In Which The Warlock Watches the Worrisome...

Unfortunately for me, the PlatinumChick got me sick this past weekend, so I've spent the last two days hacking stuff out of my lungs and trying desperately to clear my sinuses clear.  But, in the meanwhile, there's been a juicy bit of news launching its way through the various rpg news channels.

You see, after about 8 months after coming aboard the "D&D Next" design group, Monte Cook has announced his impending departure.  Mike Mearls' response--ostensibly the Wizards of the Coast 'official' response--came shortly thereafter with a combination of outright shock and distraction technique, as the response contained the official announcement for the public playtest start date: May 24th.

Many have read a good deal into this, particularly given Cook's mention of "not wanting to start drama" and Mearls' seemingly-strange mention that "no one voice can rise above the others, unless it is the voice of D&D fans as a whole".  While Cook mentions in a later entry that he had no personal issues with anyone on the design team, the whole situation smacks of corporate apologism and clashing personalities.

What's worse, this bodes incredibly poorly for the upcoming D&D brand.  I was quick to criticize WotC's choice to bring Cook aboard in the first place, particularly given the apparent lack of knowledge Cook had regarding 4th Edition.   But, as the saying goes, "you don't change horses mid-stream".  With Cook's departure, the current design goals likely to be fragmented and internally opposed, for no other reason than, "that was XXXX's idea--I don't like where he's going with that". 

I'll readily admit--I've signed up for the 5e/Next open playtest and intend to sit in on at least one game during this year's Origins Game Fair.  As much as I hate to say it, people tend to forget that games are a business.  And, at that corporate level, publishing has just as many problems as, say, a corporate takeover. 

Will we see a coherent edition from D&D Next?  Probably.
But, does this sound dark tidings for Wizards of the Coast?  Undoubtedly...

The Warlock's Review: "Lady Blackbird: Tales From the Wild Blue Yonder" (Actual Play)

"What's this?" you say!  Another review, so soon after the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying review?  You bet your sweet bippy, fellow gamers.  It's been a busy time out here, but we've still managed to sling some dice together, even outside of our normal Friday night Deadlands group.

Pages from Lady Blackbird:  Tales From the Wild Blue Yonder

Truth be told, I've been aching to run Lady Blackbird:  Tales From the Wild Blue Yonder for quite a while.  DigitalKat turned me onto this little freebie a few months ago, but while in the midst of our extended foray in The Flood, I hadn't found the right time or situation to throw down Lady Blackbird. 

Did I say "freebie"?  You bet I did.  You see, friends and neighbors, that's the big selling point:  this one is absolutely free.  OneSeven Design, the creators of Lady Blackbird, put this one out completely free, publishing the module under the Creative Commons Licence, along with several other pieces such as The Mustang and Ghost/Echo.  And, before I continue--go download these.  They're all well worth your time, even if you never run them, though I heartily encourage you to do so!

Lady Blackbird falls into that nebulous category of "story games," providing a minimalist approach to mechanics in favor an emphasis on flexibility and creativity for both players and gamemasters.  While the GM never rolls dice--similar to ICONS, rules as written--the players use a simple d6-based dice pool system to determine success or failure.  Start with one die; add another if you have a "trait" that is applicable, then an additional die for each "tag" under that trait that might help you.  If that's not enough dice for you, add from your personal pool.  A die roll of 4-6 succeeds, while 1-3 fails.  Get enough successes and you succeed.  However, failure is enouraged as well, as it returns dice to your personal pool, at the cost of allowing the GM to add in complications for your character. 

The neat thing about Lady Blackbird is that it never plays the same way twice.  When DigitalKat described her run-through, she riffed significantly off of Joss Whedon's Firefly, playing up the two-fisted action.  However, as the descriptions are intentionally left vague, my group took something of a different route.  Beginning in the brig of the Imperial warship "Hand of Sorrow", our group took a "Steampunk Star Wars" vibe from the game, facing off against foes with "phlogiston blades" and "repeating percussion cap" pistols.  Making their way down through the ship's decks, my group evaded and fought their way through waves of Imperial guards, trying to find their way back their ship, "The Owl."

The Owl--our heroes' noble skyship

Natually, in a high adventure vibe, our adventure ended with a confrontation with the Hand of Sorrow's captain and his guardsmen amongst the whistling, open decks of the docking bays of the ship.  Running for their lives, our crew managed to defeat the captain, clamber aboard The Owl, and sail off into the Ether before the Hand of Sorrow could pursue.

What really impressed me most from Lady Blackbird was the transparency of the system.  My players regularly took choices that were "non-optimized", simply because they were available as options and were fitting with their interpretations of the characters.  And, because the dice mechanic was so simplistic, the players focused more on describing their actions and building the over-the-top mayhem.

Really, I can't recommend Lady Blackbird highly enough.  If you want a great introduction to story-based or rules-light gaming, give it a run.  Even if you don't, check out OneSeven Design's numerous other modules.  You'll absolutely find some inspiration there!

The Warlock's Review: Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (First Impressions)

As I mentioned in my C2E2 recap, I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of a game that I've been eyeing up for quite a while:  Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, from Margaret Weis Productions.  While we haven't had a game night to give the game a whirl, I couldn't help but put down my first impressions of the product. 

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
from Margaret Weis Productions

First off, this book is gorgeous.  Obviously, one of the biggest advantages of any comics-licenced property is the massive stable of art that the layout gang is able to pull from, but the choices here are really inspired.  Pulling from some of the best of Marvel's bullpen over the last decade or so, MWP really raises the bar for the feel of a full-power comic book.  The book itself emphasizes this feel, coming in a graphic-novel sized full color paperback that almost feels like you're reading an Avengers trade paperback.

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying is nominally based on the Cortex+ system, used by MWP in the Leverage and Smallville rpgs, though takes a few different spins with it.  A pseudo-dice pool system, MHR rates a hero's powers, skills, and natural distinctions on a scale of d4 up to d12+, which are rolled together.  The two highest dice results are added together to get a result, which is opposed by the target's roll, while a third die type represents the effect of the attempt.  The higher the die type, the more effective the attack is.  Any die showing "1" is called an "opportunity", which allows the opposing faction a chance to act in opposition.

Coupled with this, the hero can conditionally add in more dice to their pool by creating assets and power stunts, through various "SFX" unique to the Hero's power set, using Power Points, and through the hero's affiliation.  Is your hero on a solo mission?  Toss in your solo die.  Are you paired-up with a single other hero, Heroes for Hire style?  Add in the buddy die.  While I like the concept of affiliation--particularly for emulating various types of combat and encouraging players to "split the party" and achieve multiple objectives simultaneously--it's easily the most discardable mechanic.  A multitude of system hacks already exist to refit affiliations into other cases.

Also of note is the "Doom Pool"--a set of dice representing the tension and conflict built into the given scenario.  As players roll opportunities, the Doom Pool begins swelling, allowing the GM--called The Watcher--to trigger villains' abilities and add dice to their attacks.  From a wicked GMing stand point, I love this mechanic.  While it took me a touch to understand all of the uses of the Doom Pool, it really makes for a neat way to make things hard on the PCs.  Plus, use of the Doom Pool typically refreshes heroes' Power Points, which gives the players an incentive to take risks and try stunts, even if they don't pay off.

