Another Month of Gaming (August '20)

The full list of August solicitations in Game Trade Magazine #246 can be found here, or at your FLGS.

ViscountEric's Want List
River Horse
My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria - The Curious Case of the Malfunctioning PRANCER
$15.99

Steve Jackson Games
Illuminati 1000 Piece Puzzle ........................................ $1995

ViscountEric's Money-Is-No-Object Want List
Nothing


The Imaginary Store List (The Pegleg Gnome)
Ares Games
Tales of Evil ................................................................ $59.90

The Army Painter
Masterclass Drybrush Set ............................................ $19.99

Atlas Games
Breakdancing Meeples ................................................. $19.95

Bandai 
Dragon Ball Super Expansion Set 14 &15

Bully Pulpit Games
Star Crossed - 2nd Print .............................................. $25.00

Capstone Games
Terra Mystica ................................................................ $79.99

Catalyst Game Labs
Battletech Tactical Operations - Advanced Rules .............. $39.99
Battletech  Technical REadout Jihad .................................. $39.99
Battletech  Mechwarrior Destiny ........................................ $39.99
Battletech Tactical Operations - Advanced Units and Equipment ............. $39.99

Chaosium
Call of Cthulhu: Malleus Monstrorum Bestiary - 2 Volume Slipcase ......... $89.99
Call of Cthulhu: Mansions of Madness Vol 1 Behind Closed Doors .......... $42.99

Green Ronin Publishing
Fantasy Age RPG: Lairs HC ................................................. $34.95

Kobold Press
D&D:  Brilliant East Worldbook HC ..................................... $39.99

Konami Digital Entertainment
Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Legendary Duelists - Rage of Ra Booster
Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Maximum Gold Box ................................... $29.99

Monte Cook Games
Numenera RPG Character and Creature Standups .................. $19.99
Numenera RPG  Voices of the Datasphere .............................. $44.99

Paizo Publishing
Pathfinder RPG: AP Agents of Edgewater 4 - Assault on Hunting Lodge Seven ............ $24.99
Pathfinder RPG: Lost Omens Pathfinder Society Guide HC.... $34.99
Pathfinder RPG:  Bestiary 2 Battle Cards ................................ $59.99
Pathfinder RPG:  Flip Mat Bigger Pirate Ship ......................... $19.99
Starfinder RPG:  AP Devastation Ark 3 - Dominion's End ..... $22.99
Starfinder RPG:  Flip Tiles - City Starter Set ........................... $34.99
Starfinder RPG:  Pawns - The Threefold Conspiracy Collection .... $24.99

Pokemon USA
Pokemon TCG: Sword and Shield Darkness Ablaze Booster
Pokemon TCG: Sword and Shield Darkness Ablaze Theme Decks

R.Talsorian Games
The Witcher RPG: A Witcher's Journal ...................................... $30.00

Steve Jackson Games
Puppy d6 Dice Set ..................................................................... $13.95
Skull d6 Dice Set ....................................................................... $ 8.95
Munchkin Warhammer Age of Sigmar Guts and Glory ............ $19.95
The Zodiac Die .......................................................................... $12.95

Wizkids
D&D Adult White Dragon .............................................. $69.99
D&D Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden Boosters
D&D Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden Chardalyn Dragon ........ $79.99
D&D Mythic Odysseys of Theros Boosters
D&D Idols of the Realms 2D Minis ....................................................... $14.99 each
Monster Pack 1 and 2, Players Pack, and Sidekick Pack

D&D Mythic Odysseys of Theros  Polukranos World Eater .................. $59.99
Marvel Heroclix - Galactus ............................................... $99.99
Marvel Heroclix - X-Men - House of X Boosters
Marvel Heroclix - X-Men - House of X Fast Forces .......... $16.99
Marvel Heroclix - X-Men - House of X Dice and Token Pack ........ $9.99
Pathfinder - Painted Figures .................. $7.99 each
Stone Bridge  ................................. $149.99

War Machines - Ballista ................. $ 39.99
War Machines - Trebuchet ............. $ 39.99

#RPGaDay2020: Day 5 - Kim Cattrall Saves the Day!

Day 5 of #RPGaDAY brings us to the first one-word prompt that gave me a lot of options other people might take, but personally stumped me:  "TRIBUTE."

I've done a lot of tributes to my friends and fellow players over the years, but none of my remaining, awesome friends jumped out to me for an "Ode to."

So I'll write a short tribute to actress Kim Cattrall, the woman who saved my Christmas in July RPG session.

But not from this movie....

