In Which The Warlock Evolves His Topography...

(Note:  This entry is part of this month's RPG Blog Carnival.  This month's host is A Character for Every Game.  Go check them out!)

I find myself in something of a conflict.  Quite a few entries ago, I found myself straddling a bit of the 'rules-lite/rules-heavy' fence, in the various games that I personally enjoy.  I've been enjoying 4e D&D, despite never investing in minis or battlemaps prior to this edition.  I'd never needed to, truth be told.  My prior 2e and 3/3.5e games all worked quite well with just free-form gaming.

But, therein lies the rub, friends and neighbors.  You see, I can't draw for the life of me. 

Now, for most of my games, this isn't a problem.  In my experience, if you're asking to use a tactical battlemap when playing Call of Cthulhu or even Stargate SG-1, you're doing it wrong.  The games are just meant to focus more on problem-solving and character interactions rather than shifting two squares diagonally and unleashing a Radiant Ultimate Smite with your +4 P90.  Same with ICONS, with its rules-light approach.  When powers are abstracted as much as they are in ICONS, there's no reason to whip out a full map.

But...then there's WEGS.  Ah, WEGS.  My old-school indie love.  WEGS borders on tactical minis game, with its focus on "clearing the battlemat" and earning that elusive Rank Bump.  But, coupled with that, WEGS exhibits a unique tendency:  the idea of the "empty" battlemat.

You see, in all of the WEGS games I've managed to both run and play, I very rarely put forward an actual "finite" map.  Rather, the map usually consists of found items, and terrain that comes randomly.  Take a look below...

Map from "Dungeons OR Dragons" at Champion City ComicCon 2010

I didn't have to plan this map.  It really doesn't even make sense to, all told.  Rather, I improvised.  With a good set of markers, my old HeroQuest terrain, and a selection of WotC's Dungeon Tiles, it's not hard to slap down a few things that "belong" in the area and go from there.

For the above map, I figured that a dragon would probably have at least a few things of "normal" size around, particularly if it liked to mess with magic.  As such, I tossed down the HeroQuest altar, with a chest nearby, and a cabinet, the alchemist's bench, and a table nearby for magical "experimentation".

As for terrain, rubble makes sense, if a dragon is landing and taking off regularly.  And the blast, near the top of the map?  Well, a breath weapon does leave marks!

At this point, you're probably wondering, "well, what's the point?"  Well...that is the point.  There's isn't one.  For as good of maps that we can find, for as much internet scouring as we do, we don't always need all of the accoutrement!  The best maps, the most utilitarian and functional gaming aids, often come from necessity.

All told, just use the tools you have at hand.  The variations you can come up with will speak for themselves!

Has anyone else ever experimented with "found" or impromptu mapping?  Let us know how it turned out!

In Which The Warlock Tosses Dice for a Full Day...

If there’s one bad side about livin’ “la vida gamer”, it’s that you occasionally have a weekend or so where all you do is sling the dice. Not that that’s a bad thing, necessarily-—heck, we play how many dollars a year to do just that, at Origins and GenCon (well, not really, now that I think about it…I haven’t paid to go to Origins since the first time I went). But, it does tend to make for exhausting days and long nights—much like this past weekend!

You see, gamer nation, this weekend marked the first real weekend for the Witt RP-Guild to be back in full swing. And, with it, we had a whole slew of events on deck, leaving your Friendly Neighborhood Warlock pretty drained!

This Friday got things off with a bang. With our weekly “Tear of Ioun” game cancelled, the PlatinumChick and I were free to join some of the newbies in Kat’s intro game—a variation on Dragon magazine’s “Dead By Dawn”. Our 2nd level heroes took on the horror of the classic zombie-survival movie, as we were besieged by undead on all sides. My paladin, Alain, was up to his eyeballs in heresy to smite!

Friday Night: "Dead by Dawn!"

