A Few More RPGaDay Questions

Question #28

WHAT FILM/SERIES IS THE BIGGEST SOURCE OF QUOTES IN YOUR GROUP?

I'd say it depends a bit on what group and what game we’re playing… Monty Python has always been a big one over the years (in particular the Holy Grail and maybe Life of Brian). I’d guess that was the single most-quoted source… perhaps ALIENS being the second…

Once a group has been together long enough and they have some good role-players, though, there tends to be a shift from movie quotes to in jokes and self-referential quotes. In my current alternating-fridays group we often joke about "excessive role-playing" because our GM Bruce told us one night that we'd be finishing up the campaign he'd been running for the previous year and a half. It took us three more months to finish it off. He later claimed it was due to our "excessive role-playing" and now we joke about that any time he says anything to do with how long something will take us or if someone really gets into the role-playing of a certain situation - someone will say "knock it off with all the 'excessive role-playing'".

In our current D&D campaign one of the Rogues traffics a product he calls "Sorcerers Squash" - a hallucinogenic that grows in the nearby jungles. He often misses sessions in the spring and fall due to farming (like the player actually farms and can't make it to games) so we started saying his character was hitting the squash or the "product". Now anytime someone misses a game - their character's been "on the squash"... I'm sure when we wrap up the campaign it will continue to be the excuse for missing characters!


Question #29

WHAT HAS BEEN THE BEST-RUN KICKSTARTER YOU HAVE BACKED?

I can’t say I’ve ever backed a role-playing game through kickstarter. I’ve backed board games and miniatures and graphic novels. Of those I think the ones that were the best so far have been the Lead Adventure ones (Dwarven Gold Fever and Astropolis II), and Ramshackle Games Jet Bike Construction Kits - which I guess could be used with RPGs - the Astropolis miniatures are going to be perfect for Rogue Trader!


Question #30

WHAT IS AN RPG GENRE-MASH-UP YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO SEE?

I need to see LESS mash-ups. Sometimes I feel like everything “new” is just a mash-up of tired old settings – it’s like developers just say let’s take [this] and add [zombies and/or battlemechs and/or magic and/or aliens or alien technology] and that will be AWESOME!!!! (It's not really awesome).


Question #31 (a day early, but whatever...)

WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE MOST FOR GAMING IN 2018?

Gaming…? just gaming… and getting back to more role-playing. It's been too damned long since I've really run any role-playing games. I’d really like to do more role-playing with my kids – while they’re still actually interested in playing games with ME!? This week I actually have arranged to play a game of Only War with the kids and one of their friends tomorrow and I'm going to be trying out Tales from the Loop with some other friends on Friday evening (both of which I hope might turn into a campaign that I'll continue to run through the fall and winter). I'd also like to try out Rogue Trader and have another game I'd like to run with some home-brew rules (largely based on Song of Blades and Heroes)!

I'd also like to get playing some actual MINIATURE GAMES over the next year! I feel like I've hardly played any over the last year and a half since the Quest for the Skull Sword campaign last February. Sure, I've got in a game or two of The Pikeman's Lament... but it's not like previously where I was playing as many miniature games in a month as I've played all year! And there are a LOT of games I'd like to play - I'd like to get back to playing Song of Blades and Heroes or Song of Shadows and Dust - or any of the other Ganesha Games, I'd like to try out the new edition of Warhammer 40K and Dracula's America (which I just picked up!), and definitely get in some MORE game of The Pikeman's Lament (and Dragon Rampant and Lion Rampant and try out Men Who Would Be Kings).


In Other News... 

Tomorrow I'll hopefully get to posting my monthly Boardgame Round-up of all the games we played through the month of August. Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future I'll get to posting some new minis I've painted. Production has slowed in the mini painting department as we're finally getting moving on our kitchen/dining room renovation.

Yesterday I started wrecking the dining room. That wall is coming out (no, it's not load-bearing!) and a peninsula of cabinetry is going in there - to open up the area a bit. Plumber and Electrician are coming today to start 

Immortal Tim - Destructor of Kitchens. 

RPGaDay 2017 #25

Okay, I missed the 24th, but the question didn't really apply to me (it was: Share a PWYW publisher who should be charging more? and I don't think I've ever BOUGHT any PWYW items, so....)

RPGaDay 2017 Question #25

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO THANK YOUR GM?

Root Beer? (Or other BRIBES!) Actually not root beer - I used to offer bonus bennies to anyone that brought me a good bottle of Root Beer back when we were playing Savage Worlds regularly. Stuff like Real Brew or Santa Cruz or Virgils... I drank so much root beer that I’m totally sick of it and don’t really drink it at all anymore. 

