Building My Hunter Setting

I'm really excited to run Hunter. I've got a few of my aerial friends interested now. I'm hoping we'll find an evening we're all free so we can play. I'm figuring to start early next year.

Here's an issue I have though, and a reason I've struggled with Hunter in the past: having played various of the WoD supernatural creatures, I have great sympathy with them that means it's hard for me to make them the bad guys. Especially werewolves. I really loved playing Werewolf.

My setting is my take on Aberrheidol, a dark version of my uni town and used in various games run by my friends from there. My version has a few places from my home town as well, the library I grew up with, the pub/club where I had one of my first jobs (and that was a significant place in the Buffy game I played in that was my very first exposure to TTRPG's), and probably the climbing centre that holds our aerial circus school. I might attach it to the swimming pool; I'm not likely to put it on campus.

I don't know what sort of characters I'll have among my players. I'm going to give them support and freedom; I'm excited about it. Also, my usual GM has agreed to show up occasionally. I will run it by him, but I'd like him to play an experienced Hunter who can sometimes drag them along when he needs backup, or something like that.

Among the major NPC's, I've a few ideas. I need to read the book in a bit more depth, though. 

For antagonists, I think they'll start with a degree of ghostbusting before we move onto more fearsome foes. I've been listening to The Witch Farm (and other Danny Robins ghostly podcasts), and this is giving me lots of inspiration.

I'd like some kind of metaplot/end game/bigger bad so that maybe they need to befriend or at least work with supernatural creatures from time to time, but I don't know what that could be yet, so maybe we'll just run monster of the week for a while until I have a better idea.

Wish me (and them!) luck!

Running Hunter

I haven't run a game since uni, and only ever run a handful of sessions. But I want to introduce new people to TTRPG's and I want to run games for them that might bring them the same pleasure playing brings me.

I don't know if it will work. I haven't the experience to bring the skill to running games as yet, and also playing is one of my biggest Special Interests, so I'm not sure other people can even get as much out of these games as I can. 

I'm going to try, though. I'm going to run Hunter. I feel confident in White Wolf systems; I like rolling all those dice, and I like the flexibility of creating dice pools. I have played in Hunter before, but a long, long time ago. This gives me an idea of how it can feel (although we were playing within a wider World of Darkness where we were also werewolves and vampires).

I've got a good setting in mind, my take on a town called Aberrheidol (a name that may be familiar to some of my uni friends). It's a coastal Welsh town, with a ruined castle and a pier and hills and woodlands and all sorts of cool things. I'm transplanting a few landmarks from other places too. It's a location I know well, so I think that will help.

I've got a few ideas for NPC's, and I think a plothook for the first adventure, but I'm not especially set in stone there. I'm looking forward to the book arriving to do more on this. On which note, I never treat myself but I looked in my PayPal and it was the exact right amount for the book so it was a great justification to treat myself and I'm so excited.

No idea how we're going to organise when we're playing, or even a full list of who I'm inviting. They need to want to play the way I want to run and also have free time when I do. However, I refuse to let this be a pipedream; I insist on bringing it to reality.

There will be more to follow...

Introducing Summer

 I'm a day late, sorry!

 I haven't written about my games in ages, and I feel bad about that. I love sharing the stories we create, and showing off the depth of effort my usual GM puts in. I know it's partly for himself, but I feel honoured and flattered by the amount of thought and care he puts into the worlds the stories are built from - the NPC's feel like real people, the places feel so detailed and the depth of lore. I'm grateful to have that and want to boast about it.

So here is Summer. She's a Scion in the same world as Ragna, and we've been playing this for about a year (now swapped back into Exalted).

