LO all(looks around at crickets chirping in the moonlight). I have good news on most fronts!!!
I may first off, get my books back from Austin, (though not my money), so at least that wasn't a total wash. Plus, on that front, I could potentially reuse the setting for less D&D-centric non-tarded players.
Also I got an idea while perusing the V20 book as to a secret town, where everything is struck to total secrecy, sorta like the vampires in Salems Lot, the Great and Secret show by Clive Barker kept popping into my head also while thinking about this, so I may have to read that again as I don't remember it.
Also, my friend wants to continue his Zombies in Seattle campaign ala internets. So, I'll have some work to do to revamp my character, the biker Alex Ross.
On a side note, I have been working on a short story for my creative writing class that is just brimming with potential to be a novel, and funnily enough, I encountered two people affiliated with White Wolf(it's a World of Darkness story) that are named the same as my character, Matthew Burke, a name I just picked out of thin air.
Also Also, I may be rerunning my great epic single player saga, World of Darkness Africa, aka the Grant Stone Campaign!!
Furthermore, I've got a fellow Starcraft II player where I live interested in playing Wraith: the oblivion. Now I've just gotta read the book myself(been getting behind on my RPG reading these days as my book count goes up).
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
V20 Arriveth!!!
Just got my copy of V20, all leatherbound n' shit, and ye gods is it gorgeous!!! I'll have further updates once I either a) figure out online rping on a mac, or b) read this beast of a book.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
How to campaign over the internets
Anyone know of a good alternative to Open RPG for dice rolling and such? My friends and I are trying to RP over google plus video chat but I can't get wxpython to register for Open RPG to work.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Never lend money without a contract first!!!
After working all summer on my Battle for Los Angeles Campaign, the players borrowed money from me and now won't play and are refusing to pay it back!! Gah!!
Anyways, here's the bulletin for yet another, "campaign that never was"
Ian Williams
July 3 2011
Battle For Los Angeles - Campaign Bulletin
Concept: Smoldering City
Goals
Storyteller: I haven't gamed since November of last year, or so, so I am looking forwards to getting back into it with my favorite system: Demon the Fallen. I would like to be able to both introduce you guys to the World of Darkness and immerse you in some fantastic role-play experiences.
Group: Austin, Kelsey and Forrest will comprise the group. It will be best probably if one of you designates leader before play, since I could do without the quarreling over leadership that sometimes happens with some groups. That said, it's very inspiring to me to see you guys so interested in role-play and I think we'll have a very good group dynamic.
Game: I am thinking of a fairly meta-plot heavy epic, but for now, we'll start with a humble introduction and go from there. I will gm preludes for each of you and then have you meet up, or if you prefer, you could be a group during prelude. Either way, some time as a human to establish the normalcy and background is very important.
Premise
Themes: The corruption of power. Moral grey areas and the like that goes with the territory of having powers noone else has.
Strategy: My chief role will be director and facilitator of the story. I will be the storyteller but I am by no means tyrannical, so if you ever feel you are being railroaded, please forgive me and bear in mind that I've only run one successful campaign, and just let me know so i can fix it.
Presentation: Dark and gritty, almost neo-noir with shades of the demons' archaic political structures, the presentation will be at turns gritty or surreal. You may encounter other denizens of the World of Darkness, as well as humans on the hunt and spirits or ghosts, and most certainly there will be plenty of space to play if I plan it right.
System
Mechanics: This is the tricky part on playing: I'm not the expert on mechanics of World of Darkness Austin is with D&D. The basic system is D10 based with higher numbers being better. I would like to discuss the rules with you guys before play to make sure they seem good as is, or so we can change what we don't like.
Setting
Physical: Los Angeles (i /lɔːs ˈændʒələs/ lawss-an-jə-ləs;[3] Spanish: [los ˈaŋxeles], English: "The Angels"), with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City,[4] on a land area of 468.67 square miles (1,213.8 km2), and is located in the southern region of the state. It is the focal point of the larger Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside combined statistical area, which contains nearly 17.8 million people and which is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world and the second largest in the United States.[5][6][7] Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most multicultural counties[8] in the United States, while the entire Los Angeles area itself is recognized and regarded as the most diverse metropolitan area in the United States.[9] The city's inhabitants are referred to as "Angelenos" ( /ændʒɨˈliːnoʊz/).[10]
Often known by its initials, LA, and nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is a world center of business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, technology, and education.[11][12] It is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. Los Angeles has been ranked the third richest city and fifth most powerful and influential city in the world, behind only New York City in the United States.[13][14] The Los Angeles combined statistical area (CSA) has a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of $831 billion (as of 2008), making it the third largest economic center in the world, after the Greater Tokyo Area and the New York metropolitan area.[15][16][17] As the home base of Hollywood, it is known as the "Entertainment Capital of the World", leading the world in the creation of motion pictures, television production, video games, and recorded music. The importance of the entertainment business to the city has led many celebrities to call Los Angeles and its surrounding suburbs home. Los Angeles hosted the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics as well as multiple games of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, including the final. Los Angeles is also home to renowned universities such as the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Los Angeles was founded on September 4, 1781 by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence. In 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood.
