so music has been a pretty important aspect to our Sprawl game, I have an "opening credits sequence" for each session set to a different song each time, each session is given an episode title with a line from the song, I have two Spotify playlists set up for background for the Legwork and Action phases
I have added a new wrinkle, where I have requested each player pick a personal theme song for their characters
I'm giving all the players a new move I am calling "Turn My Headphones Up," where once per mission after a successful roll, the player can call for their theme, I'll cue it up, and then give them +1 to their next move
It's gonna be so good, one player picked Edwin Starr's "War"
Mr. G on
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StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
Oh man, you just made me think about what school plays I would have going on in a Monsterhearts school.
If I were to use a real play I could create some great mirroring work, I'm sure, but I don't know if I could resist the temptation to have it be The King in Yellow or Massa di Requiem per Shuggay.
Phantom of the Opera, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, there are tons of options.
Yeah, exactly. And like, I know a ton of theatre. Even if my players didn't know exactly what was going on when I told them their school was doing a production of Sarah Kane's Blasted, I could still have fun with it. Although honestly the people I'm most likely to play with would know a fair amount of theatre themselves.
Straightzi on
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StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
so music has been a pretty important aspect to our Sprawl game, I have an "opening credits sequence" for each session set to a different song each time, each session is given an episode title with a line from the song, I have two Spotify playlists set up for background for the Legwork and Action phases
I have added a new wrinkle, where I have requested each player pick a personal theme song for their characters
I'm giving all the players a new move I am calling "Turn My Headphones Up," where once per mission after a successful roll, the player can call for their theme, I'll cue it up, and then give them +1 to their next move
It's gonna be so good, one player picked Edwin Starr's "War"
This is fantastic, I love it.
I've never been good at incorporating music into games - I have a pretty fraught relationship with music in general, and have a hard time identifying what music sounds like, if that makes sense. So I use a bunch of soundtracks and stuff if I want to use music in games. Mostly the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack, honestly.
so music has been a pretty important aspect to our Sprawl game, I have an "opening credits sequence" for each session set to a different song each time, each session is given an episode title with a line from the song, I have two Spotify playlists set up for background for the Legwork and Action phases
I have added a new wrinkle, where I have requested each player pick a personal theme song for their characters
I'm giving all the players a new move I am calling "Turn My Headphones Up," where once per mission after a successful roll, the player can call for their theme, I'll cue it up, and then give them +1 to their next move
It's gonna be so good, one player picked Edwin Starr's "War"
That is a great song choice to be badass with, good on that player
Speaking of music in games, you should definitely read Ribbon Drive if you haven't. It's a game about friends going on a roadtrip together that uses music as its sole mechanic.
Specifically, each player makes a mixtape, 20-60 minutes, with a title, at least three tracks, and a prevailing theme. When play begins, you pick a mixtape at random, and use its first two tracks to decide where you're going, who you are, and the two Futures each player is trying to bring to reality during play. From there, subsequent songs set the scene and serve to set the tone and influence outcomes and resolution. And periodically, players introduce obstacles, and if your group can't overcome them, you switch mixes and your road trip changes tone. This goes on until one player has not achieved their Futures, but rather, has grown to a place where they can let those Futures go, losing themselves and setting themselves free on the road.
For Monsterhearts 2e, there is a small supplement called Small Towns (available for free here) which gives 8 settings specifically charged for a good play experience.
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admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
For Monsterhearts 2e, there is a small supplement called Small Towns (available for free here) which gives 8 settings specifically charged for a good play experience.
Each written by a different rad person, it should be noted.
RingoHe/Hima distinct lack of substanceRegistered Userregular
edited July 2017
Hey, @DE?AD your game has consumed me and I'm making my roommate run it next week when some friends come to town. I might make them run it sooner.
I am currently looking at my six favorite Kindred types and doing writeups of how well they entertain me when smashed together as Hybrids.
Not quite halfway done but Ghost/Zombie is so far the most intriguing to me:
Ghost/Zombie
Discord 2 STRENGTHS
Astral Form
Levitate
Ignores Physical Hurt
Command other zombies within control aura
WEAKNESSES
Slow, Clumsy
Must use Risk dice to manifest if not in the presence of its fetter
Destruction of fetter will kill Hybrid
SPECULATION:
Basically, manifest, infect corpses or soon-to-be-corpses, command a small group of shamblers. If your party hates you, they can carry around your fetter and risk your destruction so you can actually manifest more often. Get a few new Strengths and you'll not only be able to command more zombies, but start teleporting as well. Yikes
Edit: It occurs to me I might want to switch out Slow/Clumsy for another Weakness so I can have rage zombies instead of shamblers
Hey, @DE?AD your game has consumed me and I'm making my roommate run it next week when some friends come to town. I might make them run it sooner.