Actually, I think the best way to show your appreciation for your GM is SHOWING UP!! Nothing is more disheartening for me, as a GM, to spend a week (or weekS) crafting a fantastic epic adventure for a group that is challenging and fun and makes use of all the special talents of each member of the group… and then have more than half of the party not even show up… 

(and maybe bring some dice and your own damned PENCIL AND ERASER!?) 

But gifts and bribes are perfectly acceptable as well.... 

(hint, hint, hint!)

In Other News....

Most of the Astoropolis minis got based over the last day or so... not to get painting them! Or... not... perhaps I should really get working on the JET BIKES! ToonCon is just over a month away! (I could paint some of the Astropolis figures to use as spectators - which occasionally spill out onto the field!

Jet Bikes! Astropolis II! RPGaDay!

I have no pictures of the Astropolis II stuff - it just arrived yesterday and I'm pretty excited and so I just had to mention that...

I did finally finish up another Jet Bike!



This bike was assembled from parts I acquired from the Ramshackle Games Jet Bike Construction Kit Kickstarter.



Back end.



I'd actually been trying to paint from memory - having looked at the source material a few days before and was horrified when I went to double check... something... and realized I'd done the striping  all wrong!? GAH!?I'd spent so much time painting all that red and white checking I had to take a picture of it before I painted it all over with black...

I've been slacking off on posting my RPGaDay answers on the blog here (they do go up daily on a Facebook gaming group I run)...

RPGaDay 2017 Question #21

WHICH RPG DOES THE MOST WITH THE LEAST WORDS?

I don't know... Savage Worlds? Maybe?

RPGaDay 2017 Question #22. 

WHICH RPGs ARE THE EASIEST FOR YOU TO RUN?

I have found simple games that are light on rules the easiest for me to run. Savage Worlds was great for this. I’m trying to move to even simpler rules.

RPGaDay 2017 Question #23

WHICH RPG HAS THE MOST JAW-DROPPING LAYOUT?

Meh. 

I don't actually care for all the full colour, hard cover books the industry is cranking out these days. I'm not really concerned if the layout looks nice - I'm more concerned about being able to find things I want to look up quickly!

More RPGaDay, More Vacation Pics

The vacation pics are actually over on my other blog:

What I Did for my Summer Vacation - the 2017 Edition - Part Two

I think there are over 100 pics in the post. Here's a couple pictures so you have an idea...

The Girl going wicked fast. 

Me... adjusting my rear hub... AGAIN!

And here are the weekend's RPGaDay questions 

Question #19 

WHICH RPG FEATURES THE BEST WRITING?

Again I’m not entirely clear on what is the “best writing”? Do they mean the most lyrical and literary with the most flavourful flavour text? Or do they meant the rules with the the most clear and concise technical rule writing?

I’m a painfully slow reader. So, I’ve never really read game rules just to read them for the sake of reading and enjoying the writing. I read as much as I can to understand the rules or the setting or the adventure I’m going to run and skip the rest. I’m more concerned with whether the rules are laid out in an order that makes sense and if I’ll be able to find the rules I need to refer to in the future!

That being said, the miniature game rules by Daniel Mersey – Lion Rampant, Dragon Rampant, etc - have been really fun to read. (Not actually RPGs.... buuuut... fun to read - and PLAY!) 

Question #20

WHAT IS THE BEST SOURCE FOR OUT-OF-PRINT RPGs?

I find that FLGS that don't have an online catalogue are the best for finding old treasures - I've found a few gems squirrelled away on the bottom shelf in the back corner or in their bargain bins... 

Other than that... the Sentry Box? (at least back when Sean worked there and staff could actually LOCATE stuff that was in their catalogue) 

I've picked up the occasional item of eBay or ABE books...

I know of others who’ve gotten amazing deals at conventions…

I suppose a lot are available as PDFs at RPGNow or Drive-ThruRPG. Does it even count as "out of print" if it's still available as a PDF? 

In Other News...

I really need to get cracking on some Jet Bikes! 

Amanda's off to Seattle, but not before leaving me with this cold she came down with on the last day of our vacation! Boooo! 

Not Dead - Just on Vacation

In case you were wondering why I haven't kept up with the RPGaDay questions - but were afraid to ask - I've been on vacation. Since it mostly involved trees and bicycles, you can read about the over on my bike blog:

What I Did for my Summer Vacation - the 2017 Edition - Part One

There was some gaming involved... but I'll post about that at the end of the month with my monthly boardgame round-up.

I was hoping to find the Astropolis II Kickstarter rewards had arrived when I got home, but alas, they have not...

In the meantime... RPGaDay Questions...

