Core Values

Good friend of this blog, and all around royal thinking person, Lord Blacksteel, made an interesting post over at his Tower of Zenopus on the subject of getting into a 'well supported' RPG.

By 'well supported' he means (if I understand him) that the game has, in addition to its core rules, a large amount of supplemental material produced for it including, but not limited to, sourcebooks, adventures, and other splatbooks of various kinds.

I think what Blacksteel says on the subject is accurate and valid, but (unsurprisingly I guess) I have a slightly different take on the subject.

These days, I really don't want a well supported game. At least, not in the traditional sense. Certainly not supported like the example he gives, which is Paizo Publishing's Dungeons & Dragons 3.x, also known as Pathfinder.

That's Too. Damn. Many. Books.

 

 

Now don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting every RPG company produce a single book of rules, and be done with it. That's no fun, and certainly not very effective from a business stand point.

 

Also, I will totally admit to owning damn near everything for every Star Trek RPG ever produced (except Prime Directive/Star Fleet Battles of which I own very little if anything), the Star Wars D6 RPG by West End Games, Mutants & Masterminds (all editions), and classic Traveller (including The Journal of the Travellers Aid Society magazines).

 

That said, I will name two games I've grown to really dislike, and perhaps you will notice a similarity between them:

 

Pathfinder and RIFTS.

 

Both share the distinction of being over-supported in my personal opinion. How can a game possibly be over-supported? Well let's take a look at some of my favorite games in comparison...

 

Currently, when I run Champions, I use one book and one book only for 90-95% of the campaigns content. I use the famous 'Big Blue Book', the hardcover rulebook for Champions 4th Edition. That's it. Honestly, what else do I need? Ah, there is lies the key word...need.

 

Let's take another favorite of mine, Star Trek. I have every supplement and sourcebook for every Star Trek RPG because I love Star Trek, but honestly, I hardly use anything that came out from Last Unicorn Games when running Star Trek campaigns, outside of the corebooks.

LUG created some great stuff, don't get me wrong. It's just that, between my knowledge of Star Trek, the excellent rules in the corebook, and my own imagination, I can run the game without any help from the game itself.

I will use material from a few of the supplements here and there, and from the FASA game, such as starships, species information, planets that strike my fancy, etc. Note that I do this because I want to. I found these elements interesting, so I want to use them. I don't use them because I have to, or I can't make the game work otherwise. I don't really. I mean honestly, outside of the rules and the basic information of Starfleet, their vessels and gear, some data on a few of the hostile space governments, what else do you need to run Trek?

 

Nada. Nothing. Zilch.

A big reason why I love these two games, Champions and ICONS Star Trek, is that both games do something no version of D&D has ever done, which is give the players, and GMs, the mechanics behind the rules so that they (the gamers) can build new, compatible stuff themselves.

 

Where as most games like to sell you model kit after model kit that enable you to build and use their cars, or their buildings, or their airplanes, and what-have-you, Star Trek, Champions and many other games I like sell you a box of LEGOs and say, "Go to town my friend. Get crazy."

 

 

 

What is it?

 

It's awesome is what it is. It's what I wanted to make.

Why? Because LEGO m*^#erf*^$ers!

 

 

I've noticed that with Pathfinder and RIFTS, for example, GMs and players alike can't sneeze until they find the Sneezing Splatbook that tells you everything you need to know to get the most out of your sneeze. Screw that noise.

 

Don't get me started on Adventure Paths. I don't want a path. Paths don't lead to adventure. Paths lead to well travelled bed and breakfast lodges for a weekend getaway. Paths are the safe ways up the mountain. For far, in my experience, Adventure Paths are too heavy handed, too railroad-y, and not one, strangely enough, is tailor made to our groups' campaign. Not one. You'd think they didn't have us specifically in mind when they wrote it. The nerve!

 

What I want game companies to give me are sourcebooks that help me build my own settings, my own adventures, and my own creations. That, or they supply information I do need for the setting I am playing. A book of ships for Star Trek or Star Wars, character profile books for Marvel or DC, descriptions of the nations of Mythic Europe for Ars Magica, etc. True game support, if I may say so, supports the GMs, and the players, by allowing them to make more out of the games basic rules, setting, and premise.

