RPG A Day 2018: Day 31... Share why you take part in RPGaDAY

This is my third year participating in RPGaDay. I really look forward to it because I like discussing the prompts with everyone and sharing the hobby with fellow gamers and GMs that I otherwise don't get to interact with throughout the year. It is always bittersweet as at the end of August I know I have to go back to school--teaching is my profession...allegedly, but it's also the perfect time discuss the hobby as my games tend to be on hiatus during the summer break. It also helps my writing and thinking to stay a little sharper than it otherwise would as I really veg out during the summer months. I hope that the project continues next year and for years to come. As long as someone keeps coming up with interesting prompts, I'll be game to answer and read the answers of others in the community. Hope to see everyone next year for the next RPG A Day challenge...and until then, Happy Gaming!

BTW...the blog continues. I'll still be updating my ongoing struggles with the old weight loss and trying to get into shape. I plan to review the Halloween Havoc PPVs of the late, great WCW wrestling...up until Halloween. Also, my new mission to find new gainful employment in China may also be of interest to some, so if you are so inclined keep watching this space for even more long-winded, hopefully witty, writings in the Mark Markham style that has become so famous. 

RPG A Day 2018: Day 30...Share something you learned about playing your character

I have learned so much about such a wide range of topics through playing my own character, but especially through running the game. Recently I found out how much the bounty is on one of the most wanted criminals in America..that would be $100,000.00 if we want to get a posse together. I learned how much damage C4 actually does...the game mechanic in Cyberpunk 2020 is a little bit generous, but then again they are using the powerful C6 one finds in 2020 and not the C4 we use here in the bygone past, but nevertheless I wanted to know. I learned exactly how big ships are and how much crew is needed to properly run them thanks to 7th Sea 2nd edition. Did you know that for long voyages animals for food as well as for dairy might be housed on a ship? Did you know that pirate crews ran their ships with such skeleton crews that they were often unmanageable? I know about it now. I've read about climates, the realistic effect of lava--unfortunately, you pretty much don't need to use it if you want to be realistic. The length of the average sedan. A somewhat working knowledge of metrics...I'm spatially challenged in real life so I'm not even good with standard measurements. I've learned about maps, the workings of the music industry and film making. In short...I've learned more things willing through playing and running RPGs than I ever have as a student or teacher...except within the very specific field of English Lit. 

RPG A Day 2018: Day 29...Share a friendship you have because of RPGs

So many of my friendships both IRL and online come directly from gaming. Those I've met online are people that I'd never have met otherwise. We're kind of getting to know each other even though we've never met face to face. They are a lot closer to me than an FB friend or you guys reading my blog. I know...I know...we're all good friends, so no worries, but the people playing in my campaign have shared family dynamics and life events whereas that's not the case with my other social media friends...unless on a rare occasion when I share or learn a little information from real life.

IRL as an introverted expat, I'd have no friends, other than my work colleagues, if not for gaming. Teaching overseas in the UAE is a very difficult thing. As to the locals, a lot of the culture here really does clash with my western upbringing and Christian beliefs. I'm a friend to all, but we don't have much in common, and speaking English for them is a struggle while speaking Arabic for me is an impossibility. As to my fellow expats, I don't want to talk about work all the time, and in many cases that would be the only topic we could talk about. There aren't all that many Americans, so even my other expats are more likely to be into soccer than FOOTBALL. Fortunately, with gaming I have an instant ice-breaker that sometimes leads to deeper relationships.

I've talked about my friend of over 26 years, Lemuel Eubanks, before, so there isn't much more I can share about him. We continue to keep in touch over social media, and whenever I visit the States, I make sure to see him, but we haven't gamed together in ages. The rest of the main party and even a few of the younger offshoots still keep in touch in much the same way, but I don't see them as often. Lem has been a roommate, co-worker, friend, and even the best man at my wedding. I've tried to get him to get into Roll*20, but no luck so far. We all still talk about games we had in our late teens and throughout our twenties. It's hard to believe that even the young guys of the extended group will be hitting forty soon while most of the core group has already hit the mid-forties. Most of us have been married at least at one point or another and two or three of us have somehow wound up with children. I hope someday to have my daughter playing with the daughter of some of my old friends. Unfortunately, Lem--who did get married, but divorced some time ago--has no kids of his own at this point. Hopefully, he'll get in gear and give it another shot before too long. 

RPG A Day 2018: Day 28...Share whose inspiring gaming excellence you’re grateful for

As we get towards the end, my responses lose a little of their steam. I could name names, but nobody who reads my blog will know who I'm talking about, and my friends don't read my blog...unless they're doing so anonymously. With that said I'll throw a few examples of gaming excellence out here.

One of my best friends one Lem Eubanks was also my first regular DM. He was always patient with us as we were in the murder hobo phase and made a lot of chaotic choices when we played. I say he inspired me with being able to ad lib on the fly with the crazy directions we inevitably came up with.

I have a few newer friends from my current rotating DM live table. I have had Edward from the UK, Tyler from South Africa, and fellow American Jeremy. They have all amazed me with their ability to run games using very little notes.

Jeremy was very creative but he fell into the habit of putting our characters into situations wherein it didn't really matter what choices we had made as the scenario ended up being a dream, hallucination or other positions that made us regain who we were. I apply this technique from time to time when I'm not familiar enough with how a character or setting should work.

