Category Archives: RPG

Paranoia Friend Computer

Paranoia, RPG

I may have started repeating myself. Forgive me if I have I’m getting old and my memory isn’t what it used to me.

In the past when talking about the Paranoia RPG I may have mentioned possible influences to use when as the GM you play friend computer.

For me there are four famous or infamous computers that come to mind that can be channeled when playing the computer.

Those being GlaDOS from the Portal games, Eddie the computer from Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, Max Headroom from the tv series and the most obvious of all Hal9000 from 2001.

Choosing any of them as the inspiration for playing friend computer would be cool. But even cooler mashing up the personalities during a session. I like the idea of a multiple personality computer. You could use a die roll to choose which one makes an appearance when friend computer has to interact with the troubleshooters.

I think having a sheet or two of appropriate quotes for which one(s) you are using as inspiration is a good idea. For instance this website has all the lines of dialog for GlaDOS. Go0gle is your friend here, as is watching/reading the source material.

If you are a patreon of Matt Colville you can get a pdf of the computer dialog he wrote for the introductory mission [YOUR SECURITY CLEARANCE IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH FOR THE TITLE OF THIS ADVENTURE]. Which was by the way inspired by Eddie the computer. I’ve also included the streamed play through below. There aren’t many streamed play throughs of RPGs I can watch, but this is one of the few I can.

Mongoose publishing have an official product the RAM deck that is full of wisdom from friend computer for a GM to share with the troubleshooters.

Which ever way you decide to play friend computer, wherever you get inspiration from, it’s an opportunity to have fun.

Random Dungeon #10 AND Random Character #3

#randomcharacter, #randomdungeon, D&D, RPG

It’s been a little while since I’ve done one of these random dungeon posts, and also a day or two since I’ve posted anything on here. For the later it’s only natural that there will be gaps between posts due to world events.

The worm tunnels and the disturbed burrows got me thinking this random dungeon is crying out for a purple worm as the big bad.

I see this mini dungeon something an adventuring party stumbles across as they ‘explore’ the sewers of some city. They enter through the ratstink sewer, where they discover a cult that worship the purple worm.

I think the dice generated an interesting party if you wanted to use them as the inspiration for characters to play.

But they also work as a supporting cast to help take on the purple worm. This could be a party of adventurers that entered via the cave entrance and hired to hunt down purple worms by a local dwarven community that had their mining activities ruined by purple worms, the death toll to them had been numerous.

The Inspiration I’d Use For The Alien RPG

Alien, RPG

I have vague memories of watching Alien for the first time late at night on the tv in my bedroom. Obviously I wasn’t old enough to have seen the movie at the cinema. So I had had to wait for it to make it to television.

But I’ve been a fan of the movie and the franchise ever since.

It’s also why I jumped on the bandwagon for the Alien RPG.

The obvious jumping off point are the Alien movies (Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection) and the prequels (Prometheus and Alien: Covenant). As far as the RPG is concerned the Alien vs Predator movies are not cannon.

Within the Alien RPG core rulebook on page 219 they give a reading list that apart from three of the suggestions can be found on Audible. Which was handy for me with a few spare credits burning a hole in my virtual pocket. But the reading list is a great starting off point. Which is as follows:

ALIEN: THE COLD FORGE by Alex White, and OUT OF THE SHADOWS, RIVER OF PAIN, SEA OF SORROWS. The later three are available as audio plays, and really well produced. I’m a fan of audio plays so I jumped at getting them.

Also on Audible is ALIENS: BUG HUNT by Scott Siegler and others. However the graphic novel ALIENS: DEAD ORBIT by James Stokoe is obviously not. The first of two “technical” books in their list THE WEYLAND-YUTANI REPORT by S.D. Perry is unsurprisingly not suitable for the audio treatment.

ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES TECHNICAL MANUAL by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood is another of their suggestions. One that I’d add is the William Gibson script for Alien III that was never made, and for a long time lost. And has now been turned into an Audible audio play.

But I can also get inspiration from out side of the Alien franchise, the sci-fi horror genre is a rich one to draw upon. Naturally any list will never be comprehensive. But the ones below are movies I’ve enjoyed and think would make cool cinematic scenarios for the Alien RPG.