Hawkeye and Thor! 
We want stats!

The rules for MHR only take up about 120 pages, while the remainder of the book consists of a mini-campaign arc based on Brian Michael Bendis' "Breakout" arc from Avengers and a series of datafiles on popular Marvel heroes.  While I was fairly pleased with the sample adventure, I did have some questions in my mind about the heroes contained within the datafiles.  While the typical Marvel mainstays are there--Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Captain America--there are several notable absences!  No Hulk?  No Thor?  No Hawkeye?  No Wasp or Giant Man?  Is X-Men D-lister Armor really that important as to include them over some of the original Avengers?  Same thing with Sentry, particularly considering he's considered to be an NPC during "Breakout".  While supplemental "event books" are already in the works, based on "Civil War", "Annihilation", and "Shadowland", it would have been nice to see some of the classic Marvel stable, as opposed to more obscure characters.

I also worry somewhat about the ability for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying to portray a darker, more visceral game.  While the game is perfect for encouraging over-the-top action of the current era in comics, I can't see myself running a Watchmen-esque game using this system.  I guess that's good for me!

The PlatinumWarlock's first cosplay?
Time will tell!

However, I also thought of another style of game that might just be great for this:  a Masters of the Universe game.  The over-the-top stunting and team-based mechanics really would make for a great representation of He-Man, working with the various Masters against Skeletor's forces.  I've been meaning to do one of these for a while, and this system just might be the ticket.

Plus, it'd give me a chance to show off my latest--yes, another one--project!  For a few years now, the PlatinumChick has been slowly nudging me towards doing cosplay with her.  And, after seeing some of the great costumes at C2E2, I think I finally know what I might do.  I'm going to start working this month on a Man-at-Arms costume, complete with armor, mace and big-ass blaster!    I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on my progress, of course.  Pics or it didn't happen, right?

Anyway, as for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying?  It's a fantastic little system, with the flexibility of an ICONS coupled with the storytelling capacity of Marvel comics.  While it has a few flaws--set to be remedied in upcoming supplementals no doubt--I'm definitely looking forward to giving this one a whirl!

In Which The Warlock Brings the Wind Back!

Whew!  What a whirlwind weekend in the Windy City, fellow gamers!  C2E2 was an utter blast, with a ton of things to do, people to see, and swag to pick up.  L-Train, the PlatinumChick, CosplayKit managed to drive up on Thursday evening, with Kit's husband David joining us on Saturday after flying in.  And, man-oh-man...what a time!

This was only our second time out at C2E2 out of the three years it's been held, as WittCon conflicted with the date last year.  However, even after only three years C2E2 has really swelled, born upwards on great support by Marvel and TopCow, among others.  The McCormick Place is a really great venue, even if the price for parking and the like is a bit of a shocker.  There's tons of space and lots of brilliant views out over the Great Lakes for photography and more.

I spent most of my Friday hopping between panels.  There were several that I had designs on visiting, but the most useful for me was undoubtedly The Legal Aspects of Becoming Famous--How to Protect Yourself and Your Creations, hosted by Michael Lee--a noted intellectual property attorney.  Lee did a great job of running through a solid introduction to copyright and trademark law, as well as what the up-and-coming creative mind might have to do to protect himself!  This one really gave me a lot of faith about what I need to be doing in terms of Cold Steel Wardens.  Definitely, within the span of this year, keep your eyes peeled for some news on that front!

Black Canary meets the woman
who redefined her!

The PlatinumChick, however, spent the days hunting down her favorite artists and writers around the main show hall.  She was squeeing with delight after meeting up with Phil Hester and Adam Hughes, but the real treat for her came on Saturday, when she got to meet up with her comics idol:  Gail Simone!  Also, she broke out not one, but two of her costumes, going as Black Canary on Saturday and Speedy (Mia Dearden) on Friday.

I was honestly somewhat astounded, though, at the crowd.  While Friday and Sunday were about what I expected, Saturday was utterly jammed!  I had intended on sitting in on the Marvel Television panel, as I'm a huge fan of the new Marvel animated series, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.  However, when I arrived at the room--20 minutes early, mind you--the line for the panel stretched all the way down the hall, into a nearby atrium, around the walls of that atrium and down another hall!  I was flabbergasted and, unfortunately, walked away.  Guess I'll just have to wait for the new episodes like everyone else!

A new venue for some
upcoming freelancing?

If there's one complaint that I had about C2E2, it's the lack of a real gaming presence on the show floor.  While Wizards of the Coast had a fairly large presence two years ago, there were no games going on and only one publisher--Margaret Weis Productions, the producers of the Marvel roleplaying game--in attendance.  I wasn't about to let that opportunity slip, though, as I picked up their corebook and managed to even chat up Cam Banks--the lead designer on Marvel Heroic Roleplaying.  I'd absolutely love to take a crack at putting out Rise of the Midnight Sons as an 'occult' themed Marvel event for them...maybe it's time to make some submissions?

Cam Banks wasn't the only game designer there, however.  L-Train and I sat in on another panel, The State of Play in Tabletop Roleplaying Gaming, hosted by Kenneth Hite (of Trail of Cthulhu and Fiasco fame, among numerous other games) and Will Hindmarch (one of the lead designers on Green Ronin's Dragon Age tabletop game).  While a little more casual and q-and-a than the prior panel, the two really put down some great ideas and reflections on what they called a "mini Golden Age" for RPGs, here in the era of Kickstarter, PDFs, and print-on-demand.

After three full days of walking, buying, and eating our way around Chi-town, I think we were all well and truly ready to get home.  While I'm a little worried about next year's dates for C2E2--April 26-28th, dates usually common to FOPCon--I'm looking forward to another go-round!

For some visuals of all the mayhem--and a ton of pics of the great cosplayers out there!--take a look at my Facebook album here:  C2E2 Album!

In Which The Warlock is Too Busy to Post!

Sorry, gang, but I've been up to my eyeballs recently.  The PlatinumChick and I are about to head out for C2E2 in Chicago, so I've been trying to wrap up all my grading and lesson plans prior to, and she's been finalizing her costumes!

No worries, though--once we get back, you'll have all the pictures you could want!  Until then, cheers!

Chicago or bust!  :D

In Which The Warlock Rides for Ruin!

So, remember this?  "In Which The Warlock Loads the Ballistae..."

The siege on Morgordal Keep...or is it Helm's Deep?

I've been thinking a lot about this session recently, in the context of one of my favorite battles of all time:  the siege at Helm's Deep, from Tolkein's The Two Towers.  My favorite character from LotR is Theoden of Rohan and his character arc takes a definitive turn as he and Aragorn must the Rohirrim for what they believe to be one final charge against Saruman's treachery.

Of course, I can't let a classic moment like that pass on without WEGSifying it!  And, with FOPCon 4 around the corner, I have the perfect opportunty to give this one a run!

Take a look at my write-up below, and get those 10s and 6s ready, children!  Those orcs aren't gonna wait forever!