Summer Safia Reed

Summer is the daughter of two Archaeologists, Yusef and Safia Reed. They are an older couple who didn't think they would be able to have children, both British-born with Egyptian ancestry. Summer was a surprise arrival while they were on an excavation in Egypt. (During the game, Summer will learn that they are not her biological parents, but she was gifted to them and placed in their care by her actual parent, Thoth. I like the image that she was in a large egg he had created, but this hasn't been confirmed.) She has long dark hair and grey eyes, a mediterranean hue to her skin. She's tall for her gender, broad shouldered - as the game progresses and she builds more muscle, she moves into an Amazonian physique.

Her childhood was spent travelling the world, as different digs called on her parents' multiple expertises. This has given her a great knowledge of a wide range of cultures, and a good knowledge of history and mythology. (She will later learn the reason they moved so much was to keep her safe, that the digs were sponsored by the same group, the Watchers of Thoth, a group loyal to her father so sworn to protect her.) She learnt first aid helping after site accidents (which she will later realise were attacks she'd been sheltered from; they'd always move on after). She's always picked up certain items that have called to her, given her a sense of something else, almost synaesthetic. A bowl that feels like it's filled with water even empty, a rock that warms her as though sat by a fire. She also collects things that she just likes, but these items are particularly special.

They eventually settle in Salisbury. She finishes school, initially struggling with the very different experience but obtaining high marks and securing a place at Oxford to study English Literature. She's a Tolkien fangirl, a little obsessive, so she wants to specialise in the areas he taught. Completes her degree and comes back to Salisbury. She doesn't have friends in the area, stays in touch with those she made at uni via social media. She played and ran Pathfinder while at uni, and continues intermittently online but it isn't consistent. She has an active Twitter life and enjoys WoW. She has a part time job as a shop assistant in a little new age place run by a non-binary person who doesn't give her any strange sensation but she likes anyway. They run the store in a relaxed manner, opening it when omens feel good and leaving it shut when they seem bad - Summer suspects it has more to do with when they want a lie in. Very few of the items set of her spidey-sense, but occasionally one will and she will usually try to collect it.

 Her most precious items are a pen with a feathered end, and a reusable coffee cup with Tolkien-elven writing on it.

The game begins the day she notices the river is a bit weird, and she runs into someone else who's noticed the same - Adel Walker, played by my usual co-conspirator.

