The Warlock's Origins 2014 Recap!

Sweet zombie Gandhi, readers; it's been a while!  Real life has, as you might imagine, prevented me from keeping up with my weekly blogging.  However, having just made it back from this year's Origins Game Fair, it's high time to toss another entry into the pot!  So, without further a-do, here's a look back at this year's show!

Firstly, HUGE news!  After some delay, Cold Steel Wardens: Roleplaying in the Iron Age is finally on sale!  The PDF went live on the Chronicle City web-store the Tuesday before Origins, just in time for all those lovely gamers to get their hands on a copy of my first game.  Let me tell you, this has been a long time coming, and I'm still somewhat in shock that I'm a "real" published game designer.

The con itself was an absolute whirlwind for me this year.  Between the PlatinumChick and myself, we ran 52 hours of CSW.  For me, it was literally a full-time job for the week:  8 hours of games a day!  On the plus side, these games were a great mix of previous CSW players, some long-distance friends, and new players to the system.  Nearly every one of the WittGuild's games went off, with Friday and Saturday filling up the Union room we were in!

That said, I did manage to sneak away in the mornings for a while to get in some non-CSW gaming.  I threw down some ICONS on Thursday morning, a Venture Brothers-themed Paranoia game on Friday, a Cartoon Action Hour version of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe on Saturday, and a Justice League themed game using Mutants and Masterminds on Sunday before shipping out.  Also, I was sure to keep my evenings free to indulge in some of the great food found in Columbus' Short North neighborhood.

The ICONS game was an utter blast.  The first in a three part JSA storyline, the game ran quick around the table, even with 8 players sporting characters.  The GM was clearly enthusiastic about both the system and the source material, pulling out some fantastic villains to counter our Golden Age heroes.  On an awesome note, ICONS author Steve Kenson had offered the GM some prize support; a really stand-up gesture on his part!

Unfortunately, I can't really say the same about the M&M game.  The scenario felt poorly written, with little investigation or even interaction with NPCs.  We simply drifted from fight scene to fight scene with some nonsensical narration in between.  In one instance, we ended a fight scene by watching a huge portal open, only to return to play having been captured aboard a Thanagarian starship.  Worse, the GM insisted on splitting the table into separate groups for three of those four scenes, running one side's combat, completing that combat, then starting the other.  I literally spent over an hour and twenty minutes at the table before even finding out where my character (Green Lantern John Stewart) was!  While the table banter was great between the players, the scenario itself was dismal and the game definitely suffered from the typical problems with M&M:  overly complex characters with inflated (and incorrect!) numbers that don't really represent the idiom well.

However, the He-Man game more than made up for that disappointment.  Full of absolute fans of the iconic 1983 series, the game began with the classic theme song and didn't let off the gas for a moment.  While the scenario was simple, it perfectly fit in with the plotlines of the old show, while showing off the new rules for CAH splendidly.  Our game came complete with commercial breaks, breakfast cereal (it was Saturday morning after all!), and even a post-show moral delivered by yours truly!

Y'know, after coming to Origins for 7 consecutive years, you'd figure that I'd be an old hat at this thing, but really?  I find myself learning new things all the time...

• The Happy Greek in the Short North?  Absolutely fantastic.  Even better?  It was utterly deserted on a Thursday night and our table of 8 was seated immediately.  Can't beat it with a gyro stick!
• Speaking of food, I'm giving up on Flavors of India at North Market.  The last two times I've been there, the curry's been watery and lacking flavor.  So many better options are right there!
• Wow, am I ever glad that we arrive on Tuesday evening.  Being able to pick up our badges the evening before the show starts really frees you up!  Those lines are hateful!
• Best way to start the convention?  A free breakfast and a morning soak in the Drury hot tub. 
• I think I'm done with Paranoia.  While I always have a good time playing it--and did this time, too!  Our GM was fantastic and the sheer idea of combining The Venture Brothers with Paranoia is mind-blowingly hilarious--Paranoia tends to play very 'samey' to me:  get mission, begin wacky hijinks, get terminated over and over.  It's just a touch repetitive for my taste.  Maybe I'll come back to it after a while.
• Same thing with Mutants and Masterminds.  I'm not sure why it gets the acclaim it does, outside of being a huge part of the d20 boom.  While I love Steve Kenson as a designer, ICONS is such a superior game to M&M:  it's easier to GM, play, and generate characters in.  There are just other, better systems I'd rather play than Mutants and Masterminds.
• Next year?  No occult themes in the CSW games.  Not that they're bad, really--CSW does low-level occult mystery games beautifully--but I want to be able to show off a new kind of scenario.  The gangs and crime families are so integral to New Corinth, it's high time I show them the spotlight.
• Also?  No more 2 hour demos.  They don't fill out enough to justify running them.  The four hour games fill better.
• For that matter, the Chew games didn't fill.  Very sad, considering how awesome the comic is!
• I have no idea how I managed to stay awake during this year's Origins.  Literally every day from Wednesday on, I was awake at 7am or earlier, running game from 1pm till 11pm, then hitting the bar until at least 2am.  In the words of Lieutenant Murtaugh...
• A tablet makes running game *so* much easier.  Great investment on my part.
• Forgetting your camera sucks.  Obviously, no pics this year!
• Always check a used game before buying it!  I picked up a copy of Ghost Stories on the cheap, having been told by the booth staff that he had "just checked it" an hour or two prior for another customer.  However, upon opening the game at home and popping out the tokens, I found that I was missing three vital pieces!  Hopefully my email to the creators will remedy the situation.

All in all?  I love Origins...can't wait till next year!

30 Days of GameMastering--Day 11!

We're on to Phase II of Lindevi's "30 Days of GameMastering" challenge, so we'll be spending the next ten days talking about the actual act of gaming.  With that, let's get into it!

House rules:  what are your favorite hacks, mods, and shortcuts?

It's pure impulse for any gamer to try to make even their favorite system better.  While fun is a subjective item in and of itself--and game designers do try to make things fun for as many people as possible--what's fun at your table might not be the same as mine.

Case in point:  ICONS.  I love the speed of the game and the fact that ICONS lets players be creative with their power usages through Stunts and the use of FATE-based elements, I really don't care for the idea that the GM never rolls dice.  Why?  Well, if the players know that Doctor Weird's psychic blast is always at a rating of 7, it takes the challenge out of fighting Doctor Weird.  So, for any 'named' villain or adversary, I throw the dice just like any PC.  It provides a much greater threat for the PCs, as that same psychic blast can now achieve the Moderate/Major/Massive successes that the PCs themselves can.  While I don't typically do this for "mook"-level NPCs, anything that ramps up the tension and conflict is fair game in my book!

