Thursday, September 17, 2009

Star Wars: AotNR Session 1

Yeahhhhh! Second post on the Star Wars SAGA game! Anyway…

I have 4 players. 4 is my ideal number of players for a game by the way. So what do we have in the group?

Morrigan Trechki: A human 1st level Noble / 1st level Jedi
P’Qweedan Qoocina: A Rodian 1st level Scout
Tao Vaash: A Togruta 1st level Scoundrel
K-P0N: A 3rd degree droid 1st level Noble

So after the scroll played across the screen, the space view faded to black. The view is then filled with a red light revealing the 4 main characters. The audience finds them in a New Republic Troop Transport with the only sound the whine of the repulsor engines. (Maybe the players can describe their characters’ look in detail in the comments section?)

Then the pilot signals the ready and the side doors of the transport slide open to an X-Wing-Tie fighter battle in the skies, a vast city with the look of a stone-made Coruscant and a storm raging around them. Jumping from the transport to a city walkway, the heroes are immediately fired on by a group of Imperial Stormtroopers. After a short battle,* the players captured a technician and brought down the shield controls. They then moved through the building and captured Sagrin Leer after being confronted by a couple Stormtroopers and Super Battle Droids. They also spy Leer speaking with a holographic Grudda the Hutt as he washes his hands of the spice addicted Leer.

After some discussion, Morrigan takes the heroes to back her up as she speaks with her brother Gage, leader of the Novas, an Almarsh based Swoop Gang linked to Grudda’s organization. Meeting at The Pit, a bar in the mid-levels, Morrigan sits with her brother, a rancor of a human with a long scar down the side of his face, as the others spread out. The conversation with Gage was short; he did not want to stick his neck out for the New Republic agents without some more assurances from Morrigan about his people’s safety. He also continued to show his displeasure of Morrigan leaving him and their younger brother to join the rebellion.

During the talk, P’Qweedan Qoocina strikes up a conversation with a pair of female Zabrak twins**. After bribing and flirting with the twins, Qoocina thinks he can get more information about Grudda’s operation at the black market of the world. Now he plans to acquire some illicit goods to aid in the endeavor.

As they were leaving The Pit, Morrigan spoke with a bounty hunter from her past that mentioned he would be seeing her soon… And that was the end of the session.

Dramatic Persona

Gage Trechki: Leader of the Swoop Gang Novas. Morrigan’s older brother.
Grudda the Hutt: Head of the criminal element on Almarsh and beyond.
Jodo Kast: Dangerous bounty hunter from Morrigan’s past.
Sagrin Leer: Imperial official in the thrall of Grudda.

* The battle had some frustrating moments. The dice were not with the players. After a lot of misses on both sides, the Stormtroopers were defeated. I think 2 of the players took a Second Wind during this initial fight. The Jedi player also found her grove I think when she was able to drop her blaster and pull her lightsaber. Having stated she thought she would be better with a blaster in her hand, she was having more fun slashing and being able to try deflection. I was pleasantly surprised she could deflect so well at a low level (granted she only needed to deflect one attack a round usually because I was coordinating attacks a lot). It made the game feel like Star Wars quickly to me.

** This happened because the player saw 2 identical Zabrak minis on the battlemat and thought up the NPCs on the fly. I thought the inspiration was great and will be putting the Zabrak twins in the game in some way in the future. So minis can actually help the creative process out of a combat encounter. Cool.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

NEW STAR WARS GAME

So I just started a SAGA Edition Star Wars game. I am pretty excited about about the campaign. I have been running Star Wars since the old West End Games version. The storyline I have set up ended around the time of Return of the Jedi. I have started this the new game in the New Republic era. I will try to put up the session summaries and notes on how I think the game in going. Hopefully I will be able to (see "the Challenge" post). Anyway, to start with, here is the opening scrawl...