Name:  A Whole Stinkin' Heap of Orcs!
System:  WEGS Old Skool Redux (GameWick Games)
Type:  RPG/Miniatures Game
Ages:  Any (rules taught)
Time:  4.0 hours
Sessions Run:  6:30-10:30
Description:  Y'know that one battle from "The Two Towers"?  The one with all the orcs besieging the big ol' dwarven fortress?  Yeah, it's just like that...only with the Wicked twists of WEGS and all the spoint-flinging, dice-chucking mayhem that comes with it!  Can your intrepid heroes hold out against the horde and break the siege?  There ain't no White Wizard to bail you out of this one--ride for wrath, ride for ruin, and the world's ending!

In Which The Warlock Compares Two Posses...

As a wonderful reprieve, here at the end of my spring break, the PlatinumChick and I headed on up to Akron to spend some time with our good friends ChaoticLauryn and CincinNick, who live up yonder.  Previously, I'd offered to run a one-shot for them while up there, because they don't exactly get to game as much as we do down here.  I let them choose from my fairly-sizable game library and--surprise, surprise!--they picked Deadlands.

Not wanting to do too much prep for the one-off, I decided to download one of Pinnacle Entertainment's official adventures:  Night Train 2:  For Whom The Whistle Blows.  It's received fairly good reviews since its release, and it's the sequel to a Deadlands classic adventure, known for its lethality and creeping horror.

With that in mind, let's flash briefly back to WittCon IX.  As I'd mentioned in my WittCon wrap-up, my Hell on Earth game didn't exactly go as planned.  In light of this, I'm going to play a little game that I like to call Bad Posse, Good Posse!

Teamwork kills zombies!
That, and chainsaws!  And shotguns!

A Bad Posse struggles with basic foes, because they don't use teamwork.  The first combat encounter that my Hell on Earth posse faced was against ten basic Walking Dead, as well as one Living Faminite.  Three of the group didn't even get out of their armored car, leaving only three of the group to face off against the hordes.  Those three took significant wounds, which cost them heavily in Fate Chips.  Had the other three joined the melee, the undead would have split their targets more widely, resulting in less wounds overall (due to no gang-up bonuses) and a quicker elimination of targets.

A Good Posse prioritizes targets and takes out those priority targets in haste.  When ambushed by some nosferatu at the Pickman telegraph station, our Huckster realized almost instantaneously that one of their attackers was a different type of undead--recognizing him as a Harrowed (and a Voodoo shaman, at that!), he quickly sent a charged "Aces High" hex at his head.  Realizing that his undead allies were outmatched, the Harrowed beat a hasty retreat and the posse claimed a quick victory.

A Bad Posse ostracises NPCs and don't follow up on available leads from them.  When our post-apocalyptic posse rolled into Reno, the Reno locals had just been raided by the dreaded Rojo Bastardes gang, and many of their supplies had been stolen.  So, when a heavily armed group of adventurers rolled into their town, they reacted with a fair degree of hostility.  But, rather than try to prove their good intentions, the posse decided to intimidate Abe Ellison--the nominal Reno mayor.  Once cowed, he came clean about the Rojo Bastardes attack, but the posse left almost as soon as they could get directions to the Rojo Bastardes camp.  Had they stayed in town to gather information--or to help the poor Reno scavs--they would have gained valuable information about the coming Faminite horde!

to kill "nose-ferrets" for Union Blue!

A Good Posse gets every inch they can out of their NPC contacts.  As my group this weekend worked their way through Pickman, I was somewhat astounded at their tactics.  Basically, any NPC that they managed to save, they pressed into service against the nosferatu.  By the end of the adventure, the posse was leading nearly 10 heavily armed NPCs--townsfolk, mostly, but a few with reasonable stats!--against the undead horde!  As a semi-organized fighting force, they managed to wipe out the undead scourge pretty easily!

A Bad Posse is content to let the dice fall where they may.  Each of the Hell on Earth posse members has at least one relative weakness.   For Edward Castellan, the New Templar, that weakness is his Quickness.  And, as it turned out, the dice were not in the player's favor when rolling Initiative.  Despite having a sizable stack of Fate Chips, the player was unwilling to reroll or add to failed Initiative rolls.  As it happened, that player went for the ENTIRE NIGHT without getting a single turn in combat, despite three combat encounters and five separate Initiative deals.  He was content to let the dice speak for him, rather than work for a success.  Fortune favors the bold, not the complacent!

A Good Posse fights on their own terms.  When it became apparent that the train itself was a priority target for the nosferatu, the posse literally took it away from them!  Stealthing up to the train itself, the group decoupled the train and drove it nearly 20 miles out of town, then used it to rest until sunrise!  Flabbergasted--and denied one of their major goals--the Harrowed retreated out of town and the nosferatu hunkered down for the day, as the heavily armored survivors holed up in the church.  By denying resources to the adversary and establishing a base of operations, our posse really threw the bad guys for a loop!

Don't you forget it!

I'm not trying to say that either group is made of bad or good players.  Hell, some of them played in both games!  But, the fact remains that the tactics being used were paramount to the posses' success or failure.  While the Hell on Earth group fell beneath the Faminite horde, that's not representative of the players' skill or even the characters' effectiveness--just a matter of how the dice fell and how the players responded.  And, while the Deadlands group managed to totally annihilate the undead scourge, things could have easily turned against them in a single roll.  Some days, you just can't win...

In Which The Warlock Lays Out Some Wrath! (Of Con, Even!)

Whew!  What a blast! 

WittCon IX has come and gone, amigos, and this year's con really made an impression!  A full day of gaming, costumes, and more, WittCon IX brought out 103 eager gamers to Wittenberg University's Shouvlin Center for some great times, indeed!  This marks the second-most attendees in WittCon history--second only to WittCon II, which had the full support of then-local Springfield area game store, Howling Wolf Studios.

And, naturally, we've been up to our eyeballs in WittCon-related gloriousness.  The PlatinumChick managed to get her newest costume together in time for a preview, as she's planning on making a big debut at C2E2 this year.  Here's her with her two cosplay compatriots, ChaoticLauryn and CosplayKit!

Three superheroic lovelies...

The convention experience, I've got to say, is an exhausting experience.  Managing to arrive at Witt at the ripe hour of 9am, we were pretty wiped from the start.  Luckily for us, the Wittenberg Commons (or, Post 95, for you young whippersnappers!) was well equipped with enough caffeine to keep me going throughout the day!

How the PlatinumWarlock began his
WittCon IX experience...

WittCon IX also saw the debut of a new game from GameWick Games--the beta test of Pittsburgh '68--A Game of Shuffling Horror!  During this year's one-hour one shots, I ran two groups of would-be survivors through the undead apocalypse.  One thing I really love about this game is the speed around the table.  Each round took only about a minute and a half, circling the table again and again in a maelstrom of splattered zombies and bitten survivors.  Fun times, indeed!

Facing down the hordes, in Pittsburgh '68!

One of the biggest highlights, though, was EEE's special-feature for the con:  a live-action version of the quintessential D&D dungeon, Orc and Pie!  With real-life pie as a reward for successful adventurers, it was well worth spending 15 minutes in the dungeon!  Plus, who could resist beating up poor Emily, dressed as the hapless orc!

Speedy stealths away from the mighty Orc!