The dice of a pirate who came up Snake Eyes!

Another rule I've cribbed shamelessly came from Skull and Bones--a d20 sourcebook focusing on pseudo-historical swashbuckling and piracy.  But, in among the various black powder firearms was tucked the "Roll the Bones" mechanic.  "Rolling the bones" is pretty simple--toss 2d6 and hope for as high as you can get.  Typically speaking, players are only permitted to Roll the Bones in a situation where they're hoping for extreme luck, as they're essentially stuck with the results of the Bones roll instead of any other (presumably failed) rolls.  I've used the Bones mechanic in other forms, as well.  WEGS' "cold rolls" and "frozen rolls" are frequent at our table, to say nothing of a straight up d20 roll to determine an NPC's attitude or reaction.

Honestly, though?  My favorite graft has always been the infamous Call of Cthulhu Sanity system.  Easy to port over and use in numerous settings, including Sanity as a score opens up whole new realms of tension at the table, as players now have to balance their tendencies to run in, guns-a-blazing, against the very real possibility that their character may be overwhelmed mentally...

The key thing, though?  Don't be afraid to play with a system's mechanics.  If something doesn't work after you've tried it, there's nothing stating that you have to stick with a broken house-rule.  Do what works best for your table and you'll be rewarded!

30 Days of GameMastering--Day 10!

All righty...today is Day 10 of Lindevi's "30 Days of GameMastering" challenge and we've reached the last of the "prep" questions.  Starting tomorrow, we'll start on what to do while at the table, but for now...

What are your tips for running a low or no-prep game?

The older I get, the less I find that I want to prepare for games.  Between the responsibilities of writing professionally, working a full-time job (well, hopefully shortly), and maintaining a house, the idea of running a high-prep, high maintenance game simply no longer appeals.  It's why I do most of GMing extemporaneously, using some of the utilities I mentioned earlier.

But, if you're going to skip on your campaign prep, there are numerous ways to make your life easier.  Firstly--and I can't stress this one enough--pick a system that emphasizes light prep and that you know particularly well.  Systems like Savage Worlds and ICONS work well for me, as NPCs can primarily be made up on the fly.  Is he a big, burly fighter?  Give him a d8 or a d10 in Fighting and you're good to go.  While modern game design has emphasized unified mathematical systems (which typically feature, at least, verisimilitude), a system like d20 or Pathfinder simply doesn't have that flexibility, with its emphasis on numerous bonuses and fiddly modifiers.  If you're comfortable with a mechanical system, you'll start finding those patterns in the numbers that will let you make up an NPC's stats without even writing a thing down.

Let 'em play in the sandbox for a while!

Next, set your players free.  Allowing your players free reign over a sandbox encourages both you and your players to play things "off-the-cuff", allowing players to pursue their own goals and for them to move into a more reactive role, rather than forcibly driving the story.  While a sandbox game does rely on having motivated, active players, ensuring that your players have a great background--perhaps through the aforementioned Dramatic Interludes or through a background sheet such the Journeyman GM's Quick and Easy Character Background.

Lastly, get used to saying "Yes".  While it's easy for a GM to shut down ideas or offer penalties, it's often in that same GM's interest to instead let the players come up with creative ideas on their own, then simply going with the flow on those players' ideas.  Let your players surprise you--their creativity is just as valid as your own!

In Which The Warlock is Overwhelmed...

I've got a bit of a confession to make, my friends and neighbors.  You see, I haven't been giving this blog all the attention that it deserves.  After almost a year and a half of faithful twice-weekly entries, time and energy have just run out on my end.

I like to think that you're sympathetic in this regard.  You see, in addition to my normal, "real" job of teaching, I've also been taking two college courses for my professional development plan, as well as reformatting all of my courses for iPad usage, as part of the Northmont iPad Pilot program.  On top of all that, I've been working on establishing copyrights and incorporation for my forthcoming company and working on items for our weekly games.

Quite simply, I'm overwhelmed.  There's just too much to do.

That's why, at least until December, I'm going to take my blogging frequency back down to once per week.  Until I manage to get my life back in line, I need to be able to focus on schoolwork, professional development, and actually putting out a potential product.

That said, I'll still do my best to put forward new thoughts on game design, previews for Cold Steel Wardens and The Pendulum Method, reviews of all things geeky in the Miami Valley, and more.  In fact, you can check out a brand new upload--the Huntsmen, a series of PCs for ICONS: Superpowered Roleplaying.

Enjoy, and keep forging on, brothers and sisters!  We can do it!

In Which The Warlock Rolls Again, now with Advantage...

This past Friday, the current Wittenberg Guildies hosted a "Beginner's Luck" one-shot, focusing on introducing new gamers to both the hobby and roleplaying as an idea.  While we originally had an array of three one-shots prepped--a D&D Next playtest, a Savage Worlds conversion of Firefly, and a Marvel-themed ICONS game--demand and an unlucky power outage reduced us down to two sessions of the playtest.

Now, you might recall that I wasn't exactly kind in my previous playtests of this rule-set.  Both as a player and a GM, massive flaws became quickly apparent, which really led to difficulties with the game as a whole.

Since then, those rules have undergone a fair amount of revision:  two sub-classes were added (the Warlock and the Sorcerer), character generation rules were included, and the Fighter's basic mechanics were altered to include an "expertise die" that refreshed each round.

Mind you, I wasn't planning on running D&D that evening, much less the new playtest rules, which I had only skimmed over.  While the new playtest packet contained an adventure--"Reclaiming Blingdenstone"--I was barely able to glance at said adventure before game had started.  Plus, we didn't exactly have a balanced party for a dungeon crawl.  My four players ended up rolling a Warlock, a Wizard, a Sorcerer and a Fighter; nary a Rogue nor Cleric to be seen!

And you thought they were bad,
before they were wizards!

As such, I had to improvise.  Figuring that our three arcanists probably knew each other, I decided to run a riff on the immortal Harry Potter series, placing our erstwhile adventurers in the library of Ikksplatt University of the Arcane Arts, something of a combination of Hogwart's Academy and Faber College, from the immortal frat-boy hit, Animal House.

And, oh my...we had a blast.

After a swarm of stirges ambushed some thirsty co-eds outside the library--which were fought off by our intrepid investigators, naturally--Headmaster Gornash offered the group a  "book stipend" if they could infiltrate the Theta Gamma Delta fraternity house and find out what was causing the stirge infestation on campus.

This led to a crazy showdown at a "wizard's mark" party at the fraternity house, some rather...unorthodox...uses of the Charm Person spell, and a series of encounters with a drunken half-ogre invoker.  In the end, the players managed to make it down into the cold dorm, where the fraternity president and his stoner elf frat brother were keeping a hungry Gelatinous Cube as a pet!

