When I tweeted about working on this during the weekend my friend Daniel Perez recommended I write down the 10 most important points of the campaign and allow the rest to flow through the game. I think he called it his less is more philosophy. That is some great advice but like I told him, I used to write 40+ pages introductions to games, so these shorter introductions ARE my less is more.

I typically write introductions to my campaigns, in a way I think my players expect it. Of course they are terrific at writing their own stories based on what I write and adding their own details to the tapestry. I got a great group of players!

Here is the official timeline of the world, the facts known to the general population, not the secret history of the Kindred and other supernatural creatures. I’ll share that on a future post. Hope you like it. I think it can be the timeline for a cyberpunk game without vampire. I think it goes on without saying this is all fictional and expresses no political agendas nor do I desire any harm to befall any real world figures mentioned here, this is just fiction. We don’t need authorities monitoring the blog!

Without further ado, The Story of New Uruk

US Economic collapse (2013-2016)

The US economy suffers a downturn, India, Brazil, the Republic of Ireland and the four Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) emerge as economic superpowers.

The breaking of the EU and the creation of the EIBC (2016)

The Republic of Ireland abandons the European Union, causing fractures and dissension in the organization and plunging the economy of Europe into a tailspin. Ireland joins the Eire-India-Brazil Cooperative Consortium (EIBC).

The African Wars (2017)

President Romney is visiting the African Initiative Industrial Center in the city of Wilmington, Delaware. Built as part of his re-industrialization of America initiative, African natural resources are brought over to the United States of America for processing and manufacture. International conglomerates are perceived as exploiting Africans with the help of its governments. A series of bombs by African rebels and sympathizers cause widespread destruction in the city and President Romney is injured, dying soon after. Vice President Gingrich is sworn in as President and declares war on the rebels. Thus begins the Africa Wars.

The Mexico-Venezuela War (2019)

With more and more US troops deployed in Africa and a worsening oil crisis, oil tankers flying the Mexican flag are detained in Venezuela accused of buying oil illegally. Mexican Special Forces liberate the ships but soon Venezuela declares war on Mexico, dragging most of Central America into the conflict. Aggressions escalate over seven months and after the Venezuelan carpet bombing of Mexico City a Coalition of Mexican, US, Brazilian and Argentinean armed forces invade Venezuela and depose its president. The invading forces remain in the country to assure a peaceful transition, but are accused of exploiting the oil resources of Venezuela. The United Nations does nothing to Intervene and many countries leave the organization.

The first female US President and the Race to Mars (2020)

New York State Governor Yolanda Newman runs a campaign promising to restore the US economy and end the African Wars, winning by a landslide.

The EIBC Space Agency (EIBC-SP) announces their plan to establish a permanent Moon colony as a stepping stone for the eventual exploration of Mars within the next twenty years.

The end of the African Wars and the NYC Pandemic (2021)

Yolanda Newman is sworn in as President of the United States and fulfills her promise of ending the African Wars. By the end of the year as the last POW return home after the armistice the US economy shows signs of recovery and Americans look with optimism at the decade ahead. Then the Pandemic of 2012 begins in New York City. Panic grows and the city is placed under martial law and quarantined by the end of the year. Other US metropolitan areas are quarantined but the infection is controlled quickly in America and Europe.

The year of the Red Plague (2022)

Mexico and Canada are the only other two counties in America which suffer major outbreaks. As tensions grown in quarantined New York unidentified terrorist strike, they release a biological weapon, thought to be the cause of the initial Pandemic outbreak, killing 96% of the remaining population of the quarantined zone. Called the Red Plague because victims hemorrhage massively before dying, it decimates New York City and surrounding areas, millions die, and authorities declare the zone a biological hazard, condemning the city and abandoning it. The economy of the state and its neighbors collapses, causing mass migration and widespread fear.

The Pandemic hits Asia the hardest, with China the most affected, millions die and Chinese prosperity is dealt a devastating blow.

The reconstruction… (2023-2045)

President Newman refuses to let these events define her presidency and launches a massive reconstruction initiative. Wilmington, Delaware is reconstructed and former New York, Connecticut, Long Island and New Jersey residents are all granted incentives to relocate.

The city is rebuilt via a massive federal funds influx, the architecture a mixture of classic and cutting edge, led by the Wilmington Reconstruction Endeavour Director, famed architect of mixed Iraqi and Jewish ancestry, Hassid Rosenberg.

The New York Stock Exchange officially relocates to the rebuilt city, and it becomes a melting pot of many cultures, with a growing Muslim and Jewish community. Following a citizen’s referendum Wilmington is renames New Uruk.

The crash of 2046 and its aftermath… (2046-2060)

The EIBC-SP Moon Base is fully functional and plans for the Mars Mission begin…

Despite the best effort of President Newman and those that followed her, regional conflict across the globe, worsening climate change, a ravaged ecosystem and economic instability bring about an economic collapse that reverberates across the globe. The poor become poorer while the rich become entrenched in the towers of privilege. Many projects in New Uruk remain unfinished and the decay of the world infiltrates the new city. Such in the world of 2060!

Ok that’s the timeline… What you think? I look forward to your input and opinions.

Related posts:

1. Cyberpunk!
2. Hacking in Cyberpunk games
3. Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition now available at DriveThruRPG

In June last year they announced an original Iron Kingdoms RPG that was supposed to be not necessarily compatible to the Warmachine and Hordes rules, but close enough, so that players familiar with the skirmish games can learn the roleplaying game rules quickly. But after that initial announcement I haven’t heard from that project again.

But as it seems, it’s not vaporware after all. They haven’t announced a release date as far as I know, but there’s a video in which the people from Privateer Press talk about the RPG.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT5pjvTYl1w

As a fan of the setting I can’t wait to learn more about this game!

Related posts:

1. Privateer Press announces Iron Kingdoms RPG
2. Iron Kingdoms
3. Iron Kingdoms RPG source books now available in PDF

At first you get a free copy of Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade with any purchase over $5 at the Three Eye Games’ online store. Aside from that you also get 4 chances per day to win a free PDF copy of this fine game. Here’s what you have to do (quoted from the official site):

1. Follow us on Facebook: Fans of Wu Xing on Facebook can post daily to the Third Eye Games Page (answering random fun questions about Wu Xing) and receive 1 entry into the daily drawing. Find our Facebook page HERE.

2. Follow us on Google+: Fans of Wu Xing on Google Plus can post daily to the Third Eye Games Page (answering random fun questions about Wu Xing) and receive 1 entry into the daily drawing. Find our Google Plus page HERE.

If you answer both the Facebook and Google question, the answers have to be different.

3. Tweet about the Giveaway: Be sure to follow @ThirdEyeGames on Twitter and retweet the Daily Giveaway posting to your Twitter to earn 1 entry into the daily Drawing.

4. Join the Newsletter: Any fans that have signed up for the newsletter automatically receive 1 entry for each drawing. Increase your chances of winning just by clicking HERE.

The lucky winners will be announced on the official Third Eye Games site.

Related posts:

1. Wu Xing Giveaways for February
2. The stars are right… For a winner! The results of the Realms of Cthulhu Giveaway Contest
3. Fantasy Craft Giveaway: We have a winner!

Recently I posted about my interest in running a Vampire the Masquerade game. I’m reading the 20^th anniversary book and all sorts of idea are percolating in my head. One of them is how to bring all the characters together. Games such as Vampire where characters have so many built in conflicts it can be particularly difficult, but this consideration is important for any game. Unless all you adventures begin with “You are all together in a bar…”

For the Vampire game I have been considering various options:

• The characters are all neonate vampires, recently embraced but their siresare nowhere to be found. Then there are two options stemming from this…
  • The characters are all from different clans, adding to the mystery, why would such a diverse group of vampires embrace these people and disappear?
  • Or perhaps they are all Caitiff, maybe even fourteenth generation.
• All the characters share a common benefactor an autarkis who the character’s sires all owe favors. He or she has taken the characters under his wing. But why?

 Those are just two ideas, but by their very definition they will limit the options available for players from the get go. Be it for Vampire or many other games I feel some trepidation when I do this. I understand that limiting character options can establish the tone and feel of the campaign, and if this comes out from an open discussion and agreement between all parties, players and game master, it can be a great thing. But when it’s a unilateral decision it can be frustrating.

Mind you I have done it, and when I play fantasy, which is a genre I play so often and that we have played so much, placing limits doesn’t quiet bother me as much. The players have tried many options in fantasy games. And even then if the player has some really interesting concept that may stretch these limits I’ll consider it.

Let me explain my rationale. I am a firm believer that all parties in a game should have fun, and for many players making the character they envision is part of that fun. Playing just what you want, within the limits of the game, can be terribly exciting and satisfying. If as a GM I limit these options from the beginin, then I am truncating the fun even before the game begins. As a GM I should be able to account for different player styles, interest and character types.