Ed ran the full campaign of 5E the year before last. I've mentioned before that even within my own Roll*20 campaigns that things always tend to fall apart before the campaign reaches its true conclusion. He managed to run all year long and it was his first try at DMing, so a tip of the hat to him. He inspires me to keep trying until someday I may truly run a campaign up to a true conclusion myself.

Tyler is a really young guy. He's been playing with us since his last year of high school. At this point I believe he finally hit age 20. Last year, he ran several campaigns and pretty much was the guy in charge. It's pretty cool as our age ranges from age 20 up to the mid 50's. I didn't get to play with the group this year as much as I wanted, and every campaign he ran tended to get lost before we could finish it properly, but I was amazed at how much he could do seemingly without notes of any kind.

I have had a few good players in my various Roll*20 campaigns...too numerous to list, but much like the DM examples, they do inspire me to try different things when I'm on the other side of the screen.    

RPG A Day 2018: Day 27...Share a great stream / actual play

Let me first say that I can't get into these so much. I was listening to an older Cyberpunk one and I tried Critical Role, but the episodes run too long. I'd rather be playing or prepping my own game. I would actually prefer playing a videogame to watching one of these. I do find them useful when I want to see how a game is played, and I think they are a lot of help for people who haven't played before. I could imagine myself looking at more of them if I wasn't in a position to play or run my own games. I think when the game is streamed...especially the big ones like Critical Role...that it becomes more about acting and entertaining viewers than actually playing. I'm glad that the streams are doing well, but at the moment they run too long for me to get into them.

The Cyberpunk one starts here...the language isn't safe for work. I haven't made it to the end of the campaign but it is over. Vee is the only one worth watching for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pRT3i2Fuvo

EDITED: R. Talsorian Games just put up some new actual plays including one ran by Maximum Mike himself...maybe more palatable than my previous recommendation--although I do find my original suggestion to be very funny.

https://rtalsoriangames.wordpress.com/2018/08/25/from-the-screamsheets-8-25-2018/ 

RPG A Day 2018: Day 26 Gaming ambition for the next 12 months

Today is the first day of my 9th year of teaching at Al Seddique Boys School in the Liwa Western Region of the beautiful desert country of the United Arab Emirates...with any luck I'll make it will be the beginning of my farewell tour. As such getting out of here will be a lot of work on my end and I must focus constantly throughout this year so that I'm not caught with my pants down this Spring when resignation time comes around. Certain set-backs have already happened over the summer that will either mean even more work than I expected to achieve that end or else put my head down and stay where I am for one more year beyond the one that just started. In either case, the RPG year for 2018-2019 will probably be the worse for it.

On the docket:

The Roll*20 Cyberpunk 2020 weekly game should continue. At times my roster of players is like a revolving door, and even I had to take a session off last week thanks to a summer cold. If I get tired of the setting I may persuade my players to take on the 'Journey to Ragnarok: A Norse Mythology Adventure for 5E' that I backed on Kickstarter...this may also become a live table option, but that's really not the plan...

At the weekly live table we should continue a D&D5E campaign hopefully from September onward. I want to run Mutant Crawl Classics with them as a palette cleanser if the group is up for it. This group is also at a crossroads as the regular DM from last year has moved away. I want to step up, but as I have a four year old, I am a bit of  a flake that's liable to call it at the last minute nowadays. There are other teachers in the group who are also planning on making this their last year. Odds are even if I get stuck yet again, they'll be moving on. Could be the end of an era for us.

On the Gulf Roleplaying Community front, there is usually at least a meeting or two in the capital city of Abu Dhabi. Last year we only had the one meeting back in October '17, and I know of at least three group members who've already hit the dusty trail, so who knows if they'll even run one for us this year? The rest of the meetings are in Dubai--the most famous of the Emirates--which I normally don't take due to driving distance. I may make exceptions this year based on how much gaming I'm able to do. It is my farewell tour after all. Also in Dubai is the Middle East Comic and Sci-Fi Convention, our own Comicon, which always has a strong GRC presence. Again, it's not usually my thing but I'll play it by ear this year.

Kickstarter and other online strangeness. I already have a few products that I want to buy. As I mentioned yesterday, R Talsarian Games are offering Cyberpunk books that I want in print with more promised, and an official My Little Pony RPG by Hasbro that I really want with a dice set, dungeon master's screen and everything. These products may in fact be purchased, but I'm holding off because I have too much stuff to move already. Unfortunately, aside from PDFs which I really don't like all that much, I've had to retire from backing Kickstarter projects as in addition to adding to my moving burden, they may not be created and mailed out to me in time. I'm really pushing the idea of GingTFO of here this year if at all possible.

Anyway, that's the year at a glance. If I do get to move, I wonder if I'll have time to participate in RPG a Day 2019?

RPG A Day 2018: Day 25... Game that had an impact on you in the last 12 months

It's time to really talk about the system I use in my current campaign, Cyberpunk 2020.

For those not in the know, Cyberpunk is a specific genre of science fiction that takes place in the not-too distant future...next Sunday A.D. not really...actually, the times are usually somewhat non-specific or in the 2000's. Everything is seen through the filter of writers and other creators from the late 70's early 80's, so most of the time although it is the future, it has a retro vibe. Often the genre is described as high-tech, low-life. It's the ultimate evolution of a disposable society wherein image is everything and perception trumps reality. Technology has advanced to the point wherein humans have to fight to keep their humanity. Popular examples include: Bladerunner, The Matrix, Total Recall, and Ghost in the Shell. Recently, the entire genre has been making a comeback in film with sequels to Bladerunner, a live-action Ghost in the Shell, an upcoming live-action Battle Angel Alita, and another reboot of the terminator on the way, and in television with the shows: Mr. Robot, Orphan Black, Altered Carbon and Black Mirror enjoying at least some popularity. As a fan of the genre, I think it's a great time and that more people are being exposed to Cyberpunk than arguably any time before. Unfortunately, it can also be argued that we have yet to have a "break out" success in this current renaissance. Here's to hoping one of these properties becomes a killer app.