I usually don't run holiday games, but with our online game, I've regaled enough tales of Christmas-themed games I've played in the past, and Krampus-related games yet to come, that I offered to run one last year.  It was a 5e game using the ongoing campaign's characters and went quite well.

That allowed me to pencil in a Christmas in July game, and at the time, I had this for my inspiration.

God Bless the internet

I did some "research," outlined a revised version of the movie, and despite the concept, I wasn't getting things to gel, and it languished over the months of COVID.

As July neared closer, I did two important things.

• I made the characters the Spice Girls.  I had run a secret-agent/Charlie's Angels-style game in the Fall using the Spice Girls, with the punchline in the title, "The Search for Pumpkin Spice."  The best problem of all?  Using Risus, it was near perfection.  Using a bit of Girl Power and some new characters, rescuing either the truck, the hero, or heroine seemed to lack some depth.  And yes, I understand I'm complaining about depth in regards to the Spice Girls.  
• Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall's character from Big Trouble) was not going to be the damsel in distress or the heroine who needed support, not in 2020 dammit! In fact, to allow some plot progression, I reached back into Kim Cattrall's TV and filmography for some basic plot hooks.

As a man who dated women in the late 90's and early 00's, I've spent many hours sitting on the couch with them, watching Sex and the City.  Samantha Jones is a perfect character to get involved in some weird high-stakes/kidnapping intrigue.  Let's queue her up as the missing person the Spice Girls must find.  

And after dealing with the Sex and the City vibe, we throw a curveball and have witnesses put her in the direction of an old department store with an inordinate amount of mannequins, a fight sequence with the rival department store's staff, and some more clues with Sam's long-forgotten ex-husband, who is now the manager of the department store.  

A few more clues and role-playing, and we can get them seeking out, and tailing a truck full of toys into a strange part of Chinatown.  Insert big fight at the beginning of Big Trouble, with a twist and it satisfactorily made for a great session.  

A quick view of Wikipedia reminds me how many more movies she was in and how much more I can use in future Spice Girls games.  It also questions my moral core why I haven't cobbled together a Police Academy game.

...And just in case anyone wants to read all my Odes to my fellow players, from 1979 to present: 

Ode to Charles
Ode to Dave
Ode to Wooly
Ode to Bill
Ode to Scott

Lost Dispatches of Feraso #88 - Goblin Patrols and Human Partings

33rd of QuaDec, 1061 - Village of Eding, Kingdom of Crosedes
Back a few lifetimes ago, when I had access to a quality library, I spent quite some time studying the late period of both Ferasean Empires.  I honestly could not fully understand the pieces that fell into place to initiate the collapse of the most powerful country in the world.

This month I may have watched a microcosm of the fall of the empires with the goings-on in Eding.

Barrack's duty as nanny to Krull & Company was working out as best as he could do.  But as he curtailed the adventurer's actions, they complained up the chain of command.  Militia Captain Kraso Lacaray took a liking to Krull and they have been directly reporting to him.  Since that time, they've actively charged into the Nightwood,. hunting goblins, kobolds, and even troll-kin without mercy.

If I know this will simply incite the entirety of the G'ba, why is W. ignoring this?  Where's Lord Athelstane?  Times like this make me realize that Athelstane could use the experince of Lady Iris here, rather than awkwardly working the Royal Court. 

10th of HepDec, 1061 - Village of Eding, Kingdom of Crosedes
Krull's patrols have escalated in the Nightwood.  Now there is thick gray smoke pouring across the entire Forest.  A bonfire's smoke would barely break out of the canopy, so I fear the true actions and intent of the party.

14th of HepDec, 1061 - Village of Eding, Kingdom of Crosedes
Betrayal!

I have been lurking in the Nightwood the last two days, trying to ascertain to damage Krull & Company has dealt to the habitat.  The animals are prepared for flight, small mammals are attempting the near-suicidal crossing of the river for salvation.

But the worst part was uncovering a collection of dead birds with notes tied to their legs, just like W's style.  The encryption is half-done, but I'm aghast that it was for the has been prodding the goblin war leaders to attack Eding! Others are incomprehensible scribbles directed for the goblin shamans.  And their's one mysterious notice, a piece of correspondence from an individual to the north called Elswyn.  Very disturbing.

With W. inciting violence, northern allies encouraging it, and Athelstane indifference giving Krull and company carte blanche to deal with the goblins, I believe it's time to leave.

14th of HepDec, 1061 - Village of Eding, Kingdom of Crosedes
Another foray into the Nightwood for Krull and Company, another day of fire, smoke, and reports of goblins attacking caravans on this side of the river...

