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Torso Murders
0January 14, 2010
Warning! This post may contain some minor spoilers for the Trail of Cthulhu introductory adventure .
The Trail of Cthulhu introductory adventure which you can find in the back of the book is actually based on a real series of crimes that have been committed in Cleveland. After I’ve run the first half of the adventure I then decided to get the book that Ken Hite obviously used for research on the case.
The book called “TORSO – The Story of Eliot Ness and the Search for a Psychopathic Killer” by Steven Nickel is recommended reading for everyone interested in running this adventure. Not only does it give you additional background information on the US in the 1930s, Cleveland and the case itself, but the information about the persons working on the case, the suspects and the victims might help you to flesh out the NPCs. The middle section of the book even contains a few photographs that would make perfect handouts for your game. If I ever run the adventure again for a different group, I will probably create a file consisting of the handouts contained in the ToC rule book, the photos from the Steven Nickel book and some mock-up newspaper clippings.
I have to admit that I regret not having bought “TORSO” earlier since my descriptions of some persons and places is quite different from the real deal, so I can’t use the photos anymore (at least not without contradicting myself).
I’ve also found a great high quality map of Cleveland especially created for the adventure which contains photos, handwritten notes and more. You can download the full 4 MByte version of the map here. I don’t think printing it on a regular printer might do the trick, but if you find a copy shop that can do prints in DIN A3 (or a similar format) the results should be much better. The map is very detailed and will help the players to get a better feeling of the area where the murderer dumped his victims, which has some significance to the plot.
Review: Alpha Omega Core Rulebook
8January 7, 2010
For quite some time I was interested in getting Alpha Omega for myself, but for some reason I never bought it. Then a few weeks ago, I had a chat with someone from Mind Storm Labs on Facebook. I thanked them for their friend request and we then chatted about Alpha Omega. Then they asked me, if I would like to review it and I was more than happy to accept. I was told to expect up to three weeks for shipping. So I waited impatiently…
In the morning of the 31st of December I finally picked up the Alpha Omega core rulebook at our local customs office. And wow, this was definitely one of the best-looking games I’ve ever seen. I want to thank the guys from Mind Storm Labs again for providing me with this free review copy!
Introduction
Alpha Omega is a post-apocalyptic roleplaying game set into the year 2280. Mankind has survived a brutal world war and nature’s backlash in walled cities and huge arcologies. Nation states have ceased to exist and are replaced by city states. And humanity is not alone. They share their world with the Evolutionaries, the offspring of two alien species who are fighting a war that predates humanity. And for some undisclosed reason they use Earth as a battle ground every 10,000 years.
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Presentation and Production Values
The 408-paged hardcover book is full-color and contains a lot of high-quality artwork. What makes it stand out is the format. As you can see in the photograph it uses a pretty uncommon horizontal format. While it allows very cool panoramic artwork, the book always stands out in my bookshelf. Ok, you can’t have it all. 
The binding seems to be very high quality, too. So, it’s no surprise I picked the Alpha Omega line for Best Production Value in my “Best & Worst of Gaming 2009” series. It’s well deserved indeed.
Look at the shiny new theme!
5I did a major redesign of “Stargazer’s World” yesterday and although not everything is working as it should, I am very happy with the result so far. Of course there are some minor drawbacks, like the loss of the starscape background. I tried to put it back in, but it looked a bit weird.
Ok, let’s have a look at the new features after the break then…
Am I getting old or just lazy?
22December 16, 2009
In the last years I have developed an aversion against games that are very rules-heavy. Although Pathfinder looks very sweet, I just can’t see myself any game based on the d20 System anymore (aside from Microlite20 perhaps). I actually bought Fantasy Craft and was amazed by all the fresh ideas they brought into the game, but in the end, I will probably never run it. Back in the day I have ran several Shadowrun campaigns but today I find the rules much too complicated for my liking.
As I have been getting older I have noticed that I have less time for my hobby. That’s why I started to look at rules-light games like Savage Worlds, the D&D retro clones like Swords & Wizardry, Dungeonslayers and the new Dragon Age RPG. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind reading hundreds of pages of setting information, but when it comes to rules I want it fast and easy. Am I getting old or am I just lazy. As you grew older have you noticed that you preferred rules-light games or would you run D&D 3.5 with all available classes, feats, optional rules every day?
Why I love the Dragon Age RPG
6December 15, 2009
Some days ago Green Ronin finally made the Dragon Age RPG Set 1 available for preorder and offered it as PDF download, too. On top of that everyone one who preorders the boxed set gets the PDFs for free. As I very much enjoyed the Dragon Age: Origins computer game I preordered the boxed set as soon as possible. On the very same day I printed out the PDFs on my laser printer and started reading. And I have to admit, I very much like what I’ve read so far.
It’s a great game for new players to pickup and play
The Dragon Age RPG is a great new game for experienced and new players alike and I am sure that it could help to get more people interested in our hobby. And that’s actually the first reason why I love this game. The rules are very rules-light, almost old-school but presented in a way that even inexperienced players should have no troubles understanding the rules. Character creation is very fast and easy but offers a lot of options for the players. And especially if you have played the computer game you already know what to expect when playing the game. The GM doesn’t have to explain to his players what a Mabari War Hound is, for example.
It feels like an old-school game
When you’ve followed my blog for some time now, you know that I very much enjoyed playing some of the more old-school games like the D&D retro clones, Traveller or 1st edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. And in a way, Dragon Age harkens back to these old-school games. Especially when you read the section about GM “Dos and Don’ts” you’ll notice a lot of tips that sound like they were taken directly from the “Quick Primer for Old-School Gaming”. Special emphasis was put onto the idea that you should challenge the players and not just their characters. And this is very old-school in my book. The rules-lite approach reinforces that old-school feel.
Boxed Set
I love boxed sets! Especially for a game targeted at new players, a boxed set is a must in my book. In this format it’s much easier to provide the player with everything he needs to play, and it looks more like a game to potential customers. It’s a shame that the boxed set will probably arrive a bit to late to make a Christmas gift this year.
Fantasy with a twist
The world of Dragon Age has all the fantasy tropes like elves, dwarves, mages, etc. but with a twist. Elves are not the perfect, immortal beings we know from Tolkien’s work but have been enslaved by humans for a long time and are still second-rate citizens in most places. Dwarves are an almost extinct race and known for their political intrigues and backstabbing. Mages are closely watched by the Chantry and feared and distrusted by the common people. Bioware’s vision of a dark fantasy world is not as original as many other more outlandish worlds but it’s definitely not your garden variety fantasy setting.
If you haven’t already preordered Green Ronin’s Dragon Age Set 1, you should definitely check it out as soon as it hits the stores. And if everything works as planned I should be able to post a proper review later this week. So stay tuned.
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