There is a wide range of settings within the Cyberpunk genre itself. Some are very futuristic while others are more grounded in reality. Some of the common challenges for the people 2000's include, but are not limited to: natural disasters: earthquakes, asteroids, abnormal weather conditions, man made disasters: usually nukes of some kind, political shake-ups, oppression and confusion brought about by the rapid expansion of tech that outpaced the average person's ability to comprehend it, integration with machinery, integration biotech such as enhanced genetics and chimeras, sentient A.I.: androids, robots, holograms, designer drugs even more deadly than today, the rise in power of corporations, the rise of street gangs in response, usually, a matrix-like network of some kind, and the general questioning of what it means to be alive and human. Most of these stories include one of these aspects or another. Cyberpunk 2020 as a game attempts to make all of these things happen at more or less the same time.

One of the aspects of CP2020 that makes it interesting is the great number of predictions that have come true. Almost everything that was predicted has either been produced, is in development or in some cases has been surpassed in the real world...and we've still got two years to go. Some of the interesting 'misses' are: the continued reliance on fax technology and hard-copies that we've all but completely moved away from today, the relative high cost of cellular phones and the reliability of wireless networks, and the fact that in real-life we've shown a bit more restraint in use of nukes. There are lore reasons one could use as to why things developed as they did in the CP2020 world vs. what really happened--we haven't had widespread use of the nukes, we haven't had major asteroids crashing into the Earth either of which would have had a major impact on the wireless network, I'm sure. It's still funny that our smartphones IRL are more powerful yet smaller than the Netrunner's high-tech computer gear. I guess the same could be said for Penny's computer in Inspector Gadget. 

Cyberpunk's first edition (1988) was set in 2013, second edition (1990) which is the most popular, took place in 2020 while a third, generally unpopular, edition (2005) took place in 203X. All of the editions have had heavy/primary input by Michael Pondsmith who is credited with being the creator and overseer of the property. R. Talisorian games also produce other popular RPG products and have recently gained the licence and have produced 'The Witcher' for table-tops based on the popular videogame series of the same name. It has been well received so far. Pondsmith, his family, and the rest of the crew are very open with fans and share a lot of behind the scenes info. Apparently, the company was already planning a new edition of the tabletop game to be known as 'Cyberpunk:RED'. They were approached by CD Projekt Red, the highly regarded videogame makers behind the aforementioned 'The Witcher' series of games. CD Projekt Red was interested in the Cyberpunk property, and began development of the highly anticipated 'Cyberpunk 2077' videogame. At it's core this game is said to be using the lore and mechanics of CP2020. Buzz around this game has grown for years and years, and we may be waiting for years to come, but progress is being shown regularly. The company says Ready when it's Ready. Until then all we can do is wait. This anticipation along with the new popularity of Cyberpunk as a genre has resulted in many potential players looking to play CP2020...and that's good for me.

All PDFs are available in the usual places, but what interests me is that print on demand can be had for many of the books over at the R.Talsorian website. I--like a true CP2020 character--want the hard copies. As to the system itself, It is skill based. You can build a real badass right out of the box depending on what the GM says, but no matter how good you are a lucky punk with a gun could take you out. Which is what makes it awesome. Improvement to skills--which comes at a sloooow grind--and upgrades to equipment are the official way of 'leveling up'. To use a skill it is rolling a D10+your stat level+your skill level vs. a set difficulty number. There are levels of success that was kind of ahead of its time for an old system. You fumble on a '1' and crit on a '10'. The '10's even explode so one could have a crazy level of success. There were at least two combat systems throughout CP2020's long run. I use Friday Night Firefight from CP2020 rule book. It is too complex to go into here with rules for hand to hand, range, automatic weapons, and heavy weapons, but if you learn it...it is excellent. There is also an entirely different set of rules for 'Netrunning' that is almost a separate game in itself. Some people say that it is broken. For years I didn't understand it myself, but the Roll*20 character sheet made by someguy--wish I knew how to give him credit--made it easy to understand. It is a lot of fun--for the game master and the Netrunner players--but it's a tricky thing to keep the non-Netrunners entertained should you try this game mechanic.

I've said more than enough. Give Cyberpunk a try won't you?

https://talsorianstore.com/

https://www.cyberpunk.net/en

RPG A Day 2018: Day 24...Which RPG do you think deserves more recognition?

You know I'll say Ryuutama because I want everyone to play it, but I talk about it a lot, so I'll talk about something different today.

13th Age which I talked about for its dice mechanic is one of the best and most unique RPGs around, but it has always been overshadowed by D&D and Pathfinder when it comes to the fantasy RPG systems. Aside from the escalation die mechanic I mentioned earlier, the characters also have what is called 'One Unique Thing' which is just what it says it is. The player picks one thing that their character can do that no other character in the entire world can. I thought it was a lot of fun when I played it, but it's definitely fallen off my radar over the years, and I assume that holds true for most people.