Question #13

Describe a game experience that changed how you play.

Yeah... I kind of drew a blank on this one. 

Changes in the way I play have been small, subtle, and gradual over the years. 

I think things that have changed how I game probably occurred OUTSIDE of actual play. Encountering a game system that gave experience for stuff OTHER THAN killing things and taking treasure was a bit thing... 

I guess one thing could be when I tried to kill Runkha... The first person I ever played with was my Dad. Because for the first bit it was just the two of us, he had two characters he played; Zadoc (a priest) and Runka (a thief). Once I encountered actual kids my age that played and had more than one player I kind of got it in my head that ONE MUST ONLY PLAY WITH ONE CHARACTER - but my dad insisted on playing with the two - even when playing with my other friend(s). I got annoyed by this and decided to kill off Rukha by having him attacked by a Ninja - hired by the baddies whose dungeon they were planning to attack... He looked so forlorn, I ended up saying he didn't DIE, but was so gravely wounded he'd have to stay at the inn while the rest of the party went and bashed the Dungeon. I realized right away it was a bit of a dick move and decided not to ever be a dick again... But I don't think he ever played a game again with me after that. 

Question #14 

Which RPG do you prefer for open-ended campaign play.

I think Traveller has worked really well for that… it is such a vast sandbox of a galaxy all laid out - but with lots of room for customization and tinkering. 

Mind you, I've used GURPS Traveller and I could just as easily use Savage Worlds or something else. I think the SETTING has as much (or MORE) to do with the ability for open-ended play than any particular role-playing game. 

Question #15

Which RPG do you enjoy adapting the most?

I had a lot of fun adapting SavageWorlds to all sorts of different settings – and I definitely have the most experience adapting it. Most recently I’ve been tinkering with the idea of minimizing rules to focus on actual ROLE-PLAYING and have been thinking a LOT about ways I could use something like Song of Blades and Heroes (or any of the games using the same basic game engine) as the basis for an extremely simple role-playing game. We shall see... 

Question #16. 

Which RPG do you enjoy using as is?

I think most RPGs I start out using as is - believing "Surely this will work out..." and then I always end up unsatisfied withe something and tinkering some how. I do like to at least TRY to play any new rule set - whether RPG, Miniatures, or boardgames - with the rules as is, to try and understand what the author(s) intended.

I'm reading through Tales from the Loop and the 40K RPGs right now (Rogue Trader and Only War) - and I can't see any issues with Tales fem the Loop and so I could possibly run it "as is", but after a few sessions who knows. The 40K RPGs...? Well, I can already imagine them bogging down in combat - so I'm already planning to use a streamlined combat system that uses elements of the 40K skirmish game to speed things up.

Question #17

Which RPG have you owned the longest by not played?

Actual role-playing games not individual adventures or supplements…

ALIENS? Bunnies and Burrows? High Colonies? All three I picked up in the late 80s when I worked at the Wizard’s Corner and never actually played… ALIENS and High Colonies I picked up when they first came out, Burrows and Bunnies I bought used off a guy…

I was a HUGE fan of Aliens back in the late 80s. I've probably seen that movie more than any other movie. So needless to say I was SUPER STOKED when I heard there was going to be an ALIENS role-playing game and I bought it the moment I set eyes upon it.... I remember reading the rules and being utterly underwhelmed by the whole thing... I don't recall exactly what it was, but just overall disappointed. I may have made characters, but I'm pretty sure I never got so far as to PLAY the game. 

It looks like High Colonies came out in 1988 and ALIENS in 1991, so I've obviously had High Colonies longer. I have a feeling I may have bought Bunnies and Burrows before 1987... 

Question #18

Which RPG have you played the most in your life?

Hard to say…. In terms of number of gaming session or actual hours spent playing? Or the number of years spent using it as your go-to game?  Probably Savage Worlds… or maybe GURPS…?

I played a LOT of Role Master in high school and a lot of Palladium games (TMNT, Robotech, Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, etc – though I never really played Rifts…), Twilight:2000, Top Secret, Star Frontiers, Battletech/Mechwarrior…. who could possibly tally all those hours at lunch time or after school?!

After high school I played a LOT of GURPS and ran various GURPS games for years.

Eventually I abandoned GURPS in favour of Savage Worlds and ran games every Saturday evening for years… I played it enough that I set up an entire separate BLOG for it!

I have played a lot of D&D (Basic, AD&D, and more recently 5E) – This was the first RPG I ever played, and played it exclusively for some time before moving on to other games (though for a while I still played it as my go-to fantasy game) – and more recently I’ve been playing 5E…

Stay tuned for RPGaDay2017 Question #19 - coming tomorrow!