BRP Releases Advanced Sorcery

And so BRP have released their Advanced Sorcery supplement for their Magic World sourcebook, my current bedside reading material.

I've auto-purchased this, and hope to receive it this coming Monday, which will coincide splendidly with the conclusion of my March Madness OSR blog posts. I'm sure you've all (all one of you) enjoyed reading my thoughts on the various dozen or so systems I have experience either playing or running, so perhaps this is an appropriate place to announce that my project for April will be creating a new original setting for running BRP Magic World with these new supplemental rules.

I'm very excited to see what new pieces of lore and sorcery I can discover by delving through this particular grimoire, and how that information will inform to my worldbuilding.

Time will tell.

(Oooh...time magic. That's an interesting concept.)

March Madness OGBC: Day 27

"What RPG based on an IP did you enjoy most? Give details."

To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of the Cortex system. It feels a lot like a more complicated take on Savage World's dice-increase-by-size mechanics, while tacking on a significant series of ancillary rules that require an encyclopedic knowledge of the ruleset to run anything smoothly.

That said, the best time I've ever had running an existing IP game was with Serenity RPG, and it's all because of the fanbase.

Joss Whedon's Firefly/Serenity space cowboy universe is, well, almost universally hailed as one of the great original concepts for television in the last decade, and memes lamenting its cancellation still propagate my facebook feed to this day. These are dedicated people, full of fervor and excitement for the setting, and more than willing to do the legwork to feel right at home there. By luck, or pure social statistics, I have a goodly amount of friends who are a few wardrobe pieces away from being browncoats themselves, and they were more than willing to jump into a quickly written adventure that I wrote to take place about a year after the events of Serenity.

I think it's a testament to the 'verse's original look and feel that each player knew how their character would fit into the setting, and it's really rare in most games to know that everyone has a cohesive view of how everything works. Not having to run through an introduction to the basic universe details, or stop every few minutes when a new piece of terminology comes up, even being able to explain new concepts by referring to knowledge players already had by experiencing the show...well, if that's not a windfall for a GM I really don't know what is.

It's one of my regrets as a GM that my Serenity RPG campaign only lasted three or four sessions; the players really enjoyed it, I enjoyed writing for it. Perhaps I can return to it sometime in the future, but then again, there are a lot of things I need to return to in the future, and Diablo III isn't helping.

March Madness OGBC: Day 26

"What IP (=Intellectual Property, be it book, movie or comic) that doesn’t have an RPG deserves it? Why?"

Oh, hey there childhood, fancy meeting you here.

"Redwall Tribute" by Simbaro

First of all, I'm aware that Mouseguard is a thing. It doesn't have otters.

I started reading the Redwall series in elementary school, and didn't really stop until sometime after I graduated from high school. I fell out of the loop with the series and universe, taking up alternate fantasy authors like Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, and David Eddings. Reading through their works. But while just about any RPG setting can be converted to accommodate human characters in fantasy settings (And the Wheel of Time already got a D&D 3.0 sourcebook), the only anthropomorphic animal setting I've heard about reliably is Mouseguard, which currently sits at around $100- used- on Amazon.

And it doesn't have otters.

The Redwall universe has such a unique and interesting setting, with characters juxtaposed from all types of fantasy tropes. And because of the anachronistic style of product release for the series, there is a varied and plentiful history to work from, spanning generations (which, in animal years, might just mean that it encompasses like two decades). Regardless, the loving way that Jacques tells his stories, infusing them with mystery, danger, and camaraderie, really strikes home with me as a GM, and the solid cultures created for each segment of the animal kingdom means that I don't have to guess as to how I'm going to run NPCs, because I have a series of manuals to how each species acts, where they live, and what their diet consists of.

Honestly, I'm surprised someone hasn't homebrewed this already.

March Madness OGBC: Day 25

"Which game has the sleekest, most modern engine?"

I've talked before, somewhat maliciously and long-windedly, about how D&D 4e strove to adopt aspects of wargaming and by doing so, court some long-standing members of that genre. I also mentioned that the plan failed pretty miserably, the system being a schizophrenic Frankenstein's monster of MMORPG and boardgame elements.

Now time to talk about a game that used a similar strategy and actually succeeded, at least in the gameplay mechanics. Only time will tell if the system takes off commercially; but personally, I really hope it does.

It's Iron Kingdoms again!

As I've likely mentioned before, Iron Kingdoms began as a D&D setting, then evolved into the wargame Warmachine, which became pretty popular, and inspired them to return to the RPG format. Thus: Iron Kingdoms RPG.

While I find that the system prevails over D&D 4e in many places, I'm going to focus on  Combat and Roleplaying.

Combat:

While 4e had the tendency to grind to a halt due to the morass of class powers and level glut, with each combat taking anywhere from one to three hours to complete while feeling like they were taking twice as long to complete (especially with larger parties), Iron Kingdoms feels swift and streamlined, utilizing the same engine as WarmaHordes, which has proved to be a popular and easy system to learn and use.

Tracking abilities can occasionally be a hassle when you first acquire them, but each is fully defined and becomes second nature once you've acclimated to it, and you're never inundated with new skills or abilities: each come at a steady pace, even slowing down once you reach higher experience levels. And if you want, you never really have to choose new abilities, there are always alternate options when leveling. The option to determine your character's battle complexity is a fantastic way to ensure even novice gamers can pick up and play.