And then there is the fact that when we get to play Vampire it will more than likely be a short mini-campaign, in a game I have not previously run, and which many players have not played. I think limiting their options may shortchange them from the Masquerade experience. So I’ll find a way to bring the characters together without limiting them rule wise. As a Storyteller that will be my responsibility.

How do you feel about limiting player options? How do you go about it? I’d love to know!

PS – I didn’t even notice that my previous post was number 200. Wow how time flies. Thank you all for reading!

Related posts:

1. Confessions of a Gamer: Dungeon Mastering
2. Powerless player
3. Player Advice: Make your character come alive!

Other great games like The Laundry RPG, Abney Park’s Airship Pirates, Starblazer Adventures, Legends of Anglerre and Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space are available for the low prices of $12 or $15 (for the Doctor Who game) respectively.

I am not sure if it’s a limited time sale or a permanent price reduction, but if you always wanted to pick up one of these games, this might be the best time to do so.

Related posts:

1. Annual GM’s Day Sale at RPGNow
2. GUMSHOE Sale on RPGNow
3. Another sale at RPGNow

In all sincerity I knew what the quote was about, I remember hearing it back then. The link to Wikipedia above explains that the origin of the “thousand points of light” is from the Magician’s Apprentice by CS Lewis. But the D&D points of light campaign is another matter entirely. When I first read of the concept in the run up to D&D 4th edition I was intrigued. But I have a long running campaign and the idea of the points of light style game really did not mesh well with the world I had created over 20+ years.

Every edition change entails some mechanical changes in ongoing campaigns. If you consider my world was first played in D&D Basic, and then went on to be adapted in AD&D 1st and 2nd editions, D&D 3rd edition and 3.5, you’ll see I’m no stranger to change. However I don’t like hand waving stuff that is an integral part of the campaigns consistency. If dwarves could not be magic users before, why can they be now?

So I like to create in game rationales for this type of changes. The change from AD&D 2nd edition to D&D 3rd edition was easy since the games where set in the same world but in distant continents. Still I created in game explanation for many changes. When D&D 4th was coming out I was fully on board and while I was unsure how the whole points of light concept would carry though I was ready for other changes, tieflings were already in my campaign since 2nd edition, they looked different but that was not a problem per se. Dragonborn where another matter, so even before I made the rule change I began to work a rationale of where the race would come from. I was set! All that was left was for D&D 4th ed to come out.

And then I read the books. Don’t get me wrong I liked D&D 4th edition, I still do. It’s a game with a clear purpose, delivers well what it’s intended to be, and it certainly dared to sacrifice some sacred cows I thought they’d never touch. But I could tell this was a different game, that its feel and game play would be different from what I was used to, so I decided NOT to jump in into my campaign right away and instead do a trial run using the points of light idea.

That turned into our 7+ month D&D 4th edition campaign. We played weekly during that time and went all through the heroic tier and into paragon. Those where some turbulent months, with rebellions at the table over the system, some players disliking it so much they quit the game they have been playing with me for decades, exploring the tools the system provided, and telling a pretty entertaining story along the way. Ultimately we decided the system was not for us and moved on to Pathfinder.

With D&D Next coming up I’m suddenly thinking about adaptations all over again, I am not sure I will switch my campaign if I play it. IF I get to participate in the playtest (WotC pick me, pick me! I only bash you semi-regularly!) I will most thatn likely create a mini-campaign just like I did for 4th edition.

This all gets back to MY points of light eventually… My ruminations on the matter made me dig out the little document I created as an introduction to the campaign when we started playing D&D 4th edition. Coming from a game where I handed out a LOT of long documents and complex handouts I tried to keep it short and simple, asked each player for a two sentence description of their character and to bring an image to the game. I then handed each of them a piece of paper with a secret their character knew. Nice and simple…

Here is the text of the handout I gave to the players that fateful night in 2008. I’m not reproducing it exactly as I gave it to them since back the I used some art I found out there in the Internet and I have NO idea who the artists are. But there is a small old-school map I made for the game. Hope you enjoy it and find it useful, or at least fun. Let me know what you think…

The Town of New Crosspointe

The town of New Crosspointe was founded upon the ruins of the old town of Cross Point on the 84th year of the rule of the Osterios Family, settled by missionaries from the Temple of Dawn on a crusade to retake the northern half of the valley from the goblin and orc tribes that controlled it since the Autumn of No Crops. The walled town sits north of the Aumvell Forest; bordered on the north-west by the Istir River, over sixty miles north of the ruined Wall of Forts that once demarcated the northern border of the Duke’s Holdings.

Built upon the ruins of the old settlement, it receives its name from the large bronze plaque set by the cross roads near the old market square, marking the place where two ancient roads of empires long past meet. The remains of these roads still form part of market road and hunter’s way the two main streets in town. The plaque itself is round and some 15 hands across. Carved upon its old faded surface is what seems to be an astrolabe and runes of unknown origin or meaning. Some four paces from the plaque there is a pedestal, overgrown with ivy, weatherworn and cracked, traces of a statue remain, a leg and pieces of a foot, and a lonely single inscription in Draconic. Those that read the language say it simply says “Cross Point”.

New Crosspointe has thrived and over the last 28 years it has grown as many pious pilgrims, those who seek their fortune, and those who want to leave their past behind, move to the frontier of the civilization in the valley. Brisk trade with the elven hunters from the Aumvell and solitary trappers further north has benefited the town. Most goods are traded with the various Halfling families who dare the dangers of the lower Istir River and the occasional merchant caravan from south of the valley.

The recent establishing of the Dougren Forge and Ironworks in town, by descendants of one of the clans that ruled over Griffon’s Cliff before the goblins took control of the fortress city, has been a boon for New Crosspointe. Loggers have recently been attacked and some have disappeared, causing great concern. The lord mayor has sent emissaries escorted by his men and some elven scouts into the deep Aumvell to negotiate with the eladrin of the Fey Pool and has assured the Town Council no further incidents shall be tolerated.

The northwestern part of town sits upon a small cliff overlooking the Istir River and flanked by two ancient towers dating from the original settlement of Cross Point. Upon the cliff as well stands the Temple of the Dawn rebuilt to its original glory. The town slowly slopes down to the south east towards the more populated districts and the Temple of Dusk where the original town cemetery still stands.

The town’s defenses are an amalgam of old and new stone walls connected by wooden walls covering the areas were the old walls crumbled, or where new construction has yet to begin. The southeast wall is itself composed of smaller wooden portions connected with wooden watchtowers, as the broken terrain in this area has made the construction of more permanent battlements difficult. The lord mayor keeps his dwelling, as well as the barracks for most of his men in a fort with its own wooden walls built upon the face of the southwestern wall.

Environs of New Crosspointe

A small branch of the Istir veers off south towards the cliffs of the town and forms a small bog there. Most halfling families traveling the river berth here when trading in town. Beyond the Istir River to the north various farms dot the landscape slowly giving way to the wild. There are some old manors from the time of the original settlement and further upriver a large riverside tower with diverse buildings around it in various stages of decay. According to legend and rumor the tower has been the seat to local lords, home to dark cults and hideaway to bandits at various stages in its history.

To the south, beyond the Hunter’s Gate, hunter’s road becomes the Duke’s Way, bordering the Aumvell Forest and descending into the south of the valley. The road is dangerous and fraught with peril. Many bandits and brigands plague this area. West are the wilds were goblins and other dangers still abound while east the wild gives way to the Ice Peak Mountains that surround the valley and the other myriad dangers that lurk there.

People of New Crosspointe

The population of New Crosspointe is composed mostly of humans; dwarves and halflings are present in considerable numbers, many living permanently in town. Elves from the Aumvell Forest trade often in town and some have settle for some years. While they seldom stay for long, a few of their offspring, half elves, can still be found in town. Two families of tieflings, related by blood to the Airenai, one of the five remaining bloodlines of the Seven Lords who support the Duke, live in town. One family is dedicated to the mystic arts, masters of Cilder Tower, renowned arcanists and seers. The other family is heavily involved in commerce and trade.

No dragonborn lives in town, one renowned member of the Duke’s Cresthelm Guard retired some years ago to a cabin half a day northeast of town. He frequently travels to town to trade on market day. While he always comes alone, rumors abound of others of his kind visiting, or training with this old warrior. Eladrin are seldom seen in town but loggers in the Aumvell Forest have seen them and on some full moons, when it is said that the Fey Pool can be found by all who seek it, some eladrin wanderer have left the Feywild and come to town.