I am currently looking at my six favorite Kindred types and doing writeups of how well they entertain me when smashed together as Hybrids.
Not quite halfway done but Ghost/Zombie is so far the most intriguing to me:
Ghost/Zombie
Discord 2 STRENGTHS
Astral Form
Levitate
Ignores Physical Hurt
Command other zombies within control aura
WEAKNESSES
Slow, Clumsy
Must use Risk dice to manifest if not in the presence of its fetter
Destruction of fetter will kill Hybrid
SPECULATION:
Basically, manifest, infect corpses or soon-to-be-corpses, command a small group of shamblers. If your party hates you, they can carry around your fetter and risk your destruction so you can actually manifest more often. Get a few new Strengths and you'll not only be able to command more zombies, but start teleporting as well. Yikes
Edit: It occurs to me I might want to switch out Slow/Clumsy for another Weakness so I can have rage zombies instead of shamblers
Raaaad. Glad you're digging it!
Ghost/Zombie is pretty good. Plus, if you end up gaining Viral Leap you can close off another avenue of your death.
Personally, my favorite combos right now all deal with the Gift mixture stuff. Ran a game last night that included a Vampire/Reaper who applied the (Draining) from his Fangs to his Scythe, so he could just use it like a giant proboscis.
Metzger MeisterIt Gets Worsebefore it gets any better.Registered Userregular
I think my next D&D character is gonna be some kind of impersonator or rogue focused on charisma and disguise work. One of the things I love most about being a DM is doing voices and doing the different NPC's and stuff, and as a player character it seems like you wouldn't get the chance to do that kinda stuff so much UNLESS you were some sort of shape shifter or a handsome and cunning rogue who likes to pretend to be other people.
I think my next D&D character is gonna be some kind of impersonator or rogue focused on charisma and disguise work. One of the things I love most about being a DM is doing voices and doing the different NPC's and stuff, and as a player character it seems like you wouldn't get the chance to do that kinda stuff so much UNLESS you were some sort of shape shifter or a handsome and cunning rogue who likes to pretend to be other people.
I played a changeling in a game like that once--it was a lot of fun.
Especially when I started impersonating the DM's NPCs' voices and then the DM starting impersonating me impersonating them.
Though it did get so that whenever the party ran into the vain prince the entire rest of the party had to brace for a bunch "Why you look spectacular this evening!" "Ah, you flatter me, I am a shabby beast compared to you, my liege" back and forth for 5 minutes.
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Captain Ultralow resolution pictures of birdsRegistered Userregular
So, my group traveled to a city on the Elemental Plane of Air, chasing after a thief. We have two missions there, find out who the thief was working for, and find out anything we can about the Untouchable Opal that our bosses have become obsessed with. We had a contact with a Genie, who, while not knowing anything himself, could get us in to a gala event for a library. My character had a few points in Profession (Courtesan), mainly because she worships the setting's goddess of vengence and lust. And I remembered that I bought something called a Courtesan's Kit, which really doesn't have any real mechanical benefits in the system, but it has perfumes and "a number of outfits." Both the lady paladin and I were in slinky dresses (her, uncomfortable, me not so much.), while the rest of the party made inquires here and there with people who wouldn't be interested. (including a sky dragon!) Unfortunately, after we got some info, and were leaving the party, we get accosted by some weird talking lizards that shot steam from their mouth. Since none of us could speak Steam-Lizard, it elevated into a fight. Our GM ruled that we could have our weapons with us and light armor beneath our fancy clothes, but I was adamant that I wouldn't have ruined my dress like that. Luckily I did get my scimitar back from the coat check. At one point, our warpriest's player asked why I wasn't moving at full speed, and I told him that, clearly I'd have been wearing high heels, so there's no way I could be running around.
Skipping over some stuff, we eventually find out that the thief was working for a group who's actively trying to stop us from doing anything with the Opal. We get confronted by a number of agents from this group, but our Paladin is able to convince them that our goals for this magic gemstone aren't in conflict, using some information we had found through the course of the adventure. Most of them leave, but their jerky wizard-type guy doesn't buy it, and tries to attack us on his own. Its not an easy fight, mainly because he had a number of buffs to his armor going at the same time, and we were not rolling well, but we eventually get him on the ground and surround him. At one point, he uses a spell to put some distance between him and the rest of us, but I went right after him, and could just make it to him. "He doesn't have any weapons out, right?" I grab him by the scruff of his wizard robes, roll a natural twenty and throw him pretty much right back into the middle of the party for him to be beaten on, again.