Check out their site and give them a shot...

http://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/category/products/13th-age/

RPG A Day 2018: Day 23...Which game do you hope to play again?

I like prompts like these that give me the opportunity to talk about games that might not be all that well known. A fun one-shot I ran was for Monkey Fun Studios' Spirit of '77 RPG immediately comes to mind.

"Spirit of 77 is a role-playing roller-coaster about kung-fu tough guys, fast fuel-burning street dragsters, red hot mommas, explosions and fighting The Man. It’s a world where Nixon made a deal with aliens to win the Vietnam War and remains in power behind the scenes for more than a decade. Based on D. Vincent Baker’s “Apocalypse World” framework!"

http://www.monkeyfunstudios.com/products/spiritof77/

The setting is excellent and one of my players wanted to play as Austin Powers who was very easy to create. As Austin he was a bit more memorable than his partner whose character escapes me, but I remember it was a lot of fun. We ran 'The Cruise Ship of the Damned' scenario which is a zombie invasion on a ship. For the setting to work, a passing knowledge of American pop-culture in the 1970's is a plus and the game suggests 70's music for each encounter. 

I'll also mention that the 'Powered by the Apocalypse' is good no matter what setting you choose. I particularly liked 'The Sprawl' which was an Apocalypse powered game in a cyberpunk setting. 

  

RPG A Day 2018: Day 22...Alternate Question #2: What makes you want to GM?

Decided to delve into the alternative prompt bag today as I have never played in a non-dice system.

So, what makes me want to GM?

The fact is I GM due to need rather than preference.

For example, on Roll*20 even with its great diversity of players, I find it hard to find groups using text chat only. Be it Roll*20 constantly improving the app or that I am in the middle of a desert town in the UAE wherein the connection speed gets dicey, the audio and video options at this point slow everything waaaay down to the point where I can't play. Even when my connection doesn't act up, the next slowest player is bound to, and here we go again. So, I must use text chat only, and since I couldn't find any, I had to make one. This also goes for timings, game system and overall style. There are a lot of people who want to play...probably a lot who want to run...but I find it easier to have people come to me rather than trying to find the people.

At the live table I'm currently with, we've had rotating GMs and I didn't even get a turn this year (season runs Sept-July as most of us are expat teachers). That was okay by me as I like being a player more. That being said, GMing is fun and I think everyone should bite the bullet and do it at least one time. As players we're kinda greedy--take, take, take--when you GM a game you're giving. If you can manage a one-shot or guest appearance at the table for casuals who are interested and show them why you like the game then you're doing a real service to the hobby. I got to do this using my reworked Al Qadim game for D&D 5E. There was a guest at the table and I tried my best to give him something to do even if it wasn't exactly within the rules. Anyhow, he hopefully had fun with it, and may play some time in the future. If nothing else he gets to tick "played in an RPG" off of his nerd checklist.

I always mention proselyting for the hobby. I guess I'm stuck in the old mindset that a more experienced player will take a rookie into the group and maybe one day this rookie will keep the game going for more friends and family. It's a fun activity that helps with creativity, critical thinking skills, the three R's, and development of social skills--especially for those of us who are introverts, and it's worth growing. Fans of newer systems may argue with me, but I don't think you have a game without someone stepping up for GM. More of us who are very experienced--30+ years here--as players should be the ones to take the plunge. I think you'll find it just as enjoyable as your player experience and you'll be able to tick "ran an RPG" off of your nerd checklist. 

RPG a Day 2018: Day 21...Which dice mechanic appeals to you?

Today's prompt gives me a chance to talk about 13th Age and their dice mechanic called 'Escalation Dice'

http://www.13thagesrd.com/

Most of this entry might be copy 'n pasta, but there's no point in reinventing the wheel:

"Escalation Die

The escalation die represents a bonus to attacks as the fight goes on.

At the start of the second round, the GM sets the escalation die at 1. Each PC gains a bonus to attack rolls equal to the current value on the escalation die. Each round, the escalation die advances by +1, to a maximum of +6.

Monsters and NPCs do not add the escalation die bonus to their attacks

If the GM judges that the characters are avoiding conflict rather than bringing the fight to the bad guys, the escalation die doesn’t advance. If combat virtually ceases, the escalation die resets to 0."

Sounds good, right? Nothing drags the combat down like both characters and enemies missing turn after turn. Using this system means people are more and more likely to hit. The monsters are stated in such a way that in round 1 they have the advantage, by round 3 it should be equal, and by round 4 or better the party will have the advantage...provided that they keep playing in a proactive/aggressive style. It should also be pointed out that "boss" Monsters/NPCs do get the escalation die. As described in the book, the ones who you don't want to get it are usually the ones who will. 

I've since used this mechanic in almost every game that I play. It happens that I'm not doing it for the Cyberpunk 2020 that I'm running now, but that system has too many bonuses going on to keep track of anyway. The system worked very well in Ryuutama and Dungeons and Dragons. I may write and/or copy and paste more about 13th Age again down the line. It's a good system that doesn't get the love it deserves. 

RPG A Day 2018: Day 20...Which game mechanic inspires your play the most?

I'm not sure that I fully understand the prompt on this one. If we're talking about the aspect of the game then exploration is my favorite by far. I like going through well designed dungeons and the like trying to discover what's inside and finding the way out. For me a game that is going good is one wherein combat is incidental.