....

The Morning of the 20th of HepDec, 1061- Village of Eding, Kingdom of Crosedes 
With a couple extra gold, my writing desk has been loaded onto the wagon, and I, Elsderth of Eding, will become a simple Elsderth.  With the impending doom, and the major parties indifference to me and the fate of the village, I fear I must leave.  My intended destination is the nearby halfling villages.  If I can not warn their leaders of what's at stake, perhaps I'll be far enough away to avoid the worst of the carnage.  W. and their Elswyn should have a master plan that is far above my limited faculties that have allowed me to be a scribe, a traveling philosopher, a sellsword of good repute, a lawgiver, a dispenser of legal justice, a militia sergeant, a slayer of giants, dragons, and undead generals, and even a Baron.  Even my limited training in the ways of Guyan Wicca tell me disaster is about to beset all of us here if we do nothing.

As to not to attract attention, I've told the other villagers that I'm simply heading out to Elmshire to sell some collectibles and antiques that I've accumulated over the years.  Since I've grabbed some of W.'s possessions while they weren't looking, it's not entirely false.

21st of HepDec, 1061 - Halfling Village of Lowdale - Kingdom of Crosedes
Lowdale is the least of the Halfling Village, but I was met at the lowgate by the mayor himself Gerard Clayhanger.  This former master of Halfling construction is not the force of nature of A.Warren Corkbarrel (may he rest in peace), but he's a reasonable fellow and took my warnings with a troubled visage.  I have much more trust in the Lowdale militia being prepared for trouble that I am Eding's.

22nd of HepDec, 1061 - Halfling Village of Welldale - Kingdom of Crosedes
Welldale is the perfect Halfling community, and thanks to Militia Captain Wolbodo Puddlefoot, I have hope that that will remain so?  Perhaps after all this is done, the Halfling Villages work together to petition the King to recognize their sovereignty as a Halfling Shire, loyal to the crown, but controlling their own destiny.  Elves are vile, dwarves are drunks, and gnomes are scatter-brained, but Halflings and the Purvmone of the Eastern Lands are races to be respected and many a time, admired.

DM Notes:  Something's is going on, and it's simply too much for a 60+ year old Elsderth Millbottom to save things on his own.  His time for heroics is long gone.  He's hoping the impending goblin attack that he's feeling in his bones will be blood short, and not spill over to the other town.  Rebuilding  the village is still an option, but spilling his own blood for the so-called leaders of Eding is out of the question. 

What looks like chaos to Elsderth was actually casual adventuring to the players.  Scouting the forest, destroying new goblin outposts, terrorizing the goblin-kind to fall back, when in reality, they were adding fuel to the fire of the power play the Witch thought was going to fall right into place.  

But with Krull & Company protecting the town, Barrack, Angus, Captain Lacaray, and maybe even Athelstane, perhaps Eding can be saved. 

Next: #89 - Elmshire's Finest

#RPGaDay2020: Day 4 - Campaign Vision

While Threading Character Backstory was my topic yesterday, Day 4 of #RPGaDAY brings up "Vision."   Creating a vision for your campaign, and to be able to keep the view among all the character machinations, reality-altering die rolls, and, if it deems itself necessary, the demand to execute that plot line, even if the PCs are miles away. 

All campaigns have a general direction, even if the final destination is unknown.  Sandbox, Plot Point, and most certainly the "DM-Novel" styles develop some overarching plot just from the actions of the characters. 

Vision can easily be confused with railroading.  The tracks of any story need to disappear, still allowing a wide open berth for the party.  But most parties like comfort and stability, so that old rail bed is now a scenic campaign trail. It's only straight in unimaginative hands

And even if we are dealing with railroads, most local runs are full of trunk lines, short lines, and side yards.  The journey is never as straightforward as the normal accusers say it is.

I was once invited to a group that was re-launching a campaign that they had sandboxed for almost 10 years.  Problem was, hearing the story, while there was a lot of the DM reaction to their actions and travels, The minor and major plots arcs were always ingrained.

The longer I played, the longer the GM shared more details from the previous game?  All that traveling?  All that developing the wilderness?  Very little mattered as the final boss fight had been conceived a decade earlier, and it was a simple process of the hero's journey for the party. 

My own campaigns might not have the ending written in stone, but I always have some idea where the campaign is going even if the players aren't following the same direction.  