Yeah The Thing prequel that was done might be worth a look but it’s not a patch on Carpenters take on the book.

Obviously one or two of these suggestions have been influenced by the Alien movies.

But as you can see more than one of these films is set underwater.

Ok I lied about Underwater nobody liked that movie.

Inspiration for the campaign side is a different thing totally and something I’ll cover in a future post.

What movies would you watch to help inspire you for playing an Alien cinematic scenario?

Dune board game gets spicier!

RPG

Sadly with the current state of things out in the big bad world, getting the email from Modiphius saying I’d been chosen to take part in the closed beta/play test for the upcoming Dune RPG wasn’t as exciting news as it should have been.

Despite the relaxation of the lockdown going ahead (even if the what little evidence the Government has released doesn’t really back this decision up), I’m being a lot more cautious. I’m not going to put Nan or Mum in danger because Boris’s mates are losing money.

So in the interest of reducing the risk of exposure to them it’s going to be a few weeks before I’m going to be socialising in a public space, and therefore gaming. Which means I’m not in a position to help out Modiphius and get a sneak peak at a RPG I’m very keen to play.

In the meantime we have seen the release of an expansion for the Dune board game.

Over the years while the game was out of print the Dune board game became this mythic beast that people would speak in awe of, and how much they loved playing it. Last year saw Gale Force 9 reprint the board game with some game play tweaks. Naturally I got a copy and the game did not disappoint.

I’ve been a fan of the books for decades now, along with the David Lynch movie. For me the board game captured the spirit of the first book perfectly.

Last week saw the release of the Ixians and Tleilaxu House Expansion for the game.

So basically we have two more factions to choose from when playing the game.

The expansion has everything you need to add the two new factions to the game, cards, tokens, faction shields and player aids.

Understandably I’ve not played with these yet. Heck it popped through the letterbox yesterday. Plus the social distancing etc (see above). However I can’t wait to get the game to the table and play with these new houses. But there are so many games I want to get to the table when it’s safe to do so.

If you compare what you get for your money to say the Alien RPG Maps and Markers pack, this expansion is amazing value.

A look at the Alien RPG Maps & Markers Pack

Alien, RPG

More Alien RPG stuff, this time it’s the Maps and Markers pack.

The Maps and Markers pack consists of a large double sided map, and markers to use with the game.

Let’s look at the markers first.

The markers provided are meant to enable the tracking of characters, aliens, motion tracker pings, spaceships and and space combat actions.

As you can see below the markers are double sided cardboard. On the none spaceship/combat action markers one side is the tracker ping with a letter identifier. Whilst the other is an icon plus a letter identifier. The letter identifier is barely readable.

The maps or one side of the maps I have a big problem with.

The side I’m ok with is the star chart of the known charted universe. It’s a star chart.

The other side on the other hand is not as advertised. If you were buying this so that you’d have the required maps/floor plans to use along side the Cinematic adventure Chariots of the Gods. Which it is advertised as and even says so on the back of the packaging. Then you are are out of luck. What they actually give you is the maps for the sample Cinematic adventure Hope’s Last Day that is in the Alien RPG core Rulebook.

A bit of a big mistake. It looks like if you really want the maps for Chariots of the Gods you are going to buy the new boxed set in August.

The map is also not a battle map. As the photo shows below with a couple of tokens on it. The tokens look too big and cover up chunks of the map. It’s ok for showing a rough position.

I think this Maps and Markers kit is over priced for what it is. Especially considering you are not getting the maps you are expecting. I’d have liked to have seen bigger more useful maps. This is the only official product where I feel I’ve been ripped off.

Chariot of the Gods

Alien, RPG

The last three months or so have seen me resurrect my baking skills and extended them. I’m now baking two sourdough loaves a week (I love the toast it makes) plus until two weeks ago shortbread biscuits which have been replaced with pound cake. I’m developing a serious pound cake addiction.

