Actual Play: Savage Fallout Session 7

I've posted before about bringing new players into existing games, and once again after finding myself at the whims of opposing schedules, I've found myself introducing a new player into a weekly gaming group. This time we welcome Cubbie in as Minnie, the aged ex-madame and no-shit taker.

Somehow my love for Fallout (apparently a shared love) has immunized me to the pitfalls of the unfamiliar player and allowed a solid (if short) session to come through.

This time, the party crosses paths briefly with a wasteland superpower and arrive in Junktown by way of a very truncated travel time. Alliances are made, foes are created, and new love blooms in this week's episode of Savage Fallout.

Enjoy!

Savage Fallout Episode 7: Junktown Junction

Overseer: David Schimpff
Wastelanders: Russell, Clint, Joseph, Sage, and Cubbie.

You can download the episode here.

Actual Play: Savage Fallout Session 6

So tonight we tested out some Mass Combat rules, seeing as we were down two players. Everything went pretty smoothly, though it was less interesting for the players themselves, seeing as they weren't leading the battle. However, the combat ended much more swiftly than it would have under standard rules, which gave some time to do some exploring and roleplaying. Apologies for the short episode; next one should be the proper length.

Also to note, the players have now just realized exactly what kind of scale of game they are going to be playing. And they still don't know the half of it. Should be fun.

Enjoy!

Savage Fallout Episode 6: The Battle of Shady Sands
Vault Dwellers: Scott, Joseph, Russell, Sage
Overseer: David Schimpff



You can download the episode here.

Actual Play: Savage Fallout Session 5

I've always been a bit nervous about bringing new players to the table, but tonight's game went off without a hitch. The takeaway from this game is that I've allowed my players to become something violent and blasphemous, and even their previous failures haven't taught them that jumping right to the bloodshed isn't always the correct choice.

In either case, shit gets burned down, Chekhov's Gun has been fired, and the people of Shady Sands have taken their first step towards their inevitable fate.

Enjoy!

Savage Fallout Episode 5: Pros and Khans
Vault Dwellers: Aidan, Scott, Clint, Russell, Sage
Overseer: David Schimpff



You can download the episode here (right click, Save As)

Actual Play: Savage Fallout Session 4

It was really only a matter of time before my players got back to their old mercenary ways; I suppose it's a bit too much of a stretch for them to play any kind of role even resembling a white knight. People in RPGs always seem to want payment for their actions, especially if they're the ones coming up with all the dialogue.

I did get some good opportunities to create some foreshadowing for my players this week, however, but telling you how would be spoiling the fun for my group, which occasionally reads this blog. Veteran Fallout players will recognize it, though!

Enjoy!

Savage Fallout Episode 4: Wrath of the Khans
Vault Dwellers: Aidan, Scott, Clint, Russell, Joseph
Overseer: David Schimpff



You can download the episode here (right click, Save As).

Actual Play: Savage Fallout Session 3

"Into the Wasteland" by Dem0ralizeD

Well folks, here we are with the third session, our players are fully immersed in the wonderful world of Fallout, and their quest to save Vault 13 just got a lot harder.

It seems like my players are picking up the Savage Worlds ruleset a lot faster than I expected, and they are simply trouncing everything I'm throwing at them, which is nice for the flow of the game, but I'm really thinking I'm going to need to come up with something to challenge them and add some tension, or they're going to eat each other alive.

Regardless, we're about to get into the meat of the story of Fallout 1, so I'm super excited for the next few weeks, and I hope you all are, too!

Enjoy!

Savage Fallout Episode 3: Shady Business
Vault Dwellers: Aidan, Scott, Clint, Russell
Overseer: David Schimpff



You can download the episode here (right click, Save As).

Actual Play: Savage Fallout Session 2

And here we are, a couple weeks after our first session of Savage Fallout and we have Session 2: Brak Gets a Dog. No, but seriously, I'm having so much fun taking the framework of the first Fallout game and throwing players through it like a sieve.

First impressions on the second episode: combat is very easy, which I have no issues with currently, seeing as the players are just getting started out in the wasteland. Sure, having the Savage Worlds mechanic of Extra/Wild Card enemies makes it so some of the more nerve-wracking enemies in the traditional Fallout sense get a little nerfed so others can really shine, but I think once my players encounter a Deathclaw, they'll be shitting their pants realizing that 'holy fucking shit that thing can spend goddamn bennies.'

I think I'm actively not trying to kill my players in this game, and that doesn't bother me as much as I think it used to. Really, I'm kind of hoping to see how they do without the constant adversity I throw their way in games. Plus they're sitting on alien technology. And rolling like goddamn pros.

The wasteland doesn't have a fucking chance.

Take a listen and enjoy, folks!

Savage Fallout Episode 2: Out of the Wasteland, Into the Vault (15)
Vault Dwellers: Aidan, Scott, Clint, Russell, Joseph
Overseer: David Schimpff



You can download the episode here (right click, Save As).