Mage - Breaking In

This is the story of our Mage game, told from the perspective of my character Ragna "Reagan" Halvorsen. Index here.

~~~

3rd March 2016

I invited Marcus over for breakfast. Partly to get some advice. Partly cos, better to get him to meet Mormor sooner rather than later, right? They got on well - think she was on her best behaviour. Think she liked him, respected him in a way she doesn't many people. No auditions until 2, and Marcus was also free. He was nice about how hard I was finding it - "Maybe it's a bit early for this sort of investigation, but learn on the job. It's how I did it" - and offered to come with me, help me out. Mormor glared! And he reassured her I wouldn't be out late. I wasn't so worried about that, so he reassured me he'd get me to my audition on time. Suncream on. Parasol up. LA is too sunny.

We talked as we travelled. He told me more about his missing friend. She went by Susie. They'd been at school together in New York, and now she was a stunt double and taught kung fu. Most of her students were kids who were often in trouble and needed help refocussing their energy. One of the kids got into new trouble and came to Susie for help, and now they're both missing. It's a bit mystical, which means he can't be seen to investigate because he's known. But I'm not, yet. I'm low enough level it doesn't mess with any Accord if I go meddling. That's why he asked me to help. Susie's one of us, a Mage.

The guy in the laundry didn't charge me for my uniform. Very grateful - had barely enough money to get the bus back after my audition. Marcus could sense the same disturbance I'd felt before, and got me to feel for it again. With no distractions, I could pinpoint it better: somewhere upstairs. Found a fire escape, but the window of the floor we agreed we wanted was locked. Carried onto the roof, where the access door was also locked but there was a lock on the outside, so Marcus showed me how to pick it. He did it in no time, locked it back up again and it took me more like 15 minutes, but I got it. That final click, so satisfying. His point was that sometimes we should use mundane means rather than always reaching for and relying on magic, on which note he wanted me to learn some fighting, maybe kung fu, if we can find Susie. It's developed from yoga, so I should pick it up well. But that doesn't mean I should slouch on learning magic, either: he stressed the importance of the Prime sphere, which I'd so far neglected. With the door unlocked, he found a brick to prop it open and told me to always make sure I had multiple exits clear.

As we crept down the first stairs, heard a bell sound, like a shop door opening, but no sounds inside so we felt hopeful the apartments were all empty and headed to the 3rd floor. I cast my runes to help pull on Correspondence to find the right flat. There were no sounds from inside and the door was locked.. I asked Marcus for his lockpicks and hummed to myself, calling a little Entropy to help me out - didn't feel we could wait quite so long this time! As I went to kneel by the door, I slipped slightly on the doormat, revealing a key. Much easier!

A 2-bed apartment, looking over the main street. Kitchen, shower room, living space and airing cupboard. That disturbance we'd felt seemed to be from the wardrobe in the second bedroom: it had a strong sense of Correspondence about it. I wanted to know how to find where it was linked without stepping through, and Marcus said I couldn't, yet; he wasn't even sure if he could. I looked around, hoping to find clues, but - faen! - my parasol caught on the shower sceen and shattered it. Which was followed by the sound of the apartment door opening. Marcus took a quick "look" and reported two people, one thin and nerdy in a sweater vest; the other an old man.

"Who wears a sweater vest in this heat?"

"Who wears a coat like that?" I countered, indicating Marcus's long leather trench coat, then realised how he manages the heat. "Oh dritt! They're Mages."

We started to discuss what to do, when I heard the others speak, and recognised Howard's voice, the weirdo from the night before. Stepping into the hall, the old man recognised Marcus. Introduced himself as Archibald. Like Mormor, turns out he's even older than he looks, and there's something unconsciously intimidating about his manner. They're investigating the same as us, though "Council business" rather than personal. 

Showed Archibald the wardrobe. He agreed with my assessment, and could tell more: it linked to a location to the west, not very far, and was keyed to a single person, so no one else could travel through. Howard suggested laying a trap for anyone coming out, which Archibald did with no visible effort. He instructed us on how to narrow our search: powerful magic suggests empty places, so look for large empty buildings: warehouses, homes, etc. They left, then, as Howard had a lecture to teach.

Marcus summoned a cab to take us to my audition, and we talked. He explained Archibald is the strong arm of the law for the Council of Traditions in LA. He's also the de facto leader of the Order of Hermes, which probably explained how come the nerd was his apprentice. He told me a bit more about Susie, too, like how she's very good at her job and very successful, but also a massive philanthropist who gives everything she earns to support her community and especially the kids she teaches. She sounded like one of the good guys, and this made me even more keen to help.

Mage - Introductions

This is the story of our Mage game, told from the perspective of my character Ragna "Reagan" Halvorsen. Index here.

~~~

1st March 2016

I sat among the other hopefuls, waiting for my turn. While they ran lines in their heads and practiced faces and poses, I centred my breathing as I moved between yoga poses and looked over their auras, seeing the nerves, the confidence, the hopes and fears of every other audition room I'd been in. This time, I was going to try something different and needed my mind in the right place.

When they called my name, I walked to the stage and looked out, through their auras, into their minds to see what they thought they were looking for, and deeper, to what they actually wanted. They were mostly bored, but I got their attention anyway. A little life magic can add sparkle like that.

It's not cheating, using the gifts I inherited from my mormor. After all, I could be using her name and her agency to get parts. At least this way I'm doing it myself.

They smiled as they thanked me. I smiled back and hid the relief. A chocolate milk commercial might not be much, but it had lines and that's a start.