Los Angeles enjoys a Mediterranean climate, with an average of 35 days with measurable precipitation annually.[18]
Social: In this version of LA, everything is a little darker, the lines between the police, legal system, and organized crime are more blurred, and avant garde behavior is the norm. People torching themselves for protests are more than heard of, and serial killings run rampant through a city that smolders like a burning oilwell, just waiting to boil over into a full-fledged inferno. Public unrest increases as conditions worsen, and often the source of relief for one thing is the source of unrest for another. Are there mysterious puppet masters creating this or is it merely man-made? That is part of the characters' story.
Mythos: Think of World of Darkness' mythos of vampires, werewolves and so on, combined with a little Lovecraft, mixed with some Paradise Lost style demonic heroism and anti-heroism.
Characters
Professions: You can be from most walks of life, however, I want to limit the power of the characters' to blue collar at the start, so at the end of your prelude, you should be having relatively normal funds or being destitute in some way, as the possession occurs only with those who have been broken down in some way. Plus, it's hard to make a ramping difficulty curve of antagonists when your characters can buy whole arsenals of weapons at a time.
Roles: Think tragic-heros. I want your characters competent in their area, and in life in general. However, each character should have a dark side, or a large part of themselves that is flawed. The more imaginative the balance between your characters' assets and liabilities, the better. I would like you each to design your characters in tandem, so to speak, first because you will probably work together better as a group, second because I don't want some players limited by what other players pick, and third, because I want you to design a demon persona and history and a human persona and history, and start off human but become a "hybrid" so to speak of both personalities and referencing both histories.
Growth: Growth will be exponentially more expensive as the game goes on, but players will start out with fifteen freebie points after normal character creation to round out your creations.
Situation: You are all demons that escaped from the torment of the abyss after millennia bound in agony, and you must now find purpose in this new world of science and rationality, where every drop of faith is a precious commodity and your forgotten glories lie buried under your human half much of the time.
Anyways, here's the bulletin for yet another, "campaign that never was"
Ian Williams
July 3 2011
Battle For Los Angeles - Campaign Bulletin
Concept: Smoldering City
Goals
Storyteller: I haven't gamed since November of last year, or so, so I am looking forwards to getting back into it with my favorite system: Demon the Fallen. I would like to be able to both introduce you guys to the World of Darkness and immerse you in some fantastic role-play experiences.
Group: Austin, Kelsey and Forrest will comprise the group. It will be best probably if one of you designates leader before play, since I could do without the quarreling over leadership that sometimes happens with some groups. That said, it's very inspiring to me to see you guys so interested in role-play and I think we'll have a very good group dynamic.
Game: I am thinking of a fairly meta-plot heavy epic, but for now, we'll start with a humble introduction and go from there. I will gm preludes for each of you and then have you meet up, or if you prefer, you could be a group during prelude. Either way, some time as a human to establish the normalcy and background is very important.
Premise
Themes: The corruption of power. Moral grey areas and the like that goes with the territory of having powers noone else has.
Strategy: My chief role will be director and facilitator of the story. I will be the storyteller but I am by no means tyrannical, so if you ever feel you are being railroaded, please forgive me and bear in mind that I've only run one successful campaign, and just let me know so i can fix it.
Presentation: Dark and gritty, almost neo-noir with shades of the demons' archaic political structures, the presentation will be at turns gritty or surreal. You may encounter other denizens of the World of Darkness, as well as humans on the hunt and spirits or ghosts, and most certainly there will be plenty of space to play if I plan it right.
System
Mechanics: This is the tricky part on playing: I'm not the expert on mechanics of World of Darkness Austin is with D&D. The basic system is D10 based with higher numbers being better. I would like to discuss the rules with you guys before play to make sure they seem good as is, or so we can change what we don't like.