Actual Play: Savage Fallout Session 1

Well folks, here I am, back again, with a brand new Actual Play series (I know, I know, I'll get to posting the remainder of my IKRPG games...sometime. When I have time. Which will be...sometime.)

Anyway. New shiny! Some backstory: after basically ignoring Fallout 4 for, um (December, January, February, March...) four months- heh, so many fours- I started playing again, got sucked in, then realized exactly how much I really dislike the entirety of that game. Like, so much. So, I started listening to some Fallout Let's Plays on YouTube, and I discovered that there are like TWO Fallout LPs! Maybe more, but I saw 2 after googling for like five minutes! Imagine my shock!

So I started my own Fallout LP, and decided that if I was gonna play through Fallout 1, I'd make my Thursday game play through Fallout 1 right along with me.

Well, after pulling up the latest update to Savage Fallout, I modded a few options on the character sheet and in the various handbooks, and suddenly had a general direction to move in for a five-player team of Vault Dwellers! Also, I had a pre-written campaign that:
a) I know like the back of my hand
b) One of my players knows just as well but also knows not to mess with the meta
c) A group of players who know how to have fun in the gritty wastes of California!

Also, after playing for a bit, I started wondering exactly how much FO 1 and 2 managed to...mess with geography. Like, Vault 13 is apparently almost directly east of San Francisco, but Bakersfield is like a short walk from Vault 15? I dunno, I'll have to look at my official map (which I'll likely need to use for this campaign...maybe. Or I'll keep using the Savage Fallout hex map. Seems more fun that way.

In any case, I'm having so much fun with this game already, it feels completely different than any other pre-gen campaign I've ever run, so hopefully I can keep up the steam. I'll also be posting my first LP pretty soon, so look forward to me linking that, too.

Enjoy!

Savage Fallout Episode 1: Out of the Vault, into the Wasteland
Vault Dwellers: Aidan, Scott, Clint, Russell
Overseer: David Schimpff



You can download the episode here (right click, Save As).

Game Notes:

• Around 1:57, I mistakenly tell Savage Hank not to add his damage dice together; this is in error. However, his modified damage roll of a 10 would still not have been enough to pierce the Radscorpion's Toughness.

Personal Notes:

Okay, I lied. There are like a million Fallout 1 LPs on Youtube. I'm just really lazy, apparently. Too lazy to keep looking, but the opposite of lazy when it comes to actually starting up a Let's Play? I don't fucking know....STOP LOOKING AT ME!

Up Next...

"Robobrains!" by LudvikSKP

So this past Saturday I finished up the first arc of a campaign my friends and I dubbed Spacemyspacebook, what was supposed to be a lighthearted romp through a somewhat comical futuristic spacefaring society ended up taking a series of turns toward grimdark, and the finale was definitely of that sort. Examining my GM style as it has progressed really makes me realize that yes, I tend to make things dark. And gritty. There is occasionally humor, but the humor mostly comes from players' lighthearted interactions with the depressing and overwhelming things I throw at them.

The Spacemyspacebook game was also my first test of the HeroQuest 2e ruleset, and despite my enjoyment of its flexibility, there was a consensus around the table regarding its potential for min-maxing and vagueness regarding applicable skills. I may also have been partially at fault there, as I tend to offer everyone a chance to do something in my games, and HeroQuest is really a system that focuses on giving individual characters the spotlight.

In any case, running through what was essentially session 3 of FATE made me realize that FATE is a super complicated system, prep-wise, and I need at least the better part of a year before I jump back into the saddle with it. I also need to make some kind of FATE 'primer' for my players, so they actually know what they're supposed to do beyond just rolling skills and spending FPs to reroll or boost.

In the meantime, my Iron Kingdoms Thursday game shows little sign of slowing in interest or impetus, the players are having a wonderful time overcoming my small hurdles and jumping head-first into larger plot complications. It's even inspired me to continue with the painting of the 200 or so points of various Warmahordes models I have sitting around either unassembled or partially assembled, and I've fallen back into my true love of miniatures, which turns out is basing. Who knew?

What I really need to do is think of what to do next.

I'm thinking Savage Fallout, as I had a great time running a few sessions with players in that ruleset/setting, and I know the Fallout world like the inside of my eyelids, and I recall drawing some really kickass isometric map segments for that game.

In the meantime, either Susan or Scott are going to take the reigns of Saturday games for the time being, until I have enough material to run either Fate or Savage Worlds.

Of course, now looking through my library of 'tags' I can see a bunch of games that I should be plotting or running...c'est la vie, I suppose.

Also, whatever happened to Prehistory Fantasy? Like all of you, I have no goddamn idea.

Actual Play: Savage Fallout (SAD) Session 5

At last, we bring the grand finale to our system runthrough of Savage Fallout. A lot of emotions flew around (along with bullets), and our players got to experience some of the wackiness that the California Wasteland has to offer to its inhabitants.