Faith and the Pious

While all benevolent faiths are worshipped in New Crosspointe, only two large temples are present in town. The Temple of Dawn, whose missionaries resettled the town, is located north in the small cliffs. There the faithful of Pelor, Bahamut and Moradin gather to honor their deities. The Temple of Dusk is an older temple, still not completely restored to its former glory, which stands in the same grounds as the old town’s cemetery. Originally dedicated to the Raven Queen, it now has altars to Ioun and Erathis as well. It is not as well manned or attended as the Temple of Dawn, a fact that has not escaped the Lord Mayor who worships here.

A stone shrine, much more ancient than old Cross Point, is southeast of town, beyond the walls and overlooked by Cilder Tower. The shrine is dedicated to Avandara, Corellon and Sehanine, and many who travel into the forest stop here for a prayer. The dragonborn living near town is said to be a devout follower of Kord and willing to share his knowledge with the pious and brave.

The Tenedal Valley

The Tenedal Valley, usually simply called the valley by its inhabitants, has been the ancestral holding of the Osterios family for over two hundred years. Located in the northern regions of the Norath Empire in what used to be considered the frontier. At one time or another, the region was claimed by the empire of Bael Turath, the dragonborn of Arkhosia, and other older empires. The valley is surrounded by the Ice Peak Mountains, with only two viable accesses, Ghost Wail pass to the west and the Raven Hills to the south. While there are other routes these are small, inaccessible, or both. There are tales of tunnels running from Griffon’s Cliff beyond the Ice Peak Mountains, but if they exist, they are in control of the goblins who rule the former dwarven stronghold.

The valley was once covered in wild forests but was slowly cleared by logging and farming in the southern half. The north was less populated and remained inaccessible for many years until the headway made by the establishment of New Crosspointe and others that have followed. In the north reaches of the Ice Peak Mountains an active volcano bellows dark foreboding smoke and has in recent memory trembled twice, the tremors felt as far south as New Crosspointe.

The Sual’Li who live in the desert south of the valley have reestablished trade with the Duke after his father’s actions almost cost the valley their sole remaining ally beyond the mountains. To the west of the valley by the Boiling Lake there are still ruins of a dark ancient empire whose name no one seems willing to acknowledge, except to speak of its follies and the dangers that lurk in the ruins they left behind. Beyond that little is known, some merchants arrive to the Duke’s seat with tales both grandiose and often contradictory, and if rumor is to be believed, as dangerous as the valley may be, beyond the mountains things seem to be much worse.

Related posts:

1. What about Faces of the Tarnished Souk: The Ghost Light That Dreamed, Gozutozawa? A review…
2. [Blog Carnival]: “We travel light. Let’s hunt some Orc.”
3. Hinterland

The 10-paged PDF contains the character creation rules, hints at the new hero classes that you can pick after reaching level 10 and gives you the opportunity to check out the artwork and layout of the upcoming book.

By the way, the German version of the game is available in a very cool boxed set, or as a free PDF version. So if you can speak German, why not check it out now?

Related posts:

1. Sneak peek: Dungeonslayers character sheet
2. Sneak peek: OPD Codex 2009 Deluxe
3. Preview: Dungeonslayers 4th Edition

Imagine my surprise when I realized my first sci-fi game turns 30 this year… Now I understand the white hairs. I didn’t start playing it in 82, heck I was not playing RPGs back then. If memory serves I picked it up in 88. I played that game so much, it was one of my longest running games, my longest running sci-fi, the game where I first tried running two separate campaigns that influenced each other. I did a lot of experimenting and developed many of my DMing skills with Star Frontiers.

Is the game prefect? No, it definitely shows its age, and despite the enthusiasm fans still have for it, I wonder if I could run a campaign using the system. I would definitely run a pickup game, or participate in one. That’s why the concept of the virtual con intrigues me. I want to participate, and while it sounds interesting, the registered participant’s page only lists two people. Still I’m intrigued and if time and the new class schedule allows I may just join them.

If you are a fan of Star Frontiers, check it out!

Related posts:

1. Let’s got to the frontier… The Star Frontier that is!
2. STAR WARS license speculation
3. Ad Astra: Twilight Star

Despite being primarily a Game Master during my years gaming, I was never a Storyteller for a Vampire game. One of the things I enjoy the most is playing my homebrewed world, and at this time we were playing AD&D 2^nd edition. If this was the golden age for Vampire and the World of Darnkess, it was not for AD&D. I worked at a FLGS and whenever I talked about my AD&D game with some RPG fans I got this weird condescending look, as if I was still playing child’s games instead of engaging in immersive storytelling. I felt disdain for the game I played. I don’t know what your experience was but I felt a lot of World of Darkness gamers were snobs, their game was better than anyone else’s.

This turned me off somewhat. Still my close friends and acquaintances were not like that; they continued to play my AD&D 2^nd edition game and invited me to a few Vampire games. The one I probably enjoyed the most was a short lived chronicle run by my friend Karlo, who based the game here in Puerto Rico, and I got to play this bloodthirsty Gangrel biker. Great fun!

The other Storyteller I knew that played a regular chronicle was Ray. He was a very popular WoD Storyteller. Everybody wanted to play with him and that was a problem. His sessions had hundreds of players! Ok that’s an exaggeration, it might have been ten or twelve, or at least it seemed that many. And Ray was a great Storyteller, giving each player time in the spotlight, his games allowed people to explore the plotlines that interested them BUT there were just too many people playing. I once spent an entire night with the group and only got to play for about 30 minutes.

The other thing I did not like was plethora of WoD characters. The group had Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, even a Highlander-like character from some supplement I can’t remember. With such a diverse group motivating all this disparate characters, some that hated each other, was a daunting task. I really did not stick around for the chronicle.

Despite all this stumbling blocks I still had the desire to run the game. What was my biggest deterrent? The metaplot! Most of the people I knew who wanted to play were HEAVILY invested in the game, knew all the plots, read all the books. Of course you’ll say “It’s your game, ignore what you want, make it your game!” But this is easier said than done, to many of these people part of the fun WAS the metaplot and jettisoning it a turn off. This is not a problem exclusive to the WoD, it can be just as hard to play with Forgotten Realms hardcore fans who know every NPC ever published.

So I put away my plans for a Vampire game and went on with my gaming life… I got the New World of Darkness books and kept abreast of the changes in the game, I just never ran it.

Then last year they announced the anniversary edition of Vampire the Masquerade and my desire to run a World of Darkness game came back.  The Vampire as a literary and cultural icon intrigues me. I am a fan of Bram Stoker and while I am NOT a fan of Anne Rice (I can hear the cry of heretic and the mob with torches and pitchforks at my doors), I do like the mythology White Wolf established in the Masquerade. While I really liked Werewolf back in the day, Vampire was always a better fit for my style of play, intricate plots with lots of politics and backstabbing. I resisted the urge to get the collector’s edition due to the price, but when the PDF became available I jumped at the opportunity.

I loved it; it was a wave of nostalgia packed into an awesome product. Well worth the price even if it was steep for a PDF (like Michael pointed out in his post about VtM20). I considered finally running a Vampire game, and some of my players like the idea.  But I knew that with just the PDF it would not be feasible to run the game (or at least that was the excuse in my head) so I caved in an ordered the POD version. The full color, two volume one; the books are not yet in my hands, I just got the notification that they shipped, but the gears are already turning.

When I think about it long and hard, our group has a lot of games in the backburner. Our current Mutants & Masterminds Dawn of a New Age campaign, returning to our Pathfinder RPG swashbuckling campaign, an unnamed sci-fi game using Savage Worlds… Add to that Vampire the Masquerade. Yet I conceive of the Vampire game as a short campaign, perhaps eight to twelve sessions long, taking no more than 3 months.

From what I learned in all those WoD games long ago, here is how I will do things:

• The players will only play vampires. This is easy since only the Masquerade has been updated, but there is always the temptation to go and pick a Garou or a Mage. It’s challenging enough to get vampires form different clans working together, so no characters from other books. All characters will be vampires or vampire related characters, ghouls for example.
• The players must have some pre-game connection. They don’t all have to be friends but they must know at least two other characters in the game. Be it friendship, a relationship, a common mentor, the connection can even be one of friendly competition but not animosity or rivalry.
• Keep the group manageable. There are currently seven official players at my table (one misses a lot of games for personal reasons and another one arrives late due to work sometimes) but more often than not there are seven people playing. This may seem like a lot to some of you, but we already do a lot of role-playing and manage time so that everybody feels included so I think the group can manage. I just can’t add another player to the mix. (Or my players will kill me!)
• Jettison the metaplot. With experience and more confidence as a GM I can bring myself to say the heck with it and be done. With time people are not as invested in the books and stories they knew and I believe will embrace (pun intended) my concepts.

Not on that list, since I don’t think it’s a decision that would make or break a campaign, but it’s a personal choice, I will only use the Camarilla. I know many people adore the Sabbat but the secrecy and politicking of the Camarilla seem more interesting to me. I’m not saying the Sabbat will not exist, only that at the beginning all characters are in the Camarilla.