While everyone at the table had fun, I think that the fun came as a result of the absurdity of the scenario, rather than the rules themselves.  The Fighter, despite numerous mechanical changes, still felt significantly underpowered compared to the arcanists.  While he could dish out and avoid damage, that was pretty much all the class could do.  The arcanists seemed fairly well on par with one another, though few spells were cast.  I'm a touch worried that the Wizard could easily outstrip its compatriots at higher levels, much as it did in 3e/3.5e.

Further, the class write-ups for the Warlock and Sorcerer show their newer, less-refined nature.  The character generation rules for both of those classes were particularly vague, and both players at my table--one of which was the PlatinumChick, an experienced gamer if there ever was one--had issues understanding how much access to spells they actually had.  The Warlock character, in fact, played the first half of the game believing that he only had access to one spell:  Comprehend Languages!  That lack of clarity there is absolutely unacceptable in a finished product, but as playtest material goes, I suppose it's to be expected.

I'm still very much on the fence about D&D Next, as you might imagine.  While I'll likely pick up the most basic set, I can't imagine picking up much more of the line than that.  Simply put, it's got a long way to go before I start really being interested in D&D again.

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 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 Has a Love-Hate Relationship...

It's been a while since I've done one of these, but I figured that it's about high time that I return to the RPG Blog Carnival.  This month's topic, hosted over at Nevermet Press, is "Things to Love, Things to Hate"--essentially, what do you (as a GM or as a player) look for in an RPG, an adventure, a system, etc.

So, take a gander at my personal perks and gripes when looking at games:

Perks:

• I love a game system that attempts to echo the genre being played. 
• My favorite part about Deadlands is the fact that the cards-based initiative, the use of poker-chips, and the dueling/gambling mechanics push the idea of the Wild West, "gamblin' man" action.  Similarly, with WEGS, the use of poker chips enforces the idea of an adventurer "gambling with their fate".  ICONS uses the FATE mechanics to emphasize in-character actions and Determination points to encourage over-the-top action and power stunting.  All of these mechanics are built to better emulate the genre of game being played, and do so admirably, filling holes that a generic system simply can't do.
• I love a game that facilitates ease (and speed) of play.
• While I can give or take "fiddly-bits," I run far too many convention games to rely on them regularly.  Maps, dungeon tiles, miniatures and the like take up far too much room for my taste, and often slow down the pace of a game.  This takes away from investigation and fast-paced action, as people fiddle with movement rules or cover mechanics. 
• I love an adventure with awesome set-piece locations.



The Warlock's favorite adventure!

• My favorite adventure of all time is the wacky, fun-house dungeon crawl known as "White Plume Mountain".  It's not a particularly well-written adventure, but my goodness, the locations!  A fight above a boiling mud pit, with swinging platforms suspended by chains from the ceiling?!  A semi-permeable bubble of water?!  An enchanted-freaking-water-slide?!  Sheer unadulterated awesome!  Without locations like this, the adventure would be nothing more than a fetch quest, but these put it way over the top.
• I love an adventure with multiple, conditional endings.
• One of the things I was happiest about when writing "Westbound on the San Juan Express" was the multiple scenarios that could unfold.  Depending on whom the posse supports, the PCs could end up in any of 6 potential end-game scenarios, none of which resulted in a TPK or any sort of "loss".  That's a rarity to find, but it makes for sheer, unadulterated awesome! 
• I love it my players have too many PCs they want to play.
• You know how I know when I've picked the right game to run?  When my Friday night group starts planning out characters over and over again, and have trouble deciding what they actually want to play.  Too much inspiration is never a bad thing!

Gripes:

• I hate when a game tries to do too much. 
• This was my biggest issue while reading through Lost Colony, the Deadlands sequel game.  While the system mechanics for Deadlands worked for the base game and for Hell on Earth, Lost Colony seemed to drop much of the horror of its predecessors in favor of introducing sci-fi colonial action.  Already a packed setting, it just did...well, too much.  Lack of support certainly didn't help it, but Lost Colony definitely felt like a game stretched too thin.
• I hate it when a game tries to reinvent the wheel...and gets run over by said wheel.
• Wild Talents was my biggest offender here.  I picked it up at Half Price Books, while doing research for Cold Steel Wardens.  The "width vs. height" mechanic used in the game was particularly innovative...but the game (and the NPCs within it) became so wrapped up in numerics and modifiers that the core game--a dystopian superheroes game--became utterly lost in a sea of numbers.  That's anti-fun in a nutshell.
• I hate it when an adventure stacks the deck.
• Ever have this happen to you in an adventure:  your heroes are fighting bandits in their own lair, which is full of nasty traps--caltrops, deadfalls, etc., none of which ever seem to affect them, even when you deliberately try to turn the tables?  That's a sure sign of poor adventure writing and inflexible gamemastery.  While occasionally such things make sense--fire elementals being immune to environmental hazards in a lava realm, for example--but under normal circumstances, there's no excuse for this poor design.
• I hate it when adventures "settle".



Warning!  King in Yellow ahead!

• There's a fine line between providing an adventure "suitable" to a genre's idiom and becoming utterly predictable.  Start hearing word about a strange play and a "yellow sign"?  Yeah, it's Hastur again.  While there might be investigation and conflict, it's simply a matter of going through the motions.  The drama, the challenge...it's gone.  Why bother?
•    I hate it when players don't give me anything to work with...then complain about it.
• GMing is hard work.  It's a lot of prep, and it's a lot of writing.  If I'm asking you, as a player, for a background, that means that I need your help in contributing to the world and to have an active investment in it.  It means that I want to engage you as both a player and a character.  And, when you reject that?  Yeah...that sends a pretty strong message that you don't really care about playing.

How about you guys?  Other thoughts?  Am I off-base?

In Which The Warlock Mulls Some Problem Players...

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to throw down some ICONS for the WittKids, as part of their Friday Night one-shot series.  In the midst of working on a ton of writing for Cubicle 7 on another book for The Laundry, I managed to cobble together a new adventure.  In true Silver Age fashion, I decided to give our heroes a great Nazi-punchin' time!

Ek Balaam--the lost city of Dr. Arrington's desire!

The premise?  Famed University of Miami anthropologist Dr. Anthony Arrington has gone missing, seeking out a series of undiscovered Olmec ruins in the jungles of the Yucatan.  But, as the heroes arrive at his dig site, they find it being trashed by men in SS uniforms! 