My full-length game, though, was something of...okay, let's not mince words here:  a total disaster.  While I had high hopes for my Hell on Earth section--a slightly amended version of my Ravenous in Reno scenario--my fellow gamers said otherwise.  While I'll spend a good deal more time expanding on the scenario in an upcoming entry, suffice to say that my players did nothing of what they were supposed to....at all.  When I introduced the scenario, I told the players that the scenario was somewhat based on the timeless western The Magnificent Seven.  However, in actuality?  It turned out more like Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  Luckily, it seemed like everyone had fun, which is what counted.  And, truth be told, the group really did go out with a bang! 

A highly dysfunctional Deadlands: Hell on Earth group!

If that's not enough for you, you can check out my full photo album on Facebook, here:  WittCon IX Photos!

In Which The Warlock Begins the Con Season with a Bang!

Sorry I've been so quiet recently, but I've been prepping for the big event!

This Saturday, at Wittenberg's Shouvlin Center, we'll be holding WittCon IX:  Wrath of Con!

Come on out and play a variety of games, paint a mini at Reaper Miniatures' paint-and-take, beat down your friends in an Amtgard LARP event, make some chainmail with GenesisMaille, and much more more! 

Hope to see you there!

In Which The Warlock Calls Upon the Last Susquehanna...

In amongst our run-through of "The Flood" in my Friday night group, I'd almost lost track of all of the great material on the docket for Deadlands and its sister games, Hell on Earth and Lost Colony. 

But now?  Whooo...here's a doozy!

Deadlands--The Last Sons:  a Plot-Point campaign, and more!

Where "The Flood" takes place almost entirely in shattered California, "The Last Sons" takes the action right to the center of the Weird West--Dodge City and its environs.  And, at 336 pages, it has more content than both core Deadlands books...combined!

I can't wait to get my hands on this one.  I may hold off for the dead-tree edition at Origins, but I think I know what I'll be running at Wittenberg next year!

In Which The Warlock Illumines the Unobtained...

I've been lucky enough in 15-odd years of gaming to have run and played in huge variety of campaigns, one-shots, convention games and more.  And, through this blog, I've been able to share--at least somewhat--my experiences with you, oh glorious reader.

But, y'know...there's a lot that I haven't done.  A lot that I'd love to be able to do, but just haven't quite managed it yet.  And so, fellow gamers:  I present to you the start of my "Gamer Bucket List!"

• I want to play Planescape.  Oh, my yes.  In all of its Victorian-philosophizing, genre-bending weirdness, I've never actually gotten to play in a Planescape game.  I'd love to see that change sometime soon.

• I want to run a LARP.  Still haven't managed to do this one, despite the WittKids having one every semester for the past few years.  I think my penchant for causing inter-party strife would make an excellent asset for a diceless showdown.

• I want to play in a swashbuckling, high-adventure game.  Not sure this one is going to be on the horizon, either, but I have a tendency to shy away from games with 'derring-do' in favor of more 'serious' games with elements of horror and suspense.  Just once, I'd like to be able to cut loose and run a dashing swashbuckler with a devil-may-care attitude.

• I want to be scared in a horror game.  Not saying that I want blood, gore, and entrails all over the floor, but I'd love it if a game actually managed to put some fear into my jaded gamer heart.

• I want to wean myself off of Savage Worlds.  Not to say that it's a bad system--far from it!  It's becoming my go-to system for all things.  But, there are some things that it just doesn't do particularly well:  actual horror, for one. 

• I want to do some more reading.  While I've done a fair amount of reading in terms of game-books, my actual reading list has shied away from genre-fiction in the last 5 years and more towards heavier literature or (for light reading) comics.  I haven't touched sci-fi or fantasy novels in years and, judging by the field out there, it's not likely that I'll return anytime soon.

• I'd love to be able to field-test a new system.  While writing Cold Steel Wardens, my influences are pretty evident--4e D&D, Savage Worlds, ICONS, Heroes Unlimited, and Mutants and Masterminds to name a few--but it'd be great to see someone else going through the playtesting process.

• I want to run one of the classic campaign arcs for a chosen system.  This could be any number of games:  the "Dime Novels" of Deadlands, the original Temple of Elemental Evil series for D&D, or the plot point campaign of Necessary Evil.  I've had a lot of fun with "The Flood," but there are so many classic campaigns out there to sample...

I suppose all of this is just a start--there's tons more that I'd love to do before I hand in my dice for good.  Any other suggestions?

In Which The Warlock Deals Some Death...

Let's start today's update with an image:

The first Deadlands book that I bought... :D

I love this image.  It evokes everything that I love about Deadlands:  monolithic evil in a familiar, yet terrifying, setting; steampunk wackiness in the form of the steam wagon; heroes facing down unfathomable odds; and a tentacled, Cthulhian horror.

The creature in question, in fact, is known as a Mojave Rattler--so named from their preferred habitat and the ominous rattling sound that occurs as the creature burrows through the earth.  When I first saw this image, I knew that I had to throw a posse up against one of these--it was just a matter of when.  This past Friday, I got my chance.

Hightailing it out of Shan Fan for a bit, in the hopes that things would cool down, our heroic posse decided to hunt down the glyph from our "flash forward", off near Reno.  Taking a Denver-Pacific train into Virginia City, they hoofed it south to find the glyph.  However, they didn't count on driving through a rattler nest in doing so!

With the battle joined, a few things have to be noted.  Mojave rattlers aren't stupid.  In fact, they're fairly intelligent--a point that gets expanded on in Hell on Earth--but their fighting skill isn't exactly spectacular.  That said, the rattler's most devastating attack is a massive slam:  the creature rears up and smashes down on its foes with a massive amount of weight.

Unfortunately for Tara--FridayNightJess's rodeo gal--she was on the receiving end of the brunt of that slam, along with Eddie van Horn, the New York boxer that the PCs freed from Rock Island prison.  But, where Eddie managed to get far enough out of the way to survive (strangely enough!)....Tara was squished like a bug.  Or, so it would seem.

An aside, briefly.  While Chris2 often comes up with great ideas, some of his are just...outright bad.  When the PCs managed to recover the Amulet of Rahashimir from Big Ears Tam and discovered its real effects--the ability to raise the undead--Chris2 suggested marching an undead army into Lost Angels to take down Grimme.  Bad idea.  As such, Chris2 earned himself the "Big Blind" chip--a chip that I could cash in on him....whenever I felt like it.

Tara's next step...

Jess was a touch down from Tara's death, but Chris2 had a plan:  an adventure card that summoned "aid from an unseen source".  I smiled.  I told him I'd let him play that adventure card, and I'd even take his Big Blind chip away...

...and, unbeknownst to him, bring Tara back as a Harrowed.

Again, an aside.  Anytime I have "secret information" to give out at our Friday night table, I take the player in question into the living room for a private conference.  ChaoticFred has been in my living room more than anyone thusfar, due to his connections with Big Ears Tam.  This time, though...everyone except Fred ended up in the living room, as secrets and information flooded through the group. 

And now?  The cats are all out of the bag.  FridayNightWill gave up control of body to the being in his head, which has helped him unlock the powers of Warlord Kwan's ancestral swords.  Jess is coming to terms with being undead, Eddie still manages to survive certain death (for unknown reasons), Chris2 has finally gotten hold of his contacts in the Agency, and Jules' shamaness has had a brush with a certain Servitor of Death...

...and we're just getting rolling!