I will also advance the timeline a couple of years into the near future,  making it still recognizable, but getting rid of some real world pre-conceptions ,and giving it just a little cyberpunk/Blade Runner edge without making it sci-fi. Here is my pitch for a future Vampire the Masquerade game:

In 2020 after the last POWs of the Africa Wars had returned home and the celebration of President Yolanda Newman’s inauguration the United States looked with optimism to the new decade. This was not to be… The plague struck in New York and soon panic grew. Fearing a pandemic the city was placed under martial law and quarantined. Other major metropolitan areas were also quarantined but the infection was controlled quickly. Not so in New York. Millions were trapped inside the quarantine zone. Riots erupted, chaos ensued, more and more people died, and then the terrorist struck. A bacteriological weapon, believed to be the original cause of the plague, was released in the city and killed 96% of the people inside the quarantine zone. The city was declared a hazard, condemned and abandoned.

The plague was soon controlled and Mexico and Canada where the only countries with significant outbreaks. The US economy suffered a great setback, but President Newman’s initiative to rebuild the city of Wilmington in Delaware after the bombing of 2017 was a success. Soon the New York Stock Exchange moved to the rechristened Wilmington and the once almost dead city became New Ubar.

What the people don’t know, not even some of its leaders, is that the events leading up to the destruction of New York, the plague and the raise of a new metropolis in the eastern seaboard of the US were all the machinations of the Kindred. Specifically a member of the Camarilla, he created the plague, that did kill many humans, but also decimated many Sabbat gathered in New York through his machinations. The Cainites  have driven back the Garou who fight to save a dying world. The Mages have disappeared, but whether this is the action of their enemies or a sign of impending doom is unclear.

Come to the new city built by the triumphant Camarilla as they plot to impose their rule upon all the children of Caine… But in the bowels of the shinning new city a man stirs, he cannot remember his name, but his return foretells of dark time ahead.

That’s the gist of it; this would be the beginning of a short chronicle. I realize that this is my second post about a possible campaign, one after the other. I won’t bore you with further details, if there is interest in reading more about the planes for the game let me know, I may just follow up with another post.

PS- I fear there is some vitriol in this post, WoD fans as snob, dismissing Anne Rice… None of it is meant to insult everybody, I am not saying EVERY WoD fan is a snob, I just ran into some of them, just like I know hardcore D&D 4^th edition fans… But those have no excuse!

I kid my friends, all in good fun; enjoy the game, whichever one you play!

Related posts:

1. Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition now available at DriveThruRPG
2. Free Stuff Friday: Vampire The Requiem Demo
3. When the World of Darkness died …

The next step will of course be character creation. When I know what kind of characters my players want to play and more importantly what their goals are, I can put some more work in the world itself. But instead of fleshing out everything, I’ll focus on what I need to run an interesting game suited to my player’s characters and their goals.

I also decide that instead of running a pure sandbox game I will probably use what I call the “Elder Scrolls method”. The Elder Scrolls computer games are basically sandbox games at their heart with a main plotline tacked on. So while you can explore the world at your own pace and set your own goals there’s also a plot to follow. The Elder Scrolls also differs in another aspect from a pure sandbox game. Some events only happen when they are initiated by the player. I will probably use this approach, too, mainly because both my players and I are not too familiar with sandbox gaming and a more plot-based approach may make things easier for us until we are comfortable with this mode of play.

The campaign world – which still lacks a proper name –  was inspired by many sources including Imperial Rome, the Elder Scrolls computer games, the works of H.P. Lovecraft and even – don’t laugh – The Sims Medieval. It might not be as unique as some other campaign settings out there, but I think it’s interesting enough to play in it. The focus on the campaign will be the Imperium Turelium, which is loosely based to the Roman Empire. Other important nations are the Barbarian Realms to the north, the nomadic culture of Akilah and the mysterious Dragon Islands which are supposedly ruled by a cult worshipping entities from beyond the heavens.

Yesterday evening I actually started transferring my notes into a campaign primer that I want to give to my players so that they better understand the world we are going to play in. Here’s a short excerpt from the history section:

Some say that the world has been doomed from the beginning and that everything humans have built over the millenia will inevitably turn to dust, everything we have learned will be forgotten and the one who has been cast from the skies will rise again and turn the world into hell.
Long before humankind walked the earth the gods cast out the Great Old One Tornasuk also known as Cthulhu from beyond the heavens. He now lies dreaming, deep below the waves of the Mare Tranquillitatis, in the city of R’lyeh, waiting for the day when the stars are right and he can rise again and rule over the world.

Yes, Cthulhu and some other Mythos entities will play a major role in that world. And even though I cited the Elder Scrolls series as one of my inspirations, this will not be a high fantasy campaign. The magic level will definitely be lower and the overall tone is much darker and more gloomy than in a regular fantasy game. But the players will be able to make a difference if they wish to do so. This is not Call of Cthulhu after all.

As soon as I have turned more of my notes into a proper campaign primer, I’ll post updates here on the blog. And if there’s enough demand I might even release the whole setting in PDF form later this year. But I first need to sit down and draw a map now. You can’t have a proper sandbox game without a map, or can you?

Related posts:

1. Map for my Dungeonslayers campaign
2. Ask the Readers: One campaign, several GMs
3. Superhero Campaign Questionnaire (and about the Virtual Book Club…)

The theme this issue is archers and its well served. Let’s see, it opens with the Elven Archer, a race specific class for the Pathfinder RPG. It’s an interesting mix of the ranger and the rogue that fits a traditional fantasy niche. The article has some typos (and you all know I’ve got plenty of those, so I shouldn’t be nitpicking), but I found it interesting and it’s a perfect fit for my long running campaign. The notes on adapting the class for other races, cultures, or even weapons make it useful in other contexts. There is also an article on magic arrows, which again provides what in my mind are some archetypical magic arrows. These two articles seem plucked from my adolescent love for RPGs updated for Pathfinder.

What else is there? Read on to find out…

Other Pathfinder articles include a collection of ooze themed spells and familiars, including the ooze magic school. Four new terrifying low to mid-level creatures that range from the creepy to the terrifying, a fifth level adventure, which begins with some railroading, but this a is a short adventure and due to length I’m willing to overlook it, since the rest is really entertaining. An article on older adventurers, including feats, which makes me reconsider the possibilities of my concept for the old hero and another one on Midgard themed fey hunters, with lots of campaign flavor BUT easily adaptable to any campaign.

But my favorite Pathfinder article (even more than the archery themed ones simply because this one is just so much more useful for me as a GM) was the article on four fully fleshed planar allies, with details on what negotiations with them would entail, personalities. Kudos! The weird article award goes to magical fish one for Pathfinder. You eat the fish and get some magical effect, from removing curses to permanent ability boosts, weird, interesting but weird…

For AGE you have 5 new specializations for the game’s classes. I love to see Kobold Quarterly expand the possibilities of this terrific system.  For D&D 4^th edition there is a bard themed article, new utility powers for gomes, tieflings and minotaurs (a race near and dear to my heart), and an article on nature spirits, dual-statted for Pathfinder. The recent announcement of D&D Next/5^th edition has made me take another look at the rule set, wondering what will be part of the new game. Whatever happens I hope in the future Kobold Quarterly gets to support all the games they already do and the new D&D!

There are systemless advice articles, like Monte Cook’s on the role of the GM. It might not be the most original, but there is some solid advice in there and he did bring up some interesting issues to consider. The mechanic for time sensitive adventure, called haste points, seems interesting, but I would have to test it out, I’m not sure how it will play out. The idea is solid and well presented, but they are something else to track in game and I’m not totally convinced I need that. The regular cartoons are here, funny as usual, I love Stan!’s humor, and I particularly liked D20 Monkey’s this issue, juvenile but funny. Read it, you’ll see. And of course, the closing one page article on the City of Zobeck by the one and only Jeff Grub!

The magazine is 84 pages long, full color, with terrific art, great layout and an appropriate ratio of articles to adds. I’ve said it before, it’s reminiscent of the old Dragon Magazine, but this is not a magazine just for the grognards like me, but for all fans of the major fantasy games out there. You can get the PDF of Kobold Quarterly #20 for $5.99 or the PDF+ Print bundle for $8.99, or better yet subscribe, well worth it in my opinion. Thank you for the makers of Kobold Quarterly for providing a review copy!

Related posts:

1. What about Kobold Quarterly, specifically the winter issue, number 16? A review…
2. Review: Kobold Quarterly Issue 14
3. Spring is here… Can’t you smell the kobold? The Kobold Quarterly that is!

I made first contact with this fine game back in 2010. When I was at Gen Con, Richard Iorio II offered to run a game for us. Alas Richard got quite sick and was unable to run a game, so Zachary Houghton prepared the game in just 45 mins. We created our characters at the Red Dragon Inn with Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton having dinner at the table next to us.