Caervus, the man who'd initiated me to the Euthanatoi tradition a few months ago, met me outside. He gave me an address and told me to be there at 9pm, before slipping away in his mysterious manner. I raced to my waitressing shift - long as usual, still lacking any high powered film producer who might cast me as the lead in his movie. Managed to find the right buses to get me across town to what turned out to be an occult store. You know the type, lots of dangling charms and trays of gemstones (many fake), and tarot cards behind glass, and a funny smell from mismatched incense. Confused and shy, I spoke to the guy behind the counter. He led me creaking stairs to a landing so decrepit I felt sure I'd fall through - he went back to his store and left me there, so I went through the only door.

To somewhere bright and sunny, but cool (or at least, cooler than LA). The ground was made of carved stones and a pool glistened. Snowy mountains in the distance. Caervus came over and explained this place is a meeting place for new members, and I won't be back here for a while.

"Your path coincides with another for now. This is Marcus Waite." 

Older than me, maybe mid-20's. Dark hair, styled longer on top and shorter on the sides with a purple tinge, dark eyes. Was wearing ragged jeans and a white shirt under his long coat, the way he was nearly always dressed, I'd come to learn. He removed his headphones as we were introduced. Caervus explained he's further on his path and will be teaching me. Gave him my number and he left, then Caervus wished me luck and gave me a blessing. Felt a bit sad when I realised I wouldn't be seeing him for a while. Initiation isn't gentle and he supported me through it.

When I left, I saw the door stood with in the middle of the balcony. Marcus was waiting, took me for a coffee and we chatted. He was from the East coast, played in bands and came here for a record deal that fell through. Caervus found him in a particularly bad spot - he looked haunted by it and I didn't ask more. The more we talked, the more I thought Mormor would like him.

He took me to meet a mysterious "someone". The house was typical suburban, maintained with pride. Before we went in, Marcus explained I was here to have a reading, which I should only discuss with him, and any questions should be to him not her - she "gets funny".

The lady was African American. I'm no expert on accents, but I think she was from somewhere South. She looked older than Mormor looks, but not as old as Mormor is. She had a nice smile and ushered me into a candlelit room, sat me down in front of a table covered in a deep velvet cloth. Talked me through the cards. She clearly knew what she was doing, but I felt dazzled by it and came away only understanding I had a lot to learn.

Marcus got us a cab home, somehow getting away without paying for it.

2nd March 2016

Marcus was worried about a friend of his who'd gone missing, and wanted me to check out a laundromat in Chinatown where there were rumours of strange goings on. Warned me "be circumspect" so I 'accidentally' spilled somethng down my uniform at the end of my shift and headed over, humming to myself - singing to the building. There was a tingle of ... something. I couldn't place it. Went in and talked to the guy, but I couldn't get a read on him. As I tried, a strange, skinny guy came in so I left. Back out on the street, I tried to pinpoint what I'd sensed before, sketching a circle and trying to focus through that onto the building, but the skinny guy reappeared, and everywhere I went he seemed to follow. Went back in and arranged to collect my uniform the next day - try again then. The strange guy offered me a lift home, which I eventually accepted. Howard. Think he was surprised when I got him to drop me off in Beverly, and Mormor, of course, teased me mercilessly.

#RPGaDay2018: Day 30 - Share something you learnt about playing your character

The character I'm going to talk about is Ragna, from Mage: The Ascension (20th Anniversary Edition). The game started at the end of 2017 or the start of 2018, when we took a break from Exalted, and we came to the end of the first arc a couple of weeks ago (opening up the gaming slot to a different Exalted game, set in the First Age - a sort of alternative history to the game I had been playing in, in that some of the characters are recognisable but the plot doesn't necessarily match the history of Taji and Kito's world).

She's a new character, and those first few months are generally where you learn the most about playing a character, so this question feels well-timed to me. 

So, what have I learnt?

