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More tomorrow!
- Location:The eye of the storm
- Mood:
contemplative - Music:Radio Riel
( Read more... )
- Mood:
quixotic
For those of you who are interested, the first part is hidden behind the following cut (which I've finally found out how to use, second part tomorrow). For those of you who don't want all the gory details, lets just say that it confirmed a few suspicions we had about elements that needed polishing and brought up a few things we hadn't really considered. So, a success. Next week, Rich will run a game of it for me.
( Read more... )
- Mood:
cheerful
Anyway, the game (pasted from the Collective Endeavour forum):
"The basic premise is that you play a star that has fallen to earth due to your fascination with mortal concerns. When you fell, you lost your starlight and your memory. Recently something triggered the awareness of what you were and a longing to go home, but you are held to earth by your lack of star stuff and ties that you have developed (either as a result of your fall or made during your "blank" period).
In terms of play, its one character in the spotlight per session, with other players taking on the roles of major NPCs. The background details generated during character creation are used to give an idea of the general tone of what each player wants out of their session. Hopefully it can be run in a reasonably traditional way with a GM, but also as a completely co-operative experience, but in both cases ideally every one would be contributing ideas as to what is likely to happen and who the characters are likely to meet.
I hope it would appeal to people looking for something a little whimsical, with a lot of freedom (you can go anywhere in history in your search, but it could be a fantasy, sci-fi or horror setting if that's what you prefer), who like Neil Gaiman, Steven Moffat, Hayao Miyazaki and Guillermo del Toro (to name but a few)."
Its about to get playtested between myself and Rich for a start, then hopefully with the other half of our former gaming group. If anyone else is interested, drop me a line.- Mood: thoughtful
Sorry its a bit late, but we've been off gallivanting again. Sadly, we didn't make it to the party we were going to go to thanks to picking up another version of the lurgy, but at least we got to catch up with some family and friends. And read things, which means that this holiday I've read more than I usually manage in a couple of months. And I completed two embroidery samples for my ladies to choose between for their next class. They'll want to do both, I know it...
So, capsule reviews. I still have no idea how to do cuts, so bear with me:
Zorcerer of Zo (Atomic Sock Monkey): Glad I read nearly all of this after I'd written Fallen (great minds, etc), but a thoroughly entertaining read. The major problem I have with RPGs is the rules section, which usually turn me off within seconds of hitting them. There's a few bits here I didn't grasp straight away, possibly because my Mum was talking to me at the time, but at least I didn't feel the need to give up. Definitely worth a look for a reasonably rules light (and ways to make it lighter) game with an interesting "DVD" commentary track by the players and GM.
Roanoke (Clint Krause): Short (only took about 30 minutes to read), but there's some nicely nasty little ideas lurking in here if scaring the bejeebers out of your players is your thing. Although you could play it with what's included, I think its one of those where I'd feel more comfortable having seen the parent rules (Wushu) before I ran a game. But then, there's nothing to say that you can't just use the suggestions with your favourite rules anyway. Well worth $5.
And some I didn't read, but bought for Richard, who has:
Committee for the Exploration of Mysteries (Eric J. Boyd): Very good, he says. Very nice pulp adventure co-operative storytelling game, but there's plenty of scope to move it away from that setting if you like the general system ideas. A little bit of book-keeping required to keep track of introduced story-telling elements, but nothing horrendous. I think he likes it.
Best Friends (Greggor Hutton): He laughed quite a bit while reading this one. Fun game with a nice mechanic, he says, as well as being a nice and easy read (the result of being well written). He hasn't finished it yet, but he says the same goes for 3:16 (and we did laugh at the Dad's Army joke).
Timestream (Nathan Paoletta, Hamsterprophet): Rich hasn't finished reading this one yet and is struggling with the writing style, but he's being nice and saying that might be due to being distracted at the time. He has promised me a full report when he has finished it.
Ah well, I can't avoid the gigantic pile of marking on the kitchen table any longer, so tomorrow that's me stuck with a red pen in one hand and a laptop (searching Wiki for where the little beggars have cut and pasted from) in the other. Wish me luck!