The other members of their group eventually return, with a leader of this secret society, and pledges to stand down. He also had a giant sentient cloud shaped like an airship bouncing along with him.
At the end of this, I level up, and now my axe beak animal companion (axe beaks are apparently some old-school D&D creature, but none of us really know much about it, so I've taken to calling it a Dire Ostrich) is suddenly large and kick-ass.
I played that gala with my Lawful Good, Erastil, Cha 7 warpriest, who will complain loudly and often if things are not according to her standards. Like if a politician appears decadent or corrupt......
In the end my party insisted I go get drinks every time they tried to talk to anyone. So I ended up drunk and even more belligerent.
Also we had a party with 3 archers (That's pathfinder society for you) and then that wizard keeps on casting obscuring mist.
So much random staggering through mist in the hope of finding the wizard.
Oh and if you have any influence in what scenario to play (or if you GM yourself), see if you can get "The Night March of Kalkamedes" played.
I ran it last week and it's probably the most fun I've had in PFS.
Steam: SanderJK Origin: SanderJK
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JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
First, Cyphers and Masks, the book for Spies in Age of Rebellion. Three new specs, including one called the Interrogator, blah blah splatbook.
And then there's Dawn of Rebellion. This one book is specifically designed to work with all three of the main game lines. It's also set before the "Current" setting of the game, some time before the Battle of Yavin--given the art on the announcement page I'm guessing it's a sort-of Rebels/Rogue One tie-in. (I've occasionally referred to Rebels as Age of Destiny on the Edge or suchlike.)
This makes me wonder--once they run out of splats to make books for (and they already have for Edge), are they just going to make more books about them, or is this presaging the next step being more about different eras--perhaps TFA-era stuff, or doing more TOR stuff? Of course there's also a regional line about specific sectors or even just worlds grouped around a theme...
I know lots of fans disagreed, but I never really saw the point of era sourcebooks because a) from a fluff point of view there's plenty of detail about the Star Wars eras out there already (a common complaint is that FFG is just rehashing detail from the old Star Wars games or wookiepedia and it's like....yeah? There are only so many things to say about Mos Eisley) and b) from a crunch point of view, FFG Star Wars isn't a very fussy, granular system. Like, since speeds are abstract rather than concrete and are only rated 1-5, why bother statting out a KOTOR-era Sith Interceptor when you can use the statline for a TIE fighter instead, which serves the exact same role in the story? My heart is not crying out to learn the precise differences between a 3000-year-old lightsaber and a modern one and I kind of feel like there shouldn't be any.
BUT I've warmed up to era sourcebooks mainly because the career splatbooks have done such a good job of including, not just extra gear or character options, but new game mechanics (expanded crafting and slicing in Special Modifications, more on base building in Strongholds of Resistance, more exploration options in Enter the Unknown, etc). Some of those I may never use but some of them could power a campaign. If an era book includes more stuff like that, I'd be down.
Yeah, I fell off of star wars because its structure of tons of print only books is far too rich for my blood but I really do like the idea of them just providing small boutique mechanics for specific situations in the flavour books.
First, Cyphers and Masks, the book for Spies in Age of Rebellion. Three new specs, including one called the Interrogator, blah blah splatbook.
And then there's Dawn of Rebellion. This one book is specifically designed to work with all three of the main game lines. It's also set before the "Current" setting of the game, some time before the Battle of Yavin--given the art on the announcement page I'm guessing it's a sort-of Rebels/Rogue One tie-in. (I've occasionally referred to Rebels as Age of Destiny on the Edge or suchlike.)
This makes me wonder--once they run out of splats to make books for (and they already have for Edge), are they just going to make more books about them, or is this presaging the next step being more about different eras--perhaps TFA-era stuff, or doing more TOR stuff? Of course there's also a regional line about specific sectors or even just worlds grouped around a theme...
I know lots of fans disagreed, but I never really saw the point of era sourcebooks because a) from a fluff point of view there's plenty of detail about the Star Wars eras out there already (a common complaint is that FFG is just rehashing detail from the old Star Wars games or wookiepedia and it's like....yeah? There are only so many things to say about Mos Eisley) and b) from a crunch point of view, FFG Star Wars isn't a very fussy, granular system. Like, since speeds are abstract rather than concrete and are only rated 1-5, why bother statting out a KOTOR-era Sith Interceptor when you can use the statline for a TIE fighter instead, which serves the exact same role in the story? My heart is not crying out to learn the precise differences between a 3000-year-old lightsaber and a modern one and I kind of feel like there shouldn't be any.
