish'.

  

Time went on and I've tried all the editions of D&D, and most of the editions of Call of Cthulhu.  I've tried other games, as may be apparent from some of my RPGaDAY entries, but its been mainly these two.

I've increasingly moved towards GMing rather than playing.  It might be that sense of control, or the joy of creation?  Maybe it's just that I'm more willing to put in the time and effort than others?  Regardless, I rarely play as a player anymore.  Perhaps I should remedy that?  

I've come to understand that the games that really interest me are the ones where the characters can become heroes, doing heroic deeds, or at least make a difference.  That's partly why, although I recommended Call of Cthulhu for its one-shots, I find a lot of them too downbeat (yes, I know.  It's Call of Cthulhu, but still).  I've no interest in the 'last one to die' type game, nor games where the idea is to cause chaos and mayhem.  I find that there's too much of this in the world anyway, I turn to games for escape.  Please don't think I'm saying that there's anything wrong with this type of game, its just not for me.

Well, that gives a bit of background where I'm coming from with this, so hopefully my entries may make a little more sense going forward.

#RPGaDAY24

RPGaDAY 2024: Day 15: RPG with Great Gear

Day 15: RPG with Great Gear

Hmm, another toughie, but that's good, it gets me thinking.

I suppose we are looking at games where the gear is likely to be available to the characters, not artefacts that are quest McGuffins or ultimate rewards.

For this reason I can rule out D&D, and indeed most fantasy RPGs. Standard equipment is pretty ordinary, or at least, it would appear so to the characters. I might think it would be pretty amazing to have a suit of armour, but to a character in a traditional fantasy world, that's relatively normal.

Now magic items are cool, and there are some that I'd definitely have, but they are very much optional (although there can't be many parties without at least one bag of holding*), and there's absolutely no way a player can predict what items might crop up, or there shouldn't be. 

Research, crafting and deliberate questing are all valid methods of gaining that one particular item that the player wants, but it should never be a shopping list. 

One of the things, in my opinion, that fourth edition got wrong was putting this choice in the players' hands.

So that leaves modern or SF games. 

I've less experience of these, other than Call of Cthulhu (and a lot of the special items in that are very far from cool, downright dangerous in fact). 

I recall that the True20 RPG (a simplification and derivation of third edition D&D) had a world setting where the characters were mech pilots. The game had two phases, the characters themselves investigating stuff, and then in their mechs fighting kaiju style monsters. I'm sure there are other, similar games out there. A mech would be cool. But since I never actually played this, I can't count it.

I've owned several Star Wars RPGs, and even run a few. Strangely, despite the light sabres, spaceships and blasters, the gear didn't really make the players go wow. Well, the light sabres did at first, but pretty soon everything became just another tool.  I suppose that there was just so much awesome, that the gear tended to fade into the background.

I have written a couple of Savage Worlds adventures set in the Star Trek universe, where the characters are the crew on a Starship (yes  I know there's an official Star Trek RPG, but see my comments on Day 6 about why Savage Worlds is great).

Having a Starship has to be pretty cool, but again, as I haven't yet got around to playing this, it doesn't really count.

So cool gear in a game that I actually have run? 

I have to go right back to the early eighties. 

The James Bond RPG was a game that we initially struggled with, so many of the concepts in it were very new; ideas such as variable difficulty and pushing rolls, which now seem an integral part of RPGs, baffled us at first.  Once we got the hang of it though, it was fun.  While I'm not rushing to go back to playing this kind of game, I'd use Savage Worlds in future if I ever did.

The game did a good job of simulating the style of the films, though it struggled, as all games based so closely on an IP do, with having to stick to the source material, while being different enough to provide a fun game experience. By far the best module was Back of Beyond, a new storyline set largely in Australia.

Anyway, the various Q Division gadgets are, by my definition, 'cool gear'. 

#RPGaDAY24

*Sudden realisation that a bag of holding, or a handy haversack, is what I should have nominated for the 'Game Aid I'd Like to See' day