In Which The Warlock Revisits Tristram...

If you follow this blog regularly, you're probably well aware of my fascination (read:  utter obsession) with Diablo III.  The PlatinumChick, I'm sure, has gotten sick of me watching videos of beta footage before bed, ranting about rescheduled and reschedule release dates, and agonizing over my inability to play the beta. 

While the first two might remain true...the third?  Oh, there's been a change...

Thanks to a quick trigger finger on my F5 key and the generosity of the fellows at Vox Gamers, I managed to win my very own beta key!

Now, while I'd been lucky enough to play through once, thanks to WoWSonya's husband Sean, this meant that I could really immerse myself in the full Diablo experience, rather than just rushing my way through on a computer that wasn't mine.  I could sit back, relax, and let the monster-slaying, loot-snatching carnage begin in earnest!

Firstly, though, a caveat.  My laptop is nearly 4 years old and is beginning to show its age.  I'm missing two keys, with two more super-glued on.  My dual-core processor, while hefty for its time, is quite out of date now, as Intel's "i3/5/7" series of processors were state of the art when I bought this machine.  My graphics card is still reasonably useful, though my sheer lack of processing power is a definite detriment.  When I get my car paid off--three payments to go!--I'll be looking at a serious upgrade, but until then I'm stuck.

Sith Lightning for the win!

My first play-through was using the Wizard, whom I had been eyeing up for months.  The sheer awesome-factor of "Electrocute" was simply too much to pass up--I mean, who doesn't want to shoot lightning from their fingertips?!  And, while I wasn't disappointed with the Wizard, I had to let out a complacent sigh:  with the changes made the most recent patch, Electrocute was moved to level 11, while the level cap remained at 13.  When I defeated Leoric, the Skeleton King, I had just barely managed to make it to level 10...my dreams of Sith lightning would have to wait for another playthrough.

That said, the Wizard was a blast to play.  Arcane Orb, runed shortly after getting it, produced bluish-purple explosions that sent enemies flying in pieces.  Zombies splattered apart into meaty, rotting shards with the concussive force of my arcane might.  Oh, what fun!  I tried using Shock Pulse over the old standby, Magic Missile, but found that the range on Shock Pulse was simply too short.  Enemies at the range of my screen would stand there, oblivious, as my bolts of electric power fell short of them and fizzled out.  Frost Nova, as well, was something as a let down, as it dealt no damage.  I quickly replaced it with Wave of Force, which sent enemies' corpses flying away from me in a most delightful manner.

This is, however, where my technically-lacking computer came into play.  While playing the Wizard, the numerous particle effects slowed my computer down significantly.  I'd often go through the casting animation, with the actual spell effect only taking place a second or two later, resulting in misses and several near-deaths.  However, upon the advice of ChaoticFrederick, I shut down several background processes and programs, resulting in much smoother playthroughs on the subsequent characters. 

A Demon Hunter unleashes Multishot.

I tried out the Demon Hunter next, which was a class that I'd had my reservations about.  As I started my playthrough, I found myself underwhelmed.  I had no area-of-effect skills, and my Hungering Arrow shot seemed underpowered.  That is, until level 5:  Rapid Fire.  Suddenly, it was as if someone had handed my wanna-be ranger a P90 and let her rip through the dungeon!  Retching Mothers spun as if riddled by automatic weapon fire, before slumping to the ground in a heap.  At one point, I fired up a set of stairs, shearing a zombie in half across its waist...and its upper half slowly tumbled down the stairs, arms akimbo, leading a trail of blood until it stopped, about three stairs from the bottom. 

With a combination of a runed Hungering Arrow (an increased chance to pierce through enemies really helped this one), Rapid Fire, Strafe, and Caltrops, my Demon Hunter blasted her way through the Skeleton King with near impunity.  I'd almost say that the DH is a touch overpowered--while her Hatred resource is meant to be a slow-regenerating one, I found myself mowing down enemies with Rapid Fire almost at-will. 

My latest playthrough was with the Monk--a class that I'd been looking forward to for a while, as I typically played a Paladin in Diablo II.  The spiritual successor to that class, the Monk came loaded with Mantras (echoing the Paladin's Aura skills) and numerous martial arts skills.  However, the Monk came off as very low-impact compared to the other classes.  While the Wizard was a sheer force of devastation and the Demon Hunter ripped apart enemies with incredible speed, the Monk was more methodical and much less visually impressive.  While I could attack numerous enemies at once, the effects were much less spectacular and I felt like it took much longer to kill a pack of enemies with the Monk than its long-range counterparts.

Case in point:  the Monk's resource-generation skills are all combo skills, which have varying effects if used several times in sequence.  However, when using any skills, the Monk's weapon is stowed on their back, in favor of fist strikes!  Even the Wizard manages to actually swing their sword or dagger, when casting a spell.  I don't feel like it'd be unreasonable to have the Monk actually use a staff or weapon, along with their combo skills, but such isn't the case. 

Diablo III  also brought quite a few new features to the party, which I'd been eager to try out.  The crafting mechanics, for one, were at the top of my list.  Rather than using the ubiquitous Horadric Cube to piece together rares or use the nearly-worthless gold to gamble on items (that were nearly-universally useless), DIII's crafting mechanics allow you to break down useless magic items into crafting materials, which can then be used to make whatever you like.  Even rares and (supposedly) uniques are on the table, should you level your blacksmith up enough!  Between expanding my stash, leveling up my blacksmith, and crafting new items, I always felt like there was something to purchase, even outside of the vendors (who had some fairly useful items, particularly early on!).  This is a spectacular change, as it gives a reason for gold to stay in the economy.  No more Stones of Jordan as trade-bait!

Plus, this also gives a pile of options in the Auction House.  DIII has come under a fair amount of fire for its use of a real money--that is, you pay in actual dollars, to purchase an in-game item--but also has a gold-for-items auction house as well, which allows you to find that item your Witch Doctor needs, but you haven't quite been able to find yet.  While I have no intention on blowing real cash on items that only exist on a virtual level, I definitely plan to make use of the gold-based auction house!

The only real issue that I have with the Diablo III beta right now is the skill interface system.  In previous patches, you could view every skill simultaneously, choosing from the ones available at your level.  In this new UI, you're only able to a few skills at a time, grouped together somewhat arbitrarily, based on their function.  This makes it difficult to compare skills and decide upon which suits your character best.  But really, this isn't a deal-breaker for me, and the visceral gameplay and multitude of class/skill/gear options make this one an auto-buy for me.  Can't wait for this one to come in!

As I play through with the rest of the classes, you can be sure that I'll keep you updated here!

In Which The Warlock Post Some Cold Steel Previews...

It's been a while since I've had a chance to play with Cold Steel Wardens, as I've been up to my eyeballs in freelance projects and in other, more mundane tasks.  However, with the weekend nearly here (and a late entry, again...argh!) perhaps it's time to take a look at the three big names in the Greensburg underworld!

(Again, all material here is subject to change and revision.  Copyright pending, 2012.)

Organized Crime

Currently, three major criminal organizations vie for control of Greensburg, each with sharply differing methods and philosophies regarding criminal activity. 