 

A book on how to min-max the rules for the deadliest, deadly 'Deathdealer'? Five hundred more monsters when you haven't given me a Monster Creation system? A series of adventures that locks my group into a story we find boring a quarter of the way through?

 

No thanks. Just not my cup of joe.

 

Finally, note that Champions 4E, Star Trek by LUG, Star Trek by FASA, Star Wars by WEG, Ars Magica 3rd, Bushido, Mekton II, Faery's Tale Deluxe, InSpectres and many of the other games I play are not currently commercially supported. Doesn't effect me one bit.

 

The Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Monster Manual came out recently. Beautiful book with lots of monster entries. And no system for making your own. Tsk tsk.

 

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Barking Alien

 

Yesterday was the birthday of my hero, Jim Henson. Jim (Can I call you Jim?), would've been 78 years old. You are deeply missed.

 

Today commemorates the birthday of another departed favorite of mine, Christopher Reeve. Chris would've been 62.

 

In a different quantum reality, these guys are working on some crazy, awesome project together. I wish we could see it.

 

 

You will believe a monster can fly.

 

 

 

 





RPGaDay Challenge - Day 20

Day 20 - What Games Will You Still Play in 20 Years Time

Um...OK...I think I think about these questions too much.

Why would I not be playing all the games I enjoy now?

Seriously, do you know something I don't know? Is some future event going to prevent me from playing certain games?

I am currently running classic, original Traveller, a game that first came out in 1977. That's 37 years ago. Unless unable to speak, hear, type, think, or otherwise enjoy RPGs, why would I not be playing it 37 years from now?

That number, 20 years, it's bothering that weird anti-math part of my brain that, as a youth, made it impossible to for me to sleep until I knew exactly how many licks it took to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop.

Forty-four to forty-seven on average by the way. Assuming, of course, that I have an average sized tongue.*

Where was I? Oh yes, so, 20 years ago, what was I running on a regular basis? Let's see...in the period from 1989 to 1994, I was regularly playing:

Ars Magica 1st, 2nd and 3rd Editions, Bushido (FGU), Champions 3rd and 4th Ed., Cyberpunk 2013 and 2020, Ghostbusters (WEG), Mekton I & II, Paranoia, Shadowrun 1st and 2nd Ed., Star Trek (FASA), Star Wars (WEG), Teenagers from Outer Space 1st and 2nd Ed., Toon, Traveller (GDW), and World of Darkness (original WoD, Vampire, Werewolf, Mage).

I was also playing pick-up games, one-shots, convention games and short campaigns irregularly of another dozen games, including homebrews.

Now, let's see what I've been running regularly in the five year period between 2009 and the present year of 2014:

Ars Magica 3rd Edition, Champions 4th Ed., InSpectres (Hacked with Ghostbusters), Mekton II, Mutants and Masterminds 2nd and 3rd Editions (Including DC Adventures), Pendragon 4th Edition, Star Trek (Last Unicorn Games and FASA), Star Wars (WEG), and Traveller (GDW).

Along with playing numerous pick-up games, one-shots, convention games, and short campaigns irregularly of another dozen games including homebrews.

In 20 years? I'm guessing it will look largely the same with a few new ones added and maybe a few fading into the background.

What I do find interesting about the question is how it will be answered by fans of Pathfinder, D&D, and other similar RPGs. Let's say, for example, a person currently enjoys D&D 5th Edition. Will they still be playing that in 20 years? Seems unlikely and that's not a reflection on the quality of the game itself. It's simply the nature of the D&D/Pathfinder business model, creative direction, and fanbase.

My guess is that in 20 years time, that person will be playing D&;D 7.5. Perhaps they'll grow tired of Coca-Cola and try the competitor's Pepsi, Pathfinder 3. You get what I'm saying.

No worries either way. I'll be over in my little corner of the Thought Net, manifesting Star Trek and Superhero ideas to my Holo-Blog. Commune with me over Google Senses won't you?


