The basic scenario I have for the Call of Cthulu game I will be running this weekend fora group of friends:
In German-Occupied France, a group of refugees were smuggled out of Paris by the French Resistance. It was a long trip out of the country and they were hidden in many villages along the way. In one of the villages, an evil is discovered.....an evil much older and more terrible than the Nazis.
Players will be taken the roles of refugees and resistance fighters. I'll have some pregens available and players who wish to do so will be able to make characters.
Fans of the Chaosium Roleplaying Games (Call of Cthulu, Stormbringer, etc.) may be interested in this. I was looking at the Chaoisium website (since I'm currently planning a CoC one-shot that I will run for some friends this coming weekend) and it turns out that they have some books available on the website that have never been released commercially. They are a bit expensive and from the sounds of it they are very simple print-runs with little or no art, but there are a few really cool monograph books in there, including a book for Stormbringer that details the religions of the Young Kingdoms, The Gods of Chaos.
A co-worker made me a CD with a whole bunch of filk music. Filk is fantasy fiction related music and much of the music on the CD seems to be related to Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books. The songs are a mixture of really good and really bad, with most of them falling on the good side. Unfortunately, it appears that most of the tapes/CDs are no longer commercially available.
So, I have a few questions for people out there:
1) Does anyone know a good place to find Filk music? The only place I can think of where it might be readily available would be the bigger gaming conventions....Gencon, Origins etc.
2) Can anyone tell me where the name comes from?
I was at the Underworld comic shop on Tuesday and I found a used copy of All Flesh Must Be Eaten. So, I picked it up and have flipped through it some. So far, I really like it.
It includes some variant rules for Unisystem including diceless and card variants to replace dice-rolling.
The best thing that I like about the standard Unisystem compared to the cinematic unisystem used in Buffy and Angel is the expanded skill list. There have been many times now where certain skills players feel their characters should have fall in with other skills they feel the character would never have. The two worst offenders have been Crime (which includes things like being sneaky and picking locks) and Sports (running, tackling, throwing, etc included with knowing the rules to games like Football and Baseball). In classin Unisystem, the character skills are broken down into more detail, so skills are lumped together as they are in the cinematic rules.
I've read online that a good way to convert characters from Cinematic to Classic is to give each player three skill points per skill point they have in skills and make them spend the points on skills that would have falen under that skill type. For example, if a character had one level in Crime, they could put three points in Stealth, two points in stealth with one in lock-picking or any other combination they desire.
I'm thinking I may do this before the start of Season 2 for by Buffy campaign. The players will also have a bunch of experience points to spend, so it should be the perfect time to do it.
I'll run it by the group and see what they think.
This game scenario came to mind, so I'm just jotting it down. Obviously this scenario could be run in different game settings and systems. Angel is just the setting and system I was thinking of for it.
The basic premise would be that there is a device, a small handheld device, that when activated turns its holder into a demon for a short period of time. The user has no control over what type of demon, but they gain the powers and abilities of that demon-type while (usually) retaining their normal personality and mind. (Yeah, I was reading H-E-R-O when I thought of this....)
So what happens when the device falls into the hands of a bunch of punk kids who are looking to have fun in the new demon bodies?
At Ambercon 2003 and Ambercon 2004, Mark & Jesse ran a game called Twilight of the Superheroes. I did not know this until recently, but the alternate future came from a proposal by Alan Moore for a major company crossover that would address the continuity problems DC comics had after Crisis on Infinite Earths. You can read the original Twilight of the Superheroes proposal here. (Warning- its a bit of dry reading at the beginning. Feel free to skip to the story.)
I don't know if there are any other Superman fans reading this blog, but if there are, I'd like to point out this "All-Superman" blog, Fortress of Soliloguies.
If you've ever played the classic Star Control video games, particularly Star Control 2 for the PC and 3DO, be sure to check out this bit of gaming humour: The Ur-Quan 2004 campaign website.
Question: Tell us a little about your campaign platform.
Answer: It is as though your species' brain is too small to hold a simple thought such as, WE WILL KILL YOU FOR DISOBEYING! This is not a complex idea.
This was posted recently on 20' by 20' Room, and I thought I'd share it here as well. Irregular Webcomic is a fun series of comic strips that make fun of roleplaying games and gamers and is quite funny. I particularly liked this strip. w00t!
Whybark.com has an interview with Michael Moorcock where he discusses the Elric Movie. Be warned, there are a few minor spoilers for The Elric Saga. Here are some excerpts:
You’ve recently mentioned in your online forum that an Elric movie is in the works. Can you tell us more?