The White Russian—an albino immigrant from Georgia named Piotr Zakrevsky—is believed to be the de facto leader of the criminal underground within Greensburg.  Zakrevsky is an ex-KGB operative, drummed out of Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and amongst the CIA and NSA’s most wanted international targets.  Using his numerous smuggling contacts, Zakrevsky arrived in Greensburg, ready to set up a new organization, building on the corruption already existing in the area.

Zakrevsky’s criminal organization is structured in an almost-feudal manner.  Baklany (normal, street-level operatives) report to pakhan (street bosses), who in turn report to vor v zakonye (lieutenant-level leaders), who report directly to the White Russian himself.  Zakrevsky’s criminal focus lies primarily with international shipping and smuggling, which is done primarily through a ‘legitimate’ British company known as Benson/Hedges Holdings.   The White Russian is known primarily for focusing on illegal narcotics shipments, as well as Soviet-era weaponry, both of which have flooded the streets of Greensburg through black market deals. 

As a former KGB operative, Zakrevsky knows the value of intelligence, and he keeps his vor v zakonye on a very short leash, requiring daily updates on distribution, sales, and resistance.    The White Russian further uses numerous technological measures, both to keep tabs on other criminal elements within Greensburg, but also on other foes, particularly metahumans and vigilantes.  Zakrevsky excels in surveillance, and has a penchant for using high explosives or strange, esoteric weaponry developed during the Cold War. 

The White Russian’s main rival remains the Genovese family, a true-to-life Sicilian crime family that split off from the Cosa Nostra during the mid-1950s.  The Genoveses claim to be the oldest criminal organization within Greensburg, having emigrated from Sicily in 1886.  The original Genoveses were known for their ruthless tactics and ‘take no prisoners’ attitude, leading to a massive crackdown by Federal marshals in the 1930s.  With the family in disarray due to multiple incarcerations, Greensburg was ripe for other gangs to move in.

However, in the 1970s, the Genovese family experienced a resurgence in power that none really saw coming.  Focusing more on ‘social’ crimes such as extortion, money laundering, protection rackets, and the like, the Genoveses grew more and more powerful, until only the White Russian was able to significantly challenge them through the 1990s. 

Since 1978, the Genovese family has been run by Vincenzo Genovese, a 4^th generation member of the family business.  Vincenzo is the epitome of the “hot blooded Sicilian” stereotype, and abides no disrespect, whether from his enemies or from his dearest family.  Vincenzo uses a very traditional structure within his family, similar to that of the original Cosa Nostra, with his loyal nephew, James, acting as consigliere.  Many believe that James was granted this position as Vincenzo hopes to groom the young buck to take his place once he passes on. 

While James is believed to the heir apparent to the Genovese family, the most dangerous member of the group may well be Luciano Bagarella, known on the street as “Lucky Bags”.  An underboss of Vincenzo, Luciano is ambitious, ruthless, and fanatically violent.  He runs several protection rackets throughout the city, and loves nothing more than to get his hands dirty, smearing the blood from a poor shopkeeper across their face after bludgeoning them with his favored weapon—a Louisville Slugger baseball bat.  Bagarella resents James for being a “full-blood” and for already being ‘picked’ to take over for Vincenzo.  However, Bagarella believes wholeheartedly in the code of omerta, which binds the family together…at least for the time being.

While the White Russian and the Genoveses have been content to contest one another for control of Greensburg’s streets, another contender has entered the proverbial ring, opting to instead vie for control of the boardroom, rather than the back-room.  A group of influential lawyers and other politically collected, yet morally bankrupt, members of the Greensburg community have banded together under the leadership of Gerard Warren, a charismatic defense attorney.

The Warren Group, as this organization has come to be known, are master manipulators of the legal system, and are amongst the best-connected members of Greensburg’s political and economic scene.  Nearly every member of the Warren Group is independently wealthy, and values power intensely over any amount of money…though money’s not bad, either.

The Warren Group is truly a criminal syndicate for the new millennium.  Using various legal loopholes and political maneuverings, Warren and his cronies are able to manipulate, extort, pressure, and otherwise influence everyone from major political figures to the police and military, to other gangs!  It’s believed that Warren himself has enough accumulated evidence on both The White Russian and on the the Genovese family to put both behind bars for 12 consecutive life sentences, each.  However, Warren’s motives regarding this evidence seems to be enigmatic at best, as he has the tools to crush his rivals, though not the desire…

In Which The Warlock Summons a Supplemental Elemental...

People often wonder how I come up with such weird things for my games.  I'm known for something of a twisted imagination--just take a look my contributions on "Flying Polyps" in my work on The Mythos Dossiers for "The Laundry".  When I pitched the idea of "sentient f***ing cancer!" to my fellow writers, I could almost hear the jaws hitting the floor. 

But, I readily admit:  like any other writer or GM, I look for inspirational material all of the time.  So, you want to see where my ideas come from?  Here's a sample!

Serene Knowledge

• This site's fantastic, and full of creepy ideas suitable for any modern and even most fantasy style of games.  When I was running "Shadows of the Cold War" at Wittenberg, I pulled a good deal of the Cthulhian themes from this site.  The series at the end, "The Holders of X" can make for a fantastic campaign on its own.

The SCP Foundation

• Another great site for horror links, this one is essentially Warehouse 23 cranked up to 11!  While the information in these links ranges from the absurdly humorous to the outright terrifying, this site makes for great fodder for any modern game.  Running "The Laundry", "Delta Green", or "Dark Matter"?  You need to visit this site NOW.

Unused Lovecraft Story Hooks

• Want to really build up the fear?  Why not work with the ideas of the master himself?  These ideas come from a recently (as of 2011) discovered chapbook of Lovecraft's.  While some of the ideas he's obviously used, the vast majority are fresh and ripe for the picking.  The "one line" elements like "For has not Nature, too, her grotesques—the rent rock, the distorting lights of evening on lonely roads, the unveiled structure of man in the embryo, or the skeleton?" provide for great bits of inspiration on their own, even for a non-Lovecraftian game!

Seventh Sanctum

• One of the things that trip me up constantly is the search for the right name.  It's something I've always struggled with, whether writing or GMing.  However, Seventh Sanctum provides tons of names at the mere click of a mouse.  Not happy with the selections so far?  Click again...and again...and again.  Then, a few hours later, you might get back to writing! 

Creative Writing Prompts

• Working on writing daily or journal-style writing?  I use this site with my students for 2-3 times weekly writing assignments.  With 340-odd prompts, ranging throughout fiction and non-fiction, this'll keep you busy for a while.  For an added challenge, try writing all of them from a single perspective--maybe a character you've been working with or arounds a single, central theme.

In Which The Warlock Mulls Analysis Paralysis...

We have something of a running joke in amongst my gaming/social circle:  the "Karl-o-meter".  You see, my good friend ChaoticKarl tends to take his sweet time when we're playing board games.  Karl's a very mathematical fellow, and (despite my monniker for him) likes to use logic in his moves...which doesn't always work, once the highly unpredictable human element is factored in.  It reached a point once where we literally forced Karl to use an egg timer on his turns, automatically moving on if he hadn't moved before the timer ran out.

The thing that held Karl up so often usually was the sheer number of choices in a game.  Do I move move my piece here or there?  Do I build up this skill/tech-tree or another?  Do I hold my resources?  Do I trade?  Do I purchase now?  Do I use the power-up or save it for later? 