Using my current Star Wars d6 campaign, we're just wrapping up the first big story arc.  I don't know where the campaign will end, but I do know that they will encounter beneficial Imperial contacts in a big, dramatic way.  With limited rebel contacts, this  could wildly change the game from the traditional d6 start.  They have a lot of options to resolve all this, but the looming "specter" and happy non-murdery Imperials is going to skew there neutral campaign.   Portions of this plotline will become visible if they say yes, and if they accept none or partial obligations, the story continues in the background.  

#RPGaDay2020: Day 3 - Threading the Campaign

Day 3 of #RPGaDay2020 gives up "Thread" as the prompt... and an excuse to finally use this meme that's been hiding in my drafts for months:

Since the beginning of RPGs, the character backstory could range from "I was born in a village and learned to fight, I might drink too much," to overwhelming pages of inane background even the most detail-oriented biographer wouldn't use in a book.  Picking the choices pieces of story out of those backgrounds and threading them seamlessly into the story, that's part of the art of gamemastering.

Let's be honest, there's something of an old school trope of sitting down at the table and finding your players are a paldain, two thief-assassins, the soulless wizard, and a group of guys playing fighters who begin to roll initiative before you finish describing a room.... of orphaned babies. In that instance, unless they show zero interest in getting out of the tavern they met up as, I wouldn't even bother looking at character backstories (if they provided one to you) until they survived session three.

This is talking about getting to find a natural connectivity within a "modern" group.  Low hanging fruit is used to give the party the impetus they might not normally have to start, but it's those subtle interactions that wait for the biggest payoff.

The obvious one was a simple review of character backstories back in college, such as:

*Same Town
*Both raised by single mothers
*Both raised by single mothers working in brothels

This is a no-brainer, unless you've already pulled that on your group previously, but tying that into the blatantly obvious half-brothers plot didn't bear fruit in my college campaign until episode #42!.  Why?   I had plenty of plot twists built into the campaign, dropping this on them early would be yet another zany turn of events that might diminish those two characters developing into brothers-in-arms naturally... or hated rivals.  In fact, after evrything they endured together and how they did it, it made sense that they were related.

It also allowed this storyline to play out without a full gimmicky feel, and opened up other storylines, a new hideouts, and that existential question for PCs, 'If Dad left us a large manor, can we clean it out or are we required to hire adventurers, like everyone else."

And let's not even talk about the true pleasure of threading the backstories of the "orphaned, raised by wolves/suicidal ninjas/villagers all killed by the plague/mudslide/inadvertent fireball."  While it keeps the option of family members in help/in peril, it is an utterly blank canvas to fill in the details, at will, of what transpired many moons ago.  Let's skip Chosen One or Child or a Demon and stick with more mundane things.  Pulling heartstrings usually has no effect on these players/characters, so a more direct/adversarial tone must be used.  It still may not affect the focus the plot, but it will give the other characters a realization of  "Why do we let enigmatic dudes like that join our group.  They're nothing but trouble"

We don't need to weave every little similarity into the campaign.  Two people that like to knit do not need to be part of some international wool cartel, and the impedning wool embargo can effect them differently.  Making everything look like an conspiracy board for some local tin-foil aficionado will make the players regret putting any work into their characters. 

Recently, I've been addressing the threading a different way.  Following the old adage of "the players will do more damage to themselves than anything the GM could ever dream of," I've kept things far simpler to begin the campaign.

"Six characters from the same village," is enough to tie most groups together.  "Intergalactic Exotic Animal Traders" keeps the unit cohesive and allows the player to work the character backstory into the group connections. 

#RPGaDay2020: Day 2 - Changes to Old School Star Wars

For Day 2, "Change,: Let's talk about the path that made my D&D 5e online group turn to Star Wars d6.

Like most of the gamers my age, at least one friend had a copy of the Star Wars (d6) RPG by West End Games.  Most played a few sessions and things got shelved, only to be dusted off from time to time.

My Star Wars RPG knowledge was limited to some short games in high school, and college, a few great convention games, and actively ignoring one of the greatest Star Wars campaigns ever!

Over a decade ago, I had the idea for a Christmas in July game using Star Wars d6, and despite my best efforts, it was still easier to playtest a D&D convention event,

But two things happened this year amid the pandemic:  The Star Wars 30th Anniversary Slipcase went on deep discount through Miniature Market, forcing me to buy it...

... and when polling my online players for the next game I put Star Wars (d6) on as a whim, and it was unanimously selected.

Pulling my 2nd Edition Revised copy off the shelf, I've been reviewing rules and target numbers, but I haven't relegated myself to the stoic old-school format (especially in 1st Edition.  I have been doing massive research to apply my "Yes, But" style into Star Wars.