BUT I've warmed up to era sourcebooks mainly because the career splatbooks have done such a good job of including, not just extra gear or character options, but new game mechanics (expanded crafting and slicing in Special Modifications, more on base building in Strongholds of Resistance, more exploration options in Enter the Unknown, etc). Some of those I may never use but some of them could power a campaign. If an era book includes more stuff like that, I'd be down.
Almost all of the Edge of the Empire games I have played in tend to be set either just before or just after A New Hope, so this era book sounds like it'll be perfect for expanding things.
There's no money in simply printing everything we actually want all in one book. Also, there are a lot of people who probably find a handful of things in every era sourcebook to use. WEG's Tales of the Jedi era sourcebook was one of their best books for mechanics, although I can't recall hearing anyone actually try to play a game in that era.
The WEG books that were all gear were wildly popular though.
First, Cyphers and Masks, the book for Spies in Age of Rebellion. Three new specs, including one called the Interrogator, blah blah splatbook.
And then there's Dawn of Rebellion. This one book is specifically designed to work with all three of the main game lines. It's also set before the "Current" setting of the game, some time before the Battle of Yavin--given the art on the announcement page I'm guessing it's a sort-of Rebels/Rogue One tie-in. (I've occasionally referred to Rebels as Age of Destiny on the Edge or suchlike.)
This makes me wonder--once they run out of splats to make books for (and they already have for Edge), are they just going to make more books about them, or is this presaging the next step being more about different eras--perhaps TFA-era stuff, or doing more TOR stuff? Of course there's also a regional line about specific sectors or even just worlds grouped around a theme...
I know lots of fans disagreed, but I never really saw the point of era sourcebooks because a) from a fluff point of view there's plenty of detail about the Star Wars eras out there already (a common complaint is that FFG is just rehashing detail from the old Star Wars games or wookiepedia and it's like....yeah? There are only so many things to say about Mos Eisley) and b) from a crunch point of view, FFG Star Wars isn't a very fussy, granular system. Like, since speeds are abstract rather than concrete and are only rated 1-5, why bother statting out a KOTOR-era Sith Interceptor when you can use the statline for a TIE fighter instead, which serves the exact same role in the story? My heart is not crying out to learn the precise differences between a 3000-year-old lightsaber and a modern one and I kind of feel like there shouldn't be any.
BUT I've warmed up to era sourcebooks mainly because the career splatbooks have done such a good job of including, not just extra gear or character options, but new game mechanics (expanded crafting and slicing in Special Modifications, more on base building in Strongholds of Resistance, more exploration options in Enter the Unknown, etc). Some of those I may never use but some of them could power a campaign. If an era book includes more stuff like that, I'd be down.
My problem with more traditional era sourcebooks has been that they are just full of named character stat blocks and not much to actually help run a game. FFG has completely avoided that and the setting books they have put out so far have been my favorite, especially with how they treat canon/legends in the fluff and manage to add new ideas. I have no reason to think that Dawn of Rebellion won't be amazing.
I decided against backing the A Song of Ice and Fire KS
The rules look pretty bood but according to the KS the minis'll be the same quality as the Zombicide minis and I looked at some painting videos of those to check them out. Definitely board game quality and nothing really special at that. Not up to wargaming scratch, even if they were much cheaper I'd still probably not be interested soley due to that.
My infrequent campaign group has been renamed to 'The Maximum Shenanigans' as a new party member was told "I've got to warn you, if you join up with us, you can expect maximum shenanigans"
Steam: SanderJK Origin: SanderJK
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Captain Ultralow resolution pictures of birdsRegistered Userregular
Oh and if you have any influence in what scenario to play (or if you GM yourself), see if you can get "The Night March of Kalkamedes" played.
I ran it last week and it's probably the most fun I've had in PFS.
I am a venture agent so I control the schedule. I roped someone into GMing that scenario for me since I'm running it 5 times at GenCon.
If we're sharing recommendations, I GM'd "Murder on the Throaty Mermaid" at a local con a few months ago and it was amazing
I played Night March of Kalkamedes and we had no idea on how to get across that canyon, and it took like 2 hours and so I ended up home super late, so I don't have super fond memories of it, but maybe I'll put it on the roster and run it at my store soon.
I'm in a bit of a writer's block, creatively, and it sucks.