- Location:Here
- Mood:
blah - Music:The whir of the laptop fan
In the summer, I spent a very odd half an hour sitting in an upstairs room of Belsay Hall, Northumberland. Its a strange place in some ways; the new hall is an empty shell with a beautiful central hall and some nice wood paneling, but that's pretty much it. On this particular day, the regional Quilters were having an exhibition on the ground floor. It was a very well attended exhibition and the work was, as usual, to a very high standard. But the majority of people were staying on the ground floor and not venturing upstairs at all.
I wandered up there and into the corner room that looks over towards the bowling greens and the path to the quarry garden. There was a very odd atmosphere in there; the silence pressed in from all sides and the noise of the people at the exhibition was like the sound of waves breaking on a distant shore. I'd taken a notebook to jot down ideas and inspirations for my textile design work, and getting all lyrical in response to the atmosphere, I sat down and started to write whatever came to mind.
The middle-aged couple got quite a surprise when they walked in and found me sitting cross-legged on the floor in the far corner of the room, facing the door, covered in dust. They shot back out again quickly enough, without saying a word but definitely embarrassed about intruding. I left the room not long after that and funnily enough, they avoided my gaze every time they bumped into me around the house.
That's been sitting there at the back of my mind for a while and when I fancied writing something again, it sort of popped back to the front (I had been intending to write something about an abandoned Big Top, but there you go). Anyways, the game is nearly finished and I need people to read it once the first round of tweaks are sorted (I have a couple in mind, just to forewarn you). After that, I need to think of what to do with it and who to tart my wares to. Any advice in that respect would be very much appreciated.
- Location:At the modern typewriter
- Mood: thoughtful
- Music:Radio Riel
I tend to work hard at one thing, then get tired of it, sickening myself. After a break from it, I'm usually itching to get going again. Its been like that with my embroidery; I became disillusioned for a variety of reasons and then went back to it feeling very much energised and created some pieces I'm quite pleased with. Frustrations have crept in again, not with the embroidery and design itself, but external factors and I'm feeling jaded.
Some of my creativity found its way out in Second Life, where I have a very nice little business, but that's been a bit of a challenge lately as well. I mustn't grumble, hanging about in there has given me a whole new set of skills and a whole new network of friends and accomplices (heck, I'm even a podcaster now), but I miss writing and roleplaying. There are places in SL that you can do that very successfully, as I've mentioned elsewhere, but its very easy to let the brain stultify and fall into easy, safe routine.
So last night, after a talk with my ever lovely (and occasionally sensible) husband, I picked up a fountain pen and a notebook and started to write down ideas. I have no idea where it will go; maybe a scenario for something, or perhaps even a little indie thing. I just need to get it out and onto paper, real or imagined (well, electronic; you know what I mean).
- Location:Between thoughts
- Mood:
restless - Music:Bookends - Simon and Garfunkel
So a couple of capsule reviews before setting off to work:
Perfect:
I picked this up a while ago, but have only just got round to reading it. Nice idea for a background, very dystopian Victorian steampunky style, but to be honest I can't see from the rules how on earth you're going to play it. And boy, if you did play it the way they suggest, it would be miserably depressing. Maybe there's something wrong with me as a gamer, but I roleplay for fun and to be entertained, not to spend an evening feeling truly miserable and wracked with angstyness. It credits "My Life With Master" and I feel the same way about that. Personally, I can see "My Life With Master" working far better as a rollicking comedy game and Perfect as a roaring adventure game rather than all this depressing stuff.
Cats:
Having met John Wick at Dragonmeet, I went investigating. Rich already owned Thirty and was impressed and Seven Seas always looked interesting, so I thought I'd give this one a go. I can see this one working - great adventure, heroic actions, sweeping storytelling and the potential to just tell small stories when all that grand stuff gets a bit tiring. Nicely written, obvious how to use it, familiar enough to step right in but free enough to be what you want it to be. I instantly thought of Neil Gaiman and Sandman, but that's no bad thing as far as I'm concerned.
Zorcerer of Zo:
Haven't got far into this yet, but its reading very nicely. I think I'm going to enjoy it.
And now, back to the real world...
