A Role Playing Games Blog
Fluff/Inspiration
Fun with Photofunia
1June 15, 2011
On the German RPG Blog “Cthulhu’s Ruf” I read about Photofunia, a service that allows you to apply all kinds of interesting effects onto your portrait photos. Aside from being a perfect time waster it can be easily used to create handouts for your roleplaying games. Here are some examples:
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| Wanted Poster (Western Style) | Wanted Poster (Harry Potter Style) |
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| Newspaper Handout | Behold the Great Cthulhu |
I am sure you can come up with even more creative uses of PhotoFunia’s effects. Enjoy!
Putting my (hypothetical) money where my mouth is!
8June 14, 2011
It’s an old adage (and yes I do love that word, I’ve used it often enough) that it’s not the system; it’s the Game Master that makes the role playing experience enjoyable. As a result of recent discussions with friends about which system to use for a possible sci-fi game (a topic I’ve mentioned often before here in the blog), and the wonderful interview Game Knight Reviews did with our fearless leader Michael, specifically question 8 about Michael’s favorite games to play, I’ve been thinking about this a lot…
I have heard variations of the idea, but it basically boils down to the concept that an able (and what THIS constitutes can be a whole other subject open to discussion) GM can make any system entertaining. In effect a good game master can turn a turd into a gem! I have been guilty of saying this myself, often without giving it much though. If we think about it, this is not completely true. There are some systems that are really not salvageable. Be it because they way the rules are written (the intent or the actual use of language) makes them incomprehensible, or the mechanics are so confusing or nonsensical, that no one can really play the game. And I’m not discounting attempts at humor or parody in RPG form, which may not be meant as actual games at all, and can be fun.
Crazy Campaign Chronicles: Childhood toys…
0June 7, 2011
by Sunglar
in FATE, Fluff/Inspiration, FUDGE, Non-RPG, Other Systems, Random musings, RPG, Savage Worlds
Introductory note: I wrote a previous post on this series about those crazy ideas one gets for campaigns and never gets to plays. This is a little different because I got to try to play with this idea but it never took off. I still have hopes for this idea. This is a little rantish, proceed at your own peril, you have been warned.
I had a lot of toys as a kid. I was never into toy cars, model kits or sports paraphernalia. I liked board games, later electronic games, but my favorites where action figures. Most people my age remember the Star Wars Action Figures, GI Joe, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Transformer and the myriad other toys of that golden age of action figure and TV show synergy called the 80s. But I am old enough to remember some older toys, like the larger GI Joes and the Mego dolls (yes boys played with dolls!). In that transitional period from the larger doll type action toys and the supremacy of the smaller action figure there were one set of toys I was particularly fond of, the Fisher Price Adventure Series.
These were toys, according to the promotional sheet that is the first illustration on this post, designed for the growing child from three years of age into the early grades. They were play sets of real life professions, adventurers and other exciting activities. There was a safari set, ambulance, scuba divers and motorcyclists among others. Real life adventure heroes! Typically they had vehicles with two or more action figures with only 5 points of articulation. They were simple and fun and I spent hours playing with them, eventually amassing a large collection of Adventure Series figures and vehicles.
By now you may be thinking, what is this guy doing writing about toys in a role-playing blog? Well amazingly many of the games and storylines I played as a child have inspired me later in life either as themes for stories I have written, games plots or even entire campaigns. Others are still undeveloped waiting for the right time to become a campaign. This is the story of a weird little hybrid experience and how the toys of my youth inspired me. If you want the story of how I imagined this read on. If you just want to go to the details of the actual game scroll down the page, I’ll be sure to let you know when we are back on topic! (See this is almost like a “choose your own adventure” but only in post form).
Mass Effect and Ashen Stars – Could this work?
7June 1, 2011
From time to time I get the urge to run a SF campaign using the setting presented in the Mass Effect series of computer/video games. The game series has been critically been praised for it’s graphics, gameplay and story, but also for the extremely deep and detailed background. The ingame Codex contains a lot of information about known space, alien species, technology, and history.
I found it especially amazing that the creators of this game series also included a lot of background information on topics that don’t even have any impact on the games story. But that is what makes the Mass Effect setting so believable and deep.
In addition to that the game cleverly uses familiar science fiction tropes that help players to get into the story quickly without the need of long explanations. But instead of just presenting us with a overly clichéd universe, there are a lot of interesting twists that keep things fresh. I think you can tell that I love these games.
Recently I preordered Ashen Stars, the latest Gumshoe-powered roleplaying game written by Robin D. Laws. Like Mass Effect it’s a SF (or rather Space Opera) game that makes use of classic Space Opera tropes but cleverly combines them with more modern elements like cyberware and a more grim and gritty outlook.