I find the best thing to do in that case is usually to read a lot.
I usually read something that either I know will be good and haven't read or something I liked a lot that I read a long time ago. The main thing is that it has to be good.
And I read like it's my job--like I try to pay attention to how everything is put together and when there's a good part I try to figure out why it's better than similar things I've read that didn't affect me as much.
I think reading a lot helps you think in sentences instead of images or impressions, so you're start narrating your thoughts and they pile up and, sooner or later, you're ready to write again.
(my brother and i run rememberdismove. we're dunkey halton on g+. i don't know why we themed our whole online presence around a bad league of legends meme)
i've always thought of the writing part of my brain as a flywheel that has to be wound up for a long time before it will run. it is interesting to see patrick also using a gears metaphor
i think maybe the piece of the machine that works out plots is very different from the piece of the machine that puts words onto paper in a good order. i can do either of those things separately but getting them to co-operate is a struggle. i've had a similar problem with academic writing - sometimes the argument makes sense in your head but is impossible to get down onto the page. i kind of have to move back and forth from one to the other, letting each constrain the other's output
There's no money in simply printing everything we actually want all in one book. Also, there are a lot of people who probably find a handful of things in every era sourcebook to use. WEG's Tales of the Jedi era sourcebook was one of their best books for mechanics, although I can't recall hearing anyone actually try to play a game in that era.
The WEG books that were all gear were wildly popular though.
We tired to play in the Tales Era just there was not a lot to go on with it since the GM kind of phoned in the game
Still I know it's been fleshed out more since then but I would like to give it another go
So I'm starting prep early on the 5E adventure I'm going to take to PAX Unplugged, and then if it goes well probably use it again at the next PAX South, since it doesn't sound like there are a lot of other people from the forums planning to hit both. The standard 1-2 hour con game template is a very abbreviated dungeon with one introductory cakewalk fight and one slightly more challenging "boss" fight, since you don't really have time for a lot of drama, intrigue, or exploration. I'm trying to mix things up as much as I can get away with, but I'm not going to beat myself up too much if I fall back on that pattern. Anyway, I've got a few ideas that I wouldn't mind some help choosing between. I'll try to describe them without giving too much away, for those of you likely to actually be there.
If you think you might play in one of these, obviously don't click below.
1.) A violent separatist movement is antagonizing a bound volcano demon, believing its thrashing will split their peninsula off into an island, when mostly it's going to bury the ancient structurally unstable temple and surrounding village where they're performing the rituals. (Battlefield full of traps and hazards that changes as the volcano gets angrier.)
2.) There is a magitek engineering trade show, and you're the hired security in case of thieves, or if any of these ludicrous gnome devices start behaving dangerously. If anything's damaged, it's coming out of your pay.
3.) In the storm drains under a Wizard School, illegal dumping of spent magical reagents has had mysterious consequences, and space has been twisted in a way that threatens the city above. (Mainly an excuse for some non-euclidean dungeon design.)
4.) A passenger ship (maybe train or skyship?) has been captured by pirates, and they've taken hostages. Some of the other passengers have rescue plans that you fear put the entire vessel's safety at risk. (A social-heavy adventure since wrangling the other passengers is just as much a priority as taking back the ship.)
5.) Vermin are ruining the farmland of a group of strict pacifist elves. A rebellious member of their sect has contracted you to drive off the creatures, ideally without killing any, but also without letting the other sect members know either way.
6.) While expanding his cellar, the town's innkeeper unearthed a covered over shaft that seems to lead to a large underground area. He claims he can hear the voices of children who vanished from the town years ago down there.
Desert Leviathan on
Realizing lately that I don't really trust or respect basically any of the moderators here. So, good luck with life, friends! Hit me up on Twitter @DesertLeviathan
So I'm starting prep early on the 5E adventure I'm going to take to PAX Unplugged, and then if it goes well probably use it again at the next PAX South, since it doesn't sound like there are a lot of other people from the forums planning to hit both. The standard 1-2 hour con game template is a very abbreviated dungeon with one introductory cakewalk fight and one slightly more challenging "boss" fight, since you don't really have time for a lot of drama, intrigue, or exploration. I'm trying to mix things up as much as I can get away with, but I'm not going to beat myself up too much if I fall back on that pattern. Anyway, I've got a few ideas that I wouldn't mind some help choosing between. I'll try to describe them without giving too much away, for those of you likely to actually be there.
If you think you might play in one of these, obviously don't click below.