I wanted to make this adventure really over the top, including some great challenges for the PCs.  One of the ways I did so was through vehicles--the Nazis arrived on scene in the first chapter of the adventure riding on bulldozers, crashing through the underbrush and directly into two of the PCs!  I won't spoil the adventure, as I may be running it at FOPCon this time around since their theme is superheroes, but it ended with a fantastic airboat crash in the middle of a huge swamp.  Epic stuff!

However, the game wasn't without a few nitpicks.  While I had planned on using my pre-built supers group--The Huntsmen--I ended up with 8 players at the table:  two more players than I had Huntsmen!  Not wanting to turn anyone away, The Journeyman GM and the PlatinumChick rolled up random PCs, and we rolled with 8 players at the table.

Therein lay my biggest problems. 

You see, friends and neighbors, I ended up with two players in amongst those 8 that just Did.  Not.  Get.  It.  And, while it didn't "ruin" the game by any stretch, it did make GMing fairly difficult, as I tried to keep the rest of the group on track.

ICONS--a four-color system...
...but with grim 'n gritty players?

ICONS, as you may know, is a game very much styled after the four-color action of the Silver Age of Comics.  As such, certain things hold true:  real heroes don't use guns, heroes don't kill, and villains monologue before the battle is joined.  Player one, however--let's call him Bill--just did not get this idea.  Despite the fact that he could fling sonic energy from his fingertips, he continually wanted to loot Nazi assault rifles and pass them out to the party as sidearms.  As I was narrating through Doktor Schumann's monologue, Bill continually interrupted with what he wanted to do, often talking over other players to do so.  Twice, I had to stop halfway through the narration and ask him to stop....which he actively resented, complaining loudly to the rest of the group. 

As a GM, I felt I had an obligation to act, so as I mentioned, I asked him to stop--he had been talking over one of the players at the far end of the table, who literally was raising her hand, trying to get my attention.  It wasn't fair to her--or to the rest of the table, for that matter--for him to take up the limelight.  Further, his actions were actively obstructing the advancement of the plot! 

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only issue.  Again, as you may know, ICONS is a free-form, narrative system which uses a riff on the FATE mechanics to focus on character development and over-the-top stunts.  But, a second player--let's call him Jim Bob--took some issue with this idea.  I've gamed with Jim Bob before, and his leanings definitely skew towards more tactical games.  Jim Bob complained loudly about the fact that we weren't using a battle mat for combat, instead relying on imagination and GM description.  Eventually, I relented, scratching a brief map on the room's white-board, but even that wasn't enough for him.  He wanted precise detail in a game that not only doesn't focus on it, but doesn't even have true "ranges" or the like.  He wanted something from the game that I simply couldn't give.

Jim Bob also just didn't get the idea of his character's Aspects and Qualities.  He decided to play the Huntsmens' stealth and infiltration expert, yet began the game roaming about Playa del Carmen wearing an oversized sombrero, even trying to sneak around with it on!  He claimed that the "Sarcastic Joker" on his character sheet prompted him to do this, but actively ignored every other Aspect or Quality on the sheet in doing so.  Similarly, where others attempted to use their Aspects and Qualities to refine their actions--primarily through the use of Determination, by power stunting or using determined effort--Jim Bob really didn't do so. 

I'm not posting this to rag on the WittKids by any stretch of the imagination.  While I was frustrated at the time, it seemed that most everyone at the table--these two included--had a good time with the game.  However, I raise these issues as a question:  if these two were at your table, how would you adjust your GMing for the circumstance?  I'm hesitant to say "deal with them", simply because they're people--they shouldn't just be "dealt with". 

How do you, as a GM, alter the situation to better accomodate (or censure) actions detrimental to the game?

In Which The Warlock Accepts a Journeyman Challenge...

Last entry, my good friend over at The Journeyman GM (also known as Will the ManMan, my compadre from Witt, who's been throwing down the bones with me for almost 4 years now), issued me a challenge.  After reading some ongoing rumors regarding Monte Cook's return to Wizards of the Coast, I put down my official prediction for the new edition of D&D.  Will challenged me to put down a few predictions for what I expect to see in said upcoming edition.  So, without further adieu...here goes!

One of the more popular changes for the role-playing games industry has come in the resurgence of the "boxed set" as a concept.  Fantasy Flight Games experienced great success with this in Warhammer Fantasy, as did Cubicle 7's Doctor Who:  Adventures in Time and Space, carrying over their tendency to include "fiddly-bits" from their massively successful board games.  WotC has tipped their hand in this regard, with most of their 2011 releases being produced in some form of boxed set, usually complete with an element that couldn't be packaged separately:  Madness at Gardmore Abbey, for instance, comes with the Deck of Many Things--a product that may not sell well individually, but when coupled with a mini-campaign-length adventure, makes for a positive price point.  I expect that 5e/Anniversary Edition will consist primarily of boxed rules, with "advanced" classes coming out via additional boxed sets.

"Who knows what the future for D&D holds?!"

Further, I'm finding that D&D--and rpgs in general--are starting to trend away from the tactical, rules-heavy concepts that have been in dominance since 3e D&D.  It's because of this, I believe, that WotC decided to discontinue their D&D minis line, as well as HeroScape--they simply weren't profitable, based on the numbers of miniatures being sold, when compared to the investment necessary to produce the minis.  Coupled with a general trend away from minis-heavy games--look again to Warhammer Fantasy--I expext that 5e/Anniversary Edition will provide only rudimentary rules for miniatures use, but include later conversion rules for a D&D-themed "Chainmail-esque" minis game....which will fail, repeating the cycle of minis-based D&D games all the way back to 2e.

Coupled with the shift away from rules-heavy, minis-necessary gameplay, I believe that streamlined concepts will be on the horizon.  As part of a modular-based, box-expansion style game, the base game itself must be kept simple enough to attract new players, while expansion boxes provide options for more experienced, "hooked" players.  One example of this, I believe, will manifest in the 'skills' system, which will seem like a bare-bones system at release, but then have substantial expansion in subsequent expansions.  However, I do see this skill system being more closely tied to abilities--numerous articles have posited the actual necessity of having skills, when the focus on ability scores or raw stats is so high.  Believe it or not, I think that D&D could take a lesson or two from ICONS, in terms of skill development--they greatly resemble 2e D&D's "proficiency" system in importance, and provide reference back to the all-important 6 scores, rather than cluttering a character sheet with more numbers and values.