Our Players: Randy, Susan, Scott, Cecilia

The Overseer: David Schimpff

Enjoy!

Actual Play: Savage Fallout (SAD) Session 4

The fourth episode of my first foray into Savage Fallout, and players are just taking care of all kinds of business, aren't they? Hopefully their diverse motivations and personalities don't cause them to turn on each other...nyuk nyuk nyuk...

Our Players: Randy, Susan, Scott, Cecilia

The Overseer: David Schimpff

Actual Play: Savage Fallout (SAD) Session 3

This week, our friendly troupe of wastelanders arrived at the Sierra Army Depot, and immediately spent about an hour discussing how to short-out the perimeter turrets. Many hijinks followed and a goodly bit of pain was suffered, but the group made it into the facility intact, and proceeded with their looting.

I'm usually saddened when I realize that people I know haven't played the earlier Fallouts, or worse: that they've not enjoyed them in comparison to their next-generation successors. For this game, I'm somewhat glad of that regretful situation, as I'm able to basically rip an entire plot line from Fallout 2 and present it as a viable mission.

There's also, of course, the refreshing attitude to take towards the source material, as Fallout 2 is a computer game, so a lot of the varied options available to tabletop roleplayers wasn't presented, and so it offers a great amount of improvisation to me, as the GM/Overseer, at the table. It's also super convenient to already have loot tables and plot devices set up for the game itself so I don't really have to worry about that kind of stuff.

In any case, I guess all I'm really saying is that I hope Fallout veterans can enjoy this Actual Play as much as I do overseeing it, and as much as my players do playing it. I look forward to playing more Savage Fallout next week, which will be an extra long episode, possibly broken up into two approximately three hour sections.

Our Players: Randy, Susan, Scott, Cecilia

The Overseer: David Schimpff



Again, Savage Fallout rules are hosted at www.savagefallout.blogspot.com

Actual Play: Savage Fallout (SAD) Session 2

Welcome to the second session of my first playthrough of Savage Fallout! Here players are well on their way to the Sierra Armory Depot, and who knows what awaits them?

Our Players: Randy, Susan, Scott, Cecilia

The Overseer: David Schimpff

Episode 2:

Actual Play: Savage Fallout (SAD) Session 1

Hey guys, it's been quite a while since I've last updated. This time, I'm posting just before my podcast, Unabashed Gaming, airs, so I can link from there to here! How quaint!

Regardless, you probably want to know why I'm posting, unless you somehow guessed from the title that I've recently run some Savage Fallout for a few friends, and now have two episodes to upload! Note that on the audio I've made reference to the fact that Savage Worlds is a new system for me to be running, so there will be some core rules mistakes and omissions, mostly in the vein of speeding up play, but also partially to plain ignorance.

The plot focuses on a stolen storyline from Fallout 2 regarding a certain Army Depot northwest of New Reno. What you may enjoy is that in two episodes we still have yet to arrive at the Depot, so there's plenty of new content for people familiar with that quest line!

Enjoy!

Our Players: Randy, Susan, Scott, Cecilia

The Overseer: David Schimpff



For the Savage Fallout ruleset, visit savagefallout.blogspot.com!

March Madness OGBC: Day 10

"What science fiction RPG have you enjoyed most? Give details."

Are we talking core ruleset? Or possibly a setting? I suppose that's the difficulty with vague questions like this, you can never really be 100% sure. However, because my favorite science fiction RPG exists in multiple playable formats, I'm going to have to go with Fallout. If you want a game system to go with it, try Savage Fallout. There's also a PnP transcription of the in-game rules, which are themselves based off tabletop.

Perhaps it's unfair to put this here because I haven't actually played Savage Fallout yet. Or Fallout PnP. However, I have played the originals, which, much like Baldur's Gate before them, is a transition of a tabletop game system to a computer. Also, I don't care if it's fair; the lore is rich, the imagery is unique, and the setting is every kind of badass.

It's close to a hundred years after the end of the world and humanity survived. Cities have been razed, oceans have boiled, a radioactive sheen has been draped over the known world. Humans eke out a living doing whatever they can, some have mutated into Ghouls, others have been FEV'd into Super Mutants. There are 1950's sci-fi robots because that's awesome. Everything wants to kill you. The core games take place in Southern California.

Which is my home.

It's like Dark Sun with guns. Which solves that chicken/egg question for me. I like Dark Sun because it's like Fallout with magic. With both systems, the game is survival, and if you're not playing a videogame, being a good guy doesn't pan out very well for all the parties involved. Because GMs can be assholes (I love that I'm writing this on GM's day).

Look, if you don't know what Fallout is, I don't blame you. Just buy it, and play it, and tell me I'm wrong somehow. I won't get mad, because you're wrong.

P.S. Apparently you can't buy the original Fallouts right now because Bethesda sucks. So do that other thing. The one with a jolly roger.