First off is a round of applause for the Campaign Podcast.  The original campaign on the podcast was Star Wars using the funky dice from Fantasy Flight Games.  There were some fantastic traditional rolls of success vs failure, but the concept of interpreting disadvantages, advantages, triumphs, and despairs in the dice pool make the dice pool far more interesting.

Mix all that in with a healthy dose of Powered by the Apocalypse games, and I'm far better working through the "Yes, But..." or "No, But..." results

Let's throw in the Force/Wild die for fun. The idea of a result of 1 "complicating" an event is already written in the 2nd Edition rules, but the result of a 6 is simply an exploding die adding to the result.  The idea of a built-in advantage regardless of whether the roll was a pass for failure seems to be working well in the first few sessions of the campaign.   In fact, it seems simpler in application than the FFG dice could ever be.  Our only problem thus far, is watching for the final die rolled on roll20.

And that Christmas/Life Day game on Bespin will see some life this December. Gotta blow the dust off that folder.

#RPGaDay2020: Day 1 - Online Gaming Before and During COVID

Another year of #RPGaDay has begun and Day One's one word prompt is appropo: "Beginning."

If you want to go back the to early beginnings of role-playing, Year one covers First RPG Played and First RPG GM'ed.

Through the army, college, and real life back in my hometown, I was a once a week gamer.  It didn't necessarily mean an RPG, and there were sure gaps of play time, but getting D&D, Magic, or Battletech set up was never a problem. 

Once I moved out of my area, eventually met a girl, and settled down just far enough away from my hometown, gaming turned into a monthly extravaganza to justify the hour-long drive everyone needed to make (regardless of whose house we were meeting at.)   The bulk of those games were our 1920's era Call of Cthulhu games, culminating in the completion of Masks of Nylarathotep.

When that campaign wound down, we were stuck in a bit of a lull.  Job promotions, family events, car issues, and other things postponed our monthly meetings.

Until one fateful five-year old's birthday party.

Making small talk with all my gamer friends at the party, one of them let it slip that they were gaming with our college roommate's best friend in his Monday night online game. 

I've lamented in previous #RPGaDays of not being more forceful in trying to get into some primo RPG campaigns, so in uncharacteristic form, I walked up to the host of the party (the college roommate) and simply said, "Dude, there's an online game?  Can I get in on it?  Will Jeff (his friend/the DM) be okay with that?"

Two weeks later I was on Rol20 in a 5e campaign playing Falgor the Mighty, an Elf Barbarian.

For three years we logged up every Monday night from 9-11pm to play D&D.  Not to toot my own horn but I'm a pretty awesome addition to a group where I'm not the foci as the primary GM. 

• I can distract the table and make jokes like all the other players, but as a ful-time GM normally, I can sense when everyone needs to be wrangled back to the virtual table.  
• I actually bought a rulebook for the game
• My preference for wargames has made Falgor tactically diverse and keeps everyone on their toes.
• and what might have been a godsend to keep the group going, I'm the back up GM when we don't have enough (or the right) players to keep things moving.  

The game I run are never over-complicated affairs.    

• Illuminati University using Risus. 
• A Pulp-Style Terraforming Mars game using Risus. 
• Call of Cthulhu using college characters set in 1990's Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.
• Adventures in Gulluvia, a Basic D&D/BECMI adventure that's still set in the my usual FRPG homebrew, but thanks the lethality of low-level BECMI, it's a different animals.  Write-Ups should appear weekly on the blog in November.

And let's not forget to give Jeff credit for introducing to us to the Modiphius version of Star Trek for a few sessions as well.  

Prior to the Corona-sanity, we were already getting more complications.  Everyone had work issues but Jeff the GM had it the worst.  I'll find something to run for two other players, but many times it was just myself or one other players.  

As COVID descended on us, I made two calls.  First an email to Jeff, who admitted he wasn't ready to return behind the virtual scene quite yet, but he could definitely be available consistently as a player.  Second was an open casting call among my social media friends.  Only one person seriously responded, my wargaming buddy Jim "The Gnome King."

To confirm Jim was compatible with the group, I ran some connected one-shots, Bigg Melons in the Time of COVID and The Great Hall of COVIDiots, again using Risus for mechanics and Coffee Shop by James d'Amato for set-up.

If you don't use video, you avoid the great cosplay 

It worked well, and with a quick survey. we were off on another campaign... but that parts fits tomorrow's prompt better. 

Next: RPGaDay2020 Day 2: "Change"