A few other quick predictions:

• No more powers.  I see a great return to class abilities--particularly ones that can be defined/explained in less than a sentence, and won't require an 8+ page character sheet.
• No feats--at least not in the sense that we understand them now.  They'll be too much bookkeeping for a simple, dungeon-crawling game.  I see them creeping back in around Year 2.
• Themes will be back, in a big way.  I see themes providing archetypal support beyond that found in the typical race/class combination, and the rules for them provide great modularity.  Plus, they were implemented towards the end of 4e's run, and the later themes have been much less rooted in 4e's design philosophy...
• No more dragonborn.  For that matter, no tieflings, either.  I see a philosophical return to the classic quartet of human-elf-dwarf-halfling, with other races coming through expansion materials.
• Additional settings with additional rules.  While I could only wish to see a resurrection of Planescape--which might not be out of the question, if Monte Cook is back running the show--I anticipate that we'll see Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Greyhawk and even Ravenloft (especially since the 4e version got cancelled).  Unfortunately, I don't see any new settings coming out any time soon.
• A split convention prescence.  I mentioned above that I anticipate WotC putting out a concurrent minis game to accompany D&D, which I see providing a two-pronged attack for major gaming conventions.  The key, though, is to make the minis game appealing to the more "tactically minded gamer" while maintaining involvement on the role-playing side.  Unfortunately, as I mentioned as well, I don't see this going well.

All told, I really do think that a new edition will have quite a bit of merit, but I'll have to see how it hashes out before I invest in another round of D&D books.  Time will tell, I suppose!

In Which The Warlock Wants a Frost Reaver...

A few months ago, you may remember some comments that I made about Diablo III's runestone system, and how it could be applied to a potential D&D skill system.  As you might imagine, I'm a bit of a Diablo fanatic.  While I don't care much for either of Blizzard Entertainment's other titles, the Diablo series (particularly Diablo II and its expansion pack, Lord of Destruction) managed to walk that wonderful line between action game and role-playing game in a deep, horrific environment. 

Can we get a release date yet?  Please?

I've been specifically excited for the information coming out on Diablo III as it's finally managed to hit its public beta test.  While my actual chances of getting into the beta might as well be infinitesimal, the footage from the beta that's been pouring in looks utterly spectacular, and I find myself desperately hoping that the game manages to surface this year, despite Blizzard's continual affirmations that the game will release "when it's ready."

Among the screencaptured pictures and streaming beta footage, Blizzard has also updated their primary Diablo III website, including a skill calculator--complete with all runestone combinations for each skill!--and a database of all the glorious gear that can drop, as your character eviscerates the minions of the Lord of Terror.

And, oh, my!  So much gear!  So many items and so many modifiers!  Armor for defending!  Weapons for bashing!  Wanga dolls and fetishes for...well...who cares?!  They look great!

Flipping through the numerous Legendary and Set Items, something occurred to me:  there's a distinct difference between certain role-playing games.  Some games are fundamentally gear-driven--the D&Ds of the world, primarily, while others place almost no emphasis on gear.

Pick a card, any card...

There's nothing wrong with either approach, really.  There's something to be said about finding a truly unique weapon or a relic that's been the subject of a massive quest spanning numerous game sessions.  Items like the Eye and Hand of Vecna, the soul-sucking rune-sword Blackrazor, or the infamous Deck of Many Things provide definition and opportunity for character development, centered around not just the acquisition of said items, but also the use of them.  After all, who hasn't had a campaign derailed when someone's taken an unfortunate draw on that Deck of Many Things?

One of the criticisms that I've seen tossed towards 4e D&D is the element of "Christmas Tree syndrome"--characters are expected to have certain elements of gear at certain levels, resulting in a laundry list of items, few of which have any real meaning or campaign relevance.  This, I think, may be one of the reasons that I've somewhat dropped D&D for a while.

Johnny Blaze loves his Hellfire Shotgun

On the other end of the spectrum is my current games of choice, Savage Worlds and ICONS.  Gear, while not quite irrelevant in Deadlands, only becomes important as a plot point--items like Maerlyn's Grapefruit, the Riggins Hellfire Carbine, and the like were grippingly vital, but mundane weapons and the like are glossed over.  ICONS, on the other hand, doesn't even have rules for equipment!  It's entirely left to the imagination!  Any gear that's listed becomes a plot point, usable for the GM (and the PCs, in some cases) to break the rules!

Neither way is bad, per se, but the key is to make gear matter.  A hero's choices should be vital to their core.  And, as always, it should look cool...

In Which the Warlock Contemplates Game Against Story...

Okay, fellow gamers.   Bear with me for a tick, once more, as I do some rambling.

The games that I tend to enjoy stem from a fairly diverse number of systems and fundamental game theories.  But, the systems that I tend to favor most recently all have one major thing in common:  the ability to manipulate and even to defeat luck.



The Copper Pot collects some fate...

In WEGS, every Ark comes ready-equipped with a number of Spoints, which can be used on nearly any percentage roll in the game, and even on some non-percentage rolls.  It's entirely possible--and sometimes more than desirable!--to use Spoints to achieve a percentage-chance of success that exceeds 100%.  While this all but guarantees success--barring a really horrible Bad Shot or a Wicked Failure--luck has effectively been removed from the equation.  The spell goes off, the sword strikes true.

In Savage Worlds and its numerous settings, every hero comes equipped with Bennies (or, Fate Chips, if you're playing Deadlands), which can turn a seemingly lethal blow into a near miss, or allow for complete and total re-rolls on skills.  In ICONS, heroes get Determination, which allows them to create power stunts, achieve massive levels of success (regardless of dice roll), and even "retcon" details in a scene, changing the narrative.

Not all games include such a system.  Aside from a brief flirtation with them in Eberron, D&D has never used such a mechanics.  Action points in 4e rarely grant anything but an extra action.  Call of Cthulhu and other "atmospheric" games don't use such a mechanic.

So, as I continue working on Cold Steel Wardens, a major question arises.  Do I put such a mechanic into the game, or do I "let the dice fall where they may"?

Representation of GNS Theory

I believe that the rub lies in what's referred to within game design circles as GNS Theory or, later, The Big Model.  Ron Edwards--creator of the Sorcerer RPG--created this theory as an ongoing set of theory regarding social interactions through role-playing games.  It's been one of the longest running controversies within game design circles since Edwards came up with the idea, but for me at least, Edwards' ideas run true.  Edwards claimed that players (and the games that they prefer) typically would fall within a given category--Gamist, Narrativist, or Simulationist.

My main impetus in creating Cold Steel Wardens echoes a fundamentally Simulationist.  As a representation of the Iron Age of Comics, CSW is built to emulate a certain era of comics, including all of the conceits and hallmarks of that era.  As I told ChaoticFrederick--whose commentary and revisions have been invaluable as I've moved forward!--I expect there to be ninjas, I expect there to be lots of guns, and I expect there to be mafia bosses.  Those are all stereotypes that are hallmarks of the Iron Age of Comics, for better or worse, and they tend to appear quite often.