She's a lot more innocent than I originally wrote. I knew I didn't want her to be the cut-throat, achieve-at-all-cost wannabe actress stereotype, which has ended with her being innocent in a sweet and earnest way. She has the 'martyr' demeanour, which combined with her sweetness means she will try to do everything she's asked because she wants to please people, but she never gets upset or passive aggressive about it. If someone points out she doesn't need to take so much on (usually her grandmother) she'll chew her bottom lip and fret because she doesn't want to let anyone down - including the person telling her to take less on.

She's quite quiet, especially around authority - almost mute around authority, in fact. This is in character because she's completely intimidated and often afraid, and out of character because Taji's the dominant, talking one in Exalted, and Chrissie often takes the lead in Aberrant, and I wanted to make sure Bells could take on that role in this game, especially where Howard (his character) has the 'overconfident' flaw. She will talk to authority, or powerful-seeming characters if he's not around, but if he is she'll stand slightly further back, as if hoping they won't notice her.

Despite this, she has a backbone of steel and will stand up for what she believes in. She is often afraid, but will still try to shield her mind from the Warden of Los Angeles to protect a secret she promised she'd keep, for instance. She'll still agree - offer - to do the things she believes are the right things to do, even when they scare her. After the confidence of Taji and the relative indestructableness of Chrissie (mega stamina how much?), I've enjoyed playing someone who is in danger, understands she's in danger, and does her best anyway.

She's not afraid to ask questions, or ask for help when she needs to, especially from her mentor. This is in contrast to Howard, who's almost desperate to prove himself capable and competent so will do everything he can to solve a problem by himself. It makes sense given their family histories: he's estranged from his pushy, overbearing parents who didn't understand him, while she's close with her family (even if they're the other side of the world) and was raised with love and respect and freedom in her decisions about her future (even if her parents weren't enamoured with the idea of her trying to become a film star, they were prepared to support her decision - although they found out about her decision after she was already in LA, which I think shows that determination and backbone that's hidden by her quietness and desire to please).

The biggest surprise was in realising she'd been in LA for 2 year or so without managing to make any friends. She's nice - sweet - but her determination to make it as an actress followed by her awakening as a Mage never gave her the time. She makes friends as the game progresses, but still doesn't have many.

What about you? Let me know below!

#RPGaDay2018: Day23 - Which game do you hope to play again?

This is a tough one, because a lot of the games I've played before and loved were very specific to the group and the way we played. For instance, I'm told the way my Awesome Uni WoD game went, we played Werewolf far more and Vampire far less politically than they're "meant" to be played, but I enjoyed both. I've played (and enjoyed) political Vampire since, but most people I know who are interested in playing Werewolf want to play fighty-smashy games with little interest in inter-player pack dynamics or how that pack fits into wider Garou society and how all of that impacts on the fight against the Wyrm.

I'd like to play Hunter again - or even run it. Of the 3 World of Darkness systems that made up the Awesome Uni WoD game, that was the one I ended with the least emotional attachment to, which meant I spent years not especially interested in it, but now feel more free to shape it to my will than the others because I feel like I have slightly less to live up to.

I want to play Shadowrun again. There's a very good Shadowrun GM locally, currently running other games, who'd like to run Shadowrun again. Problem is, he doesn't have as much time as he did, what with having a new baby and all, and I don't think I'd want to play with several members of his normal groups, and I'm told he can fall into the trap of only seeing one way out of a scenario and penalising players who try to take a different route (though I think his side of it was rather different). Also, Shadowrun's another game where I've got a fairly specific idea what I want, which makes it much harder on the GM (and I've tried running it, disasterously, which means I'm not prepared to try again until I have some real GM experience).

Heading back to my uni days again, my uni had an unusually high proportion of women in the Wargames and RolePlay Society, which meant someone organised a huge, female-only game of 7th Sea. It unfortunately only lasted one session and the only thing I remember is that my character was called "Crow's-Nest Jen". I'd like to try the system/setting again, as it sounds fun. 