Apart from the fact I’m enjoying the consumption of what I bake. What spurs me on and gives me a warm feeling is the joy my baking brings to Nan. She doesn’t eat much of it. But she loves seeing it straight from the oven, and having a small bit of whatever has just been baked once cool enough.

I have picked up a hard copy of the cinematic adventure Chariot of the Gods for the Alien RPG. This is technically the second published Alien RPG cinematic adventure if you count the mini adventure in the core rule book.

I’ve yet to run an Alien RPG game (hopefully once this pandemic has become safe enough to allow people to gather again). But reading this cinematic adventure it’s obvious they are at least on paper written differently from a D&D adventure.

A cinematic adventure comes with pre-generated characters, cast of NPC’s, agendas, maps, events and descriptions of key locations on the maps.

The pre-generated characters are the first difference. Cinematic adventures are the Alien RPG version of a one-shot. So the expectation is that the adventure is completed in a single session or possibly a second at most (depending on the duration of a session). They are also seen as a great intro to the Alien RPG and also for sessions at a con. With that in mind you get pre-generated characters for the players to choose from to play.

A cinematic adventure is split in to three acts, and at the start of each act players get a new agenda for their character to replace the previous acts agenda.

For me the biggest difference between this and say a D&D adventure is that within an act things are event driven. Some of the events may be mandatory, but the majority will not be, and may never be used. Very none linear.

The maps and the location descriptions are not any different from any other RPG.

With the act structure and events reading a cinematic adventure is a very different experience to other RPGs. Something that took me a little time to adjust to. It’s going to be very interesting to see what an Alien RPG campaign adventure looks like.

With the map and counters pack (on the way) that’s available, and the deck of cards this adventure is well supported for the GM and players.

The adventure is a softback, and 48 pages. And not bad value.

New D&D Module Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden Announced

D&D, news, RPG

Last night the D&D Live 2020 Roll With Advantage event kicked off. Unlike previous D&D Live events this years is a virtual event (we all know why).

These high profile events are used to announce and launch the new big module for the year. And like previous years (well last year for sure) there was a leak before hand. This time it was at the hands of WotC themselves when they mistakenly put a video live for a fraction of a second on YouTube. But that was long enough for some-one to get a screen grab and spread it around the internet.

What this all means is that the “big announcement” they make just confirms what everyone already knew.

This years big module that we will be getting from mid September is called Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden sees WotC revisiting the horror genre, but setting it in the icy wastes of Icewind Dale. When I heard this I instantly thought The Thing, 30 Days of Night. During the big reveal they mentioned there are around 40 stat blocks in this module, the most they have included in a module, They also mentioned that the module has been designed similar in approach to the Essentials Kit adventure. Which means you can dive in and out of the module and drop individual adventures into your own campaign, or run it as a normal campaign.

I’m pretty excited by this module. The horror genre is something I want to get to the table either in my campaign or running something like this or the Alien RPG.

Naturally there is the usual 3rd party tie in from Beadle and Grimm.

This box of props and handouts etc tied to the module is $499. A tad expensive for the majority of players and DMs. But still if this is something you can afford I’m pretty sure it’ll enhance the gaming experience.

There is also by now the standard and not surprising at all matching dice set.

I like these sets, but it’s getting a bit boring now. I think it’s about time WotC decided to be a bit more creative on the official accessories.

Plus there is the usual Wizkids minis support for the module. Which I find it hard to get excited about because they availability I found isn’t great, especially in the UK. Plus they are random packs, so you are not guaranteed to get what you want. A total turn off. Although the 2D standees and village paper craft stuff they briefly mentioned did sound interesting. Well the standees, I’m not sure about paper craft stuff.

Another big thing they were showing off was the footage and game play from the upcoming Baldur’s Gate 3, which was co-hosted/partnered by IGN.

WotC also announced a D&D cookbook.