Opportunity cost is a funny thing.  It's so fundamentally critical to game theory and the formation of a good game, but the inclusion of additional opportunities seem to increase the complexity in an almost exponential manner.

Look at all the fiddly-bits! 
So many options!  So many choices!
So much...reading.  :(

It makes me wonder, similarly, about the amount of opportunities in role-playing games today.  The so-called "Old-School Renaissance" has been advocating a return to simpler rules-sets--no power cards, no fiddly-bits, no gimmicks or the like--as a return to "real" role-playing.  Simultaneously, though, we've seen the rise of high-complexity, high fiddly-bit games like 4e D&D and Warhammer Fantasy. 

In some ways, I can equate it to this:

When 4e just came out and your 2nd level Fighter, "The Mighty Jim-Bob," leveled up, he had approximately four options for his 3rd level encounter power.  After a few months, Martial Power came out, doubling those options.  After another month, a Dragon article raised your options to 10.  After four years of sourcebooks, articles, and fan-creations...well, you can imagine the choices!

More options can be good, but each decision--meaningful or not!--slows down gameplay and character creation on a massive scale.  The more options one has in front of them, the more likely that they'll consider each of those options, grinding the game to a halt.

Now, here's the weird thing.  The answer seems to be...less options!

You see, when you take away the power options, the feat choices, the skill points and the rest...you're left with pure imagination.  Now, that's a double-edged sword, since it relies on both player and GM to fill in the details each and every time which, needless to say, is an onerous task!

Minimalist, indeed!

Call of Cthulhu may, in fact, be a perfect example of this minimalist economy.  There are no rules for how many actions a character gets in a round, no power choices, no feats....simply a player saying "I do X" and a GM adjucating that action, occasionally using a handful of abstract stats or skills.  But, for all its wonderful storytelling capacity, a good Call of Cthulhu game hinges on its players buying into the mood and atmosphere created by the GM's narration.  Without a willingness to experiment in a "box-less environment," the game quickly becomes a matter of going through the motions or, more likely, simply falls apart.

As with all things, balance seems to be key.  As a designer, how does one find the balance between over-designing a system, making it overly complex, and under-designing that same system, resulting in vagueness and lack of structure?! 

How does one avoid the dreaded Kotov Syndrome?!

In Which The Warlock Extrapolates on the Epic...

So, in the words of comedian Dennis Miller, "I don't want to go off on a rant here, but..."

...Yeah.  It's time to whip out my weekly Two-Minutes' Hate for Mr. Monte Cook once more.

You see, Wizards of the Coast's latest editorial-flavored travesty has Mr. Cook expounding on the perceived perils of epic-level play.  And, as you can imagine by my opening, I don't exactly agree with Cook's ideas or the conclusions that he draws from them.

Cook's article starts off with a disagreement with what's been one of most common complaints about D&D for years:  the fact that games break down during high-level play.  Cook attributes this to the shifts between tiers of play--something that he admits that 4e dealt with well--but then shifts the blame for the problems back onto the player-base.  At the risk of being accused of reductio ad absurdum, that's like telling a rape victim that it was their fault for walking in a dark neighborhood or telling a burglary victim that they shouldn't have had that big tv in their front room...

Cook continues to antagonize the player base by claiming:"the people that say that the game breaks down at such-and-such level are self-defining themselves as people who don't care for high-level play..." (which he follows with the apologetic "...which is fine, of course").  The issue with this is that many people would enjoy high-level play if more support were included in game material and if the mechanical end of the game held up appropriately.  There simply aren't enough adventures, source material, or GMing advice for a GM to look at running a long-term epic level game.

One of the best games I've ever played--Callon's Dark Tower-themed 3.5e game--was an epic level game.  The game was epic in feel--my paladin had built a demiplane-sized cathedral to my god--as well as in statistics.  We were told to bring level 30 characters to the party, and were similarly equipped.  For Cook to brashly insinuate my own preferences regarding high-level play simply because there's I believe the game breaks down is not only fallacious, but also insulting as a would-be player (and purchaser!). 

Let me put some evidence on the table, before I continue.  The default 4e character sheet right now is a mere two pages.  However, that character sheet only includes the names of each of a characters' powers, and nothing more.  In order to actually play the game, that character sheet must also include power cards.  At level 1, those cards easily fit onto one page--a three page character sheet, while longer than most games, is still not unreasonable.  However, at level 21, those cards--necessities for play, mind you--can take up not one page, but 5 additional pages!  When running the "Day of Dagon" one-shot, characters averaged 9-page character sheets!  That's insane!  Mechanically speaking, that's a disaster.

Yes, I get that he's a Demon Lord.
Three pages of stat block is STILL too much!

This wasn't simply relegated to PCs, nor was it unique to 4e!  The entire reason that I switched away from 3e/3.5e in the first place was my issue with GMing the game at upper levels.  In the final issue of Dungeon, Demogorgon served as the culminating boss of a year-long adventure path.  Demogorgon's stat block?  Three full pages of size 8 text!  Absurd!  That's a huge issue which no one can ignore.

To say that there's not a problem with this--to say that there's not an issue with a game that requires 10 pages of details for every player to keep up on--is outright erroneous!  There's such a thing as too many options and, at high level in 4e, these options bordered the insane.  Let's do some math here:  as a 30th level character has at minimum 4 encounter powers, 2 at-will powers, 4 daily powers, and 7 utility powers.  That's two full pages of power-cards right there.  Add in a smattering of magic items, as well a minimum of 18 feats, and one easily has a character that's simply too complex to play as a one-shot character.  That was the biggest issue we ran into, and was one that still has no solution.

Complexity is a funny thing.  While everyone loves to see their "numbers" increase, while everyone loves to get their hands on an awesome magic item, there simply has to be moderation.  Yes, feats are great.  They've been replicated over and over in games since 3e.  But when you have 18 of them?  That's simply too much.  Yes, magic items are great.  But when you're "expected" to have certain items at each level, each of which brings their own powers and quirks to the table, it's too much to deal with.

While I'd say that Savage Worlds has done well with keeping high-level play in balance with that of low-level play, even this game isn't immune.  High-level NPCs often have feats listed, but no further information, which makes their options almost moot--either the GM must slow down the game to look up necessary information or it must be ignored.  Even a GM with a great memory has more than enough to do without worrying about such issues!

As it stands now, I don't think I'd want to run an 'epic-level' game in any sense, despite for the fact that I love plane-hopping, interdimensional adventures.  The sheer lack of support for such a game, as well as the problematic at-the-table issues prevent me from actively pursuing this.

What's frustrating more, though?  The fact that the man in charge of the newest incarnation...seems to be utterly oblivious to these problems.  And that?  That's inexcusable.

In Which The Warlock Comments on Comments and Consensus...

I've been lucky enough to have some great comments on my blog posts thusfar, coming from both my gamer-friends throughout the Miami Valley as well as gamers all over the globe.  But, my audience is still fairly small--no big deal, really:  I enjoy blogging for its own sake, and a small audience allows me to personally reply to any comments that I procure.