The question specifically says "hope", which makes me a little reluctant to include my next pick: Dockyards, a setting created by my friend Monty and which I talked about for Day 11 of the very first #RPGaDay (here). I like interesting dystopian settings, and this fits the bill! The action taking place on a floating island enhances the sense of place, to me, and I can picture areas vividly. However, the chances of me actually getting to play again are so slim it's a wish rather than a hope. Still, if Monty does decide to do more with it, I'd love to write some accompanying fiction...

What about you? How did you answer today's question? What games have you loved and now miss? Tell me or add a link below!

#RPGaDay2018: Day 11 - Wildest Character Name

One of the things I love about Exalted is the character names. Bells is very good at these: Cathak Kito "Resplendent Blade Resonating Eternal" and "Quiver of Arrows Tipped with the Sun" (which is actually short for something even longer); I'm less so: Cathak Taji "Dawn's Dancing Butterfly" and Amaryllis "Blazing Shield of the Sun".

It turns out, I'm not particularly one for 'wild' names. I like Kismet as a name: it suited the character (a wild, bipolar young woman who'd grown up in the Dockyard, learning from books with no concept of which were fact and which fiction, and little regard for the lives of others - you can read more about her here).

I think the 'wildest' name has to be my werewolf, Plays in Shadows. A homid, she was born and raised on a hippie commune as "Starlight Moonbeam Acorn Rainbow", which I think shows why she generally went by her Garou name!

Taking part? Share a link to your response below!

#RPGaDay2018: Day 6 - How can players make the world seem real?

This is one where I'm especially looking forward to what other people have to say - it's something I want to be good at, as a player, so I'm hoping to pick up tips.

For me, at the moment, I think it probably boils down to the way you interact with the world. You can accept the quest, slaughter your way through the undead-filled dungeon, retrieve the macguffin, and return to receive your reward. So far, so computer game. Or, you can explore how you know the quest-giver, what you know about them. You can befriend them (and not just because a quest-giver is a useful person to have on your list of contacts). Then in the dungeon, as you slaughter you can investigate why it's so filled with undead (which might lead to more adventure hooks). If appropriate, you can make the macguffin more personal to you, too. So, if you're rescuing someone, talk to them, find out about how they ended up kidnapped, find out where they're from. Return to the quest-giver and don't just receive the reward (or argue with the quest-giver in the hopes of receiving a bigger reward just for the sake of it - that's one character interaction I see often and find boring), but recount tales of your heroism, or otherwise continue the interaction you started before you left.

In our Mage game, Howard and Ragna stole an RV and driving from Los Angeles to Chicago (to get holy water to fight vampires). Howard is LA born and bred, while Ragna is from Norway originally and has only seen LA in the US. Ragna's the better driver, but doesn't have a valid US licence. That didn't seem as important in a stolen RV, so they were driving in shifts. It was late evening, early night, and Howard's shift was ending. He pulled over on the side of the road at a safe spot, to stop for the night. It was eerie - tall pines grey in the gloaming, darkening fast as heavy clouds came over. The headlights picked up silver threads of rain.

A sudden thud against the RV woke Ragna with a start - she looked round to see Howard even more startled. Even his cat, Marcel, seemed disconcerted. Another rattling thud shook the truck. The storm didn't bother her, but Howard's fear spread through Ragna: she'd never seen him show any signs of it before. His face was white with it now and she wondered what he'd seen. She peered through the windows, but couldn't make anything out in the blackness beyond the pelting rain.

The next rattling was accompanied by an unearthly howling, which snapped Howard into action: he leapt back into the driver's seat and Ragna buckled in beside him, trying to calm her companion as she brought up a google maps route to the nearest official truck stop. Once there, he stepped outside and smoked an entire packet of cigarettes.

It was just a storm, but Howard had no idea what a storm was like outside a city. Ragna knew very well, but was infected by his fear. Our GM afterwards said he'd half-intended to have us attacked by werewolves, but the way we engaged with and expressed the experience meant he changed his mind.