On the other hand, I think my players often feel that a session without a combat is an 'off' week. As we are playing Cyberpunk 2020 currently, I've been trying to persuade them to be careful before they initiate a combat, they have been fine so far, but a couple of bad dice rolls and it will be all she wrote. I have some guys who are just as likely to fire a rocket launcher at someone as they are to negotiate. Sure, one of them is almost literally a walking tank, she is actually a bit more reserved as a character, but she can't be everywhere at once. Some of the others in the party are much squishier. As to exploration in this game we have the whole city, under the city, enormous sky scrapers, collapsed buildings in ruin, and the net to explore among other things.

That's about all I have for this one, I'll be interested to see what other people came up with for this prompt. 

RPG A Day 2018: Day 19...Music that enhances your game

Today's prompt lends itself to posting links of various music that I've used to enhance my games. I'll do as I did yesterday and in this case give a song or two for games that I've recently played. It should be noted that Roll*20 makes it so easy to add music to games and to shift between the songs that it can really add dramatic effects or humor to the session.

I've never liked music at the live table. Fumbling around for the right track with CD/MP3 or God forbid a cassette of some kind has always been a hassle. As background music, the tunes tend to be lost as white noise at best or a distraction at worst.

I am inspired by music when I do prep or I'll hear a song and it'll give me an idea for an encounter or session. Sometimes I listen to continuous music on a headset while playing a session on Roll*20 since I run text only and don't need to hear the players. Well, anyhow here are a few of my favorite songs:

Ryuutama: J-pop, anime soundtracks, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ2E9L0Rwms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPtn7RIKsYM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCwg-lX8DTY



7th Sea: sea shanties, and sailing songs with reggae thrown in for good measure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVpGc03n7o0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fVQwzv5Qfc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPlRt3WW5tg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKhbIp1UTgo



Cyberpunk 2020: 80's music and modern electronica

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI53G_D5Dbw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOK3rqVgN2I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OFpfTd0EIs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DSVDcw6iW8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IsSpAOD6K8


Dungeons and Dragons: Classic adventure music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8qMyBWZNw0&list=RDQM-fmc3w9Y01o


Spaghetti Western Themes are good no matter what:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFa1-kciCb4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLXQltR7vUQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xPxMAhMRfk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xPxMAhMRfk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wro0VE6i-XM



...these always get a good response after rolling for initiative no matter the system:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uy9etFSLt4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-WHW-QNswE


...and if the party wins you gotta hit them with one of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHx5hCVN26E


There are so many more than this that I could go all day, but I suppose you get the general idea.

RPG A Day 2018: Day 18...Art That Inspires Your Game

Since I'm not very good at drawing, I rarely draw my own characters and instead re-purpose artwork and photos as needed. In particular in Roll*20: I search google, find an image that I like, download that, use the Token Tool app, upload to Roll * 20 and there you go for characters. I usually create a cover for the campaign in a similar way. Most of the time I use anime style characters because I'm fine with anime and a lot of the younger players that I end up running for are familiar with the style and usually will pick such for their own avatars. Obviously, choosing art from D&D books and 7th Sea books was appropriate for those campaigns. With the current Cyberpunk 2020 campaign, I've chosen to use real pictures from my end--players can keep drawing style if they like. I use celebrities sometimes, but mostly it's random cosplayers or just normal people I find online. Be careful if you post your pic there as if you look interesting you just might become a game token or background. This prompt lends itself to showing a few pics...so I will:

Ryuutama: 

There's a monster in this game that is a living bamboo statue. I thought this was a fair representation.


7th Sea:

I had need of a haunted light house in game it was named...The Bloody Lighthouse


Cyberpunk 2020:

This is my media NPC, Coco Lopez. Got no idea who she is IRL, but if she's good enough for the Halloween store, she's good enough for my game. I wish more girls took on this hairstyle...it's less than two years until 2020...they should get with it.

I was proud of this when I made it, but I don't know how funny Gallagher references are to a lot of younger people who have no idea how big he was...my whole Prop Comic Wars between him and Carrot Top was probably lost on them.

Loved this screenshot from Bladerunner 2049

Mutant Crawl Classics:

I love the style of Goodman Games books Dungeon Crawl Classics and Mutant Crawl Classics.

Dungeons and Dragons:

I couldn't not put this one up there. You know it and love it.

FYI...I'm not making any money off of this particular blog. If  I were and if I had the time now even for free, I would list the artists/photographer/actor...but this is for personal use only, so it should be okay.

RPG a Day 2018: Day 17...Describe the best compliment you’ve had gaming

Finally a short one.

The best compliment received as a player:
To be asked to join, and then be allowed to stay in a table or online group.

The best compliment received as a GM:
To have players show up consistently at my table or online campaign, and have those players ask to bring friends and/or relatives into the group. Most of the time I'm struggling to make sure I've got enough people to play a session. On the rare occasion when I have a "waiting list" it's pretty cool.

Bonus: The Best Compliment I've Ever Received As A Teacher:

Last year, my school had one of our biannual inspections. Aside from one year of substitute/supply teaching and my student teaching/internship, I've never been gainfully employed as a teacher in America. Having been a non-traditional graduate in the first place, and all of America being in that "great recession" ten years ago in the second place, I ended up choosing to go overseas to teach, and that's where I've stayed. After spending one year in Taiwan--a baptism by fire if ever there was one--I went out to the UAE, where I will all to soon be entering my ninth year. So, the only inspections I know about are the ones we have here. I have no disparaging words to say about my employer, but there is a way of doing things here that I have the feeling may be a bit "unique". At any rate, everyone wants to put their best foot forward during the visit by these inspectors. To an extent there's nothing wrong with that, but it never sits right with me. Do you kids know the term "dog and pony show"? I think that's a PC way to say it. Anyhow, while my colleagues are all about doing that, I'm not. At the end of the three day ordeal, one of my students said, "Among our teachers, you're the only one who acts like you always do". I told him on the spot, that's the best compliment anyone has ever given me. I think that he, my other students, my players, and just about everybody else, appreciates dealing with someone who is genuine. I think being real--warts and all, but not terribly hurtful--is the best way to be even when dealing with things that are make believe.  