STAR WARS
Agents of the New Republic
Episode 1: The Hutt’s Throne


The Emperor is dead. His two projects of tyranny, the second Death Star and Sovereign Station with their darksider’s Darth Vader and Imperial Guardian Ta’lon defeated with him. Now the Empire, once the great evil in the galaxy, is fractured and criminals and warlords from across space fight for the ideals of the Empire or their own greed.
With the galaxy in the throes of a new civil war, a fledgling government and its agents stand strong against tyranny, greed, malevolence and the still real power of the Dark Side. The New Republic fights to push back the darkness and lead the sentients of the stars into a lasting peace.
A year after the Emperor’s death, a small group of New Republic agents joins the fight on the world of Almarsh in the Trityri Region. Homeworld of Morrigan Trechki, Almarsh was once a jewel of the old republic until the Clone Wars and the Empire. Now others have claimed the world and are loath to give it up. The agents must fight their way through opposition to destroy the Imperial shield controls and capture leader Sagrin Leer. But is his throne one of power or servitude.
More to come. Really... I mean it... Hopefully...

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Dawn of Legends Review

The following review is for the PDF release of Dawn of Legends by Daring Entertainment. The PDF is a superhero setting and system for Pinnacle Entertainment’s Savage Worlds line. I have decided to review the product in two categories, the first is “PDF and Layout” and the second is “System and Setting”. It is important to note Dawn of Legends is not a complete game and requires the Savage Worlds Explorers Edition to play. So without further adieu.

PDF and Layout

First of all, at over 280 pages, the PDF has a lot of work put into it with borders on every page and style of art. The art ranges from comical, like Archie Comics, to heroic, like superhero comics of today and yesterday. Many of the pictures were inspirational for the setting contained in the book. The layout was standard game design with the first half of the PDF comprising player information for the setting, then character creation and setting specific rules. The last half was the Gamemaster’s Section with more rules, detail on setting and NPC statistics.

That being said, the PDF had so much going on in layout, it lagged badly on both the computers I tried it on. I found myself using the “Print Friendly” version more often than not because it would load pages faster. Both PDFs had problems loading pages with charts on them however. I also did not like that the PDF had no index. The Table of Contents did a fair job of making up for the lack. I especially liked having each power with page number being noted in the table. With most of the game rules in the Savage Worlds Explorers Edition, finding what powers do will be the number one reason to open the PDF at the game table.

System and Setting

Now on to the real reason you are reading this review, information on the system and setting. I will go through the book section by section (mostly).

After a forward by one of the creators, the PDF discusses the basics of Neos (DoL’s term for characters with powers). Sections on Neo origins, Neos in the media and Neos and laws are some of the parts of this section. I found the information extensive and really gave a player an idea of what they are getting into with the Dawn of Legends setting. I particularly liked the part about laws and Neos, useful for the game’s setting and templates for homebrew settings.
The PDF then goes into an extensive character generation aid titled “Creating the Backstory”. It starts with 20 questions and then goes into a way to randomly generate answers to those questions with the aid of a deck of cards instead of dice. The creators state Dawn of Legends is about the person and not the powers. The questions and generator really pushes this idea forward. Using them in total or taking character inspiration from them, the player should really know how his character thinks. And it was fun to see what was created by going totally random.

Next is the statistics creation of the character. This section refers a lot to the Savage Worlds Explorers Edition as many of the creation rules can be found there. There are many new Edges and Hindrances for a hero setting; my favorite one was Battle Cape. The game also introduces new Benny rules, a Wealth Rating and die system used to acquire items in game and a Popularity system. I really like the Popularity system as what people think about their heroes is, well, popular in comics (example Watchmen) and is rarely mentioned in hero games I have run except as one or two merits. The system also gives bonuses or penalties based off of the rating.

The game offers creation of Super Teams. Players gain points at creation and can use experience to buy advantages for their team like buildings, equipment and so much more. The Super Team creation is like another shared character being created by the players. A really fun mechanic that aids the comic feel.

The Power system is definitely influenced by Mutants and Masterminds (as Daring Entertainment has products in this line) and players of M & M will find familiar ground here. There is a system to link powers called Networking, and also to create gadgets and aliens. With the number of powers, edges and hindrances, extras and power boosters, the number of abilities one can create is staggering. There are even details for creating new powers. It seems Daring Entertainment has really put work into the system and still keeps to the Savage Worlds motto of Fast, Fun, and Furious. The powers system is more complicated than other SW’s rule systems for other settings, but looking over how they work together, the creators found great ways to meld them.

The only thing I did not like about the powers section was a lack of discussion on how to use power creation for different genres other than the one Dawn of Legends supports. There is also a lack of discussion of what power level starting characters should really be. I just don’t see many Novice heroes for Dawn of Legends.