I quickly fell in love with the game. It’s a sword & sorcery roleplaying game inspired by the works of Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft among others. In my opinion SS&S is even more lightweight than the Rogue Games games, which makes it a perfect entry into the 12° system. And the human-centric, low-magic sword & sorcery genre is a welcome change to the classic high-fantasy genre that seems to dominate our hobby right now. If I had to pick my favorite game from Rogue Games’ portfolio, it would definitely be SS&S. It’s a real gem.

After wrapping up our Call of Cthulhu game recently, my players asked me to run something with more action and less investigative elements. We actually pondered whether we should play Dungeonslayers again, but then I told them about SS&S. They agreed to give it a chance and so I started working on a campaign that I can run starting next week.

Instead of running a regular plot-based campaign I’ll try to run a sandbox game instead. That’s something I actually haven’t done before. Even though I often had sandbox elements in my games I always had a plot in mind. This time I want to fully embrace the sandbox.

I could have used the setting included in the SS&S Basic Core Rulebook for this, but instead I am currently working on a setting on my own. The campaign will be set into the outskirts of a vast empire that is loosely modeled after the Roman Empire in it’s later, more decadent days. The power of the empire has been waning for a while now. Old enemies are slowly gathering strength and plan to take back what the empire has occupied centuries ago. Of course there are secrets, ruins, treasures, bandits and monsters everywhere. These are troubled times, a perfect opportunity for adventurers.

When everything goes according to plan we’ll create characters on the last weekend of the month. After I know the characters motivations and background I can add the relevant details to the world. Instead of planning everything beforehand (which would be a huge task) I decided to make up stuff as we go along. When the players tell me they want to take over the local thieves guild, then I will prepare along those lines. If they want to join a mercenary company, I’ll develop things into a different direction.

While I actually have a pretty good idea what the setting should look like, I am still without a proper map. But for the moment a simple sketch map will do. As soon as I come up with something, I’ll share it with you here.

This post is part of Gnome Stew’s “New Year, New Game” blog carnival. Check out this site for details.

Related posts:

1. Happy New Year
2. New Year’s Gaming Resolutions
3. Happy New Year

See, I’ve had a couple of rough weeks and we had to cancel our weekly game twice (sacrilege I know!), so we planned this as a way to catch up, see each other and spend some quality time together. Needless to say at dinner with gamers I had to bring up the topic everyone’s been talking about in recent days D&D Next/5th edition…

I wanted to get their take on the news of the development of a fresh version of Dungeons & Dragons. Here in the blog we recently posted our thoughts, but we are bloggers, keep abreast of news and interact with a different community of gamers than some of the gamers I was sitting with. The reaction was interesting, mostly predictable if you know the group, but telling considering this quote from Monte Cook:

“I’m the lead designer of a project that will likely evolve into a new iteration of the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset. It’s meant to be a set of rules that unites all the previous editions, and the players of those editions.  It’s a big project, and we plan on involving all comers to playtest and voice their opinions, because really, what’s the point of designing a game no one wants to play? And who knows better what D&D players want than, well, D&D players.”

(Thanks to EN World for collecting this and other quotes and information on the development in their D&D 5^th edition info page!)

What did they say? Read on…

This is a varied group, running the gamut from their mid-twenties to forties, all longtime role-players and as a whole we’ve all played D&D, some of us more than others, but we all cut our teeth on the game. Some of them have played at my table for nineteen years, and for the longest time all I ran was D&D. Many where there when we switched from AD&D 2^nd edition to 3^rd edition, and later when I dragged them (some kicking and screaming) to D&D 4^th edition, some even ran the game, so we’ve all experienced edition change.

In the midst of a conversation about movies, critical hits and the selection in the buffet I dropped the bomb, “So what do you think about the fact they are developing a new edition of D&D?” My favorite response was, “What?” There was actually someone at the table who had no idea. It’s been days since the announcement, this is not a person who lives under a rock, he uses the internet, but obviously despite WotC’s attempts and all the media coverage this was the first he had heard of it.

The general consensus seemed to be disinterest. One of the most vocal haters of D&D 4^th edition in my group actually threatened to hit me with the book if I “wasted” (that’s what he called it) my money on a new edition. More moderate voices insisted they were happy with the fantasy RPG they have, Pathfinder, and that it would have to be a pretty amazing system to get them to go back to D&D.

When someone pointed out that planning for sessions is an intense experience for a Game Master, I made the faux pas of actually defending 4^th edition and singing its praises, such as ease of prep time for Game Masters, and the GMs around the table insisted they have the same ease of prep with Pathfinder. And while I agree Pathfinder made many strides in these regards, and making it easy when creating NPCs, specifically by providing short cuts and samples of them, I believe there are still some issues with high-level play, but nothing that bothers me. I can navigate this hurdles and I think the other GMs at the table have mastered the system and thus feel very comfortable with the game.

I think this may be the biggest obstacle Wizards of the Coast faces when they try to attract lapse players back to the fold, they feel that when WotC published 4^th edition they were left behind (no pun intended!) and that they have moved on, they have found other games that fit their style. Another of my players never played 4^th edition and did not understand the vitriolic reaction against D&D 4^th edition, but also felt Pathfinder fulfilled her needs for fantasy gaming and has no desire to change systems.

The most surprising reaction came from one of my oldest friends, he works at a FLGS and is the only player at my table who still actively plays D&D 4^th edition (albeit not with us). He said he has NO interest in a new game, that he would continue playing D&D 4^th edition and Pathfinder. He distrusts (I don’t recall his word choice exactly, but this was the impression I got) WotC’s corporate policies and had little hope on what they plan to do, he was also underwhelmed by the design team. He admitted he was excited about 4^th edition, not so this time around.

I remain positively optimistic. I want to see where this goes, look forward to the open play test, which I believe is a step in the right direction, and think the stated design goals are laudable. From this conversation I know there is NO interest among my players to playtest the game. Since writing the last post on the subject I’ve decided I DO want to play the game as part of the playtest and know people who are interested, so I hope I can cajole some members of Puerto Rico Role Players to try this out.

All this is anecdotal; still I wonder how much of this type of attitude is out there… Is it too late? Has the ship sailed? I certainly hope not. I want to see what the next version of D&D is all about, I want the granddaddy of games to thrive, whether I end up playing it or not. So I invite you dear reader to keep an open mind, I really think it’s too early to say what the game will be like. Don’t write it off, if it ends up not being what you want to play, other will. Let’s all be more tolerant of what other people want to play, we are all gamers, no matter under which system we roll our dice! It’s those diceless heathens we need to worry about! I’m joking, no hate mail please…

I apologize in advance if I misinterpreted or misquoted anyone on this post, know that these are my interpretations of the opinions I heard. Thanks Enith, José F, Luis A, Fernan, Luis L, Pierre, Sara, José D and Nilda for a wonderful evening!

PS- Yes, we are going back to out regularly scheduled Tuesday game this week, there is nothing to fear!

Related posts:

1. Dungeonslayers review @ “Here Be Gamers”
2. Ask The Readers: Web comics for gamers?
3. Gamers Help Haiti Product Bundle @ DriveThruRPG

These books where provided by the publisher for review and even if I took my sweet time to get to them I am always really flattered that publishers will submit their products for review. Thanks, that doesn’t mean I’ll pull my punches!

So without further ado, the reviews…

What about Kobold Quarterly #19?

Issue 20 of Kobold Quarterly just came out, and I plan to review it much faster than the previous issue, but the issue at hand (pun intended) is 19, the Fall issue. I’ve reviewed previous issues and the wonderful people at Open Design have made me a fan, with a mix of nostalgia for the old Dragon Magazine coupled with great new content for some of the most popular fantasy RPGs in the market right now, D&D, AGE and Pathfinder. So what’s good in this issue? Glad you asked!

Pathfinder goodness: The White Necromancer, a fully fleshed out non-evil necromancer option; Druid archetypes; an article on magic shops, and making them more than simple wholesale magic warehouses, giving them flair and turning them into role-playing opportunities; and death themed archetypes for Druids, Barbarians, Monks and Summoners. There is a preview of the new Paizo’s Dragon Empire and Dragon Empire themed Arch-Devil. Overall, great content for all Pathfinder fans!

Then there are the AGE articles. I love that they are supporting this system and adapting Midgard content for it, in this case ten backgrounds for the game. A system less article on court adventures, including the power players and adventure ideas is a great source of inspiration for role-playing. There is another system less article on traps; the winner of the Relics of Power is published in this issue; a solo adventure; Mont Cook’s balance free bonuses ideas, bonuses that don’t impact game balance, adaptable to any edition, was my favorite article of the issue.