The Gumshoe system was designed to support investigative campaigns and is surprisingly versatile. When I first read about a Gumshoe SF game I was wondering how an investigative Space Opera campaign could work. But it’s actually pretty easy. Just have a look at a random Star Trek episode: something mysterious is going on, the crew investigates, gets clues, there’s some combat or plot twist, the clues are put together and the mystery gets solved, end credits.
The Klarkash-Ton Cycle
2May 31, 2011
I usually don’t talk about non-RPG books here on Stargazer’s World, but I don’t think it will hurt when I do from time to time. “The Klarkash-Ton Cycle” is part of a collection of Cthulhu Mythos books published by Chaosium.
The 220-paged book contains 11 horror short stories written by Clark Ashton Smith, who was one of major contributor’s to the so-called Cthulhu Mythos. The stories included in this book are:
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“The Ghoul”
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“A Rendering from the Arabic”
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“The Hunters from Beyond”
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“The Vaults of Abomi”
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“The Nameless Offspring”
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“Ubbo-Sathla”
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“The Werewolf of Averoigne”
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“The Eidolon of the Blind”
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“Vulthoom”
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“The Treader of the Dust”
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“The Infernal Star”
The book concludes with detailed notes on each tale, which give the reader some interesting background information.
Especially when you are already a fan of H.P. Lovecraft’s work you definitely should read Clark Ashton Smith, too. In my opinion this book is the perfect introduction to his work. Stories like “A Rendering from the Arabic” or “The Infernal Star” are classic Mythos stories, that feature everything you would expect from one of Lovecraft’s work. What actually surprised me that Clark Ashton Smith also set several of his tales on Mars. “The Vaults of Abomi”, “Ubbo-Sathla” and “The Eidolon of the Blind” are all set on the red planet and would work perfectly as inspiration for a Space 1889 game with some Lovecraftian twist.
I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to any Mythos fan. And since Smith’s stories are not as well known as the ones written by Lovecraft himself you have a good chance your players don’t know them. That makes using them as inspiration for your games much, much easier.
I got my copy of the book from Amazon.de, but I am sure you can easily get it through your local bookstore or any online book seller. The regular price is $14.95. Or you can order it directly from Chaosium.
How we buy games… A retrospective!
5May 23, 2011
This week I purchased some digital RPG supplements in PDF, pre-ordered a book, and I got home today (Saturday) from the Puerto Rico Comic Con (shameless plug) to find a box from Amazon with the copy of Traveller by Mongoose Publishing. As I sat down with the book to reminisce about that system in particular (and that’s a whole other post, and hopefully the last parenthetical interruption) I found myself travelling down memory lane to how we buy our gaming books and how times have changed.
When I first got into gaming the first place I remember seeing RPG related books and boxed sets was a small quirky book store in Old San Juan, The Book Store. The owner sat behind the cashier and knew almost all his clients, they had a small sci-fi section in the back and under the shelves holding these books were some baskets holding the aforementioned books and boxed sets along with several assorted war games.
When my mom brought me the red box Basic Set I got it at this place. I remember it being dimly lit and musty smelling, which added to the mystique of getting the game. Later I learned that a local hobby shop which mostly carried models had a shelf with RPG modules and books piles together haphazardly in the back. Likewise the local K-Bee Toy Store had a bunch of books there hidden among the board games. I was soon rifling through these stacks to get my grubby little hands on them. And then I discovered the gaming sections in B. Dalton Booksellers and Bell, Book and Candle (a local book store) with their organized well stocked gaming sections. I was in nerdvana!
Being a better Game Master: Credit where credit is due!
6May 18, 2011
Being a Dungeon Master, Game Master, Storyteller, Referee, call it what you may, is not an easy task. It requires a lot in terms of creativity, passion, preparation, but it’s not the thankless job they make it out to be. It’s a great creative outlet, if you like to tell stories well there is no better pastime, and you get to spend time with your friends, which to me is ultimately the greater reward.
I’m just fresh off from running my weekly Mutants & Masterminds games so many of these thoughts are fresh on my mind. One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is know that not all sessions will be perfect. You can please everybody all the time, strive for your best, listen to feedback and know that there is always next session.
Another thing I have been thinking about is where I’ve learned to be a better Game Master, and amazingly it’s by sitting at other Game Masters’ tables. In a way I’m saying, to be a better GM, be a player. Mind you some players are content with just playing out their characters and that’s that, but if you want to improve your performance at the other side of the screen watch and learn. Be attentive to what works, how they do it, what you like and what you don’t like.
I often say I am an awful player, but in retrospect I like to think I have improved, and in fact I’ve gamed with many fine Game Masters and learned a lot from them. Let’s give some credit to all these wonderful people and what they’ve taught me…
Names have been changed to protect the innocent! (No they have not…)
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