However, I have a strong desire towards specific Narrativist goals.  The system for Aspects, Motivations, and Stances--which I'm about 2/3 of the way through!--encourages players to test their Hero's assumptions about ethics and morality.  While this stems from such storylines like Miller's Daredevil: Born Again and O'Neil's run on The Question, it's a fundamentally Narrativist idea.  Further, the investigative nature of the material itself lends itself towards storytelling, on the player level, the GM level, and the table-wide level.

However, the mechanics of CSW also provide for a degree of system mastery and "optimal build", which are hallmarks of the Gamist idea.  There's a strong desire for me, as a designer and as a gamer, to try to build "The World's Greatest Detective" or "The Martial Arts Master" in this system.  And, as with nearly every system out there, I've spent more than my share of time dealing with combat at this point--the "throne room" of the Gamist player.  Plus, the ideas that I've been kicking about, regarding a system for in-depth investigation, are solidly gamist--it's a matter of how well the Heroes can access the clues, and how well the Players can put them together.

So, where does this leave us?  Well, with the Hero Pool.  This is to say, the fate-defying mechanic I'm debating building into Cold Steel Wardens.  It's a simple mechanic--a pool of d8s equal to twice the number of players, which can be used to add to any test.  They're one use only--once they're gone, they're gone, unless the GM refreshes them (usually by challenging the PCs in underhanded ways). 

One might say that it's a fundamentally Gamist mechanic--it's something built in to defeat luck, and can be exploited.  It doesn't add much to the story, says the Gamist, but it lets us hit once in a while.  The Narrativist would probably disagree, adding that it adds more creative control to the minds of the players, and allows the Heroes to add in that "last-ditch effort" on a test that really requires a success.  A Simultationist might decry such a mechanic, due to lack of "realism", but simultaneously uphold it as a fitting representation of the genre. 

So, again, where does this leave us?  I'm not really sure.  I wouldn't be so arrogant thusfar as to say that CSW is going to be the mystical Zen-center of the GNS spectrum, but it's raised quite a few questions in my mind, as to where CSW is going.  Let's see how playtest rolls out, and we'll go from there...

A few links for you, in case you're curious:

• The Forge--Articles (Some quality viewpoints on GNS/Big Model Theory)
• "System Does Matter"--Ron Edwards' view on system choice.
• More on "The Threefold Model"--GNS Theory FAQs, included.

In Which The Warlock Muses on Mechanics...

Since returning from our trip to Pennsylvania two weeks ago, I've been plugging away at Cold Steel Wardens to the tune of 3,000 words a day, on average.  Occasionally, I'll take a day off--usually to play in Will the ManMan's Deadlands game or to take in one of the summer blockbusters--but my 5,000-6,000 word-per-day spikes more than make up for those. 

Writing all of this from scratch has actually made me a little more respectful for the role-playing game authors who have come before.  The vast majority of modern games--D&D, for instance--has entire teams of writers on staff, which allows individuals to focus on individual sections, then exchange those sections for revision and editing.  That's precisely how things worked, with my fellow Cubicle 7 freelancers--after one of us finished a piece, it was uploaded to a private GoogleDocs group, for others to read and offer suggestions.

However, I don't have a team for Cold Steel Wardens.  It's just me.  And that's led to me to realize quite a few things:

• Writing equipment sucks.  In all seriousness, it's a giant table.  You'd figure that it'd be easy, right?  Wrong.  It's tedious, doesn't fit well in a Word document, and there's always some aspect of it that you're forgetting.  You want to offer enough options to keep "hardcore" gamers happy, but be streamlined enough to avoid the problems of a game like Stargate SG-1 d20, which has pages upon pages of equipment rules.
• Options create complexity.  The more options you have, the more complex the game becomes.  Makes sense, right?  Problem is, gamers want options.  Even in seemingly simple games like ICONS or even Call of Cthulhu, players crave the ability to have different abilities and different focuses.  After all, no one wants to play the same character time after time, right?  However, for every additional option that I input--for every Mastery that alters a Skill's use or Optional Effect for a base Power--things get more complex.  That makes writing difficult, to say the least.
• If I pull this off, I'm going to expand the rules-set into a "generic" system for investigation.  The MAFIANAP mechanics that I've created are really streamlined and hand-built to focus on low-powered, street-level supers, and criminal investigations.  A sourcebook, similar to the Savage Worlds--Explorers' Edition, would be spectacular in this regard--something to put out the mechanics, minus the setting info and the like, in a way that would be useful for games meant to emulate shows like 24, Burn Notice, and Leverage as well as comics like Sin City. 
• The biggest test for me is going to be a matter of replicating the characters that were an inspiration for this game:  Green Arrow and Black Canary, The Question, Huntress, Batman, Daredevil, Marv and Dwight from Sin City, Captain America, and several others.  If I can build them accurately with this system, I know I'll have done a great job.
• Balance is an illusion, until it hits play.  I've done my best, so far, to keep options balanced.  A Hero in CSW with no powers will have more points to spend on Vitals, Skills, and Masteries than a Hero with quite a few Powers.  However, I know that the real test of balance comes in playtesting.  I'm hoping to have the rules-set playable by the end of August, in time for an alpha-test campaign at Witt this semester...

But, it's all coming together, and that's what important!  Here's for hoping that someone wants to publish my little brainchild once it's done...

In Which The Warlock Muses on a New Project...Again...

One of the biggest residual benefits that I tend to pull from Origins is the "post-convention inspiration".  I find that, after our trips to major gaming conventions, I come back with a brain-ful of inspiration, ready to start writing.

This year, I was determined to channel that inspiration into my already-existing projects, and hopefully finish out either SunnyVale Acres or Dungeon Slam!, and possibly even get a playtestable version of Lumberjack Wars up and running.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still working on those, but they've taken a bit of a back burner to a new project...

Fantastic Four #1:
In the heart of the Silver Age

Running ICONS at Origins (and talking with Gareth-Michael Skarka, one of the creators!), I was really high on the ability for a simple game-system to emulate the Silver Age of Comics.  While light on the rules--really, one of the draws for me--the biggest benefit of ICONS is the way in which it fosters the "over the top" actions as a default.  Heroes are encouraged to take risks, try new power combinations, and lay the one-liners on thick and heavy, as they take down alliteratively named villains.

Many superheroes systems have done their best to provide a "generic" view of comics.  Mutants and Masterminds, particularly, does its best to appeal to all the eras of comics, providing a "kitchen sink" approach to design--from street-level to cosmic, you can potentially build any Hero in such a system...the system isn't particularly geared for any particular type of gaming.  They suffer from "d20 syndrome" in the fact that the system mechanics aren't geared towards supporting the setting.  As such, the mechanics become bland and the onus of telling the story resides only with the players and Game-Master, not the game as well.