There is just one D&D 4^th edition article, with rules to play werewolf characters. It seems interesting enough, and I’m sure this will be popular. I was surprised that this was the only article written specifically for the system. True there are many excellent articles that can be adapted, but I was surprised. I guess they can only publish the articles submitted and wonder if this is a sign of the popularity of the games. Even if I don’t play the game, I know many D&D 4^th edition fans that love the magazine and hope to see continued support for the game in future issues.

All the usual suspects are here, the cartoons, book reviews and Free City of Zobeck closing article. Overall I loved this issue; it was full of Pathfinder articles which makes me personally happy. But I know fans of other games read the magazine and I hope to see more balanced content in the future. If you love a system, be sure to check out their Writer’s Guidelines and try to get published.

What about Divine Favor the Inquisitor?

Here is the final installment of the Divine Favor series; this time around it’s the Inquisitor’s turn. The cover is a little drab, just an Inquisitor in a battle pose, I am a fan of Christophe Swal’s art and I think using the same Inquisitor from the Advanced Feat cover was the right choice, but the art seems off and the ocher background left much to be desired.

Inside its 17 pages of content, with clear layout, the use of stock art, most of it appropriate, but there are a couple of odd choice, nothing that is terribly distracting. The new abilities and new inquisitions are refreshing and thread some interesting ground, expanding the possibilities of the class. There are some interesting archetypes, feats and spells. They all play well of one another and Stefen Styrsky provides a good closing to the series.

What about the Book of Drakes?

This is my favorite of the three books, and this is my favorite one. Drakes in Midgard are fascinating creatures, the idea of dragon-like creatures that are not as powerful and can appear in the game in very different roles than traditional dragons are an excellent option.

From the cover by Kieran Yanner, to the layout, to the interior art, this is a beautiful book to look at. And the writing is top notch too! Kudos to the design team… The ecology of the drake that opens the book is reminiscent of the old ecology articles of Dragon Magazine and a great introduction to the creature in Midgard. There are rules for drakes as companions, feats for them, class features, prestige classes, spells, and equipment, mundane and magical. I was NOT a fan of the rules for playing drakes, I think they are better allies or opponents that a playable option. The bestiary is great, providing drakes from CR 1 to CR 14, and rules for creating new drakes.

This is a great book that while officially a Midgard setting book, can be used in any Pathfinder game. The book is available in PDF and a print+PDF. I recommend the latter; this book is just too pretty not to have in print.

There you have it, three great books that have been out for a while now, but you can’t go wrong getting them. I hope you enjoy them!

Related posts:

1. A great opportunity and a good cause!
2. Pathfinder RPG Goodies: Venture Captain
3. Preview: “Open Game Table, The Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs”

But that doesn’t mean I have given up. So my first gaming related resolution for 2012 is the same as last year: play more. We actually scheduled our first game for the second weekend in January where I want to wrap up the Call of Cthulhu game from New Year’s Eve.

But aside from that I want to run a campaign from start to finish in 2012. It doesn’t need to be long, but a story arc that covers at least a dozen sessions would be a nice change. I have a couple of ideas what I would love to run in the new year, but before making any plans I should consult my players. More than once I’ve made plans for a game that I never ran because I couldn’t interest my players in it.

One of the things I would love to do is running a sandbox campaign with Lamentations of the Flame Princess. I recently got my print copy of Carcosa and I utterly love that book. The setting is extremely weird, has a lot of Lovecraft influences and looks and reads great. I’ll also have to think of a way on how to make use of Vornheim, too, since it’s another book I would like to use someday. I am not sure if my players are into old-school D&D, but it might be worth a try.

When it comes to game design I still have a couple of unfinished projects on my harddrive that need some more work. So another goal for 2012 is to at least finish one of those projects. Heck, perhaps I should resurrect the Gearbox project or finally finish that game I’ve been working on in secret for way too long…

So what are your gaming resolutions for 2012? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

No related posts.

As you can see the box contains not only three rulebooks (86, 140 and 32 pages respectively) but also pregenerated characters sheets, unfilled character sheets, gadget cards and a shitload of story point counters and a full set of dice. Throw in a few sheets of scrap paper and a couple of pencils and you’re good to go! The boxed set really makes it easy to jump into gaming without setting the hurdles too high.

The Player’s Guide starts with a short story set into the Whoniverse called “Shaking the Box” which is followed by a short introduction into the Doctor Who universe and roleplaying. Oh, did I mention that the game is based on the “new” Doctor Who series started by BBC Wales in 2005? It features a lot of still photography from the series, especially the David Tennant episodes. As far as I know an updated version of the game is in the works which will feature the 11th Doctor as well. But I digress.

Back in 2009 I wrote a post called “Doctor Who RPG – Could this really work?”. I was really skeptical a Doctor Who game might even work. But this game has convinced me that it can actually work. The Player’s Guide lists a couple of options on how to assemble your team. Aside from playing the established team from the series like The Doctor, Rose, Donna, Captain Jack Harkness, etc., you can also play The Doctor and new companions we haven’t seen in the series, or it’s possible to play a UNIT team, Torchwood operatives or even Time Agents. The rules even allow you to create new Time Lord characters.

Character creation uses a straightforward point-buy system. You get points that you distribute among your attributes, skills and traits. The really interesting part are traits here. They are what make your character really unique. There are good, bad and special traits. Good traits give your character a special talent or ability, bad traits are weaknesses like being Unattractive or Selfish. Special traits allow you to create Alien, Cyborg or even Time Lord characters.

The core mechanic is quite simple. Whenever you attempt a difficult task, you roll two six-sided dice and add the relevant attribute and skill value to the result. You try to beat or match a Difficulty set by the GM. If you roll above or below the Difficulty it may have additional consequences beside succeeding or failing. That might not be the most unique mechanic out there, but it works fine and is easy to learn even for new players.

When it comes to conflict rules you’ll notice something pretty uncommon in roleplaying games: fighting is actually the worst option. At least when it comes to initiative. In Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space Talkers act first, followed by Movers and Doers. So you want to fire that gun or throw that punch? Wait until everyone else is done talking, running and doing something. This rule actually helps a lot to emulate the tone of the series and it’s a welcome change to the usual “shoot first – ask questions later”. The rules actually advise to avoid gunplay if possible. Hiding and sneaking and talking down enemies is actually much more in line with what we expect from a Doctor Who game anyway.

In the description of the box contents I mentioned Story Points. These are a meta game currency the players have access to that they can spend to get additional clues when they are stumped, add something to an important roll, tweak failed result to save themselves or bend the story in favor of the players. Gadgets come with their own Story points, too. So they can be used for tasks they were not really designed for. The number of ways you can use your Story Points to do the exceptional are countless.

The Gamemaster’s Guide contains all the rules from the Player’s Guide but a) in more detail and b) described from the GM’s standpoint. In addition to that it explains how to run games, design adventures and gives basic gamemastering advice. A major portion of the Gamemaster’s Guide covers Time Travel. No Doctor Who game would be complete without it and in my opinion time travel is one of the hardest things you can do in a tabletop game. Especially paradoxes can be a major pain, but the book gives good advice on how to avoid them. It also explains what happens when you really screw up. Do you remember the Reapers from the episode where Rose tried to save her father? Yup, they are in the book as well.

The Gamemaster’s Guide also contains a lot of information on the Whoniverse, Timelords, the TARDIS and the aliens you might encounter on your travels. All the basic adversaries from the series are covered like the Dalek, Cybermen, the Ood and even the Autons. Some of those aliens can even be played, if the GM approves, but some of them might not be suited for every campaign.

The Adventures Book contains two complete adventures and a whole bundle of adventure ideas you can use as inspiration for your own campaigns.

Overall Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space is a great roleplaying game for fans of the series. It doesn’t matter whether you are a new gamer or a gaming veteran. The rules are easy to learn and are perfectly suited to the tone of the series. I’m not sure if I would recommend the game to someone who doesn’t know the series, but it’s a must buy for every fan!

By the way, the game is currently on sale on the official Cubicle 7 store. You can get the boxed set + PDF bundle for the low price of $36! You can also get the PDF version from RPGNow for $34.99.

Please note that the review was based on a review copy of the boxed set provided by the publisher.

No related posts.

My girlfriend and I played a lot of Star Wars: The Old Republic recently, which is a lot of fun. It’s the most immersive MMO I’ve played so far and Verena and I are enjoying it immensely. The game also makes me want to run some Star Wars pen & paper game, but at the moment, I have neither the time nor the players needed to start a new campaign.

On New Year’s Eve I’ve run a Call of Cthulhu game for a couple of friends. I picked the first episode of the Age of Cthulhu campaign by Goodman games, which has an interesting story but has some issues that made it harder to run than I expected. But we still had a lot of fun.

