Shadow Run Character: Work in Progress

Heidi
File Name: Hoe, Heidi A.
Birthplace:  Dörfli 

Attributes

Physical

• Body: 2
• Agility: 2
• Reaction: 2
• Strength: 1

Mental

• Willpower: 5
• Logic: 3
• Intuition: 5
• Charisma: 6

Special

• Edge: 3
• Essence: 6
• Standard Init: 7+1D6
• Hot Sim Init: 

 

Skills

Active

• Athletics: 3
• Close Combat: 3
• CON: 1
• Electronics:1
• Influence: 6
• Outdoors: 2
• Perception: 5
• Stealth: 5
  
  

Qualities

• Guts (+)
• Bad Luck (-)
• Photographic Memory (+)
• Addiction to Adrenaline-level 1 (-)
• First Impression (+)
• Combat Paralysis (-)

Knowledge

• Gangs
• Streets (sprawl)
• Corporate Personalities
• Journalism
• Current Events
• Area

Languages

• German - Native
• English - Expert
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

RPG a Day 2023: The 10th Anniversary Edition--Day 31 Favorite RPG of All Time

There are so many favorites. I really like Ryuutama and Cyberpunk 2020. The original World of Darkness got tons of play back in the old days and of course Marvel Superheroes was the one that really started it all for me...but it has to be D&D.  It may well be the McDonald's of TTRPGs but it's also iconic for a reason.  I'm not as enamored as the true fanboy who says there would be no TTRPGs without D&D, but I don't think TTRPGs would have ever gotten as "big" as they have under any other name. 

So this wraps up another year of RPGaDay. It's hard to respond to every entry with something worthwhile, but it's fun trying to meet the challenge. I like reading and watching the responses and look forward to next year...but I like taking the break. 

I may have said it before, but didn't we all learn to play the same way, being taught by two pretty girls?

RPG a Day 2023: The 10th Anniversary Edition--Day 30 Obscure RPG You Have Played

Is 'Tales From the Wild Blue Yonder' considered obscure? If so, I was able to play it a few weeks ago when I was on vacation and everything is right was right with the world. It's rules light for sure with lots of room for improv. It's sort of a space pirate type game with a preset cast of prebuilt characters and apparently a three chapter arc. We played chapter 1: Lady Blackbird. I won't give too much away, but the set up is just that--a set-up. Each group will play entirely differently. I don't see it as something you would play even a second time--that is after you played the entire arc--but it would be fun to run many times for different players to see what they will come up with. 

RPG a Day 2023: The 10th Anniversary Edition--Day 29 Most Memorable Encounter

We're getting toward the end now, so things do begin to peter out. I've played a lot of games over the years so certainly there must be a memorable encounter or two in there somewhere seeing as how I enjoy the game as a player and as a judge, but when I stop and think of a specific encounter, things do tend to run together. There isn't just one super-special encounter that comes to mind. There are several I'm going to list in what my Mandela Effect addled mind remembers to be chronological order:

* Very early gaming memory running the cool DC Heroes game with the wheel for my brother. He was Batman and he threw a piece of doggy doo at the Scarecrow and it knocked him out. 

*This triggered another memory of running for my brother this time with Marvel Superheroes wherein he  had a knockdown drag-out fight as Daredevil fighting the Silver Samurai.

*I remember playing a D&D game with my friends. Two characters--dwarves or halflings I really can't remember that one--sat smoking weed from a "large sack" because it was standard in the equipment list. My character--definitely a dwarf--and my other friend's character--he was playing as my brother--got into a fight with some creature. Our characters survived but my friend was pissed off at all of us both as a person and a character and he threw a fit--in game--punched my guy in the nose, then found the other two guys and beat them up and threw them down a cavern because none of us helped in the fight--them smoking and me just playing my typical cowardly character. 

*I was running a cyberpunk game and one of the characters was a Rockerboy. The character was invited up to the apartment of a special lady and before anything happened, we ended the session. The player missed the next session. I ran for the other guys and we left the Rocker in the room throughout the session. The next week the rocker was found in the party's van. He was disheveled and it looked as though the lady had had her way with him...but he didn't remember a thing. The girl actually didn't force herself on him the way he thought--instead she had inserted a tracking device. So he was violated against his will after all just not in the same way.

I do love the hobby, but you know after a while it all starts to run together. 









  

RPG a Day 2023: The 10th Anniversary Edition--Day 27 & 28 New Edition Wishes and The Scariest Game

08/27 I skipped yesterday because I have nothing to say on the matter except there are too many games and too many editions of existing games already. I think even WOTC is realizing this and apparently is only revising 5E from now on rather than going full 6E. If a new edition of a game was truly innovative or if the previous edition of a game was truly broken, then maybe a new edition would feel warranted,  but most of the time edition updates feel like money grabs.  Supporting games with supplemental materials or updating an out of print game would be worth while. 

08/28 I've never played a TTRPG that truly had me scared. I enjoy Ravenloft setting and other horror scenarios, but nothing has left me feeling fear. The closest thing to it was years ago when the first Resident Evil came out and the dogs break through the window. Back then it really sucked me in. Today it just sucks. It's clunky, moves slow and  looks like crap. It was a different time. I recently backed a fun game supplement called 'Grizelda's Cursed Curiosities' by Scoundrel Game Labs. It's for 5E but for my purposes I run it using Shadowdark rules instead. It reminds me of the old  Friday the 13th TV show. This system features a special gimmick called a haunt. I'll copy and paste an excerpt from the free pdf below.  The KS is over, but you can still preorder the supplement or it's prequel. It still didn't scare me but it's creepy and fun.

