Fluff/Inspiration

Jan 19 2010

Ask the Readers: What’s your favorite rock band?

Eddie Riggs from Brütal Legend As a lot of ideas these days, the idea to this post developed on Twitter. Zachary from RPG Blog 2 tweeted about being interested to find out more about gamers’ music tastes. The idea developed over a couple of tweets, Michael Brewer from Mad Brew Labs and I joined the discussion. Finally we decided it would be best, if Zachary created a short survey. It basically just asks about your favorite rock band and about your preferences when it comes to music in gaming. It would be great if you could take a minute to check out the survey.

Roleplaying music
I usually use orchestral movie or video game soundtracks or music especially created for roleplaying games in my gaming sessions. Sometimes I use the music I later want to use in the game session while preparation to get me into the right mood. Especially when I am planning a horror game, creepy music is playing all day. :)

If you want to learn more about my preferences when it comes to music in gaming, please check out some of my other posts on that topic as well:

Rock music
In some occasions I have used rock music during game sessions. I remember that I often used rock music while running Shadowrun and I used metal music in some D&D combats.  Especially when I want to use rock music in D&D I prefer bands who use fantasy elements in their songs. Bands like Manowar, Blind Guardian and Rhapsody of Fire come to mind. But I am pretty sure there are dozens more.

When asked about my favorite rock band, I usually can’t give a definitive answer. I have been a fan of Genesis, Pink Floyd and Dire Straits for a long time, but recently I’ve started to listen to bands like Nickelback, Theory of a Dead Man, Evanescence and 30 Seconds to Mars, too. But I think my all-time favorite is still Dire Strait’s “Brothers in Arms”.

By • Ask The Readers, Feature, Fluff/Inspiration, Music, News & Reviews, Random musings, RPG • 4

Nov 26 2009

Cyberpunk!

CP2020 cover art Inspired by Triple Ace Games’ cyberpunk rules I would love to write a Cyberpunk setting of my own, but alas I can’t decide what kind of setting I would prefer.

First off, there’s classic cyberpunk like the world presented in William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer or in the Cyberpunk 2020 game. I could also add in some Japanese influences. Anime like Ghost in a Shell, Appleseed and perhaps even Bubblegum Crisis come to mind.

There’s also always the possibility to go the Shadowrun route and add some supernatural influences as well. If you want to give it a more grim and gritty feel some lovecraftian influences might work.

The only things I am sure about is that my campaign should focus on a single urban metroplex and that I want to use Savage Worlds rules. Aside from that everything else is pretty much open for debate. I want to focus on one big city because it’s much easier to design an interesting city than to create a whole world. And especially Cyberpunk campaigns usually are set into a city or the sprawl surrounding it. If needed I can always work out the details on other places when the need arises.

When I start working on this setting, I will post my thoughts right here on the blog. So if you have some ideas on what you would incorporate into the design let me know. Good ideas are always appreciated.

By • Fluff/Inspiration, Other Systems, Random musings, RPG, Savage Worlds • 14

Nov 23 2009

Roleplaying in the Dune universe

Frank Herbert’s Dune is one of my favorite SF books. I’ve read several of the sequels but in my opinion the first book was the best. My father owned a hardcover version of the book that had the painting of a sandworm on its cover. From the first moment I saw this cover I was intrigued. Since then I have read the first novel several times. I also enjoyed Dune Messiah to an extent, but IMHO the story started to get a bit too weird for my taste starting with Leto’s transformation in Children of Dune.

Dune RPG cover But it seems although Dune and its sequels (and prequels) are very popular, transferring the story to other media almost always failed. The David Lynch movie was very ambitious but was not really close to the novel. Especially the Dune computer games by Westwood Games were big hits, but they were only loosely based on the story of the book, too, and only focused on war on Arrakis. There was even a pen & paper RPG set into the Dune universe called Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium by Last Unicorn Games. But alas the game was doomed from the very beginning. In 2000 a limited edition of just 3000 copies was sold at GenCon before the company was acquired by WotC. I am not sure if Wizards was just not interested in the franchise or if there were some license problems, but the game was eventually cancelled.

So, what can a Dune fan like me do, if he wants to run a campaign in the Dune universe? You can of course try to get a copy of LUG’s Dune game on eBay, if you are really willing to pay several hundred bucks for this very rare book. That’s even too much for a game collector like me. Aside from that you can search the internet for some fan-created games. I’ve found the following games while researching for this post:

  • Dune – A Dream of Rain (aka D20une)
    This 211-paged PDF is a complete Dune RPG based on the d20 Modern System. For a fan-product it has a pretty high production value and it contains several pages of background information. You can get a copy of the PDF for free at Scribd.
     
  • GURPS Dune
    The GURPS version of Dune is from the early ‘90s and sadly it shows. Although the rules themselves look pretty decent the presentation is in basic HTML. Obviously the creator of this Dune RPG has taken down the website some time ago, but the rules are still available using the Internet Archive. GURPS Dune has been written for an earlier version of GURPS (probably 3rd Edition) but it should be playable with 4th Edition with some major modifications by the GM.
     
  • The Dune RPG
    Another game I found on Scribd is called “The Dune RPG” and is based by the system that powers the “Legend of the Five Rings” RPG. From what I’ve seen the PDF is pretty much incomplete and needs some work from an experience DM to be fully playable.

There are probably dozens of other conversions floating around on the ‘net. If you know of any other Dune RPG written by fans, feel free to post the links in the comments below.