Yes, I’m working with Chris and Paul Weitz. After the success of About A Boy they wanted to do an epic and Chris is an old Elric fan. They came to see me and we hit it off. I just heard Universal want to do the picture, but it’s early days yet.
At what stage of the development process are you?
Very early discussions between my people and Universal’s people!
Can you tell us about the changes to the story that you’re making to accommodate the needs of the cinematic medium?
Yes, I want the chance to improve the dynamics of the originals, which were written out of order and over a long period. I like movies to be movies and books to be books. I see no point in producing a slavish version of the books.
How involved to you hope to be in the story, development, and writing of the film?
Quite a bit. The Weitz brothers want me involved and so far we’ve worked very well together on the proposal and so on.
What writers would you like to see tackling the screenplay? Any “dream team” picks to direct?
We sort of think people will appear when they know the film is about to be made!
Who do you see as Elric? Moonglum? Cymoril? Arioch? Yrkoon?
The only actor I’d really like to see in the movie is one of my stage favourites, Simon Russell Beale, who did a wonderful (plump) Richard 3 at Stratford a few years ago. He’s a wonderful actor. Good singer, too.
If you were to appear in a cameo, who might you imagine yourself as?
Smiorgan Baldhead, though I’d have to shave my scalp! (Having seen many pics of Michael Moorcock, I'd have to say that he would fit Smiorgan very well. - Nuadha)
[Editorial interjection: Since this interview was conducted, Mr. Moorcock has mentioned in his online forum that Jude Law’s name had come up in consideration for the role of Elric.]
(I said it before and I'm going to say it again. Jude Law would be a perfect casting for Elric. I hope it happens.- Nuadha)
Elric’s role in the destruction of Melniboné, I imagine, will make a persuasive case for itself as a potential focus of the tale. Can you mention the saga’s highlights that you hope to address in the film, such as this particular event?
Yes, the current proposal ends with the destruction of Melniboné as a result of Elric’s decision to accept the dark power of the Black Sword.
(The Destruction of Melnibone is one of the coolest parts from the books and would be an awesome scene for a movie, along with the tragic fight between Ykroon and Elric that takes place at that time. If they left it out of the first movie and just based the movie on the stories before that, I don't think it would work as well. The way I see it, the first movie should tell the story of Elric getting Stormbringer and end with the invasion/destruction of Imyrr (the capital of Melnibone). The second movie should start with Elric meeting and befriending Moonglum and end with his wedding to Zarozinia. [A happy ending!] The last movie should tell the story from the last book in the series, Stormbringer and end with....well.....the end. -Nuadha)
Ever wish you could live the Star Trek lifestyle? Well, win this eBay auction and you can!
The first trailer is up for Batman Begins and can be seen here.
Also, this Japanese web page has the first pictures of the villian, the immortal Ra's Al Ghul, from the movie.
In other news, it turns out that the Jack Black Green Lantern movie announcement was a hoax. The future's looking better for DC fans. Now, if we can just forget Catwoman ever happened....
I've started thinking about what scenarios I may run this year at Ambercon Northwest. So far I'm thinking of these games:
Morpheus Calling- running a scenario for new characters in the Morpheus universe. Although this would take place in the same universe as the previous games, the scenario would be a lot like the original game with new characters escaping from the Matrix. I'd have a co-GM for this.
Untitled Sci-Fi/Horror game- "The Playground" (name probably will be changed) is a cutting edge virtual reality simulator. By connecting a person's brain directly to the computer, people can experience a virtual world that seems as real as the world they left behind. Eventually planned for wide-scale use, it is still in the testing phase. Now, something has gone wrong and a test group finds themselves unable to log out or interact with the outside world. They are trapped. Can they discover the secret to The Playground and the way to return to reality? Do they want to? At first it seems harmless to be stuck in this wonderland, but what happens when they start dying?
Marvel Universe RPG- I'd probably run an X-Men scenario, although I have an idea for a scenario that would be a DC/Marvel crossover.
Mutants and Masterminds- Another superhero idea I have is a system that I have been thinking of for running M&M (my favorite superhero game) diceless. It would have a resource system much like MURPG, but would be much simpler to use. I could run an X-Men scenario using it or something different. I would only run this if I didn't run MURPG.
Nobilis: We Who are Doomed to Die- As seen here.
The other Nobilis Scenario- I have another Nobilis scenario I've been toying with in my head, but it lends itself better to a campaign than a one-shot
Pools of Red, Flashes of Amber- An Amber game using "The Pool" system, as seen here. So far, this game is the one game I will definately be running.
Nine Warriors in Heorot- As seen here.
The Hollow Ones- As seen here.
I've some more ideas, I may post later. It sure comes in handy being able to pull up the ideas I've posted before on this blog.