1.) A violent separatist movement is antagonizing a bound volcano demon, believing its thrashing will split their peninsula off into an island, when mostly it's going to bury the ancient structurally unstable temple and surrounding village where they're performing the rituals. (Battlefield full of traps and hazards that changes as the volcano gets angrier.)
2.) There is a magitek engineering trade show, and you're the hired security in case of thieves, or if any of these ludicrous gnome devices start behaving dangerously. If anything's damaged, it's coming out of your pay.
3.) In the storm drains under a Wizard School, illegal dumping of spent magical reagents has had mysterious consequences, and space has been twisted in a way that threatens the city above. (Mainly an excuse for some non-euclidean dungeon design.)
4.) A passenger ship (maybe train or skyship?) has been captured by pirates, and they've taken hostages. Some of the other passengers have rescue plans that you fear put the entire vessel's safety at risk. (A social-heavy adventure since wrangling the other passengers is just as much a priority as taking back the ship.)
5.) Vermin are ruining the farmland of a group of strict pacifist elves. A rebellious member of their sect has contracted you to drive off the creatures, ideally without killing any, but also without letting the other sect members know either way.
6.) While expanding his cellar, the town's innkeeper unearthed a covered over shaft that seems to lead to a large underground area. He claims he can hear the voices of children who vanished from the town years ago down there.
I'm a little worried that there may not be an opportunity in these adventure seeds to throw a dinosaur out of a sixth story window.
Of the options, I think 3 and 6 both sound like a lot of fun, but I tend to prefer well constructed dungeon crawls. 4 could be fun, but I tend to be less of a fan of social wrangling.
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RankenphilePassersby were amazedby the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderatormod
Running my first game of D&D in the new game room of our house this weekend.
Starting a new campaign designed around a series of one-off adventures where the cast can change each session or so.
Players are NEWSies -- Neverwinter Emergency Water and Sanitation workers. Union blue-collar adventurers who get the job of heading into the sewers of Neverwinter as it tries to rebuild itself to fix problems and solve mysteries. This first game will be some cultist who tunneled from the sewers into an adjacent crypt to get to bodies to experiment on and discovered a charm designed to prevent the bodies of the family from ever falling prey to Undeath. The sewer is choked with bones and sludge, grey oozes and centipedes. Fairly light puzzles/traps dungeon crawl, couple decent fights and one big three-wave boss battle at the end, with a couple possible story hooks tossed in to see which ones stick and could be carried into longer through-lines.
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I have added a new wrinkle, where I have requested each player pick a personal theme song for their characters
I'm giving all the players a new move I am calling "Turn My Headphones Up," where once per mission after a successful roll, the player can call for their theme, I'll cue it up, and then give them +1 to their next move
It's gonna be so good, one player picked Edwin Starr's "War"
Yeah, exactly. And like, I know a ton of theatre. Even if my players didn't know exactly what was going on when I told them their school was doing a production of Sarah Kane's Blasted, I could still have fun with it. Although honestly the people I'm most likely to play with would know a fair amount of theatre themselves.
This is fantastic, I love it.
I've never been good at incorporating music into games - I have a pretty fraught relationship with music in general, and have a hard time identifying what music sounds like, if that makes sense. So I use a bunch of soundtracks and stuff if I want to use music in games. Mostly the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack, honestly.
That is a great song choice to be badass with, good on that player
for Raine Echo, a cybernetically reconstructed assassin for hire
for Edward Rodney, an academic and political activist
for Willie "Scoop" Appleton, a classically-fashioned reporter who is regularly underestimated
Specifically, each player makes a mixtape, 20-60 minutes, with a title, at least three tracks, and a prevailing theme. When play begins, you pick a mixtape at random, and use its first two tracks to decide where you're going, who you are, and the two Futures each player is trying to bring to reality during play. From there, subsequent songs set the scene and serve to set the tone and influence outcomes and resolution. And periodically, players introduce obstacles, and if your group can't overcome them, you switch mixes and your road trip changes tone. This goes on until one player has not achieved their Futures, but rather, has grown to a place where they can let those Futures go, losing themselves and setting themselves free on the road.
It rules. I'm obsessed with it.
Each written by a different rad person, it should be noted.
I am currently looking at my six favorite Kindred types and doing writeups of how well they entertain me when smashed together as Hybrids.