And there’s something else I want to tell you about. I got a very special gift this Christmas. Some of you probably know that I am interested in astronomy that’s why I picked the nickname Stargazer a couple of years back. I own a small telescope but I don’t go out watching the skies as often as I would like. So my girlfriend thought she gave me some incentive to do so. She gave me a star as one of her Christmas gifts! One star in the Draco constellation is now registered¹ as “Stargazer’s World” and I have the documents to prove it. So, next time you look up into the sky, look out for “Stargazer’s World”.

1) Yes, I know that only the IAU can actually name stars, but I don’t mind. And the deed really looks great on the kitchen wall.

No related posts.

In Austria, southern Bavaria and South Tyrol young men dress up as Krampus in the first week of December to participate in so-called Krampus Runs (Krampuslauf) where they roam the streets frightening children with rusty chains and bells. Usually these runs are in the night of December 6th (Krampusnacht).

During the Inquisition attempts were made to stamp the tradition out. Dressing up like a devil-like creature was actually punishable by death back then. And even in the early 20th century the practice was discouraged by the Austrian government.

But what if there’s a deeper reason why people try to stop these Krampus Runs? What if the costumes and the runs are actually part of a cannibalistic ritual from the dawn of time? Thinking about this for a while gave me a few ideas for a Call of Cthulhu scenario.

An adventure could start by a group of investigators coming into a remote village in the Bavarian Alps. There have been rumors of children disappearing during the first week of December. While most of the families are concerned, a few influential families downplay the whole affair.

Looking closer into the child disappearances, the investigators realize that they all vanished during the Krampuslauf and some witnesses claim they have seen someone in a Krampus costume carry a large sack into the woods.

The investigator’s job is now to find out what actually happened and – if possible – save the children before it’s too late. What the cult does is up to the GM. Perhaps they sacrifice the children to summon a horrible creature, or they use an evil ritual to transform themselves into the mythical Krampus. Another possibility is that – when the stars are right – the young men actually transform into the Krampus unwillingly and have to consume the flesh of children. When they awake the next day, they don’t know what they did.

Of course I am sure that the actual Krampus celebrations are perfectly harmless. The worst thing that could happen to a celebrant participating in a Krampuslauf is probably a hangover after drinking too much Krampus schnapps. I wouldn’t rule out a few broken bones either. But when you look at it through the eyes of a Call of Cthulhu game master, things are much more sinister than they seem at first glance.

This post is part of the Nevermet Press Krampus Christmas Carnival. The artwork used in this post was created by Steven Austin especially for this event and was licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. More details on the Carnival can be found here.

And before I forget it: Happy Holidays!

P.S.: And when you’re at it, check Corvus’ post “The Mythos is Everywhere” on more ideas how to introduce Lovecraft’s nightmares into … everything!

Related posts:

1. Legend – Help raising money for Child’s Play and get a cool RPG in exchange
2. Dungeoncraft: “It all started with a map”
3. The Heroes of Hougstran

The 139-paged PDF contains all the rules needed to play, two magic systems and a bestiary. Kudos to Cubicle 7 and Cakebread & Walton for releasing the rules for free. The PDF doesn’t contain any artwork, but that’s negligible especially since the PDF is mainly meant as a System Reference Document. The rules of the game can be used under the OGL.

If you are a fan of Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying and Runquest, you actually have the choice between quite a few different rule variants now. There’s Renaissance, Mongoose Publishing’s Legend, D101 Games’ OpenQuest, Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying and Goblinoid Games’ GORE. All those games are more or less compatible, so you can use material designed for one game in the other with ease.

Renaissance looks pretty interesting because it was created with the Renaissance era in mind. The magic system also looks pretty unique. If you’re looking for a skill-based RPG with a percentile dice mechanic, you should definitely check Renaissance out!

Related posts:

1. Old-school renaissance
2. [Freebies] FU: the Free, Universal Roleplaying Game
3. Freebies: Marvel Super Heroes

No wonder hardcore fan-folk (and I use the term meaning no disrespect) often take this to the next level when it comes to the things they are passionate about. Be it the TV series they were really invested in and the networked axed, or the endless novel series whose author passed away before completing it. There can be righteous indignation in such occasions.

It’s no different with fans of role-playing games when a game they love is cancelled, or an adventure series they enjoy is left unfinished, but we have the very particular characteristic that what we enjoy is not solely dependant on the actions of others. If a TV series gets the axe, or a novel series is never finished, well there is not much we can do about it. We can petition and protest and that sometimes has a result, but that’s usually not the case. Some people write fan-fiction and present to the world how they think the story would have ended. But we never get to know how the original creator (be is a sole writer or a production company) had planned for the story. We just won’t know…

Enter our hobby. True some people only play pre-published adventures, but even those who do end up modifying or changing the story by the mere act of playing it, even if they use pre-gens and the GM sticks pretty close to what’s written. Our hobby is not passive; we are the weavers of the tales we tell.

So it is no surprise that when a campaign is not finished we get the same feeling of being let down. No let’s call it what it is, the sense of FAILURE when a campaign we began with such gusto just peters out and dies. As I mentioned this line of thought on Twitter last weekend (follow me as there as @Sunglar) @NookHarper listed the reasons this happens.  He correctly said some reasons include players leaving, new games starting, starting games full of enthusiasm but with little or no planning, among others.

And I agree those are among the common causes that campaigns die. Some will say that’s why they don’t play campaigns, that they prefer one shots or short adventures, and I say, more power to you, to each and everyone his or her own. Play what makes you happy! Me? Well I just love campaigns, the possibility of telling a long term story, the nuances developed as characters interact with the world, be it for a hundred sessions, or just ten. If you have never played a campaign I recommend it, it’s a different experience and well worth the work and aggravation (and there will be a little bit of both I assure you!).

I have finished various campaigns, some years long. I tend to stick to something until the end. I, like any other human being, am a completist. Logically you might now expect my advice on how to make sure that campaign keeps going, tips on how to reach the finish line. Well no! That’s not what this post is about, on the contrary, I will go ahead and say it. That campaign you are sorry you did not finish, well it might be a good thing it never did.

Before you get offended and think I dismissed your campaign, let me tell you why I say this. Have you always been happy with the way a story ends? Be it novel, television series or movie. I can tell you the finale of LOST was one of the most disappointing TV watching experiences of my life. Oftentimes when we like something a lot, there is no way the end is going to be as good as we thought it would be. True with campaigns the attentive Game Master can tailor and shape the flow of things to meet player lies and expectations and hopefully come to a satisfying conclusion. But I have the nagging feeling that more often than not the ends of campaigns happen after some measure of fatigue has set in and they are either, rushed and feel too premature, or dragged out to long and disappoint. I will admit that, while some campaign closings have been successful, some of my campaigns have suffered from the abovementioned ills.

Maybe the campaign wasn’t that good to begin with. It could have been fun but not as entertaining as the GM thought, we are no perfect after all. But maybe it was really good and it ended for reasons beyond your control. When a campaign is just left unfinished and players keep talking about what could have been, all the possibilities, sometimes its better to leave it like that. Specially if a long time has passed. You will probably never be able to recapture the enthusiasm, the thrill of the original games. Better to live of the memory and what if, than to try to go back and end it…

It’s not easy, but I am trying to come to terms with the idea. I fear George RR Martin will die without finishing A Song of Ice and Fire. I’ve made my peace with it. I’ll read the novels as they come out, I’m along for the ride, if I get to the end that will just be s plus. The same with other media I enjoy.

This line of thought came to me as I ponder the end of the current storyline in my Mutants & Masterminds campaign; which will go into hiatus as its proven popular enough with my players to merit a return to it eventually. We have not played out swashbuckling Pathfinder RPG game since last December and as much fun as we had I know not all the players were equally enthusiastic by the end, and we ended it abruptly because everybody wanted to play supers. For a moment I thought, perhaps its time to let it go…

Well I’ll be a stubborn ass and I think I will disregard my own advice and try to retake it. I have some specific plans to overhaul the game, switch the focus and discuss with players the necessary changes. Well see how that goes… I’ll let you know if I was successful or if it should have remained unfinished business.

Related posts:

1. My take on “unfinished business”
2. The RPG Blog Alliance is now open for business!
3. Letting go of that NPC

For many years I have been collecting roleplaying game rulebooks. If I said I had dozens of RPG books this would probably be an understatement. And the number of books I bought on RPGNow over the years is quite impressive. Of course I have not yet read all of those and I will probably never use all of them, but there are a few I really would love to run one day.