The game ran particularly well, especially considering the number of players at the table. D&D, much as I love it, tends to break down with more than 6 players, and the 8 we had around the table did slow things down a touch. However, Kat kept the game moving efficiently, which did a lot to keep people active and enjoying. My only real complaint would be that the pre-gen characters were a little underwhelming; the half-elf ranger had a feat that he couldn’t even use, and both my paladin and the cleric were utterly inept at the Religion skill! But, these were minor quibbles in the midst of a grand time.

The next day meant an early rise, so that I could get prepped for a day of WEGS demos at Champion City Comic Con in Springfield. I’ve typically enjoyed CCCC, as it’s staffed by great people who have a real commitment to providing an excellent con experience. The vendor hall, much like last year, was fully stocked, though I must say, I didn’t find much that I really wanted from them. But, then again, I didn’t come to CCCC just to buy comics—there were Cold Rolls to throw down!

Saturday, all-day: Champion City Comic Con--2010

Throughout the day, I ran 3 of my 4 scheduled WEGS demos—providing two groups of unlucky Arks a confrontation with a dragon, while another group headed down to the Tongue o’ Dung for for some rest, relaxation, and pyromania. This was the first time since Origins that I ran game using the revised rules and, man, do they make things easy on the Arks! Both groups managed to take down my Dragon with few problems. So much for that vaunted 88% Invulnerability! It's time to up my game!

I did manage some better luck in “Dwarf Walks…”, as the Mage player set off a Molten Storm in the midst of the bar! No self-lovin’ Ogwhump is ever gonna let that stand! In fact, as the Mage was running from the Ogwhump, he managed to get cornered by Borkfu, and splattered all over the wall! Off to the Spheres you go, mon ami!

I must have been doing something right, because two of the demo players stuck around after the Con for a delve into madness in my playtest debut of “WEGS + Cthulhu = WEGSthulhu!” Joined by Savage Chris, Will the ManMan, and Jake the Frosh, we broke out the d10s and d6s once more…

I’ve gotta say: I’ve played a lot of WEGS in my day. I’ve been on-board since 2005, and have played almost every scenario El Willy’s put out on the con-circuit. This one, WEGSthulhu, is going to be a classic, up there with “Dwarf Walks…”, “The Yawlamoo,” and “Dingbitt’s Dunge-o’-Doom”. The Hero/Cultist mechanic worked perfectly, providing just the right dash of Paranoia to the game. All hail Friend Cthulhu!

Unfortunately for the Arks (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it!), the Arks failed to stop Randolph Carter from opening the portal in Carcosa—apparently he was a Cultist the whole time! Who knew?!—and Mighty Cthulhu rose up. Carter, of course, was awarded the highest of honors: being devoured first! Due to a well-placed “Fear My Lyrd” spell by Will’s (secretly Cultist!) sage, the heroic Arks could only flee for their lives before the combined cultist might.

Even after a late night—we wrapped up around 12:30am—I was up the next day, dice and poker chips in hand, for our first session of Deadlands. After rolling up characters, which was surprisingly fast, considering that over half of the group has barely played in Savage Worlds and were starting with “Seasoned” characters.

Sunday Afternoon: Deadlands--"Doomtown or Bust!"

After only about an hour, the group was ready to throw down. Starting off in The Busted Mug Tavern and Saloon, in Amarillo, the group made the unfortunate acquaintance (via a botched Spellcasting roll as the PlatinumChick attempted to cheat at poker) of Josiah Riggins, a self-absorbed layabout way too eager for a bar-fight.

For “disturbin’ the peace”, the group found themselves all together in the Amarillo drunk tank, cooling off, while Deputy Wingard wrangled some favors to avoid having charges pressed against the group. Released in the morning, we'll see exactly how much trouble they can get up to next Sunday!

By the by, I've already started an Obsidian Portal wiki to chronicle all of our intrepid gunslingers' actions. Check it in the links tab on the right side, or at the following link: Deadlands--"Follow the Walkin' Man"

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!