Setting
Physical: Los Angeles (i /lɔːs ˈændʒələs/ lawss-an-jə-ləs;[3] Spanish: [los ˈaŋxeles], English: "The Angels"), with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City,[4] on a land area of 468.67 square miles (1,213.8 km2), and is located in the southern region of the state. It is the focal point of the larger Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside combined statistical area, which contains nearly 17.8 million people and which is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world and the second largest in the United States.[5][6][7] Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most multicultural counties[8] in the United States, while the entire Los Angeles area itself is recognized and regarded as the most diverse metropolitan area in the United States.[9] The city's inhabitants are referred to as "Angelenos" ( /ændʒɨˈliːnoʊz/).[10]
Often known by its initials, LA, and nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is a world center of business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, technology, and education.[11][12] It is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. Los Angeles has been ranked the third richest city and fifth most powerful and influential city in the world, behind only New York City in the United States.[13][14] The Los Angeles combined statistical area (CSA) has a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of $831 billion (as of 2008), making it the third largest economic center in the world, after the Greater Tokyo Area and the New York metropolitan area.[15][16][17] As the home base of Hollywood, it is known as the "Entertainment Capital of the World", leading the world in the creation of motion pictures, television production, video games, and recorded music. The importance of the entertainment business to the city has led many celebrities to call Los Angeles and its surrounding suburbs home. Los Angeles hosted the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics as well as multiple games of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, including the final. Los Angeles is also home to renowned universities such as the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Los Angeles was founded on September 4, 1781 by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence. In 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood.
Los Angeles enjoys a Mediterranean climate, with an average of 35 days with measurable precipitation annually.[18]
Social: In this version of LA, everything is a little darker, the lines between the police, legal system, and organized crime are more blurred, and avant garde behavior is the norm. People torching themselves for protests are more than heard of, and serial killings run rampant through a city that smolders like a burning oilwell, just waiting to boil over into a full-fledged inferno. Public unrest increases as conditions worsen, and often the source of relief for one thing is the source of unrest for another. Are there mysterious puppet masters creating this or is it merely man-made? That is part of the characters' story.
Mythos: Think of World of Darkness' mythos of vampires, werewolves and so on, combined with a little Lovecraft, mixed with some Paradise Lost style demonic heroism and anti-heroism.
Characters
Professions: You can be from most walks of life, however, I want to limit the power of the characters' to blue collar at the start, so at the end of your prelude, you should be having relatively normal funds or being destitute in some way, as the possession occurs only with those who have been broken down in some way. Plus, it's hard to make a ramping difficulty curve of antagonists when your characters can buy whole arsenals of weapons at a time.
Roles: Think tragic-heros. I want your characters competent in their area, and in life in general. However, each character should have a dark side, or a large part of themselves that is flawed. The more imaginative the balance between your characters' assets and liabilities, the better. I would like you each to design your characters in tandem, so to speak, first because you will probably work together better as a group, second because I don't want some players limited by what other players pick, and third, because I want you to design a demon persona and history and a human persona and history, and start off human but become a "hybrid" so to speak of both personalities and referencing both histories.
Growth: Growth will be exponentially more expensive as the game goes on, but players will start out with fifteen freebie points after normal character creation to round out your creations.
Situation: You are all demons that escaped from the torment of the abyss after millennia bound in agony, and you must now find purpose in this new world of science and rationality, where every drop of faith is a precious commodity and your forgotten glories lie buried under your human half much of the time.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
The dearth of gamers in Montana
The gaming in my life has come to an abrupt halt as various IRL things demanded my presence and thus, no new posts as of yet. Why post when I haven't gamed since last fall? But never fear, this blog will have new life soon, and I aspire to be a game designer myself someday soon. On the downside though, it seems to be harder and harder to find a group in Montana period, let alone a World of Darkness group. Even the Muse(local comic shop), only carries D&D nowadays. Catch ya soon.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
The trickiness inherent in Powers/Advantages
Hi, I'd like to post my thoughts on this subject: more specifically, the trickiness I've seen in balancing Magic or Supernatural Powers with Technology or Psionics in one system. Here's the rundown as far as I've seen, in both tabletop RPGs and video games. Either the game is purely centered in one genre and thus has only one half of the equation, or it's a hybrid but favors one half heavily. Examples of the first category are easy: Fantasy games such as Dungeons & Dragons, or video games like Dragon Age, are purely medieval fantasy, and thus have massive magics/powers available, no psionics and no technology beyond blacksmithing. Scifi games like Mass Effect or Bioshock arguably have purely psionics and high tech gadgets, with no magical wizardry or "racial powers" to speak of. Now, to illustrate the second category, take RIFTS the RPG for example. Supposedly, a setting of future earth with an even power balance between Magic/Supernatural Creatures and Psionics/Tech, all vying for control of earth. Except, beyond the innate lack of power balance in the system everywhere, Magic is gimped and underdeveloped, and only godlike supernatural creatures like hatchling dragons have a chance against the might tech and psionics can bring to bear. This is a trend I see increasingly nowadays, and in some ways it makes sense. It makes me think that because we are such a technologically advancing society, it becomes easier to just pawn off magic on a "D&D-style spell list", have a few staple fantasy races, and then focus on the much more true-to-life Psionics and Tech, as we have that going on in the real world(at least the tech, anyway). And it frustrates me. I like playing both, but it never seems like any game has a real, useful power balance to have both equal in any given setting where they're combined.