RPG A Day 2018: Day 16... Describe your plans for your next game

If we're talking about my next session, it's Saturday night on Roll*20 in my Cyberpunk 2020 campaign. I run modified versions of old modules and shoehorn them into a cohesive, yet sandboxy narrative based on how the players interact with the story...at least that's the idea. I started them off with the module--again, do we still call them that?--Thicker Than Blood which you can watch a funny review of here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKVQ8heQulQ

That's by Seth Skorkowsky @SSkorkowsky 

There are a lot of other fun reviews on his channel so give it a look.

They've more or less wrapped up the story which we began back in May...we're in mid-August now and only 5 days of game time has passed--we're playing weakly...er, weekly...so you can see I'm kind of on a slow build, but it seems to make sense. Anyhoo, the players still have a couple of loose ends if they want to explore them as well as many other seeds sewn that will lead to other pre-written modules depending on which direction they want to take.

This session will be all about repairing and rebuilding as they are attending a bazaar of legal and illegal sales taking place overnight in an aquarium in one of the more upscale areas of Night City. They also have rewards to collect from the owners of the La Hacienda Hotel and Casino who hired the party to bring the cultist, war criminal...and 80's prop comic...Gallagher to justice. That would be one of those things not in the original module by the way.

If we're talking about next system then it will be Mutant Crawl Classics. I plan to introduce this newly minted system funded by Kickstarter to my live table group that should be starting up some time next month or October at the latest. It sometimes takes us all a while to get back into the groove once school starts back...that happens in less than two weeks by the way. It's the double edged sword of RPG A Day, I enjoy writing, watching and reading he responses--it's like a mini-Christmas--but I hate that when it ends, the new school year starts.   

RPG A Day 2018: Day 15...Describe a tricky RPG experience that you've enjoyed.

I am spoiled for choice today as almost every RPG experience has been both tricky and enjoyable in some way.

I went into great detail about my Roll*20 GM experiences yesterday, but in case you didn't guess, running a text chat based game is very, very tricky...not as bad as you might think, but everything you want to do has to be typed. I don't do it very often, but I have the advantage as I can type out a lot of responses and description and then just copy and paste into the chat as needed. The players have to give their responses and descriptions in real time. It's also tricky when all seven regulars show up--it's really too many especially in combat situations, but I have to overload the roster to compensate for the inevitable absences I encounter each week..this is also tricky as I try to come up with excuses as to why character X is really quiet and/or missing this week. It really challenges my brain by trying to keep up with what everybody is doing and by the end of the night I usually want a cigarette although I don't and never have smoked.

I'll also mention running...or at least trying to run...games as a means for teaching English to the ESL students that I teach overseas. I have tried both for students in Taiwan--allegedly an "English Club"which would have been ripe for RPGs--and three times with students in the UAE--these were small classes that may as well be a club although it's actually a second session of regular English class on paper. Every time has been disastrous.

#1 the Taiwan kids had too many students. Allegedly the region is into both Warcraft and Starcraft, so it shouldn't have been a completely foreign concept for them. I had the map of a local mall and tokens to represent the players. I tried to run a zombie attack scenario like 'Dawn of the Dead' with a homebrew that was little more than roll a D6 and whoever gets the higher score wins. I probably should have gone with paper/scissor/rock instead. I gave candy to players who won their combat or made a good choice as a reward. They seemed to enjoy it, but I think they just mostly wanted candy and had no idea what was going on. It was a one-shot that I opted never to repeat.

#2 the UAE students. In a couple of weeks, year number nine starts for me at my current school. Throughout the eight previous years, I've made three non-consecutive attempts to bring RPGs to the unwashed masses that are my students with varying degrees of success/failure. I think I'm a glass is half-empty kind of guy, so each time I've given up on the project due to what I perceive as lack of interest. The first year I tried was maybe the most successful. I ran a few scenarios using 4E. The students were able to create halfway decent characters and backstories--which is part of the justification for playing the game in a school setting--but the game was just too complicated. The second year I tried to run the Castle Ravenloft board game. It too proved to be more difficult and the students were more interested in "roll" playing than "role"playing, and far too many weren't even interested in that aspect. I most recently tried last year with an advanced group of 11th grade students. It was a very small class of six--only five of which showed up regularly. I tried to go with my beloved Ryuutama which is the easiest game in the world if you ask me. It even comes with the GM character to hold the players' hands, but alas...it's just too much for them, and I dropped it very quickly.

In both scenarios we're of course dealing with the language barrier and the fact that neither nation would be considered to have a "reading culture". Reading for pleasure just isn't something that they do, and not everyone "gets" role playing as a concept. It's just a pity that both school curriculums listed "role playing" as a potential "learning outcome". Unfortunately, the students wouldn't buy in, but I still enjoyed it because it killed a lot of time.         

