Let’s see what’s behind the round window.

Todays deep dive question is “What is the 2nd RPG you bought?”

To answer this one we need to once more jump in to that Delorean and go back to the life shaping year 1988.

It, (to paraphrase a famous quote) was the best of times and the worst times.

In 1988 I was living down in Brighton, studying at the Polytechnic.

It was the first time in my life that I was living away from home. I was adjusting to living in a hilly place. Brighton with its hills is the complete opposite to the Fenland town I had spent my whole life in. Which is flat as a pancake.

The previous year we had “survived” the great hurricane that had hit the UK. With all the fallen tries around Brighton it seemed to an active imagination like mine at the time like Saruman had been at work here recreating Isengard.

The start of 1988 saw my Grandad passing away. I remember being told he’d gone into hospital, and I was planning to travel back to see him. However my aunt (living in Horseham at the time) asked me to call in on the way back. Which I did. It was then she told me he had died.

Later in the year I got to meet Ace Frehley and get his autograph at a record signing in Kingston Upon Thames. Followed a couple days later seeing his first ever UK solo gig. I was buzzing those few days.

During the Summer my brother and I were at the Castle Donnington Monsters of Rock gig. Where we saw KISS. But acts like Guns and Roses were also playing.

We saw one or two other groups that year. But I can’t remember who.

Then in September Dad decided to take his own life. I was at home when this happened. I tried to resuscitate him. I’ll never forget the taste of his breathe. As you can imagine this hit me pretty hard. The new academic year started weeks later. We had barely said good bye before I was back down in Brighton.

My final year (I was doing a two year HND) was more me trying to deal with Dad’s death than studying. It was a very rough time. But I some how passed.

So there you have some context around my purchase of my second RPG. Some of this will be very new information to some of my friends.

From previous posts in this years #RPGaDAY we know that D&D was my first purchased RPG, and that MERP was the first one that I had played.

However my second RPG purchase was not the rules for MERP but the core rulebook for the Elfquest RPG.

At the time I was developing a serious comic book habit, with the Brighton Forbidden Planet being my main dealer of choice.

I had already bought a complete set of the Howard the Duck comic book in the search of the first ever KISS comic book appearance. I really got into Howard the Duck through this search. A love of the character I still have to this day, despite the movie.

I was buying Batman and Punisher comics, Nausiccaa plus some other manga. But more importantly I had stumbled upon the Pini Elfquest comic.

There was something about these wolf riding elves and their search for a new home and other elves that just grabbed me.

So when I found out that there was an RPG (basically by seeing the rule book on the shelves at the Brighton FP) I had to buy it.

Sadly I’ve never gotten to play the RPG. I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and read the rules completely. Only ever skimming through them.

I know there are some criticism of the rules and the bonding of elves with there being little or no control over who bonds to who. In these more enlightened times I’m sure that if this was to be updated that that problematic bit would be dropped or handled more sensitively. Let alone the mechanics simplified and made more accessible.

Maybe one day I’ll get to play it, or use it with a system like Genesys.

What was the second RPG you bought?

“Hello! Hurray! Let the show begin I’m ready.” Alice Cooper.

So what is todays soul searching question about RPGs?

“Who introduced you to RPGs?”

I’ve mentioned before in a previous post how I was first introduced to RPGs.

To save you clicking the link and getting bored even more. It can be summarised succinctly as I stumbled into them.

There wasn’t a particular person that introduced me to them.

I had no friends into them. They were more interested in video games. After all this was at the height of the UK home computer boom. Heck it consumed my life too. Not just playing video games. But coding as well. Where as the majority of my friends stopped there not expanding their horizons. Computers for me helped me grow. Exposing me to new things that a teenager in a fenland market town wouldn’t normally get exposed to.

If I had to name a particular person. I couldn’t. For the reasons above.

But you could argue, and I wouldn’t disagree. That a good case could be made that the staff writers of those early video game magazines that wrote about RPGs were the ones that introduced me to RPGs.

I think I owe them a big big thank you for doing so.

So who introduced you to RPGs?

My day of the week clock is going to be so messed up this week. Mainly because I’m working both days of the weekend.

However I have a transfer date to my new store. Which means this time next week I’m based at a new location. Doing a new role. Very exciting times.

But that’s enough about me. We are here for that day seven goodness of the #RPGaDAY2022 thing.

So todays thought for the day is “System Sunday: Describe a cool part of a system that you love.”