I think if I had to run a Dune campaign any time soon, I would just use a game system like PDQ# and be done with it. Why exactly PDQ#? Although Dune is not really part of the swashbuckling genre PDQ# was created for, IMHO PDQ# can be easily adapted to almost any genre. For example I used a mixture of PDQ and PDQ# to run my Ad Astra campaign some time ago. PDQ# is very easy to run and is extremely flexible as a system. Since Dune has a strong focus on melee combat, detailed rules about firearms are not really necessary. If you ask me, Dune is more about politics, intrigue and philosophy than combat anyway. And a narrative game like PDQ# handles this type of campaign probably better than more crunchy systems. Your mileage may vary, of course.

What do you think? Would you like to roleplay in the Dune universe?

By • Fluff/Inspiration, Freebies, Other Systems, Random musings, RPG, Scribd • 10

Oct 2 2009

Lazy Friday Video Post: The Whisperer in Darkness

Recently I learned about the upcoming “The Whisperer in Darkness” movie. It’s the second adaption of a H.P. Lovecraft story by the people who brought us the awesome “Call of Cthulhu” silent movie. If you want to start a roleplaying campaign based on H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos with people unfamiliar with his works, you should start by showing them “Call of Cthulhu”. It’s a great way to introduce new people to the genre. Here’s the teaser trailer of the upcoming movie:

Or do you think that showing “Call of Cthulhu” before starting a campaign is too revealing? Have you ever used movies to introduce your players to a new campaign? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

By • Call of Cthulhu, Fluff/Inspiration, Other Systems, RPG, Video • 0

Sep 29 2009

THEY are out there!

The Skeptic's Guide to ConspiraciesI was a skeptic, a non-believer until I bought Monte Cook’s latest book “The Skeptic’s Guide To Conspiracies”. At first I was enraged to see that they sold me an obviously used book. Someone has added notes in red letters to certain parts of the book, there were coffee stains and dog ears all over the book. But I started to read it anyway.

Monte Cook writes about various famous conspiracies from the Templars and Freemasons to the JFK Assassination. After a while I didn’t mind that someone has already read the book before, because some of the comments were eye-opening.

There really are Freemason symbols on the dollar bill, aren’t there? And I always knew the Knights Templar were up to something. Paul McCartney is dead and John Lennon was killed because he wanted to tell the truth! I knew it! If I hadn’t read Monte Cook’s book, my eyes would have been kept closed forever! I would have been a sleeper like the rest of us…

Around that time I started to notice the changes. Every time I used my office phone, I heard strange crackling noises. Have they already wire-tapped my phone? And is the van outside really from the telephone company? And why did my boss have that strange look on his face when he saw Monte’s book lying on my office desk? I know it: THEY ARE WATCHING ME! I AM NOT SAFE ANYMORE AND NEITHER ARE YOU!

I hope you are still with me. Of course I don’t believe all those paranoid theories are real. I just tried to write a funny and fitting introduction for my review of Monte Cook’s latest book. The 272-paged softcover book is not necessarily a RPG supplement, but in my opinion, it can be very much used as such.

At its core its giving the interested reader about all the twisted conspiracy theories out there. But there’s a twist. The whole book is given a used look (with the aforementioned faux coffee stains and notes scribbled by some unknown conspiracy theorist). You can definitely read it as a serious but funny treatise on conspiracy theories, but you can also use it as a inspirational goldmine for your modern-age roleplaying game. The book even comes with a “create your own conspiracy theory” generator in the appendix. Creating weird adventure seeds is as easy as rolling a few dice.

In my opinion “The Skeptic’s Guide To Conspiracies” is a fun read for everyone even remotely interested in conspiracy theories. Skeptics will probably have more fun than true believers though. Another possible target audience are GMs who want to run a modern RPG campaign laden with conspiracies, weird phenomenon, politics and intrigue. Pick your favorite theories, throw in a few random monsters and aliens, stir and you’ve got a great campaign reminiscent of X-Files!

P.S.: On the other hand, I may be one of THEM. Or Monte is. Or we both are. Or neither of us. You’ll never know. ;)

By • Fluff/Inspiration, News & Reviews, Other Systems, Reviews & First Looks, RPG • 3

Aug 31 2009

Adventure Games as inspiration for RPG campaigns

There’s an interesting post about using the classic Lucasarts adventure game “Full Throttle” into a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign over at the German CP2020 blog. If you speak German or aren’t afraid to use an online translation tool, you might risk a look.

If you ask me, that’s actually a good idea. Most computer adventure games may be a bit linear but especially the games from the “good old times” have great stories, interesting characters and often translate to RPG campaigns easily.

And if you are using some of the older games like “Police Quest” or “LOOM” as the basis for your campaign chances are high that none of your younger players knows the story. But in most cases its advisable to use the story of the computer game as an inspiration and not as a script to be followed meticulously.

The major problem translating a game like “Full Throttle” from computer game to RPG campaign is that most adventure games are focussed on one main character only. Creating a compelling campaign for a whole group requires some work by the GM but is probably much easier than building the whole campaign from scratch.

Have you ever run a campaign based on a classic adventure game like one of Sierra’s “Quest” games or one of the Lucasarts games? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!

By • Fluff/Inspiration, RPG, Video • 0

Aug 15 2009

Automata

A lot of RPG fans love Penny Arcade and I am no exception. Recently the first chapter of “Automata” has been completed. What I want to share with you today is a video created by Christoph Hermiteer that adds a soundtrack to the six-paged comic.

The world of “Automata” is also interesting from a roleplaying standpoint. In my opinion alternate history settings always make great settings for RPGs. Who knows, perhaps Automata could be effectively used in a one-shot adventure.

By • Fluff/Inspiration, Random musings, RPG, Video • 3

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