I wasn’t overly impressed with the live demonstrations of a couple of the recipes. When they did the cocktail that seemed like jumping the shark for me. Cocktails in a medieval/fantasy setting doesn’t seem too authentic to me. And that was the kind of angle they were pushing. The Elven bread recipe that they demonstrated and put the page up on their website annoyed me. Well the recipe did. It measured stuff in cups. No weights. The melted butter measurement was given as half a stick of butter or half a cup. It’s obvious this is a US only type recipe book. But the recipes should have measurements in cups (for the yanks) and weight, ie 400g/2 cups (I’m not sure that’s right, it’s for illustration not use). The volume measurement is not very accurate and inconsistent. From my favourite cookbook Ratio by Michael Ruhlman, he wrote ,”A cup of flour can weigh anywhere between 4 and 6 ounces. This means that if you are making a recipe calling for 4 cups of flour, you might wind up with a pound of flour in your bowl or you might end up with 1 ½ pounds.” as an example of why he uses weight and not volume measurements. In the UK our butter is not sold as sticks and don’t equate to US equivalents. So the recipe is not very considerate towards an international audience. Bad call WotC in your new age of inclusivity not considering international customers.

Apart from the module, I found the whole online event and announcements underwhelming. A bit of a damp squib. I’m sure that many found the Baldur’s Gate 3 stuff exciting. But not something I’m not interested in as it won’t be on anything I own.

GM/DM Screens

Alien, D&D, Judge Dredd, Paranoia, RPG

To use a DM/GM screen or not to use a DM/GM screen? That is the question.

There’s not a right or wrong answer. It’s all done to your personal preferences.

Some prefer not to use them, and have everything in the open. Others like using them and keeping an element of surprise.

I fall in the later camp. I like them.

For me a GM/DM screen does the following. It firstly gives me access to handy tables that I use and refer to during a session. Secondly the side the players see with it’s art work helps set the tone etc for the campaign/session. Thirdly it allows the DM/GM organise and have things like miniatures, props, maps ready without being seen by the players and keep that element of surprise. Finally if you want to roll dice without the players seeing the result, and thus fudge the result if need be (but the discussion whether that’s a good thing or not is a whole different post all by itself.) I also like that a screen gives me somewhere to clip NPC character cards, or pictures relevant to the current encounter/location.

My personal preference is that a screen is landscape. It gives you the benefits I talked about above, without totally feeling you are cut off from the players.

It’s possible to purchase (or make) a generic DM/GM screen. These are blank screens that you can attach your own sheets of paper to that contain the exact information that you require. These are a bit more expensive than the dedicated screens you get for particular systems. I haven’t gone this route yet.

Naturally I have built up a small collection of screens for different RPGs that I own (which I may or may not have played yet). What follows is a brief look at the ones I own and my thoughts about them.

Official D&D DM Screen – This is a landscape screen that has four sections. The art the players see is cool, but generic D&D (image above ‘borrowed’ off the Internet). I really like this screen. For a noob DM like me it’s perfect. There is a lot of information on the DM side, such as status conditions, available actions, encounter distances (a very very handy table), DC levels, plus lots more. Information that you will use a lot during a session. I really do like this screen a lot.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh (GoS) DM Screen – When WotC release a campaign book usually a third party like Galeforce 9 get the licence to produce a DM Screen for it. This is by said licensee for the GoS book. Like the official screen this is landscape with four sections. The information naturally contained on this screen is geared towards running a GoS campaign or one that involves a lot of sea travel. We have tables for generating random ships, encounters on open water and hazards at sea. I love the art on the player side, and think it sets the tone and atmosphere really well for a sea based adventure. In fact to date that has been my main use for the screen! I have this in front of the official screen when the characters are at sea.

In an ideal perfect world I’d have this screen up along side the official screen.

Judge Dredd and Worlds of 2000 A.D. RPG GM Screen – this is a four section portrait screen. So it stands taller than the previous two mentioned and is not as wide. The player side of the screen has some great comic book art on it that definitely sets the tone, especially if playing judges. I like that it also has a handful of tables that players would find useful having access to for sentencing, and for their standard equipment the lawgiver and lawmaster. I’m conflicted with this screen. I feel that the publisher wasted a section by focusing on character creation. For me I’d preferred if this was replaced with information on creating dice pools and combat. Something a GM would use a lot more than the character creation information. I like the table listing NPCs and the page in the rulebook they can be found. The on patrol table is handy to have for generating on the fly crimes for players to handle. But the whole character creation stuff keeps niggling me from making this a must buy for the RPG. I hope that if they release a Strontium Dog version of this that they don’t make the same mistake.

