30 Days of GameMastering--Day 5!

It's Day 5 of Lindevi's 30 Days of GameMastering challenge; let's do it!

Stealing like an artist:  what inspiration have you drawn from other games, books, movies, etc.?

I'd be an utter liar if I didn't say that I steal ideas shamelessly.  When I come across something interesting, I find a way to toss it into my games.  I use maps from adventures with NPCs from other systems and plot points from random campaign settings.  Anything that makes my game more fun is fair play.

One of my most successful intellectual thefts came in appropriating Stephen King's The Dark Tower mythos and pulling it into Deadlands.  Roland's quest, Blaine the Mono, and Maerlyn's Grapefruit fit into the Deadlands universe like a hand in a glove, with my players meeting a number of movers-and-shakers in both mythologies.

However, the entire point of that campaign was the crossover there.  In terms of stealing an individual element, let me go back to a campaign from long ago:  the Heroes Unlimited game that inspired Cold Steel Wardens.

A must-own for any
Call of Cthulhu fan!

One of the major NPCs that I had intended on using extensively was a bar owner known as Stephen Alzis.  Stephen Alzis was the owner of the Shining Star Bar and Grille in Hub City and actually employed L-Train's vigilante, Lockshanks, as a part-time dj.  Alzis was an enigmatic figure whose most notable interaction with the party occurred when Lindevi's psionicist, Scheherazade, attempted to read his mind.  Wracked with visions of horrific madness, Scheherazade passed out from sheer psychic overload and was plagued by dreams of otherworldly vistas for weeks afterwards.

Stephen Alzis, as a character, comes word for word from the fantastic Delta Green sourcebook, and will soon be its own game.  Alzis's stat block, in its entirety, reads as such:

"Stephen Alzis is many things.  Vulnerable is not one of them."

He's a Cthulhian wild-card of the highest order, able to be whatever you need him to be...and I couldn't pass that up.  While I couldn't appropriate such a character for Cold Steel Wardens--that'd be a huge disrespect to Delta Green, which I love--Alzis' influence can certainly be felt in CSW's seedy underbellly...

In Which The Warlock Shoots for a Straight, but Flops a Full House...

So, remember a few entries ago, when I was wondering about which game to run? I really ended up in a dead heat with the two ideas, tossed between the conspiracy-horror of Delta Green and the gritty, street-level superheroes of DC Adventures. I honestly was having a hard time deciding between the two. Friends and fellow gamers recommended both in almost equal measure, eager to roll up their FBI agent, their power-suited vigilante, or something in between.

Deadlands: Hucksters and Hexes

And so, I debated. I wrote promos for each game. I blogged, obviously. And, in the end, it came down to...none of them.

You see, in amongst the rest of the game ideas I've had, I've had a new love. It's gritty, it's pulpy, and it's got so many plot ideas built in. It has all the elements I love in a game: horror, alternate history, characterization, and deep moral intregue.

As such, I find myself with a full table, ready to run Deadlands Reloaded.

I've been slowly developing an affection for Savage Worlds for a year or two now, with its free-form character development and its speedy, creative combat. But, for whatever reason, Deadlands had always eluded me. Back when I was at Wittenberg, BLoff and his brother had tried to get us to play it, but it lost out in favor of Call of Cthulhu and D&D.

I suppose it's been building in me for a while. I adore Stephen King's Dark Tower saga, and love the creeping horror found in the Weird West. After one read-through of Will the ManMan's Deadlands: Player's Guide, I was hooked. Plot ideas were flowing through my brain like wine, and they had to get out somehow! And so, a new campaign was born.

As such, I have a full table waiting for me on Sunday afternoons: "Follow the Walkin' Man, a King-inspired tale of the Weird West, where the players will start off in Amarillo, and head out on a dark adventure to find out the secrets behind Maerlyn's Rainbow and the Man in Black known only as "The Walkin' Dude".

Stay tuned here to find out more!

One last thing before I let you go for the evening: I'll be running WEGS: Old Skool Redux demos all day at Springfield's Champion City Comic-Con. Swing by between 10am and 6pm for a run through one of two classic WEGS demos: "Dungeons OR Dragons" and "Dwarf Walks Into a Bar". Alternatively, stick around after 6pm for a run through the exclusive debut of my module "WEGS+Cthulhu=WEGSthulhu!" Catch it before it hits this year's WittCon and next year's Origins Game Fair!

Hope to see you there!

In Which The Warlock Shows Off His Swag!

One of the best things about the Big O has always been the swag that we bring home, time after time. As much as I love my game room...we're already filling it up, and this trip didn't help that situation at all!

The Swag from Origins 2010

A few comments:

Wild Cards and Icons: While I had actually pre-ordered Icons before Origins, my hard copy didn't arrive until just afterwards. But, Karl's birthday present for me--a copy of Wild Cards, which he won while at Origins, really will make it interesting. I was totally unfamiliar with George R.R. Martin's serial-novelization, but the universe of Wild Cards is a really unique one, particularly for low-powered yet four-color action. I'm looking forward to giving this one a run this weekend!

Steve Jackson 3/$10 Table: Cardboard Heroes Castles and Valor & Snarl: Each year, I make a point of hitting the SJGames table, to pick through their overstock. Since I've been investing in Dungeon Tiles, the Cardboard Heroes Castles were a no brainer this time around. I'm just waiting for the right opportunity to throw down a fully 3d siege! As for the dragons...well, I just couldn't beat the price!

Delta Green: Of all of the Call of Cthulhu settings and scenarios, I absolutely love the Cold War-style paranoia of Delta Green. While the sourcebooks have been hard to get a hold of, the Big O always serves as a great place to find them. Eyes Only was on sale this year, and I found the Cthulhu Live version tucked away on a discount bin! Can't beat that one!

WEGS Redux and WEGS: Dice Rule! Ah, yes! The fruits of my labor! You see, after working for El Willy, editing his text since last July, it was absolutely a blast to see these in print. Plus, I was able to grab up #88 of the first print run on each book--the best Good Shot there is! :D

Miniature Swag from Origins

Like I said, the PlatinumChick and I picked up a ton of minis! She has a propensity to pick up half-naked warrior-women, while I skew more towards monsters (since I GM so often) and towards dwarves (because I like dwarves!). I'm particularly proud, though, of the two mages I found on the discount bin, and the Ptolus Pistoleer that I picked up for $1.50.

Another Craig T. Nelson

And, best of all, I found another Craig T. Nelson mini! Actually, truth be told, I found three: two of which I gave to EEE and L-Train to enjoy. Go Flesh Gordon, go!

Our dwarves, fresh from Sibilant Whispers

Naturally, I gave out the minis to The Professor, Chaotic Frederick, and Karl that belonged to them, but the PlatinumChick's and mine will look great on our mantle. Here's for hoping that I can get them painted sometime soon!

SunnyVale Acres--Draft I

Oh, and what's this? This would be a prototype for a certain SunnyVale Acres board game, about to hit playtesting. I'll keep you posted on the gory details!