- Location:The really frozen North
- Mood:
bouncy
Any suggestions as to what would make a very fast, entertaining game for total novices and potentially large numbers of them?
- Location:The Frozen North
- Mood: contemplative
Although Wicky-Wa-Wa (Will Smith's version of Wild Wild West, as it is known in our house) is more famous and has the much bigger budget, its always left me a bit cold; very showy, but somehow empty and missing the point. Tall Tale, on the other hand, is smaller and much more personal. How cool would it be if your mythic heroes turned up and helped you not to solve the problem, but figure out how to solve it in your own way? Okay, you couldn't do it too often, but it would certainly add a nice twist to gaming night.
- Location:Taxi route number one
- Mood: chipper
So, I resolved, after wading through lots of practical write-ups, to actually make a start on the smaller and less intimidating books that arrived yesterday. Chublet is enjoying the Committe for the Exploration of Mysteries (although I did get into trouble for perpetuating the Indiana Jones obsession myth we have going with him. What's funnier is that one class of my students independently decided that as a lecturer, my theme tune should be that of Mr Jones himself. Great hilarity ensued and they sing it everytime I walk past them in the corridor).
First up was "Spirit of the Season". Quick, fun and if I hadn't done my usual thing with rule books and gone "gaaaaah" the minute I hit the rules section, would definitely be one I'd use (with Spirit of the Century). Nice character ideas, possibly a bit lacking in hook depth.
Then "1001 Nights". Sat and read this out loud to Rich and although we got a bit confused at first by the dice/gems allocations, this looks like it would be fun after a couple of sessions of stuffing your face and getting very confused as to who was doing what to whom. Not often you get the nibbles after reading a rule book, but what a menu list!
Next up, Zorcerer of Zo. I should hate it for the spelling alone, but how can I when its by a company called Atomic Sock Monkey and has Good Parts only rules? There'd better be truth in advertising, that's all I'm saying, or the monkey gets it....
- Location:Three feet to the left
- Mood: mischievous
Well, not exactly bright, shiny things, but books. Many, many books. Lovely books, full of promising ideas and entertainment.
See, that's what you get when you sort of sneak into roleplaying conventions but don't actually look at the stands - an overwhelming desire to have looked at the stands to see what you've missed recently. Still, trawling Indie Press Revolution and Leisure Games' sites kept me out of mischief when I was at home wheezing and choking. Some of them were hard to find reviews of, some of them were bought for completeness, some of them were bought for presents, some from intrigue and others to support our friends.
So, what did we get (I know Chublet doesn't read this, so he shouldn't going to see his Christmas presents listed, but I will miss off three books just in case seeing as he's sitting on the floor next to me as I type this):
The Committee for the Exploration of Mysteries (cheering up present for poorly husband; he loves Indiana Jones things)
A Thousand and One Nights (the review said better than Munchchausen, so you have to look)
Zorcerer of Zo (the purple colour and silly name were not the only reasons for this, IPR really recommends it)
Spirit of the Season (it looks silly. I like silly)
Trail of Cthulhu (the game we nearly starting playtesting, but subsequently only tested the conversion rules and actually marked the last bit of tabletopping we did)
Tooth, Talon and Pinion for Dying Earth (Simon never thought when he asked for research papers on the gid and the asm for a proposed bestiary that I'd actually write him two scientific research papers. That's what you get for employing a trained research scientist as a freelance writer - be careful what you wish for, you will get it).
Compendium of Universal Knowledge for Dying Earth (tis a weighty tome indeed)
Cats (sadly only available as a PDF, and I have subsequently slaughtered a teeny tiny rainforest to print it out. I can't read stuff on computer screens well and I'm a book Luddite; I love the feel of them in my hands)
Sadly the Book of Unremitting Horror (Gumshoe, not d20) was out of stock and Sweet Agatha is on its way from the States. Two of the must not be named books are here (and I'm pointing at a novel and an old game by a nice beardy Scotsman who knows many stories about Finns) and the other one (him again) is also on back order.
Now all I have to do is read them all. Any reviews gratefully received ;)
- Location:On the sofa, not behind it
- Mood:
awake