As I had said, the last (more than) half of the book is Gamemaster material, mostly the Dawn of Legends setting. I must say this is a book in and of itself. Where other publishers make their first supplement a setting book, Daring Entertainment seems to add it to their core book. The section goes into much more depth on information seen in the player’s section. There is also information on other countries’ view of Neos, many setting NPCs and the setting city of Autumn Arbor. The level of detail on the setting is great. There are interesting setting takes on popular comic heroes like Fantastic Four and Superman among others. I must say I loved this section. The material is great for someone looking for the feel of Dawn of Legends to run the setting and also for inspiration on homebrew settings. This is also mostly a system generic area of the PDF as the stats for characters are at the end of the PDF. I like this placement as it makes it far easier to find NPC statistics in play.

For veterans of Savage Worlds, the setting does not come with a Plot-Point Campaign. It does however have an adventure generator. The generator is great for “one issue” adventures but can also give a GM a linked series of adventures with just a little work on their part.

Conclusion

At first glance, the PDF is both beautiful and aggravating, the art style really fits the feel but the PDF has trouble running it. The content however more than makes up for the PDFs deficiencies though. The Backstory generator, Popularity system and Super Team creation rules really aid the players and GM with getting into the Dawn of Legends feel and comic books in general. The options DoLs gives to creating powers lives up to fans of M & Ms and fans of the rare hero. The power system goes way beyond the creation of Superman and Batman and gives the player a good tool kit for creating any powered hero they can imagine. Plus with the way Savage Worlds works, you can easily use or not use any of these rules you want.

The setting material also shines with the great detail the creators put into it. Even without a Plot-Point Campaign, the setting has so many story hooks; thinking up heroic adventures has a lot of help.

Daring Entertainment has a great product in Dawn of Legends. They really seem to understand the hero genre and have put it into the product. I strongly recommend DoLs for fans of not only Savage Worlds but superhero games in general.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

The Dawn Has Come!

I am pretty excited. Dawn of Legends is out. I am looking over it and will be reviewing it soon.

This is from a post on the Pinnacle Forums...

Dawn of Legends is now live at RPGnow.com!

The 283 page, full-color PDF is chocked full of savage goodness.

Explore the world of Neo Earth beginning with the world famous City of Legends. Discover the new point-build, effects-based powers system allowing for heroes from street-vigilantes to galactic power-houses. Modify your powers with over 30 Power Enhancements, 30 Power Drawbacks, and 20 Power Boosters. Create your own powers with the same easy-to-use formula used by the actual designers. Dozens of new Edges and Hindrances. New uses for bennies, new comic book maneuvers, and new rules for Super-Teams and Popularity.

A completely open setting, tell the type of story you want to tell. Explore the world, be a hero! Dawn of Legends also has free online support! A first set of 16 new Adventure Cards and GM Screen Insert are available now; with several one-sheets and a Character Folio coming this weekend.

Then in March, look for: Power Play: a free plot-point campaign with plenty more to follow. NCB Files: a free web-enhancement containing a total of 12 new Champions and 18 new Rogues, fully illustrated in full-color! Beginning this summer, watch for the first Dawn of Legends sourcebook: Inside Solitaire!

This darkness could not last forever, the dawn is here . . . the Dawn of Legends!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Traveller Characters

Sorry about yesterday. I was a little sick. Anyway, the other day I got out my little black book. Yes, I mean Traveller. Having not picked it up in YEARS, my girlfriend and I decided to make some characters. She liked it so much, she wanted to make two (that is a real feat). Now I do not know if we did it right but here is the fruit of our labors.

1) Ex-Other 467856 Age 30 3 terms Cr 50,000
Blade Combat (Blade, Cutlass) - 1, Jack of All Trades - 1, Streetwise - 1 Gun

2) Ex-Army 31010399 Age 34 4 terms Cr 20,000
Vechicle (Winged Craft) - 1, Gambling - 1, Blade Combat (Cutlass) - 1 High Psg

3) Scout 679835 Age 22 1 term
Vac Suit - 1, Vechicle (Winged Craft) - 1

Sadly, number 3 died in service. It must be said that her contribution to the galaxy was great and noble. She will be missed. Don't forget her. She will live on in us.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Are You Tough Enough?

Cupcake number 3!