But, sometimes that little comment box isn't enough and, lo and behold, DigitalKat has dropped a bomb on me that really needs its own entry.  In response to my last entry on the exploits of my Friday night group's exploits in the Weird West, she mentioned:

My only observation would be that, having taken all the shooty fun skills, is that not the game they wanted to be playing, and not the gang rivalry one? Granted, throwing them a curveball every now and again keeps them on their toes, but when you make a party full of courtiers and throw them in a battlezone, or a party full of a warriors and put them in a palace, are you running the game you want to play, or the game they wanted?

Truth be told, this is a subject of some contention throughout gaming!  DigitalKat, in fact, tackled this subject herself in an earlier entry, but found herself in the same predicament I find myself in now. 

GMing a game, as I'm sure that many would agree, is a method of storytelling that's far outside the norm.  While writing a novel or filming a movie allows for a significant amount of directorial/authorial control, the amount of control held by a GM is...well, limited, at best.  The other players' actions, the improvisational nature of the game, and even sheer luck itself create for dictates that simply do not exist in other media.

The posse's ride...in Davy Jones' Locker!

Case in point:  in our last session of Deadlands: The Flood, our posse's escape route--one of Big Ears Tam's ironclads--was blown up, after the posse were discovered in Warlord Kwan's island citadel.  I had anticipated (and done most of my weekly prep assuming...) that the posse would try to sneak into the docks and steal a ship to get back to Shan Fan.  My posse, however, decided to row around the mesa, trying to find a place to hole up for the night while the search blew over.  While the PlatinumChick's shamaness warned the group against "natural hazards" of doing so, the group was insistent, searching the sea-caves for a spot to bed down. 

Thinking quickly, I checked the encounter table for the Great Maze and flipped a card--Black Joker!  A mighty Maze Dragon!  Immediately, I started dealing out cards, but the PlatinumChick had other ideas...she hoped to distract the Maze Dragon into attacking Kwan's citadel!  But, while her plans succeeded at first, the dice had their say:  Snake Eyes! 

The story being told in our game could not have been told with any single element--player, GM, or chance--but rather, emerges as a strange amalgamation of consensus.  While every person at the table may not necessarily advocate a given choice, the understood social contract of the table leads to consent for these story elements to take place.  While the PlatinumChick might not have been happy to roll snake eyes--and was certainly less happy with what I ruled about that fateful roll--she was willing to let the story continue.

There's a difference between "unanimity" and "consensus".  While everyone would surely love to game with people that share their personal interests in what they want out of a game, people are simply too different for that to be entirely feasible.  Achieving a "unanimous" decision on what type of game to run is just...not something one should expect.  But, there are going to be similarities and trends between what players like!  Making sure that everyone enjoys the game and has the ability to contribute equally provides consensus. 

Relying on those trends and those common elements provide a start for story-building.  Our group decided to play Deadlands because of a common interest in the setting.  I certainly have players more interested in role-play, while others are more interested in the setting, and still others in the mechanics.  All are fine, but we achieve balance between all three by enabling collective storytelling.  Plus, we find new interests, new combinations, and new likes and dislikes each time we play.

Constructivist Educational Theory:
The Zone of Proximal Development!

In the constructivist theory teaching, there's a term for this concept:  the Zone of Proximal Development.  When a child learns, there's a "sweet spot"--an area lying in between what a student is capable of performing on their own and material outside of their comfort zone.  In this zone--the aforementioned ZPD--the student requires additional reinforcement, guidance, and practice to achieve the stated goals of the curriculum.  A teacher in the constructivist philosophy does their best to push the boundaries of the ZPD each day, providing reinforcement and support as necessary to expand the student's "comfort zone".

In gaming, we do much the same.  While each of us certainly have our own preferences, we push outside to include other elements, introducing elements to the story that not only make them enjoyable to that player, but also introducing others to elements that they may not have considered or thought interesting previously.

That's the advantage that gamemastery has over other forms of storytelling--by providing collaborative elements through GM, through players, and through pure chance--gamemastery allows us to challenge our own wants, interests, desires, and even our own perceptions of plot, characterization, genre, and story.  That's heady stuff, right there!  And, that's worth doing...

In Which The Warlock Pushes Player Possibilities...

As I mentioned a few posts ago, my players are somewhat up to their eyeballs in plot hooks in our Friday night Deadlands game.  But, as my players are slowly finding out, it seems that those plot hooks really seem to be playing into their weaknesses.

You see, in amongst the major plot points of The Flood, there are two major background events:  an attempted invasion of California from Mexico--which I've hinted at and foreshadowed, but not really pushed as a major point--and a coming conflict between the rival Chinese triads around Shan Fan.  After becoming involved with Big Ears Tam so early on in the campaign, my players have become well and truly embroiled in the conflict, particularly ChaoticFrederick's scrapper, Mary-Ellen Hardigan, who's best known as Tam's "delicate little lotus blossom".

The results of the PCs'
actions on Dragon Breath Mesa.

However, when Tam asked Mary-Ellen and the group to investigate a potential alliance between Kang, the ruthless railroad baron of Iron Dragon Railways, and Warlord Kwan of Kwan Province.  Unfortunately for our posse, a few botched stealth rolls totally eliminated any chance of escaping unscathed.  While the party was able to escape the citadel with the information they needed--mainly due to the Byzantine decorum of the Chinese mob--their ride home out of the maze exploded before their very eyes!  And worse, the explosion awoke a nearby Maze Dragon on an adjacent mesa!  Eep!

While the posse managed to drive off the dragon--not before Chris II's hexslinger, Angus Cole, picked up a few more scars to go with his already-marred face--the real danger was returning to Big Ears Tam with the news that the mission had been compromised...

...something Tam already knew, after his ironclad failed to return...and after Kwan's ancestral daisho went missing.

Needless to say, Tam was infuriated.  While FridayNightWill was astute enough to hide the stolen daisho, Tam not-so-subtly indicated that the insult required vengeance...

...they done messed up good!

And this leaves our players in a bit of a bind.  You see, the majority of my players have focused on only a small set of skills.  Fighting, Shooting, Notice, etc. are all common, but nearly every party member in the posse seems to have some kind of social faux-pas.  And few, if any, have invested in the social skills--Persuasion, Intimidate, Streetwise, and the like. 

So, my party has found themselves in a bit of a predicament.  How do you settle the highly-delicate social balance between Chinese warlords, when you can't really talk your way out of a paper bag?

This portion really pushes the challenge level up on two fronts:  as characters, but also as players.  You see, as characters, the posse simply isn't equipped for the situation.  Their funds are running low--primiarly because they've had to keep their steam wagon fueled up and ready to go--and they simply don't have the social acumen to run "in the big leagues". 

As players, however, the challenge intensifies.  Players have to invest more bennies and the like into succeeding at tasks that a more-socially apt character might find easy.  But, just as they do this, the players have to find ways to adapt the situation to one more suitable to their own, whether through a convoluted plan or through some other means.  Needless to say, that's hard! 

So, going into next week's session, my posse is faced with some tough choices to make.  They're slowly coming up with a plan, involving implicating the enigmatic Ramirez in the theft of the daisho and peeling apart the alliance between Kang and Kwan, based on the actions of so-called "Emperor" Norton.  Time will only tell if they can succeed...and if they can get back to what really matters:  taking down Reverend Grimme!