Before I actually share my brief poorly written thoughts on this subject. I just want to say I love the idea of doing a regular Sunday thing looking at a cool part of a RPG that I own. Maybe it’s something I’ll come back to once this death march has finished.

In todays answer I’m going to look at the cool part of the Alien RPG that attracted me to the game.

I’ll admit right here and now I’ve not played the Alien RPG. I have everything for it. But not played. There are plans to run a session or two starting to take place. But nothing solid at the moment.

When I first heard about the Alien RPG obviously the theme of having a RPG set in the Alien universe really attracted me to the game. I love the Alien movies. Love the books, graphic novels, video games set in that universe.

However what really sold me on the game and made it a “I must own this and play it” was when the YouTube channel (sorry can’t remember which) I was watching started talking about the stress mechanic the game used.

“… mounting tension is represented by your STRESS LEVEL. It usually starts at zero, and can increase by pushing dice rolls (see page 60) and by experiencing frightening or stressful situations…“ page 30, Alien RPG Core Rulebook

This is how the core rulebook describes how the stress mechanic works.

“When you push a roll, your STRESS LEVEL immediately increases by one point… When making skill rolls—including the immediate re-roll when pushing—add a number of Stress Dice to your dice pool equal to your current STRESS LEVEL. This means the stress actually increases your chances to succeed at skill rolls—it makes you more sharp and alert. However, if you roll a face hugger symbol on one or more Stress Dice during a skill roll, you risk panic.” page 61

The stress dice should be a different colour to the other dice used in a skill roll. Obviously Free League sell their Alien specific dice (pictured above). However any six side dice can be used.

That push your luck element to represent stress really did impress me. It sounded so cool and simple. And yet effective.

Rolling those dice and seeing the face hugger appear surely must cause the tension to rise not just for the player rolling but also round the table. What’s going to happen on that panic roll? “A Panic Roll can cause your skill roll to fail no matter how many you rolled.” page 61.

A panic roll has you “Roll a D6, add your current STRESS LEVEL, and check the table…” page 104.

As long as your total is less than six, nothing bad happens. But seven upwards bad things start to happen. The severity of that bad thing gets worse the higher your total. It starts off minor but soon gets to “oh shit”.

The more you push your dice rolls the more likely something bad happens when you get the face hugger symbol. So you have to manage that stress level. All of a sudden that skill test you have to pass becomes a difficult decision about whether you push the roll and increase your stress level risking bad things. I can only imagine (at the moment) the tension.

All this just resonated with me. I just needed to play/own this game.

I hope you also found this mechanic cool. What would your answer be.

Day six in the #RPGaDAY2022 house.

Darren is really struggling with todays challenge “How would you get more people playing RPGs?”

Apparently his dislike of streamed games like Critical Role is playing a major factor in hindering him participating in the challenge.

However his only contribution so far has been to hold his RPG sessions (which have on the whole been D&D sessions) in public places like a cinema foyer, or the sports and community centre.

Which he hoped would peak peoples curiosity, get them to ask about what they were doing, even take part in a taster session.

Sadly the last part hasn’t happened yet. But he remains hopeful.

In the meantime the streamed games are proving rather popular and attracting lots of new players to RPGs, particularly that 800 pound gorilla D&D.

Here we go again, day five.

I hope you are taking the opportunity to check out other content providers takes on each days theme/inspiration.

Today we are asked “Why will they like this game?”

Is it the theme?

Is it the story?

Is it the setting/world?

Is it the game mechanics?

Is it all, some, or none of the above?

And we are back with day four of this month long event.

Today I answer the big question on everyone’s mind who is taking part in this, “Where would you host a first game?”

When I ran my first D&D game as a DM, which also happened to be a taster game also, we played in the foyer of The Luxe cinema. A very public location.

Now if I was to repeat the event I’d use our current hosts for Fenland Gamer sessions Wisbech St Mary Sports and Community Centre.

As the photo above shows there is plenty of space to have a couple of tables out.

There is a bar so refreshments can be purchased at a discounted price (compared to a pub or other establishment). We can even purchase food now. Well technically we could before but it was just a couple of rolls as your only choice. And we weren’t guaranteed those being available either.

We can be as private or public as desired. I know the D&D group prefer sitting in a different part of the bar which is more open to the public.

Sometimes that choice is out of our hands because of bookings.

