Monthly Archives: May 2020

Random Character #1

#randomcharacter, D&D, RPG

Finally my set of RPG Character Dice Set II arrived this morning. They had been ordered what now seems an age ago, back at the start of February.

I first heard about them whilst watching a YouTube video by Arcane Library about being a minimalist DM.

Basically these dice allow you to create an NPC on the fly during a game. And for the undecided whilst creating a character it could be used to help defeat that indecision.

Here is a quick character created by rolling them.

Meet Nura Westbrook a halfling druid, who is Lawful Neutral. I chose the name randomly using the joker card name table from the Deck of Many Dungeons.

Nura is a ghostwise halfling from Chondalwood and is a guardian of the nesting grounds of the giant owls that her clan use as warrior mounts.

An egg was stolen and Nura has ventured out to recover the egg and bring justice to those that stole it.

Mothership An Initial Impression

RPG

Last night I fell asleep to the latest Roll for Crit live play that they uploaded, which this time was for the RPG Mothership. A game they decided to play in honour of Mother’s Day. Which I assume is this weekend for the Americans. The real Mothers Day was earlier in the year.

I must stress before I go any further I haven’t played this game yet. I only came across it last night. But wanted to share what I found out about the game with the world.

Mothership is a sci-fi horror RPG, that uses d10. It’s obvious by the look of the game that it has been influenced by the Alien movies.

So if for whatever reason the official Alien RPG doesn’t appeal to you, but you want that Sci-fi horror feel. Then Mothership just might be worth a look.

It is possible to play Mothership for free. The rules are available on DriveThruRPG on a pay what you feel basis. So if funds are tight at the moment then you can pay nothing for them.

The rules are short. Only 44 pages and that includes character sheets etc. So it’s not a heavy system.

What is missing that other RPG publishers normally include in their rules (along with more rules) is an introductory scenario. Plus advice on creating adventures for the system. Although there is plenty of advice out there on that subject. Some tips on creating a horror inspired adventure would have been welcome.

So if you want to play for completely free then you will have to prep an adventure yourself. However there are four modules plus two pamphlet modules from the publisher. The pamphlet modules are “double sided tri-fold brochure and contains all the information you need to play an excellent one-shot.” I like this idea and hope it gets picked up more by publishers/creators (although there is the one page dungeon). Including a pamphlet module in the rules would have been a great addition that would not have increased the page count drastically. Having said all this the actual cost of the modules isn’t a great amount (under $10 for the main ones, and $2 for the pamphlets).

I love that on the official website (and in the rules) are player cheat sheets (something that WOIN and the Judge Dredd RPG could do with), and all the other usual stuff you’d expect for an RPG like character sheets etc.

This looks like a cool alternative to the more costly official Alien RPG (which itself looks pretty cool) that would be ideal for running one shots, where there are not a lot of rules to remember.

Official Website

Random Dungeon #8

#randomdungeon, D&D, RPG

Back to using the Map and Dice Playing Cards to generate a random dungeon.

With the party entering this dungeon through the Grim Gate (Ace of Spades) I see this being a long forgotten dwarven outpost on the side of a mountain.

The path leading up to the Grim Gate is a small, worn trail, More likely to be dismissed as a goat path than once belonging to battle harden dwarven warriors.

I like the idea of stealing from Tolkien and Lord of the Rings and that famous door to Moria scene. So to get into the dungeon the party will have to work out how to open the Grim Gate. However each failed attempt increases the likely hood that some unseen horror will appear and attack the party. I’d use clues like the temperature starts to drop, they notice some rocks falling etc.

How do RPGs handle approach sensitive and controversial themes

D&D, RPG

Last Sunday’s youtubers video by Jamey Stegmaier (embedded below) was all about how “How Games Approach Sensitive & Controversial Themes”.

Apart from the theme of a game Deliverance not being what first came to mind (hill billies, river trips and squealing like a pig are not apparently what this game is about) this subject got me thinking about D&D. But not only D&D but other RPGs and settings.

RPGs can involve sensitive and controversial themes. For instance look at the Android settings and how bioroids and clones are treated. There are obvious parallels with slavery. In one of the FFG novellas there was even a story with the futuristic version of the underground railway for clones.

Then there is Vampire: The Masquerade an RPG that is for mature players because of its “…graphic and written content of a mature nature, including violence, sexual themes, and strong language.” (Taken from the warning https://www.modiphius.net/collections/vampire-the-masquerade).

So that’s just a couple of examples of official products that contain sensitive and controversial themes. Then we have the actual campaigns and adventures that a DM/GM come up with as well.

There have been a couple of high profile examples of where a DM/GM has abused a position of trust and chosen a subject that is controversial and in my opinion inappropriate for a RPG and has no place in a game whatsoever. Last year there was a GM at UKGE that made the headlines. Then just weeks ago an internet famous GM Adam Koebel caused the cancellation of one of his internet shows.

So how do we handle potential sensitive and controversial material in RPGs?

From an official setting point of view there is the warning about content. Such as that given by the publishers of Vampire: The Masquerade. Everyone playing the RPG should be made aware of that warning. If at an open gaming session at a con, at the start of the session. Or during the session zero.