Let me list a few of those:

• Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG
  I got a copy of this fine game as a review copy from Cubicle 7 a while ago. I haven’t had the time to write a proper review yet, but from what I’ve seen so far it’s an awesome game. The mechanics are pretty nice and the designers managed to grab the essence of the series and put it into their game. Marvelous!
  I am a big fan of the new series and I even managed to get my girlfriend fall in love with it, too. Now I need to find a few more players and the time to run that game.
• Shadow, Sword & Spell
  For quite some time I wanted to run a Sword & Sorcery game. And if I should ever find the time to run one, I will probably use Rogue Games’ SS&S to run it. The game uses Rogue Games 12° System which I like a lot. That reminds me I should write a review of SS&S at some point in the future. I have to admit I was unsure whether it was ok for me to write one, since my name appears in the credits of several Rogue Games products since I have done some proofreading for them.
• Dark Harvest: Legacy of Frankenstein
  Dark Harvest is one of the most impressive games I’ve ever read. The setting is extremely awesome and if you are looking for a unique horror game, you should check out this game. Alas the unique setting makes it complicated to find players interested in playing the game. But I totally love it and I am looking forward to all the new stuff coming out in the future.
• Atomic Highway
  Since playing Interplay’s Fallout back in the day I love the post-apocalypse genre. And Atomic Highway is one of my favorite pen & paper roleplaying games of said genre. My plans to run a Fallout-inspired game using the AH rules utterly failed but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to run Atomic Highway anymore. But perhaps next time I will use a setting more fitting to the rules. As the name of the game implies vehicles play a significant role. If your vision of a post-apocalyptic world looks much like the Mad Max movies, AH is the perfect game for you. In the Fallout world modern vehicles are almost non-existent, which caused a few issues. But I digress.
• Gamma World
  Yes, you read that correctly. Even though I am not too fond of D&D 4th Edition I am quite excited about that game. I have to admit I haven’t picked it up yet, but from what I’ve heard it’s awesome. For some reason I am in the mood for some wacky post-apocalyptic game with anthropomorphic animals and weird mutants with improbable powers. And it seems Gamma World is the perfect remedy for that itch.

But of course this list is far from being exhaustive. I could go on for pages listing all the cool games that I would love to run. My collection is full of exciting games and there are even more out there I haven’t picked up yet. If you ask me, it’s a great time to be a gamer. There are more games out there than ever and the community is more active and vibrant than ever before. Don’t let them tell you everything was better back in the day. I highly doubt it was the case. The only thing that was better was that when we were young, we had a much more free times on our hands we could use for playing RPGs. But I digress.

Now that I have answered Lon’s question let me ask my readers: What is the one RPG that you have never run, but have always wanted to? As always every feedback is appreciated!

By the way, if you have a question you want to ask the Stargazer, send an email to askthestargazer@stargazersworld.com!

Related posts:

1. Guest blogger wanted!
2. Stargazer Games
3. Stargazer’s World presents Gears

And I am quite glad that there will be more support for this great game in the future. The beginning will be made by “Resistance”, which should be out by May 2012. There’s already a small sample of this first LoF supplement available at the official site, so check it out. And it seems Colin Chapman, who is known for his post-apocalyptic roleplaying game Atomic Highway (which he’s now giving away for free!) and who has written the first supplement for my own Warrior, Rogue & Mage, will be involved in that project. Colin does great stuff, so I am sure “Resistance” will be great as well.

The other news is that there will be a LoF card game. How cool is that. Iain Lowson hasn’t shared any details yet, but it will not be a CCG, which is great in my book. According to the announcement on the official LoF site, it will be more light-hearted than the rest of the LoF material. I am not sure if it will be family-friendly though. Actually I doubt it.

Last but not least there will be a LoF short story anthology! Yay! That’s great news. The short stories in the original Dark Harvest book were awesome and I am definitely looking forward to this anthology. Hopefully there will be a Kindle edition as well.

If there are any questions regarding these future releases, feel free to post them in the comments below. I will convey all your questions to Iain Lowson in hopes he’ll share a few more details with us.

Related posts:

1. Exciting Alternity news!
2. Good news for all Iron Kingdom fans!
3. Some news on Open D6

I have to admit I haven’t had the time to give the rules a closer look, but the rulebook looks really nice. It features a very cool and clear layout with some excellent pieces of art. Creative lead Jacob Kurzer has provided us with a review copy of the game, so expect a full review in the near future, but my initial impression is quite positive.

The game features eight classes like Barbarian, Monk, Paladin and Shaman that can be further customized by the players through choosing different “tracks” along which the characters develop. Each class comes with a number of tracks but there are extra tracks that can be used either to create monstrous characters or to customize your character even further.

But what definitely sets Legend apart from a lot of other games is the fact that all proceeds from the core product will be donated to Child’s Play. And until December 9th Legend is available on a pay-what-you-want basis. Until now the game has raised about $866 to improve the lives of children in hospitals around the world.

The Legend RPG is about 179 pages long and doesn’t come with a fledged-out setting. It definitely worth a look and with your purchase you’re actually helping children in need.

Related posts:

1. Legend of Zork
2. Exchange of Realities
3. Pre-pre order Ashen Stars now and get a lot of cool stuff at release!

I’ve been lucky to use many of those ideas; my last few campaigns over the last 4 years have been the realization of finally using those ideas. That’s why I keep notes, play with the ideas every so often and write them down. I’ve found that helps.

But this post is NOT about this, it’s about something else…

As I sat here pondering about future games my mind wondered to role-playing genres I have not played or game mastered. Fantasy has always been my poison of choice, much like Youseph mentioned he plans to do with his group on his recent post, we typically play long fantasy campaigns, peppered with interludes of other genres.

(Mind you since 2007 I believe at least half of those 5 years have been spent playing non-fantasy games so our tastes just may be changing, but this is an analysis for another day!)

Going down the list fantasizing about all the games I will be running from now until we sit around the table at the old role-players home, there are some genres I really have NO idea what I would run. This is the dearth of ideas I speak of in the title (not meant as a commentary on, the industry or anybody in particular, might seem as stating the obvious, but let me put it out there for clarity’s sake!), let’s look at the games:

Westerns: I actually ran a con game in this genre not too long ago. (You can read about it here and here!), and Weird West is a great game that really got my creativity going, but I must admit that after that game I have found it difficult to come up with new ideas. Some of the gamers that played have suggested we should play Weird West again, but I cannot come up with other ideas. I have seen a lot of westerns, this is not my favorite genre and for the longest time I avoided westerns after overindulging in my childhood. Still there are some excellent movies and series made in recent years, but I cannot come up new ideas to play a western.

Military: I’ve played some pseudo-military games, but never a hardcore, realistic one. What do I mean by pseudo-military? Well it’s the type of games that plays lip service to the conventions of military organizations, i.e. players are soldiers or officers and the military provides equipments; but in reality there is no realistic approach to how these “soldiers” interact with the organization they work for. There is a reason for this; I am not a military man, and my knowledge of the organization and chain of command is more based on pop culture that reality. I don’t think I could make a realistic military game seem right. The only game if this genre I have player was Twilight 2000, and the GM managed to make me feel like this was the depressing aftermath of war. As good as he was as a GM; this was not my favorite game. I guess there are no ideas here because I am not that interested.

Espionage: And this one is the one I mind the most! I love spy movies, since childhood and still as an adult. Smart political thrillers, conspiracy riddled cold-war dramas, silly spy romps, they all lure me in. Today the SyFy channel was showing their Bond marathon and I could not pull myself away… And I’ve watched all these movies many times. I have several espionage themed role-playing games, Top Secret S.I., Spycraft, even the James Bond 007 rpg, but for the love of me cannot come up with campaign ideas.

I have given this some thought, all my ideas seem to be appropriate for a single spy, or even maybe a very small group (a leisure I cannot afford). I cannot really conceive of a scenario where my 7 players all have something to do. Sneakers is perhaps the best example of the type of adventure I should be thinking of, but I cannot really come up with ideas for a spy game. And I want to play one; I know I would love to set it during the Cold War, in the 80s. I just need ideas to actually play a game…

So those are the thoughts that run through my mind tonight. What about you? What are the genres you cannot come up with ideas for, any suggestion to get my juices flowing on these genres, specifically the espionage one?

Related posts:

1. Campaign Primer Ideas! Part 2
2. Campaign Primer Ideas! Part 1
3. Why do I design games?

RIDE FOR FREE!
The Atomic Highway pdf is now free to download! Atomic Highway and its fans have been really good to me these two years since its release, so I felt it was time to release AH into the wild, so to speak. Now, anyone who wants to check it out can grab it for free at DriveThruRPG, in perpetuity.
Grab it from DriveThruRPG!

And while you’re there, Irradiated Freaks is now down to $4.99. What have you got to lose?

Atomic Highway is my favorite choice when it comes to post-apocalyptic RPGs and the underlying V6 Engine could work great in other genres as well. I am still hoping that Colin will release a generic V6 rulebook one day for us to tinker with. In the meantime, you should check out AH, especially now that it’s free! If you want to learn more about AH, please check out my post about it.

Related posts:

1. Atomic Highway
2. Fallout: Indianapolis – From SPECIAL to Atomic Highway
3. From The Imperial Forges released @ DriveThruRPG