RPG A Day 2018: Day 14...Describe a failure that became amazing

Let's first say that I think Roll*20 is a godsend and I'd almost use the big 'G', but I'm not sure if it would be blasphemous or not, so I won't risk it. This app has made it possible for me to play more now than ever before, and in general I love it. That being said, there's a lot more flakiness because of the venue being online. This comes from me, my players, and sometimes the app itself. It's like we're all willing to cancel a session at the drop of a hat, disappear from the campaign without notice or show up unreasonably late on a regular basis. Those are behaviors I certainly try to avoid at the live table, and I've never played with people who've behaved that way, but on Roll *20 it happens all the time. My greatest personal fault is that I sometimes cancel on short notice--but at least I always give a notice. As to the app itself--sometimes it's down completely, broadcasting video and audio slows it down greatly, and just like playing a game, the group is only as strong as the weakest connection. This has led me to stick with text chat games only--they aren't as big a pain in the butt as you might imagine. It would be a lot cooler if we could broadcast, but what can you do?

To combat this flakiness, I decided to run a "West Marches" campaign. For those who aren't in the know, this type of game is almost completely sandbox. Players can come and go as they are available to play, but they're always on the roster. Parties will form from the roster and different characters may work in various combinations over the campaign. The characters impact a persistent world while the GM keeps everyone updated on the changes...in Roll 20, that would be easy to do via forums. I really wanted to play Ryuutama and to me it seemed perfect for this style of game as it is a system that's all about travelling. I planned to go oldskool and even found a scanned Outdoor Survival map like they used for original D&D that would be perfect for the system and Roll*20. 

When I posted the campaign in the active listings, there was a ton of interest in playing. I had 20+ people who signed up to be in the pool of players. Unfortunately, very few of them ever showed up. I'll be generous and say I maybe had seven people make characters and play in at least one session. After about a month of unsuccessfully trying to get players to attend a character creation session, I wound up with a core group of five people who showed up regularly. After that, I just dropped the "West Marches" idea due to lack of participation. To this day, although the game is now on indefinite hiatus, there remains a pool of players on the roster that I've never met, and who have never made characters...that's the fail. 

The amazing part is that the core group of five continued to play Ryuutama with me using a traditional weekly schedule for several months. They remained a bit flaky, but we ran from October of 2017 until May of 2018. Eventually, they fell into their old habits again and a couple of guys had to stop playing completely, so I put the game on hiatus. Due to renewed interest in Cyberpunk 2020--thanks to the upcoming video game--I decided to start a new campaign using that system. Three of my Ryuutama players came with me. That means we've been gaming together almost every week on Roll*20 for nearly one year continuous. Anyone who's tried to keep an online group together knows that is a fairly amazing feat.    

RPG A Day 2018: Day 13...Describe how your play has evolved

As a player I guess my style has gone from wanting to fight everything "murder hobo" style to being more of an actual role player. At times I used to be a bad player--and most of the other players at the table were too! I'm surprised the DM put up with us. I remember instigating a lot of player vs. player fights in our campaigns.

I particularly remember in the original Vampire: The Masquerade how one of my friends and I were focused on killing a fellow party member because in game lore our clans didn't get along. We also wanted the bonus you got for doing in a fellow vampire which was a part of the game--see I'm not completely to blame because White Wolf shouldn't have dangled that carrot in front of me.

In D&D often took my role as a thief too literally, and was always looking at the chance to back stab an unwary NPC figuratively and literally. I remember in one D&D session wherein we were hired by a treasure hunter and his halfling companion to escort them through a particularly nasty dungeon. At the first opportunity, I killed the halfling for no reason at all. His friend, who had a blunderbuss type weapon, rightfully fired at me for what I had done--he missed me at damn near point blank range--and then the rest of the party fell on him and killed him. The DM finally had enough of my--maybe our, but I started it--bullshit. When we went into the next area there was a skeleton sitting at a desk in a library writing in a large ledger. He would talk with us, but he wouldn't tell us what to do. We could try to attack him but he would do nothing save to get mildly annoyed and put himself back together and go back to the writing. With this happening several times the party finally got frustrated and had to go back topside. The Marvel movie universe would use a variation on that idea for the climax of the Doctor Strange movie nearly two decades later. That being so long ago and the Mandela Effect being in full play, I don't remember if the DM's stonewalling technique taught us a lesson or not. We were probably back up to our old tricks the next time we played. I wasn't always the main culprit, and came up on the short end of the stick a couple of times. In any case, in our games most characters, in spite of stated alignment, were always acting chaotic evil/retarded.

Over the years I think I've become a better player. I've played in a lot more groups and thus been exposed to different styles of playing. The players--and actually the GM too--should be working together to have a good time. Storytelling and role playing does that for some while having a dungeon crawl will do that for others. At the end of the day, we should all be on that page. For the most part the characters in the party should ultimately have a common goal--this doesn't mean you can't have trust issues, thievery, betrayal or even fights to the death, but those things should be used sparingly. If the Dwarf Paladin will not rest until EVERY goblin has been brought to justice, then he probably shouldn't be in a party with a goblin thief. Hammering that kind of thing out in session zero makes things run a lot more smoothly. As to interacting with the GM, we should hope to make an impact on a session and the world as players, but we shouldn't actively try to wreck what the GM has planned. There's a certain amount of buy-in that a player has to give in order for the game to be a game. If Sir Robert refuses to follow the "adventures this way" sign, and would prefer to live his life as an entertainer, then he probably shouldn't be in an adventuring party. Players don't like to be railroaded too much, but if rumors abound of bandits in the east and an NPC has requested aid...then the party shouldn't flee to the north. They're supposed to be the stars of the show not the other guys. 