So that's my advice: get curious about the world. React to it. Use the scenery. Make friends with the NPC's. Believe in it.

If you're taking part this year, I'd love it if you'd include a link to your reponse in the comments below. Look forward to hearing from you! 

#RPGaDay2015 - Day 28, Favourite game you no longer play

ShadowRun or Werewolf? Werewolf or ShadowRun?..

Both were incredible games and I miss both, but part of me is terrified to play either again because they were so great and I don't think a new version could live up to my nostalgia for those campaigns. 

Only I'm a bit older now and would like to play them again. I've played a lot more games and could probably cope better with the fact different groups can play the same game in different ways.

I'm really struggling to pick between the two - I love the spiritual aspect of Werewolf, and the intimacy of the pack creates a close bond between the player characters that leads to fun roleplay when everyone is invested in the game. Meanwhile, ShadowRun combines fantasy with cyberpunk and creates something wonderful. Again, you can create groups who are tight-knit and reliant on each other, or you can focus on the mistrust and suspicion. You can also play at the extreme ends of ability and danger, and I like that flexibility in a system.

I think I miss ShadowRun as a game more, because I think it's my pack I miss most about Werewolf.

 

#RPGaDay2015 - Day 27, Favourite idea for merging two games into one

Would it be completely cheating to pick ShadowRun? Cyberpunk meets fantasy in a shiny pre-packaged format.

Or should I be thinking more along the lines of cross-over shows, where Jessica Fletcher ends up solving Magnum PI's crimes, or Sam and Dean save Mulder and Scully from fairy-aliens. Or something.

Hmmm.... If you wanted to combine two D&D games, you could always pitch both parties into the misted realm of Ravenloft. You'd need both sets of players to be willing and understanding of the setting in order to have real fun with it.

But there are so many more exciting games you could bring together.

I loved the World of Darkness game played at uni: same players, different characters in Werewolf, Vampire and Hunter. Different agendas, of course, but it meant we got a better look at the bigger picture as the world ended.

Actually, back to ShadowRun and the first time I played it the GM really wanted to run the Renraku Archology adventure. He ran it with us, his main group, and then after my character had escaped with an NPC, he used our desire to get back in to rescue the others as the method to get a group of his old uni friends in too - earning me xp in my absence, because the NPC & I were being so cautious and suspicious his other friends nearly killed us!

The game had many players and each session would be a run based on whoever was free. It gradually fell to a few key players, but the idea of multiple players not always present still appeals. I'd like to run my own ShadowRun or Hunter game that way: I have ideas for both. But I'd also like to take it even further: if there were two groups running in the same setting and the same time, with their GM's in contact with each other so the actions of one group could be seen by the other. I'd love for the players to not necessarily know the games are affecting each other, but I'd love to do one massive session where the two groups are sent on the same run by different fences. At least to begin with, they'd need to be in separate rooms but they might end up working together and then the GM's could combine forces...

I'd love to take part in that!

 

#RPGaDay2015 - Day 26, Favourite Inspiration for your Game

I'm really not sure how to answer this, but let's have a go.

It feels like a question to ask a GM, and I very rarely run games (not a whole lot of confidence, love playing, have a lot of friends who really enjoy GM'ing). That's not to say there aren't plenty of things I come across that spark off the desire to create in a role play sense - either to enhance my playing or in a setting creation sense for a game I'll never run. Then again, I could think about the things that have inspired other people to run my favourite games.

Let's start with the latter.

I'm going to go back to the Final Fantasy Noir homebrew game. I've never played a Final Fantasy game to completion. I got a fair way through FF7 on a friend's PS1 before the memory card got wiped and her family got rid of FF7 because they'd nearly finished and couldn't face working through it again and I've watched other people play chunks of 8, 9, 10 and I think 12, but I've never played one all the way through.

But they are beautiful, detailed games, crafted with love.