Paranoia RPG – another portrait screen with four sections. This is a different screen to the others. The player side is designed to be used by the players! You actually need to keep the sheet of paper that comes with the screen as it has instructions and a table for when the players do use the screen. It’s very thematic. There are lots of tables on the GM side covering the cost of equipment, rewards, security levels, etc. Not the prettiest screen by far. Very practical with a fun player interactive element. I feel that alone is in keeping with the tone of the game. I think the only way this could be improved is to have a table of computer speak.

Alien RPG – my newest screen. This one is a landscape screen with three sections. So once again this is not as wide as the D&D screens. The player side art just oozes Alien, suspense and horror. The information on the GM side looks useful, there is the panic roll table, critical injuries, and other tables relevant to combat. There isn’t much I can say apart from this is a nice GM screen, and I’m glad I have it for the RPG.

There we have it, I hope you found this a helpful post.

Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica Extras

D&D, magic, MtG, RPG

With the digital version of Mythic Odysseys of Theros having hit D&D Beyond eight days ago, and the physical release still over a month away. I thought I’d look at the extras WotC released for the previous crossover between D&D and MtG, Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica.

First up is the themed dice set that was released.

I like the overall presentation of this dice set.

The dice set comes in a cardboard sleeve that shares it’s artwork with that of the sourcebook.

The tin is very pretty for a dice tin. I love the lid with the embossed guild symbols, and the artwork on the outside of the main tin.

Inside the tin we have the following dice: 1d4, 4d6, 1d8, 2d10, 1d12, 1d20 and a large d10 with the guild symbols on. You’d only use this to randomly select a guild, for instance during character creation, or for an NPC.

The tin itself is probably twice as deep as need be for the dice included. That extra space taken up with foam padding. Obviously you are not going to use this as a dice tray (which one or two of the later sets could be used for). However as a general dice storage box it’d be ideal.

At over £20 originally this dice set was in my opinion a tad on the expensive side. However in the last few months that price has dropped with some retailers and can be picked up for less than £15. At that price I think this becomes an affordable option that makes it worth considering if you are in the market for another dice set. But not if you only want that guild die.

The next extra is the Maps and Miscellany pack.

Once again the art used for the cover of the cardboard wallet that the contents comes in is the source book art work.

For the money you get 7 double-sided colour maps showing the precincts of the Tenth District with reference information on the back of each for that precinct.

There are also 11 double-sided maps of locations associated with the guilds themselves, and these too also have reference material on the reverse.

The contents are completed with two perforated sheets of cards (18 cards in total) that have character illustrations on one side and descriptions of guild charms on the other.

The guild location maps look like Dyson Logos maps. WotC have been using him for maps. And like many others I like his art style. I’m not sure who did the art for the district maps.

All the contents within the pack are A4 in side. Each map is card with a finish that is meant to be used with a dry eraser.

On the guild location maps the reverse information is made up with a smaller version of the opposite sides map with room labels (these are missing from the other version). A description of the location can be found along side a d10 Adventure Goal table.

On the district and precinct maps we get key location descriptions and a d12 table for people on the street of that district/precinct.

I like the summary information included on both map types. Although if using the location maps with the players if you have to keep referring to the labelled b-side I don’t think it’s very practical. I’m also not convinced about the A4 size for use during play. It seems too small.

The cards are useful for not only a campaign on Ravnica but for any D&D campaign to illustrate NPCs. And the guild charm side of the card a very handy reminder for players to have in front of them during a session.

Once again at £20 plus originally I felt a tad on the expensive side. However shopping around it can be found for a lot less. There are some nice touches. But I have doubts about the practicality of the maps during a session.

Using the DMs Guild it is possible to pick up a pdf of the two adventures that WotC did for two of the MtG Ravnica weekends. These were weekends tied in with the major Guilds of Ravnica MtG sets at the time, and used to introduce MtG players to D&D, and possibly less so D&D players to MtG.