Roleplaying:

Obviously, in just about any roleplaying game you have the ability to, well, play a role, and there are indeed some systems that have mechanics that actively encourage this by providing a mechanical means by which to assist in player decision making, or even in creating in-game backstory plot points that can be utilized by the GM for developing stories.

Iron Kingdoms has a tiny bit of the latter, with your characters' careers somewhat defining how they've spent their lives up to this point. However, what I'm really appreciative about the system is that it doesn't have barriers to roleplaying. Experience is doled out for player action, not for killing enemies. For a RPG based off a wargame, this is a fantastic step for Privateer Press to take, utilizing a storytelling experience reward system, rather than something combat or loot-based. This allows players who abhor combat encounters to improve by resolving intrigues or investigating mysteries, rather than looking for the next piñata to beat xp out of.

Iron Kingdoms is a fantastic example of a gaming system that has evolved beyond its roots, and I look forward to every time I can sit at a table and play it.

March Madness OGBC: Day 24

"What is the most broken game that you tried and loved to play, warts and all?"

Well, because I shat all over D&D yesterday, I may as well give some good memories of the early D&D Next Playtest; specifically the first release. Things were unbalanced, and not necessarily worded correctly, but the feel was classic, and that may have contributed to my enjoyment.

Those that remember, as it was really only a couple years ago now, when Wizards announced they were going to be completely open with the next iteration of D&D, inviting beta testers to take the game through its beginning hurdles to something releasable. The first playtest release for the game had the four core races (Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling), as well as the four core classes (Fighter, Wizard, Rogue, Cleric). It was iconic, and super basic, and filled with the possibilities of a genre renaissance.

What I remember most about the ruleset wasn't necessarily how certain parts of the release didn't really mesh with others, or that certain classes were hideously overpowered; rather, I remember that instead of getting tied up with rules lawyering, the group I played with just sort of had fun with the setting, using character sheets and rules as very loose guidelines for play.

We traversed through the Caves of Chaos, fought kobolds, an owlbear, and human death cultists, somehow found our way into a nuclear silo, and our wizard detonated it...somehow? I think resonances were involved, or something. Regardless, it was pulpy, and fun, and fast paced, and I couldn't wait to run my own game in it, which turned out to be super easy and fun.

And then they kept releasing stuff, and I got less excited. Man this story is getting depressing.

March Madness OGBC: Day 23

"What is the most broken game that you tried and were unable to play?"

Oh Dungeons & Dragons...how amusing that you're here, and today, and I'm smiling.

I suppose I should qualify this by saying that it was one game of D&D that I found too broken to play, and the reason behind its brokenness had nothing to do with the system's mechanics.

It more or less had to do with the idiotic way the GM tried to implement every D&D system in existence for a new gaming store demo. And such was my introduction to Santa Fe's only gaming store. It's also one of the reasons I've never gone back.

Things began with my early arrival, eagerly awaiting CharGen. I'd signed up on their Facebook page to play, but noted that they hadn't provided a system for their game of D&D. Therefore, I took the liberty of printing out 3.5, 4.0, and Pathfinder character sheets. You know, just in case. Imagine my befuddlement upon appearing and being told that the game was being run for all systems of D&D.

Note that this statement is utterly different than saying that the system didn't matter for the game being run.

The resultant party consisted of a 4e rogue, a Pathfinder monk, and I think a 2e fighter? I must have blocked out most of the game, or simply no longer remember, because I left the table after a half hour trying to reconcile the varying types of skill challenges each player was using against the next. There was no plot. There was a tavern, I think. And an arrest.

And the rogue was a dickbag, which is actually pretty standard for a prepubescent playing a rogue.

So yeah, utterly broken game...fucking Realm.

March Madness OGBC: Day 22

"What is the most gonzo kitchen sink RPG you ever played? How was it?"

Well, I suppose it's time to talk about Monsters and Other Childish Things.

To be fair, the entire kitchen sink doesn't really fall into the core book of Monsters Etc., but in Ross Payton's Road Trip, it definitely starts plucking from a variety of inspirations. Whether pulling liberally from Greek mythology, classic Orwellian literature, Saban after-school entertainment, summer blockbusters, or our utter obsession with Zombie culture, Road Trip takes you on a nostalgia trip through what is, essentially, a Generation Y-er's childhood.

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure how to run Monsters, Etc., because I'm concerned that the proper way might be exactly how I don't like to GM, with players power-tripping over the entirety of the plot. Of course, there is the likelihood that in their power trip they make things worse, but I suppose in my mind, the concept of monsters existing means that PCs should be nigh-powerless.

It's a Call of Cthulhu mentality, and I'm not ashamed of it.

My first session with Monsters wasn't exactly my best introduction to the system, either, as I had easily seven people at my gaming table, all new to the One Roll Engine, and each having their own monster, courteously (or maliciously) run by the person to their left. This left me with essentially fourteen PCs that were acting like children because, well, they were playing children. I was utterly relieved when that game ended, and I don't think I'll ever go back.

I really don't think I'm cut out to be a parent.