Not quite halfway done but Ghost/Zombie is so far the most intriguing to me:
Discord 2
STRENGTHS
Astral Form
Levitate
Ignores Physical Hurt
Command other zombies within control aura
WEAKNESSES
Slow, Clumsy
Must use Risk dice to manifest if not in the presence of its fetter
Destruction of fetter will kill Hybrid
SPECULATION:
Basically, manifest, infect corpses or soon-to-be-corpses, command a small group of shamblers. If your party hates you, they can carry around your fetter and risk your destruction so you can actually manifest more often. Get a few new Strengths and you'll not only be able to command more zombies, but start teleporting as well. Yikes
Edit: It occurs to me I might want to switch out Slow/Clumsy for another Weakness so I can have rage zombies instead of shamblers
Raaaad. Glad you're digging it!
Ghost/Zombie is pretty good. Plus, if you end up gaining Viral Leap you can close off another avenue of your death.
Personally, my favorite combos right now all deal with the Gift mixture stuff. Ran a game last night that included a Vampire/Reaper who applied the (Draining) from his Fangs to his Scythe, so he could just use it like a giant proboscis.
I've never been this excited about having to redo my work
I played a changeling in a game like that once--it was a lot of fun.
Especially when I started impersonating the DM's NPCs' voices and then the DM starting impersonating me impersonating them.
Though it did get so that whenever the party ran into the vain prince the entire rest of the party had to brace for a bunch "Why you look spectacular this evening!" "Ah, you flatter me, I am a shabby beast compared to you, my liege" back and forth for 5 minutes.
Skipping over some stuff, we eventually find out that the thief was working for a group who's actively trying to stop us from doing anything with the Opal. We get confronted by a number of agents from this group, but our Paladin is able to convince them that our goals for this magic gemstone aren't in conflict, using some information we had found through the course of the adventure. Most of them leave, but their jerky wizard-type guy doesn't buy it, and tries to attack us on his own. Its not an easy fight, mainly because he had a number of buffs to his armor going at the same time, and we were not rolling well, but we eventually get him on the ground and surround him. At one point, he uses a spell to put some distance between him and the rest of us, but I went right after him, and could just make it to him. "He doesn't have any weapons out, right?" I grab him by the scruff of his wizard robes, roll a natural twenty and throw him pretty much right back into the middle of the party for him to be beaten on, again.
The other members of their group eventually return, with a leader of this secret society, and pledges to stand down. He also had a giant sentient cloud shaped like an airship bouncing along with him.
At the end of this, I level up, and now my axe beak animal companion (axe beaks are apparently some old-school D&D creature, but none of us really know much about it, so I've taken to calling it a Dire Ostrich) is suddenly large and kick-ass.
In the end my party insisted I go get drinks every time they tried to talk to anyone. So I ended up drunk and even more belligerent.
Also we had a party with 3 archers (That's pathfinder society for you) and then that wizard keeps on casting obscuring mist.
So much random staggering through mist in the hope of finding the wizard.
I ran it last week and it's probably the most fun I've had in PFS.
I know lots of fans disagreed, but I never really saw the point of era sourcebooks because a) from a fluff point of view there's plenty of detail about the Star Wars eras out there already (a common complaint is that FFG is just rehashing detail from the old Star Wars games or wookiepedia and it's like....yeah? There are only so many things to say about Mos Eisley) and b) from a crunch point of view, FFG Star Wars isn't a very fussy, granular system. Like, since speeds are abstract rather than concrete and are only rated 1-5, why bother statting out a KOTOR-era Sith Interceptor when you can use the statline for a TIE fighter instead, which serves the exact same role in the story? My heart is not crying out to learn the precise differences between a 3000-year-old lightsaber and a modern one and I kind of feel like there shouldn't be any.
BUT I've warmed up to era sourcebooks mainly because the career splatbooks have done such a good job of including, not just extra gear or character options, but new game mechanics (expanded crafting and slicing in Special Modifications, more on base building in Strongholds of Resistance, more exploration options in Enter the Unknown, etc). Some of those I may never use but some of them could power a campaign. If an era book includes more stuff like that, I'd be down.
Almost all of the Edge of the Empire games I have played in tend to be set either just before or just after A New Hope, so this era book sounds like it'll be perfect for expanding things.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
The WEG books that were all gear were wildly popular though.
My problem with more traditional era sourcebooks has been that they are just full of named character stat blocks and not much to actually help run a game. FFG has completely avoided that and the setting books they have put out so far have been my favorite, especially with how they treat canon/legends in the fluff and manage to add new ideas. I have no reason to think that Dawn of Rebellion won't be amazing.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
The rules look pretty bood but according to the KS the minis'll be the same quality as the Zombicide minis and I looked at some painting videos of those to check them out. Definitely board game quality and nothing really special at that. Not up to wargaming scratch, even if they were much cheaper I'd still probably not be interested soley due to that.