Krenko’s Way is a reprint of the adventure you find in the Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica. Whilst A Zib For Your Thoughts is a new adventure that takes place weeks after the events of Krenko’s Way. And also comes with some pregenerated characters.

These two adventures are $4.99 on the DMs Guild with the money going to the Extra Life charity (something WotC supports each year).

Wizkids also released some painted miniatures for Guildmasters of Ravnica. But I don’t have any of them.

I think that covers everything. Hope you found the summary helpful, if not rather late. But then if like me you are only now just getting this stuff you like me saving money.

Strontium Dog RPG first impressions

Judge Dredd, RPG, Strontium Dog

With the pdf of the Strontium Dog RPG in the hands of those that pre-ordered the physical version from the EN Publishing for a couple of weeks. I thought it was about time I shared some early thoughts/impressions.

First up I need to stress that this is not a stand alone RPG. So don’t go buying this thinking you have all you need to start play a Strontium Dog adventure. As the cover clearly points out you also need a copy of the Judge Dredd & The worlds of 2000 AD RPG. So factor that into the costings when you are considering to purchase this or not.

I should also point out that these thoughts are based on the pdf version of the rules. Granted it’s the version that was sent off to the printers by the publishers. So there should be no difference really.

I’m a fan of Strontium Dog and have been reading his stories since he appeared in the pages of Starlord and then made the jump to 2000 AD when the sales of Starlord forced it to be swallowed up by the better selling title.

I like what EN Publishing are doing with the characters they have access to. With Judge Dredd they are releasing campaign books that follow major story arcs from the comic strip, in the order that they appeared with comics. They are also not rushing them out, and making sure they release a quality product. So it is my hope that they continue this trend with Strontium Dog.

Within the pages you get no surprises, the expected rules for creating characters, equipment, setting information, some interconnected adventures, stats for NPCs and creatures/robots.

I think like me most people that get this source book will be wanting to create and play Strontium Dogs. When it comes to creating our character this rulebook basically replaces step 2 (choosing a species), step 4 (choose one of five careers) and step 9 (equipment). For the remaining steps of the character creation process you need that Judge Dredd rulebook.

Species wise we can either be a gronk, howler, human, mutant, robot or stix. But let’s face it most people are going to want to play a mutant of some kind. And there are nice tables that that cover corporeal, metabolic/metaphysical, and cosmetic mutations.

Strontium Dog careers are either civilian, outlaw, or S/D Agent. Compared to the Judges career paths the S/D Agent is pretty simple, and we get a much smaller, more easily digested diagram showing the flow of them.

Equipment we get the iconic electronux, der happy stick, plus generic details for blasters. Naturally there is a nice selection of bombs also to chose from with the obvious dimension warp and time bombs being amongst them. These two particularly can be game changing when used.

Which brings me to time travel and travelling to other dimensions. The rules do advise not to over use these within a campaign. I was hooping for more on the time travel front. What we basically have are some guidelines that amount to ‘keep it light and fun’ and a couple of paragraphs detailing a couple of options for handling time travel.

I like the tables for creating bounty contracts for an S/D Agent to go after.

The timeline with reference to the actual comic strips covered is a great touch.

We get a chapter of six interconnected contracts for S/D Agents to undertake. So these are basically adventures. I always look at this section pretty early on as this is the blue print for how the publisher sees an adventure to be planned. There was an absence of any maps here. I’d liked to have seen some pre-gen characters here as well, along with a generic floor plan or two of a starship.

Overall this lives up to the usual high standards that I’ve come to associate with EN Publishing. If you already have the core Judge Dredd rules, I think this is a no brainer if you are a Strontium Dog fan, or want a change of setting. However if you are coming into this as a Strontium Dog fan wanting to play as an S/D Agent in an RPG with your friends, and don’t already have the Judge Dredd rules, at roughly £70 to pick up both. I think you’d have to be a pretty dedicated fan, desperate to play an S/D Agent, with deep pockets. I just don’t think it’s worth in that scenario. Oh and I’m going to predict now that’s going to be my thoughts for when the Rogue Trooper rules come out.