I love this bit of music and think this is a fantastic cover.

So that might be my favourite inspiration for a game I've played in. The guy running 'Final Fantasy Noir' is a huge fan and did his best to recreate the vastness of the worlds, managing to create a very engaging game in the process. I don't think it would have been my inspiration, but I'm grateful to it.

What about things that inspire me as a player? It depends, but I like using games to try out things I'd not dare to do - to test my own morality, I suppose. I played a Ravnos in a Vampire game once. Her name was lost in the mists of time, but she went by Mathilde at the point the game started. She was a bully and a trickster - she revelled in causing emotional pain to other people. I am not that kind of person but I wanted to understand it, wanted to play with the concept. I was inspired by the idea that vampires don't feel emotion and slowly (or otherwise) lose their connection with humanity, and I wondered how one might deal with that. I guess I was inspired as much by the setting as the desire to explore what could have been a part of me if I'd been a different person.

And if I were running games... I'd love to run something set in Genevieve Cogman's The Invisible Library. I think Lords of Gossamer and Shadow would work really well: the similarities between the settings and the freedom offered by the LoG&S system mean I wouldn't have to make many changes. But I've got a couple of ideas for games set in the world(s) of LoG&S I'd want to use it for first, so that will have to wait.

I've talked about the book before. Parallel worlds with a Library connecting them (very L-space!), with the librarians of the Library trying to track down copies of all the books in existence. The universe is divided between Law (represented by the Library and dragons, although the two have their own agendas and don't work together) and Chaos (represented by the fey races). Librarians don't age whilst in the Library, need to be smart and athletic to retrieve the books, and have access to certain magics by calling on the Library. Parallel Earth's mean a setting players can recognise but which can be twisted to the GM's control.

Reckon a lot of fun could be had with that.

But mostly it's characters I'm inspired to create, as evidenced by the Character Concepts tab above. I've got several to add when I have time to write up properly, and it's all sorts of things that can inspire. Sometimes I just want to create my own version of an archetype; often something I read will send sparks flying; sometimes I'll pinch an idea from a friend or someone or Twitter (I try to get consent when I notice I'm doing it!) - and as with 'Mathilde' above and several of the cyberpunk characters, sometimes I want to explore something opposite to me.

 

#RPGaDay2015 - Day 24, Favourite House Rule

I've got a few options here.

I like a rule widely spread in its many variations: GM bribery. When everything's about to go wrong, a well-timed cup of tea can produce a lifeline. One group of friends even had a specific sacrifice bowl for food-type offerings to be placed in! I also like the trading of more artistic gifts for xp or similar: a good backstory should be rewarded with in-game development, but a poem or drawing might be worth a fate chip or point of xp.

One Vampire game, I got credit for the travesty I made of The Beatles Yesterday:

Diablerie! I loved the taste of mortal prey, now I crave vampire vitae, oh I believe in Diablerie

Suddenly, I’m not half the gen I used to be, long dead bodies taste so good to me, oh Diablerie! So loverly!

Why I love it so I don’t know, I couldn’t say. I loved blood to drink now I think of Diablerie

Diablerie! Blood was such a vital part of me, now vampire souls are what I find tasty oh I believe in Diablerie.

 Still makes me chuckle.

Another House Rule I like is one from our Aberrant game: "mischief" dice. Our Aberrant team has developed a habit of dealing with stress through practical jokes. When undertaking such an endeavour, both the joker and the butt get to roll and extra die to carry out or protect against the mischief (for some reason, usually an orange D10). A success on the joker's die adds to their success pool, 10's exploding, and a 1 on either die leads to interesting events.One NPC, Rachel 'Overwatch' Tower, actually gets to roll 2 extra dice, because she's so good at trouble-making. When the character left on a mysterious sabbatical, the amount of mischief dropped, even though we the players had previously been responsible for a fair chunk. I guess none of the characters have felt as much like mischief with her missing.