This brings me to a side topic, the difference between magic and psionics. I've delineated it before to friends, but I'd like to state it here as well. To me, most systems fail at distinguishing between magic and psionics as clearly different animals, other than establishing that magic has most of the physical powers and psionics most of the mental. So, a few key things that distinguish magic from psionics:
1) Magic is from without, often draws on the land or other natural powers, and is often a boon from a higher realm/power. Psionics is from within, draws on inner strength or mental willpower, and is often an evolution of human mental capacity.
2)Magic is inherently chaotic, and can have drawbacks or unexpected consequences regularly, can basically do everything but not as skilled at doing a single thing. Psionics is inherently structured, and usually has no drawbacks other than fatigue(unless you're battling another psionic), and is highly limited to specific things but does them amazingly well.
3)Magic warps reality itself to the whims of the caster, changing things like natural laws to create any kind of effect imaginable. (See Mage or Ars Magica for what I consider the only "high magic" systems.) Psionics are clearly delineated effects, useable in specific areas of effect, but very high-powered in those areas.
Also:
4)Tech is used with both sides fairly regularly, but seems to be more conducive to psionics than magic, see Shadowrun 4e for examples of this and how it balances play.
5)Supernatural powers are mechanically indistinguishable from psionics, with the difference being different fuels for said powers, and the powers being based on something fantastic, like a fictional race's inherent powers or a freak accident that creates a superhero somehow.
This brings me to a side topic, the difference between magic and psionics. I've delineated it before to friends, but I'd like to state it here as well. To me, most systems fail at distinguishing between magic and psionics as clearly different animals, other than establishing that magic has most of the physical powers and psionics most of the mental. So, a few key things that distinguish magic from psionics:
1) Magic is from without, often draws on the land or other natural powers, and is often a boon from a higher realm/power. Psionics is from within, draws on inner strength or mental willpower, and is often an evolution of human mental capacity.
2)Magic is inherently chaotic, and can have drawbacks or unexpected consequences regularly, can basically do everything but not as skilled at doing a single thing. Psionics is inherently structured, and usually has no drawbacks other than fatigue(unless you're battling another psionic), and is highly limited to specific things but does them amazingly well.
3)Magic warps reality itself to the whims of the caster, changing things like natural laws to create any kind of effect imaginable. (See Mage or Ars Magica for what I consider the only "high magic" systems.) Psionics are clearly delineated effects, useable in specific areas of effect, but very high-powered in those areas.
Also:
4)Tech is used with both sides fairly regularly, but seems to be more conducive to psionics than magic, see Shadowrun 4e for examples of this and how it balances play.
5)Supernatural powers are mechanically indistinguishable from psionics, with the difference being different fuels for said powers, and the powers being based on something fantastic, like a fictional race's inherent powers or a freak accident that creates a superhero somehow.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Why Tabletop is now my favorite hobby
This is the most opinion-based you can get, throwing out there why your hobby x is better than y, but there it is. I used to be much more into video games, and I still consider them an amazingly dynamic, evolving form of entertainment that for me, outstrips television and even movies every time. But in the end, you're still playing in a box the creator envisioned. Tabletop sets the world, events, and npcs at the whim of your own imagination, whereas even the most immersive and in-depth, in-character mmorpg has not yet even sucked me in enough to develop a backstory, although I have some hopes of World of Darkness online remedying this. This is why I think tabletop as a hobby needs to spread and continue and not fade away. I know that it isn't fading away yet, but I also know that every year, the list of players gets shorter as real life pulls people away, at least in my experience, and also that every year, more gaming stores that carry roleplay books fade away. And I really dislike having to buy a reader and use pdfs for all my tabletop needs, so on a side note, I really hope Print on Demand takes off as a viable alternative to the dying breed that is the game store.
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