RPGaDay Days 20 to 23

#RPGaDay

Day Twenty – Will Still Play in 20 Years

Really difficult question, because it isn’t just about the games I love but about what the people around me want to play (hence my distinct lack of World of Darkness since uni :( ). Which probably means something D&D based, even though I’m not the biggest fan (I am loving Pathfinder but that’s down to the campaign; there are other systems and settings I prefer).

Hopefully, though, periodic Deadlands, something Cyberpunk’y (such as ShadowRun or Cyberpunk), something supernaturalish (like World of Darkness or Buffy). And also homebrew systems and settings.

Day Twenty One – Favourite Licenced RPG

I’ve played two – Buffy and Firefly (there’s a slight theme here…). I loved both, although I think Buffy was a simpler system (that could just be because I joined a pre-existing game so they’d had time to get their heads around any kinks or quirks, whereas I was in the pilot Firefly game with a brand new book so none of us knew how it worked until we started).

In a similar vein (although, as a homebrew, not strictly a licenced RPG), I did love the game my friend ran based on Final Fantasy 10.

Day Twenty Two – Best Second Hand RPG Purchase

Thank gods for Ebay! A lot of my books (that haven’t been inherited or donated by way of permanent loan) have come to me from Ebay. My favourite? Hmm… It’s hard to choose but I’m going to go for the Nuwisha sourcebook for old World of Darkness’s Werewolf.

There’s something about Tricksters that captivates me. I’ve said before that I’ve grown up on fairy tales and world mythologies and Trickster lore is a part of that – not maybe an area I am as knowledgeable as others (on developing a fear of vampires as a small child, my Dad explained they weren’t real – but then taught me how to defend against them. I slept with a stake by my bed and garlic on the window sill for years), but certainly an area that fascinates me.

I think it’s partly the moral relativity of Tricksters (I’m particularly thinking of the Norse god Loki and of fey Red Caps at the moment) – I’m incredibly, frustratingly, embarrassingly socially compliant in most ways, so the freedom that the Trickster’s code represents is something I crave and fear.

I really like the fluff. Gaia’s Tricksters showed up in the epic Apocalypse campaign I played at uni, and when I attempted to run a game after that I made sure they were around. Very pleased with the purchase.

Day Twenty Three – Coolest Looking Product

I think technically ‘product’ implies ‘item released for general sale’ – which would mean ploughing through my dice collection once more (it’s grown since I last mentioned it: Husbit picked up a ‘pound of dice’ and I carefully scavved the ones I liked best). So instead I’m going to show off again some of the shiny things my GM (Pathfinder and Aberrant) has made/bought for us.

For Aberrant: ALL THE QUANTUM!!! is represented by glass beads.

ALL THE QUANTUM!!!

In Pathfinder, as well as some lovely envelopes and scrolls complete with wax seals, we’ve got this wonderful book that slowly fills as we manage to translate more and more of it – and the accompanying runes (handmade, again). Some of the runes within the book actually come from the magic system a GURPS game my brother ran that my GM played in, which is a nice bit of crossover. I wasn’t in the game, but I know my brother was really pleased with the magic system. Something to do with building words. It sounded really clever and interesting.

Beneath the book and paper the runs are on, you can see our homemade battle board - plywood with a grid drawn on then plasti-coated. That's also pretty useful, but less cool.

With thanks again to Autocratik.