But, then it struck me. While the Silver Age of Comics has its representation...what about the pinnacle of comics storytelling: the Iron Age?

Rorschach, a seminal
Iron Age anti-hero...

Not familiar with the Iron Age of Comics?  Yes, you are.  You just might not know it yet.  Seen Watchmen?  Alan Moore's magnum opus was the seminal work of the Iron Age.  Enjoyed The Dark Knight?  Yeah, based thematically on Iron Age comics series The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, and The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb.  Don't get me started on the lordly might of comics legend Denny O'Neil, and his character-defining runs on Iron Man, Green Arrow, and The Question. 

As such, I set a new goal for myself:  write a game based in the Iron Age--my favorite era of comics, and what may well be the greatest era of comics as a storytelling medium.  The Iron Age took superheroes away from dealing with fantastical threats, towards a more grounded, realistic series of conflicts.  Not satisfied with "villains of the week", Iron Age writers and artists sought to bring depth, experience, and poignancy to a medium often relegated to children.  And no role-playing game has dared to try to bring those stories to the forefront, despite the fact that they are perennial favorites of both comics-fans and laymen alike.

That leaves me where I am now:  about 20,000 words into what I'm calling Cold Steel Wardens:  Adventures in the Iron Age of Comics.  Working a typical "work-week"....oh, who am I kidding....working from about 7pm till about 4 am, I manage about 2,500 words a day, with occasional spikes into much higher word counts.  Hell, the first day I sat down to write, I pumped out about 9,000 words alone!  Plus, I've been able to maintain a feel suitable to the Iron Age--martial arts combat styles, a focus on investigation and human foes, and a visceral damage mechanic...I think I'm onto something here!

With a bit of luck and continued work, I should have a completed rules-set by the end of August, with a completed manuscript, ready for editing, by the end of the year!  I'll keep you posted, friends and neighbors!  There's more to come!

The Warlock's Origins 2011 (No Longer) Live Blog!--Swag Report!

All righty!  Now we're back in action...back to the normal routine.  While Origins is always a blast, it's the sort of vacation that I have to recover from! 

But, that doesn't stop us at all.  Rather, it just keeps us coming back for more.  And, what's one of the best parts about a giant gamer convention complete with giant Dealer Hall?  The swag, that's what!  Let's take a look at this year's haul:

The PlatinumWarlock's swag from the 2011 Origins Game Fair!

• Deadlands: Hell on Earth--Wasted West Companion and Monsters, Muties and Misfits:  I've been pretty zealous about my fanboy-ism for Deadlands recently, in all its incarnations.  But, I'd been unable to find any copies of these in any of my friendly local game shops.  I even thought I was out of luck at Origins, until L-train and Will the ManMan pointed out that the Pinnacle Entertainment/Studio 2 booth had them!  Even better--I got my copies signed by Shane Lacy Hensley, head honcho behind Deadlands and Savage Worlds!
• Deadlands: The 1880 Smith & Robards Catalog:  Yeah, even more Deadlands.  Not only does it have all sorts of mechanical doo-dads that would make any Mad Scientist drool, it includes additional rules for Weird Science and how to build Scrappers--steampunk warriors, replete with ghost-rock powered cybernetics! 
• Savage Worlds Customizable GM Screen:  Truth be told, I already own a customizable GM screen.  You can even see it in some of my pictures from Origins, as I used it to show off the Guild Shield, as well as signs for my game..  It's a fantastic device, as it lets me fill in whatever inserts I need, and change them out for various systems.  My only caveat for my current GM screen was its height--it had 4 panels, all in portrait style, which made it difficult to look over.  While that's good for Call of Cthulhu and other horror games, a more cinematic game demands a more accessable screen!  I'm not getting rid of my old one, though--the PlatinumChick is getting that one!
• ICONS--The Villainomicon:  Okay, so totally geeked out with Gareth-Michael Skarka at the Cubicle 7 booth, talking about various ICONS games and the like.  I couldn't turn this one down.  More bad guys is always good, and the ones made for ICONS are always stylish, iconic, and interesting.  This was money well spent...and, besides, GMS signed my ICONS book!
• Reaper Minis--Mouslings:  The PlatinumChick is obsessed with these.  I got her a box of them for Christmas last year, and she's been hooked since then.  She's all about the cute little Mousling warriors--I'm kind of shocked she hasn't been playing MouseGuard, all told!  She managed to pick up some of the rarer Mouslings, only being offered at this year's convention season.  Excitement for her!
• Cyborg Commando and SpellJammer:  I picked up these from ChaoticKarl, as part of our yearly birthday exchange.  A professor at his university was selling off some of his older gaming materials, which he had ChaoticKarl put up at the Origins Auction.  But, I couldn't let these ones slip past--they're both spectacular!  I haven't gotten around to reading through them yet, but...well, I haven't read most of the stuff that I've bought yet!
• WEGS Ultimate Dungeon Party Deck:  Oh, yeah!  That product I worked on!  Yes, sirree, El Willy's UDP came out with a bang, to full demos all convention long.  It's a great little deck, full of neat tricks and skills for the advanced WEGS player.  I'm looking forward to throwing these down on our home table sometime really soon!

All righty, gang.  Almost done with Origins stuff for a while.  This Saturday, I'll toss in my post-convention thoughts, and even fill you in on my latest project....I've been busy already, friends and neighbors!

The Warlock's Origins 2011 Live Blog--Saturday!

These 4 hour nights of sleep are killing me some and my calves are on fire but, all told, I'm still having a blast, here at Origins!

Today was kind of a unique day in the fact that I finally got to play some WEGS, throwing down at the Ultimate Dungeon Party with Willy the 2 and his minions.  Rare is the time where I actually get to sit down and play WEGS, as I'm often running demo games and the like at the Dayton area conventions.  Having a chance to sit on the other side of the minions for once--and to try out the new Arks that I've editing over and over--was a massive draw!  Plus, having the lovely PlatinumChick and ChaoticKarl along for the ride didn't hurt either!

With an abysmal series of stats, I ended up statting up a Dungeoneer:  a grizzled old Warrior ark, who had picked up a few Trickster skills along the way...and a starting 17 in Insanity!  The game itself went fairly well, with my Dungeoneer slashing his way through some trolls...only to go grab a drink from his Brew Cask, and find it empty!  "Oh noes!" said my gruff warrior, "Mah booze!"  Hilarity ensues, of course...