Doc asks:To what level (if any) do the groups you usually play with encourage communal creation of the game world? Are the players spectators, or do they actually have a say in the plot (moreso that just guiding it by the actions of their characters)?
For my Dreaming City games, I came up with a system where players could spend points to introduce plot items. The first game I ran was a mystery, "Life and Death in the Dreaming City" and I wanted players to be able to say "I found a clue!" when they wanted one. The catch was, they had to describe what was found and I, as GM, had to work it into the plot. So, when the player spent one of his "Drama Points" to find a matchbook with the name of a certain club, I needed to figure out how that club could lead them to unravelling the mystery. It worked suprisingly well. Sure, I had to alter the master plot a little, but it kept things interesting.
These days, I prefer the games that have some element like this and have become a big fan of the Buffy RPG, which uses something very similiar to the Dreaming City's drama points that is named the same. (Annoyingly, Buffy's Cinematic Unisystem is so much like what I was attempting to make with the Dreaming City RPG, that I've quit writing my own system for the setting.) I up the usefullness of the drama point as a plot twist in my Buffy campaignm which fits more my style.
Two players have particularly made use of this ability. It has been a double-edged sword. It was recently pointed out to me that these two players are also the two people in the group that also GM a lot. They have been constantly adding subplots and extra bits that sometimes it feels like the game is slipping away from the GM planned stuff, but the players all seem entertained so I try to go with it.
Players are not (and in my opinion should not be) just spectators. They need to be able to influence the story and add their own elements, sub-plots that interest them, to a game. Having a system in place like Drama Points that tell them how often and how they may influence the plot has been my favorite method for doing this.
Doc asks:What is the role, if any, that movies and books play in your campaigns? When entering a new genre, how important do you feel seeing (or reading) a good genre example becomes? Have you ever been assigned a "mood" book to read by the GM, or gone to a group movie viewing? How do you feel about game-based fiction, whether "pulp" novels or movie attempts?
Whenever running a new genre or even rediscovering an old genre, I dive into the media available. Years and years ago, I ran Cyberpunk 2020. This was the first game I ever ran where I wasn't very familiar with the genre. (Previous games I had run had been superhero and fantasy games.) I went to the local video store, Movie Mania. They had this deal where you could rent 3 (or was it 5?) movies for $5. In the period of a few months, I rented every cyberpunk movie I could. In the process, I discovered Akira and Bladerunner which became some of my favorite movies of all time. I also watched a lot of "B" straight-to-video flicks whose names have been forgotten by me. some of these movies were amazing. Some made Ed Wood seem like quality. All of them seemed to contribute to my game. I ran one of the coolest short campaigns I had ever run, with bits of mood borrowed from all the movies I had seen. Whenever I needed to describe something, I'd picture the environment as it would be shown in one of those movies and describe the picture I saw, from the grey walls of the hotel to the neon lights in the bike race through the future city. I think those movies brought life to a cold campaign world.
Since then, I always try to immerse myself in a genre before running a game. Before running Changeling, I read a bunch of Charles DeLint. Before running my recent D&D game, I re-watched Record of Lodoss War and The Lord of the Rings movies and played a bunch of fantasy video games like Diablo 2. For the Buffy game, I obviously watch Buffy and Angel. (I was already watching them so this was easy.) For the X-Men game I'm running, I re-read a bunch of classic Byrne/Claremont X-Men and the Grant Morrison run of New X-Men. Some sources give me plot ideas or character ideas. Others, like Cyberpunk, help me describe the world.
Doc asks: Some people play RPGs to enjoy a viewpoint or way of acting that they just couldn't do in real life. Others seem to play characters whose motivations are more their own. And some folks do all of the above and everything in between :) What character of yours was most like you "in real life"? Which of your characters is the least like you? Which did you find more fun to play, and why?
I've said many times that the thing I enjoy most about playing Anoki, the Amberite grandson of Corwin that was raised by Native Americans, is that he is an idealized version of me. He often feels out of his element, and speaks awkwardly because of this. Like me, he has deep spiritual and moral beliefs. He is not a violent or aggressive person, tending to be calm and layed back. He is idealized in the fact that he is better at practicing and putting forth his views. He is completely dedicated to the path he walks, where I find myself stumbling along the way.
The least like me would probably have been Chango, the loud-mouthed, highly destructive superhero. An ex-supervillian, Chango was constantly causing trouble and annoying people with his constant talking. He always acted before thinking, which would lead to his eventual downfall. Hyper-to-the-extreme, Chango was hardly me at all, which made him very difficult to play. I enjoyed playing him because he was always causing fun scenes to happen, however I don't know if he ever came off as much more than a joke as I don't think I can relay that kind of personality convincingly.