Nowadays, I run consistently more often than I play. I'm a laid back GM, so I let my players be gonzo if they like it, but I have to railroad them a little now and then and I will allow them to take actions back sometimes. I've got a couple of hot heads who were just like me in the old days who are liable to fire a mini-missile or throw a grenade into a crowd that may or may not include their allies seemingly without even thinking. We're playing Cyberpunk 2020, but it could be just as deadly and dumb casting a fireball into the same crowd. No matter what system I'm running, in as much as I can,  I try to focus on story and character development with RP opportunities, but if players want to let loose, I'm going to let them do their worst. It's no secret, the GM can really do whatever he wants. In our pretend worlds, we have all the pretend power. If the players get too out of hand, I can just say Tiamat shows up, and have an instant TPK which would be very strange for a CP2020 campaign.     

RPGaDay 2018: Day 12...Alt question 1--A memorable character retirement

Well, the regular question of the day was the Wildest Character Concept. I thought and thought even with the NPCs and I just couldn't think of one that was particularly wild. I do have a few short retirement stories I can tell though.

One of the drawbacks of running a long campaign--even one planned with the best intentions wherein we've planted seeds for logical plot twists and have set the stage with with an epic satisfying conclusion in mind--is that the parties tend to fall apart for one reason or another before the ending comes around. It happens all the time winter holidays, spring break and summer vacations are all banes to a good RPG group. It's probably even worse on Roll*20. It's not that online players are flakier--although they arguably are--so much as it is that we are all coming from such diverse places that scheduling problems are almost preordained to rear their heads sooner or later. That said I'll give you three brief tales of retirements that actually happened.

Gnissa Fumblebuck: Although I still pull the name out from time to time. Live table Gnissa--in this case gnome bard with a street urchin background--and her mouse, Baldric were pulled into a 'Hunger Games' type of situation with her other party members and some NPCs to perform contests and competitions for beings whom we officially never met. We saw crowds of spectators, but we never discovered who they were. Everyone had a magical device on their necks that kept them from escaping. We played through several events and were well taken care of as survivors. When the campaign wrapped the party never made it home. Instead the characters continued the harsh, yet celebrated lives of gladiators. For her part Gnissa had been possessed by a demon of some kind that controlled her now elongated right hand, but other than that she was none the worse for wear.

Charlie X: This character was from the 7th Sea campaign I ran on Roll*20. Charlie joined up with the crew while they were in one port or another. He began as a total amnesiac knowing little more than his name. His personal quest was to find out who he was. By the end of the campaign he found that he was the heir to a massive shipping operation out of Castille (I believe that's the stand-in for Spain in this alternate world). His corrupt uncle had gotten rid of  Charlie, his nephew, many years before. Eventually, Charlie was able to learn and clear his good name, and help run bandits and occupiers out of town. However, he was hurt very badly in the battle and decided to retire in his hometown having won his fortune and even getting the girl.

Amber "Spade" Spayed: I may have mentioned that I've been playing and running games for 30+ years. The campaign with Spade felt the most "complete" I've ever run or played in. She was still a relatively low-level character (level 8 apparently, although I could have another updated sheet somewhere) but I feel that I got the most out of her. She was a Tabaxi rogue using unearthed arcana scout background. She was fast (re:broken), but had a hard time with anything involving CON or STR. At one point the angry Dragonborn Cleric in the group threw her into a Gelatinous Cube (because of my being "funny" as a player. When the cube showed up I claimed to be far from it and behind the Dragonborn). She barely escaped that and was ready to throwdown right there...but I made her hold her temper because I was the one that started it (player not character really). Another time she got stuck in a spider web and couldn't get out for anything in the world. Eventually, the other party members had to free her. We saved some children from a homebrewed group of villains that were "D&Dized" versions of the weeping angels from Dr. Who. Our big bad was a serpent-men cult who planned to bring their god, Set into the world. We fought our way through the minions, but we didn't stop the ritual and Set was about to materialize for the biggest smackdown of nearly year long continuous campaign...but I called a time-out and had a private conference with the DM. I knew that my Dragonborn Cleric friend from earlier had 'Banishment', but I wasn't sure if Spade knew it or not...and I had the suspicion that the Dragonborn player would have never remembered on his own. We recalled that Spade had indeed heard about the cleric using the spell in an earlier episode. So, as soon as it was my turn in initiative order, Spade told the Dragonborn to "disappear him" which the Dragonborn did. Set never laid a hand on anyone. Note: I consulted the DM first in case he didn't want the Big Bad getting taken out so cheaply. The Cleric still had to cast the spell and Set still had to fail his charisma saving throw--he in fact crit failed with a natural 1--but it was kind of assumed that banishment to his own plain was probably going to be the end result. I almost didn't do it myself, so that we could have had the epic fight, but I figured there wasn't a need to 'play' with the big bad. Had the DM asked me not to, I would have backed off--and he could have always used DM fiat to say, "funny that should have worked...", but he instead, he graciously chose to let the spell work as written in the RAW. The whole crew was then allowed an epilogue, and Spade decided to stop her roguish ways and went to work for the royal family--the only remaining member of which herself had just been saved from serpent men--as personal security. After it wrapped the DM said had we not saved the queen, the entire kingdom would have fallen to us. I think for her part Spade would rather work security instead.