You know what's funnier, though.  "Hew" and "Jab", two of the Dungeoneer's skills, have become something of a joke between us WEGSHogz.  After going through El Willy's drafts 6 times, the two skills had never ended up the same way twice, with tiny changes being made each time:  a Spoint Fee here, a Skill-Free-Inning there, Cold Rolls or Prowess % attacks...it was a mess!  I told El Willy point-blank that, the next time he runs a game for me, I'm bringing a Dungoneer with nothing but "Hew" and "Jab", in all its various incarnations!

My actual GMing, though, didn't quite go to expectations today...not that that's a bad thing, mind you.  Everyone had fun, and I had some rave reviews for both games.  But, wow...totally different directions than I'd expected.

Today brought the second round of ICONS: "The Near-Orbit Mass-Driver Blues", but with a pretty massive change.  Early in the game, the PCs were asked to essentially choose between one of three NPCs to join them--Aftershock, a retired hero; Caldera, a wet-behind-the-ears newbie hero; and Lodestone, a villain incarcerated in Gramercy Island Superhuman Penitentiary.  Of course, who do they go for?  The villain!  And stealth to sneak off with an experimental spacecraft?  Absolutely not!  Why stealth when you can rip apart the off-the-books skunkworks with a magnetism controlling supervillain on your side!

Really, the game went spectacularly, but just not in the direction I intended.  The role-playing at the table was spectacular, even with only 3 players (I could have sworn I had more people pre-registered earlier!).  The repartee--and horrible puns--flew like Determination points.  One thing I would have liked to see was a little more Power Stunting, but I think I was spoiled by the prior group for that mechanic.  They're a hard act to follow!

Just the same, my final game of the night, "WEGSthulhu" brought a fantastic change of pace--not only did I get to GM with some of my favorite Rogues, Justine and Rod, but I had a full-table of newbie WEGSHogz ready to hear some Cold Roll Gospel. 

"WEGSthulhu" is a unique scenario.  At the start of the game, each character is given a face down playing card to determine what their "alignment" is.  A red card makes for a true Hero, while a black card means that the character is a degenerate Cultist in disguise.  Anyone with a Face card, meanwhile, is undecided and could pick either side whenever they reveal themselves.

Usually, players play their cards "close to the chest"--they fear exposure, whether Cultist or Hero.  This time, though?  Nooooo!  The cultists betrayed High Skolar Armitage and his crew as soon as they got back to Miskytoonic Academy, resulting in a huge brawl in the Special Collections between Cultists, Heroes and the Hounds of Tindalos!  Again, a fantastic ending, but not at all what I'm expecting.  But, that's the fun of it all...

I did manage to get some time in the Dealer Hall today with Will the ManMan, but I'll cover my purchases in my yearly Swag Report!  Suffice to say, there's a lot to be had, with some special "additions"!  Stay posted for that, my photos from Saturday and Sunday, and for my final live-blog report this coming week! 

The Warlock's Origins 2011 Live Blog--Friday!

Okay, so remember how I mentioned being exhausted yesterday?  Yeah, after an 18+ hour day of hardcore gaming, I am wiped out!!!  But, it's all worth it when you're really enjoying what you do.  Today was one of those days.

ChaoticKarl and I started the day off at an RPGA game:  "Secrets and Shadows".  After last year's mess and massacre, I was truly skeptical about going through another game.  I even went so far as to make the PlatinumChick and the Enigmatic Mr. Ebbs serve as witnesses that, should this game not go well, I would forswear the RPGA for good.

Karl and our RPGA GM share a laugh...

But, you know what?  I really had a good time today.  The scenario structure was particularly well-designed, and had significant variants that depended on various ongoing campaign rewards.  Further, the GM was flexible and well-versed in keeping players interested.  The game ran spectacularly, with tons of opportunity to actually role-play and interact with both NPCs and the other party members.  Further, the other gamers at the table were both interesting and engaged with the plot.  Truly, this game reaffirmed my faith that the RPGA isn't a lost cause of gaming.  Just like anywhere else, sometimes you get poor games and poor scenarios, and other times  you get gold.  This time, we got some real gold.

Making their way through the Wasted West....

Afterwards, I had to rush to get prepped for my first of two games: another session of "Westward on the San Juan Express."  This time around, though, I got a unique opportunity--I got to throw down with some actual, honest-to-god Deadlands players!  All of the little homages that I put into the scenario--the little references and details--made for a spectacular game.  Honestly:  more gold.  The game ran spectacularly, with the players taking a totally different route through the game than I had expected, and poor Sam Clemens almost getting taken out by one of the NPCs!  Plus, my old buddy Nigel Worthington-Smythe's dirty secret came out...I won't spoil it here, but it's a doozy!

The whole gang, at Buca di Beppo!

Today was another big dinner for us, this time at Buca di Beppo.  While most of our meals are all individual, this one is all about the family-style dining.  With four massive entrees, and three appetizers, we ended up with even more than our 10-strong gamer flock could manage!  Not that that's a problem...the Drury has a mini-fridge, which means that our leftovers won't go to waste!  In amongst all of the chaos of tomorrow, I'll actually be able to grab some lunch!

Minnesota Steve moves into position!

We needed to rush just a touch, but we managed to make it just in time for our games at 7pm, and my Origins debut of "WEGS+Cthulhu = WEGSthulhu!"  And, really, this scenario really blew me away.  while WEGS is a little on the light side in the way of role playing, this game really managed to take the cake.  One of my 4 new WEGSHogz, working their way through Miskytoonic Academy with Minnesota-Steve (a veteran WEGSHog!), ended up negotiating with High Scholar Armitage, to try to get a better deal for her church!  Fantastic!  Unfortunately for that player, the final encounter ended in a massive tragedy as both she came out of Ethereality right in the middle of Randolph Carter, causing both of them to fuse together into a Sanity-warping beastie!  Cthulhu emerged, and the few cultist players pulled out a triumph--Ia! Ia!

Today's been a lot of win, but finally, I managed the biggest win:  El Willy and his crew, and our WittKids have been trying to manage to wrangle a time to raise a glass together at the Big Bar on 2, in the Hyatt.  We've only managed it once, in 4 prior years, and we'd been trying unsuccessfully since Wednesday.  Tonight, we finally managed it--hence the late hour of this post!  And, you know what?  Just being able to sit around with some good friends, particularly ones so distant for most of the year, makes it all worthwhile.

Tomorrow brings some more WEGSing for us, as I'm jumping in on Willy the 2's "Ultimate Dungeon Party" demo game, then back to the GM screen for me, with a session of ICONS and another "WEGSthulhu!"  It's going to be a blast, and I'll keep you updated on all the carnage as it goes down!

To take a look at my pics from both Thursday and Friday, take a look at the Facebook album!