Similarly EN Publishing give a warning about the content of a published adventure for the Judge Dredd and Worlds of 2000 A.D. called Nobody Expects the SJS! “This scenario involves themes of harsh interrogation and psychological and physical abuse. Please ensure you talk with your players before hand about their feelings in this area.”

As a gaming group the DM/GM during the session zero (that’s the session before any play starts where players create characters, and discuss the up and coming campaign) should be discussing the themes that the upcoming campaign will be touching on. But what’s more important is that the DM/GM makes sure that the players are comfortable with those themes, and giving the players a chance to indicate publicly or privately (because they may not be comfortable discussing in public) whether they are happy with those themes.

During play there is the possibility to use X cards. These allow players during play to discreetly indicate that the current subject matter is unsuitable and making them feel uncomfortable.

I think it also helps if a DM/GM “knows” his players. I knew for my D&D group that I had to avoid certain themes/subjects because of the beliefs of one of the group.

The nature of my campaign means that it is possible that new themes to cover crop up during the campaign as story ideas come along. So I’ve checked with the group that they are comfortable with this new theme. That was an open discussion before a session. Before I start using that story idea and theme I will once again bring the subject up with a bit more detail and give the players an opportunity to publicly and privately discuss this with me.

These two measures should stop incidents happening like the ones mentioned above. But that’s only if everyone follows them. They don’t stop it happening if the DM/GM doesn’t use them or ignores them. We can’t stop people being dicks.

That’s how RPGs handle sensitive and controversial themes.

A sleep deprived incoherent ramble

D&D, RPG

I awoke in the middle of the night to let the dogs out for a nature break. Upon returning to bed I decided I’d fall asleep again listening to Roll for Crit play the Chariots of God adventure for the Alien RPG.

That was a mistake.

I ended up looking at the pdf copy of the rulebook that I had. The game can be played in to modes. A campaign mode and a cinematic mode.

The cinematic mode is basically a one shot adventure. That the authors suggest be played with pre-gen characters. They liken this mode to being similar to a movie. It’s probably the only way I’d get to play this RPG.

However in the section of the rulebook there is a panel that has a list of inspiration for players and games masters alike. It wasn’t a big list, unlike the ones in the D&D Players Guide and DM Guide. But looking at it was another mistake I made.

I was soon on Audible spending some of the credits I had to get some of the recommended reading. Three of the books had been dramatised by Audible. Which was pretty cool. Especially when I saw the first had Rutger Hauer listed amongst the cast.

There was also some books listed that provide background info about the universe Alien is set in. They cover ship specs, vehicle details, weapon specs, etc. Great resources for a GM.

It got me thinking I love it when there are books like this available for something. They help provide a rich tapestry, a depth and life to the world the movie/book/game is set in. Especially when it’s an existing universe, and we are not waiting for the RPG publisher to release this sort of information.

From a GM point of view the stories, the books about the universe are great inspiration. They provide details that help bring a campaign/adventure alive. A location or event described by a single sentence might be enough to inspire a whole campaign or quest.

In my homebrew adventure I was inspired by the map of the Sword Coast and the islands that form the Moonshae Islands along with the smaller island clusters nearby. Heck we have spent our first seven sessions just around the Mintarn group of islands. The players haven’t even made it Moonshae yet.

Although sometimes it can get all too overwhelming. Information overload. It can get daunting. Just look at the amount of stuff out there for the likes of Star Wars and Star Trek. Where do you start?

You can let the characters back stories guide you. Pick a point on a map that looks interesting (that’s basically what I did above). Use a location in a story you enjoyed. Heck you could even just borrow the story itself.

But once you have that starting point it’s just a matter of following the advice from much much more experienced DM/GMs than me, and start small, start local, and spiral out.

Watching, reading other RPGs is usually a mistake for me because I want to get them to the table and explore the worlds they open a window into. I now want to explore the Alien universe. Tomorrow it’ll be Mega City 1. Not enough time, or players.

Muties incoming

Judge Dredd, RPG, Strontium Dog, W.O.I.N.

If you listened to the latest episode (that’s number 97) of Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk you will be rather excited with the news that the pdf for the Strontium Dog rpg is possibly dropping pretty soon. Potentially around the 7th of May if we are really lucky.

I do like the WOIN system used by the Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000 A.D. So I’m pretty excited to see how they bring this great character and being a strontium dog to life.

I hope that Strontium Dog also gets the same level of support that Judge Dredd has campaign book wise.

The three campaign books for Judge Dredd so far follow major story arcs from the long and rich history of the comic strip. Naturally they have started off with the earliest ones first, and going forward in chronological order.

What I like about these campaign books is that they expand the world of Judge Dredd, new exploits, careers, weapons etc. The usual stuff that you’d expect, themed around the story arc being covered by the campaign.

Along side the campaign that follows the story arc (which are Judge focused naturally) you get short adventures based around a handful of stories from the issues that followed that arc. Plus a campaign themed around the story arc for perps and citizens.

Although the Cursed Earth breaks that formula a little focusing more on hooks etc that can be used instead of short adventures.

So having these campaign books as a guide I’d love if EN Publishing did something similar for Strontium Dog, even if it gathers two or three arcs together.

In the meantime I’m digging out my collected Strontium Dog books and rereading them.