APPENDIX A: HAUNT RULES

Haunts are visceral scenarios where adventurers are trapped in a dangerous location plagued by supernatural phenomena. To escape the haunt,

adventurers must neutralize the dark energy or exorcise whatever curse, spirit, or phenomenon they are actively fighting against. This is done by making use of diverse skills and abilities, giving each adventurer a potential path to victory. Since haunts make use of the initiative system, they

serve not only as potential encounters but also as exciting arenas for other combat. Combining haunts with various monsters or even other haunts can create an exciting, thematic, and fresh experience for any table.

RPG a Day 2023: The 10th Anniversary Edition--Day 26 Favorite Character Sheet

This year I think Shadowdark has won me over as far as my responses go. It may be flavor of the month ultimately if some new, new hotness--as the kids say--comes along. Today, it is the most refined and streamlined version of D&D 5E that you can get. It's simple and effective. It also allows me to paraphrase the old English teacher's joke about essays--

How long should a "character sheet" be? 

It should be like a lady's skirt, long enough to cover everything, but short enough to keep things interesting. 

For a level 1 character, this is it. Maybe the talents/spells might expand by level 10--I would probably use cards of some kind for spells--but one sheet with everything in front of you is all that is needed. The gear is always going to be limited and there really isn't a 'bag of holding' type thing using Shadowdark RAW. I've really gone into K.I.S.S. mode for now, if a character sheet can be short and sweet like this  one, it should speed up the process of players--and GMs for that matter, when they decide what to do. 

This picture is based on the original Shadowdark character sheet and was generated at

 https://shadowdarklings.net/

At the time of this entry, the only drawback I have is that nobody has put one on Roll*20 yet.  

RPG a Day 2023: The 10th Anniversary Edition--Day 25 Unplayed RPG that you Own

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 

James:414

I wasn't planning on putting that quote here. I had just copied and pasted it for an FB comment about Windham Rotunda A.K.A. Bray Wyatt...A.K.A. The Fiend. He was an established wrestler for WWE. He'd been around a little while, but unlike in "legitimate" sports--so called--in the world of pro wrestling, age 36 can be considered on the youngish side. In life it certainly is. His dad is Mike Rotunda--A.K.A. Irwin R. Shyster (I.R.S.) and his Uncle is Barry Windham both were big in WWE and NWA for those who may have fallen away from fandom. This tragedy also happened one day from the loss of wrestling legend Terry Funk. Funk at least made it to his 70's. For the curios, at this early stage it seems that Wyatt passed of a heart attack brought on by an earlier bout of COVID--not going to speculate if it was the virus or the cure, but there you go. All this said, we like to have a lot of fun playing our TTRPGs and hanging out with our friends and family to do so...but, think about where you are in life. The young and the old can go at anytime since on this Earth anyway, we are mortal. I'm a Christian. I believe Jesus when He says that He is the only way to Heaven. I hope each and every one of you who happen to come across this blog can come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and what He did for you and me. If you're not Christian, I can still be your friend. I'll still pray for you. I might not be able to condone your lifestyle or acknowledge any delusions you may have, but the position is love not hate. Even if you're not a Christian, I pray for you--or wish for you if it makes you feel better--to tell someone you love what they mean to you because today might be the last day...

Life is for the living. Life does go on and so does RPGaDay 2023. One of the things I've resolved to do since the beginning of 2023 is to stop being a hoarder. There are only so many games that one can read, learn, play and run at a given time. ATM there are many in my collection that I don't actively play and a few I've never played even once. Moving forward I have resolved only to buy games I intend to play. Unless it's a very rare gem and the siren's song pulls me in, I don't intend to back unproduced games on Kickstarter or any other crowd funding site until after the product has been successfully brought to market and ready to buy. Fortunately, I've never backed a product that failed to deliver...yet. There are a few still in the wind though that have taken so long that I've lost interest in playing even if they ever do appear--Heckna! and 7th Sea:Khiati (?) I'm looking at you. I also think PDFs take away from game play even if something looks good the PDF is bound to get lost in the shuffle. 

Ankur created by Chris Miller is a sci-fi/fantasy/alternate history (maybe?) TRPG I backed on KS. I won't say too much about it good or bad because I never played or attempted a run, but the art looks nice and the concept seems like it could be fun. The PDFs came out almost immediately and I appreciate that. Unfortunately, it's entirely too long for me to read. 

Even before COVID and the related "died suddenly" became the trend, I've been thinking about how to be a good steward with my time. Don't get me wrong, I love to read and reading TTRPG books is like eating candy most of the time, so I may give this one another shot one of these days. That said, I have had the epiphany that it's the playing of the games with your friends that makes the hobby. Reading a system that you inherently know that virtually nobody will take the time to read, learn or play becomes a waste, and even if it ends up being the greatest system and setting I've ever read, I don't think I can summarize 300+ pages succinctly, and I know I can't get the average Joe to read something like that for an unknown system...and that's too bad.