Harsh Tales: Welcome to the Mean Streets

...is your first taste of the forbidden world of Hardboiled. Inside, you'll find dark secrets, hidden truths, double dealings?--and that's only the beginning. Featuring four full adventures, Harsh Tales provides a glimpse into the seedy world of supernatural film noir. But that ain't all. Between each adventure, you'll find a Dirty Secret- our One-sheet adventures for Hardboiled, plus a Harsh Tale generator in the back as well. These are some mean streets.

And this isn't even the mainbook, only a preview! Check it out at Daring Entertainment to the left!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Dawn is Coming!

Cupcake number 2!




This Darkness cannot last forever. The dawn is coming . . . the Dawn of Legends!

Dawn of Legends is a new setting for the popular Savage Worlds license, bringing four-color super-heroic action to Pinnacle Entertainment's award winning role-playing game.
With a new, fully-customizable effects-based powers system designed to remain true to the fast, furious, fun of Savage Worlds, Dawn of Legends lets you don the cape and tights and battle crime wherever it is needed.
Inside the more than 256 pages are:
Over 40 new Edges, 20 new Hindrances, 6 Super-Team Edges, 5 Super-Team Hindrances.
More than 100 Powers, 30 Power Enhancements, 30 Power Drawbacks, 20 Power Boosters, and the complete rules for creating brand new powers using the exact formula used by the Designers.


Check it out at Daring Entertainment or Daring Visions to the left. The last cupcake tomorrow.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

The World is Freezing!

There are three releases in the gaming world that I am waiting for like a fat kid at a cupcake store.



The first one is...

An endless winter is coming...
500 years ago: From the frozen far north, beyond the civilized lands with their rolling hills and forests, arose a mighty army of frost giants, ice devils, Hellfrost dragons, and fearsome orcs, servants all of the ice god Thrym. So began the terrible Blizzard War and the downfall of the mighty empires of man
Today: The races of the southern lands may have won the war, but they suffer its legacy still. For five centuries the winters have grown steadily longer and colder. Huge swathes of the land of Rassilon are permanently covered in ice and snow, and even the temperate lands are not spared the misery of failed harvests, deadly winters, and the dreaded Hellfrost wind.
But winter is not the only danger. A mere 30 years ago, magic, once the civilized races’ most potent weapon, suddenly began to fail. The Siphoning, an effect of unknown origin, has made magic an unpredictable ally.
Welcome to the world of Rassilon. Welcome to the Hellfrost!

Interested? Learn more at Triple Ace Games. Link to the left.



Yeah, I shamelessly plugged someone.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Foto Friday

So I really have nothing. I decided to put up some pictures from my years of combing the interweb looking for game inspiration. I do not remember where I got most of them so if you see something familiar, let me know. I will put up a link or remove it.











Thursday, February 19, 2009

Life in Miniature

I never liked to use miniatures in my roleplaying games. I always thought they were the tools of tactical gamers who play Battletech and Warhammer for example. I was a roleplayer, not a figure pusher. If I used miniatures, my players would think more about where their figure was on the battlemat and not what was going on in their characters' heads.

After years and years of roleplaying combat however, I noticed something horrible. When fighting broke out in my stories, I was starting to think less about the scene and what was happening. The abstraction of combat started to get very dull for me. There is only so many times a character swings a sword or fires a gun before I start to think of them all as the same moment. It was no longer a tense situation for the characters or myself. Combat was a scene filler until I got back to the drama and not drama itself. I think my combats reflected this also. I saw myself saying dreaded phrases like, "ok, you hit, roll your damage" without considering what was happening in the story.

At some point I started running Deadlands: Reloaded, a game by Pinnacle Entertainment. The company produced paper miniatures for the game and I got the pdf.* I used them a little at the start of the campaign and more as the story progressed. I did not realize what was happening to me because of the miniatures however. My concept of the story and scene was getting a boost. This effect hit me at last game. The characters were fighting a large monster (Mojave Rattler for those in the know) and I could see what was happening through the little pieces of paper. At one point, the monster had two characters at the jaws of death (almost literally) and the characters fought for their lives with six-shooters and knives. Man was it cool. The interesting thing was that I could see it again. Looking at the minis (characters laying on top of the monster mini) I just kept thinking if this was in a movie it would look awesome. The minis kick started my brain into the scene and allowed it take the image to the next level. I could now see the character running for his life with the sweat on his face. His companion firing his rifle and the Huckster blasting the monster with magic became vivid in my mind. It was a great experience.