However for a first game I’d try and make sure we had a bit more privacy. Just so that new players felt more at ease and less self conscious.

Where would you hold a first session?

Well here we are day three.

Lets dive straight in.

Todays theme is ”When were you first introduced to RPGs?”

I was first introduced to RPGs way back in the mid eighties.

I’d read about them in one of the many video game magazines I bought at the time. Probably C&VG.

From there I bought a couple of fanzines at the time. I definitely remember reading one of these that mentioned Tunnels and Trolls.

However the first RPG I bought was the classic red box Basic D&D Starter set.

Sadly I had no friends interested in playing.

So it wasn’t until I went to Brighton Polytechnic in 1987 to do an HND in Computer Studies that I joined a RPG society and played my first RPG.

That RPG was MERP aka the Middle Earth Role Playing Game. I played a hobbit (can’t remember the class) called Dram.

It was this society that taught me the secret of making alcholic jelly!

What is your answer for todays theme? Let me know in the comments.

With this post I’m back on track and all caught up.

I’m so glad it was only a day I had to catch up on.

On the plus side you have had a post-tastic day from me to help pass those moments of boredom.

So our inspiration/theme of the day is “What is a great introductory RPG?”

For me, based on my limited experience, a great introductory RPG has to be fun, accessible, not bogged down in rules. Ideally it has to have a good introductory adventure that is challenging but not deadly for the players, but also supports the new DM/GM, and playable in about three hours. Oh and affordable, ideally under £25.

With that in mind, the first RPG that comes to mind is Paranoia. In particular the introductory adventure [YOUR SECURITY CLEARANCE IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH FOR THE TITLE OF THIS ADVENTURE] from the Mission book that comes with the Ultraviolet edition of the Paranoia RPG.

I really do love how this introductory adventure talks a new GM through the adventure. You don’t even need the rulebook handy!

Naturally D&D comes to mind with it’s Starter and Essentials sets. An indepth review of the latest Starter set by Sly Flourish shows that the included adventure has support for a new DM. Although the included rules books are cut down from the full blown equivalents they are still a lot of reading before hand.
However in Sly Flourish’s Uncovered Secrets Volume 2 (a Patreon exclusive at the moment) there are rules for a ”One-Sheet 5e”.

“This simplified version of 5e helps experienced DMs teach new players or lets anyone to run quick improvised 5e games including guidelines for creating simplified 1st level characters.”
Which although I haven’t used yet, are printed out and in my DM folder ready for that introductory session.

So thats my two suggestions for todays theme. Not very original I know. I’ll try harder tomorrow.

A day late, but here we are once more.

The theme/prompt starting off this years #RPGaDAY is ”Who would you like to introduce to RPGs?”

Gosh this is harder than you think, and its only day one!

There are so many ways you can answer this.

Do you go down that classic dinner party with anyone route? Do you pick people you know? Or maybe go for a more general catch all answer?

Obviously if anyone posts on the Fenland Gamers Facebook page or Discord server they want to try D&D (Usually the one most people are aware of and ask about) we try and accommodate by running a specific beginners taster session first.

One or two of my work colleagues have expressed an interest in trying RPGs. I’d love to run something for them. But there seems so many obstacles to overcome before that happens. The main ones being conflicting shifts, child care, and where to host.

I’d love to introduce my son Nathan to them too. I think he might enjoy them. But it would basically be a DM and single player (Nath), as we would only be playing when I visit. I know D&D can be played like this. But I’d much prefer a system that excels or is made to be played like this. So I need to do some research in this area.

I’ve not done the dinner party route. And despite answering the question I seem to have just listed why I can’t introduce them to RPGs. But that has to be a factor. Unfortunately I have a job that covers evenings and weekends. The times when the majority are free. Which does make things a bit harder. Life does have a habit of getting in the way.

But when it doesn’t I love introducing folks to RPGs.

It’s that time of year again where I spam you with badly written posts about RPGs based on a daily theme.

I nearly forgot all about it (again).

But a day late is better than never or months later.

Below are the planned themes everyone will be sharing about this year.

Don’t forget people will be creating around these themes in many many different ways. Doing a search on the various social media platforms or just your favourite ones for the hashtag should reveal a wealth of amazing content.

As per usual for me, my participation in this annual event will be via posts on here.

Sadly for you. But lucky for me. I only have one day to catch up with. Which means today will be a very heavy post day for me.

So I better get catching up. See you in the next post.