I built a half-orc ranger with a sort of "Northern mountain big-game hunter" flavor and he ended up being a wicked good fighter
I am a venture agent so I control the schedule. I roped someone into GMing that scenario for me since I'm running it 5 times at GenCon.
If we're sharing recommendations, I GM'd "Murder on the Throaty Mermaid" at a local con a few months ago and it was amazing
I played Night March of Kalkamedes and we had no idea on how to get across that canyon, and it took like 2 hours and so I ended up home super late, so I don't have super fond memories of it, but maybe I'll put it on the roster and run it at my store soon.
I find the best thing to do in that case is usually to read a lot.
I usually read something that either I know will be good and haven't read or something I liked a lot that I read a long time ago. The main thing is that it has to be good.
And I read like it's my job--like I try to pay attention to how everything is put together and when there's a good part I try to figure out why it's better than similar things I've read that didn't affect me as much.
I think reading a lot helps you think in sentences instead of images or impressions, so you're start narrating your thoughts and they pile up and, sooner or later, you're ready to write again.
they're pretty different skills, it turns out
Do you have any museums or sites of interest nearby?
I find going and reading the plaques that sum up crazy stuff that happened in a place can kickstart my imagination.
yeah i read those
(my brother and i run rememberdismove. we're dunkey halton on g+. i don't know why we themed our whole online presence around a bad league of legends meme)
i've always thought of the writing part of my brain as a flywheel that has to be wound up for a long time before it will run. it is interesting to see patrick also using a gears metaphor
i think maybe the piece of the machine that works out plots is very different from the piece of the machine that puts words onto paper in a good order. i can do either of those things separately but getting them to co-operate is a struggle. i've had a similar problem with academic writing - sometimes the argument makes sense in your head but is impossible to get down onto the page. i kind of have to move back and forth from one to the other, letting each constrain the other's output
The best way to stay productive is to think of every project as a way to procrastinate about every other project.
We tired to play in the Tales Era just there was not a lot to go on with it since the GM kind of phoned in the game
Still I know it's been fleshed out more since then but I would like to give it another go
If you think you might play in one of these, obviously don't click below.
2.) There is a magitek engineering trade show, and you're the hired security in case of thieves, or if any of these ludicrous gnome devices start behaving dangerously. If anything's damaged, it's coming out of your pay.
3.) In the storm drains under a Wizard School, illegal dumping of spent magical reagents has had mysterious consequences, and space has been twisted in a way that threatens the city above. (Mainly an excuse for some non-euclidean dungeon design.)
4.) A passenger ship (maybe train or skyship?) has been captured by pirates, and they've taken hostages. Some of the other passengers have rescue plans that you fear put the entire vessel's safety at risk. (A social-heavy adventure since wrangling the other passengers is just as much a priority as taking back the ship.)
5.) Vermin are ruining the farmland of a group of strict pacifist elves. A rebellious member of their sect has contracted you to drive off the creatures, ideally without killing any, but also without letting the other sect members know either way.
6.) While expanding his cellar, the town's innkeeper unearthed a covered over shaft that seems to lead to a large underground area. He claims he can hear the voices of children who vanished from the town years ago down there.
I'm a little worried that there may not be an opportunity in these adventure seeds to throw a dinosaur out of a sixth story window.
For number 3, see if you can find a copy of The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump if you're looking for ideas on how that could go.
Of the options, I think 3 and 6 both sound like a lot of fun, but I tend to prefer well constructed dungeon crawls. 4 could be fun, but I tend to be less of a fan of social wrangling.
Starting a new campaign designed around a series of one-off adventures where the cast can change each session or so.
Players are NEWSies -- Neverwinter Emergency Water and Sanitation workers. Union blue-collar adventurers who get the job of heading into the sewers of Neverwinter as it tries to rebuild itself to fix problems and solve mysteries. This first game will be some cultist who tunneled from the sewers into an adjacent crypt to get to bodies to experiment on and discovered a charm designed to prevent the bodies of the family from ever falling prey to Undeath. The sewer is choked with bones and sludge, grey oozes and centipedes. Fairly light puzzles/traps dungeon crawl, couple decent fights and one big three-wave boss battle at the end, with a couple possible story hooks tossed in to see which ones stick and could be carried into longer through-lines.
Should be a good time.
I also want to do Dungeon Crawl Classics, because I love the weird bullshit in that game.
Mori hurry up and move out here so we can play games together a ton and I can hang out with your cool cool kids.