Using miniatures in a roleplaying game is not for everyone. It wasn't for me. I say try it however if you haven't. Paper minis are pretty cheap to try this out if you are short on cash. If you think your combats are becoming stale, I say try using minis and see if it doesn't kick start your imagination. And let me know what you think.




*I think it helps I didn't have to buy hundreds of dollars worth of plastic minis.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Top 5 - Road Killer

Wow, I should have challenged myself to once a week. These blogs may get really dumb. Especially since I haven't had time to game a lot recently.

But in the tradition of one of my favorite movies, High Fidelity, here comes the Top 5 list. I will try to make the list a regular feature. Maybe on Wednesday I will try and come out with a new one. So here goes...

TOP 5 GAMES TO RUN AFTER HITTING AN ANIMAL IN THE STREET.

5) Any Superhero Game (Mutants and Masterminds would be my pick): Just create a team of animal and plant inspired heroes. It works great for Aquaman with all the respect and power he gets. Someone must have hit a dolphin in their Pinto.

4) Werewolf: the Apocalypse: War of Rage baby! Make them all road kill and let Gaia sort them out.

3) Car Wars: WOOOOOO! Deer 5 points. Man 10! Kick me another brew dude! BUUURRRRRP!

2) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: You are an irradiated, pissed off chipmunk who's dad just got aced by a jerk off in a Pinto... and go.

1) Ironclaw: The world of vehicular animal slaughter sucks. Lets live in a more comforting world of foxes and bunnies stabbing each other for power and glory.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

To All the Games I've Loved Before...

I have recently had a space problem. I am moving my stuff from my parents/storage house to one I share with two roommates and a child. Anyway, I needed to trim the fat so to speak. I have a lot of books and the most prevalent are game books. Now fast forward to a new Half-Price Books Store opening in my hometown. These two events have created a recipe for making some cash for my Gen Con trip since money will be pretty tight this year.

This is where the narration takes a sad turn however. Now I have to go though my collect and decide what books stay and what books go. How do I choose? How would you choose? At first I decided if I was not planning on playing a game in the next year, the books had to go. With so many settings however, I just couldn't do it. Then I thought I will keep the best game for each genre (SciFi, Fantasy etc.). But who can pick? Can you honestly tell me the better game between Transhuman Space and AEON or Blood of Heroes and Mutants and Masterminds? You can? Pass me that cup filled with water from the fountain of knowledge.

You see, I have a healthy imagination for my age. Most gamers do I think. When I look at and read game books, I see the scenes, the adventures, they can create. For example, when I look at Legend of the Five Rings, the words fall from my mind and are replaced with impressions of trying to keep my Lion mantle in place as I and my honor guard race over a grassy hill to destroy the vile Crane beyond. Feeling the wind. Hearing the horses hooves. The texture of my gloved hand holding my father's weapon. What about Chill and the knowledge that just beyond the worn, stained apartment door in front of you are creatures man was not meant to know? To feel the glorious anger being released as my body cracks and elongates into that same creature in Werewolf: the Forsaken. How do you say goodbye to those feelings?

Well in the end I did say farewell to some. All in all I think I sold about 75 books. And to all those games I've loved before, thank you. Thank you for helping me feel larger than life and no smaller than my imagination could dream. I hope someone sees you on the store shelf and looks past the illusion. Sees your words for what they are, dreams of adventure. For me, I still have many favorites and worlds to explore.

Monday, February 16, 2009

The challenge!

So I have this blog I never use. There are many reasons I guess, a new job, over-eating, TVs that record shows, extreme laziness. Well after thinking about it, I have decided to challenge myself. I will post something on this blog everyday until my birthday in May! Only until May because I am directing a summer Shakespeare play and when that hits full steam, I will probably have a hard time gaming let alone blogging.

Now even though I have challenged myself, I do not expect this blog to be the creme on top of Rooty-Tooty Fresh and Fruity pancakes. I may go a week with only typing "I like cake and dice." I do not know. I will try however to post topics that are interesting to me. If they are interesting to me, they may be interesting to other gamers. That reminds me. I will try to stay the course of this blog being game related. That is why I started it and that is where I want it to stay. Gaming is my number one hobby and this is my best outlet to express it outside of actually playing. So with that said, I will see you tomorrow!