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Barking Alien

*Most scientific studies seem to conclude that the number of licks required is considerably higher than the results of my personal research. I can only hypothesize that they are judging the size of a lick differently, are perhaps using less surface area of the tongue or licking implement, and/or aren't continually licking the same spot. There may also be other variables I have not considered.

Additionally, the saliva content could be a major factor. As a youngster, I had a lot of spit.

I never bit lollipops and still don't. I find the very idea akin to nails on a chalkboard.

Path Finder

I am embarking on a bold, new adventure. I hope.

That is, I hope it's bold and has something new. I am skeptical and more than a little cynical about it.

 I am feeling very 'ical' I'm ashamed to say.

I'm talking about my upcoming stint as a player...of Pathfinder...

 

Just posting this makes me feel kinda...dirty. *Shudder*

 

 

Starting this coming weekend (I believe) my friend Ray will be running Pathfinder and some of the members of our regular gaming group will be forming the PC party, along with yours truly.

I probably don't have to tell you, I am not exactly waiting with baited breath.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm no hypocrite. I will definitely give it a try and I am trying to not to carry over any of my previous Pathfinder experiences (OK, experience. Singular.) to pre-color my opinion. Additionally, I know my friend Ray is a good GM, he knows and likes the setting he will be using a lot, so chances are the game, as a game, will be pretty cool.

I am just not...jazzed. Yeah, that's it. Not incredibly excited by the prospects.

I thought of one way of getting into it and it's by being kind of a jerk. Basically, we have one player who never teams up with the others, is always self-absorbed and tends to think he's a lot more clever than he is. He oft times gets himself and the rest of the party in a lot of trouble.

I was thinking of playing that guy, especially in opposition of his (that player's) character.

I don't know if I can pull it off though. It would take herculean effort and concentration on my part to be that much of a smeghead.

I need to find a path through Pathfinder. A way to get stoked about it.

Any ideas?

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Barking Alien

Annual Crossover

Whenever an old year fades into the beginning of a new one, we gamers, often inadvertently, begin contemplating new game ideas. We can't help it. It's in our nature.

I tried very hard not to do that this time out, instead hoping to focus my creative juices on the two major RPG campaigns I am currently and quite happily running, classic Traveller and FASA Star Trek.

At the same time, it is nearly impossible to resist the lure of the 'new year, new game' syndrome and for someone as Gamer ADD addled as I, doubly so. Better make that quadruply.

In order to quench my deep down body thirst* for something a little different, on January 1st of 2014, I grabbed myself a Gatorade* of alternative Superhero gaming in the form of Base Raiders by Slang Design, written and created by Ross Payton.

I ran a one-shot with three of my regular players and a very special fourth - a special guest appearance by my good friend Dave. Barking Alien fans and long time readers may remember him as Night Knight and Silver Sun from our past Champions campaign.

If you wish to check out a review of the game and some audio and video of people actually playing it, look no further than the ever awesome Age of Ravens blog.

***

This was/is an odd one for me. The concept is very interesting and what got me to check this game out. It is essentially D&D style dungeon crawls in a modern day, Superhero setting. PCs explore the Batcaves and Castle Dooms of a world that no longer has such major heroes and villains. Although gone, their secret hideouts and undersea bases remain, ripe for the plundering by modern adventurers.

Now it's a bit more involved than that and indeed it comes with a well thought out setting all its all that makes the concept really jive.

Of course, me being me, the idea for this game was both really intriguing and really frustrating.

First, I don't like dungeon crawls. At least not traditional ones. I have some nostalgic fondness for a few of the great TSR modules of my youth but for the most part I modified those heavily to add stories to them and make them work for my groups and I. For the last 25+ years, I have dungeon crawl at pretty much the bottom of my list when it comes to scenarios and settings for the games I run.

Could I revive, heck, instill an interest in the concept if it was mixed with Supers?

Second, like it or not, I am Adam Dickstein. That means unless we're talking about certain long established IPs, I don't want your world setting. If it's good (and this one isn't bad at all) I will steal some ideas from it but I will design my own world thank you very much.

***

 

I decided to create a world for this setting based on one of my idea obsessions for Superheroes that I haven't been able to effectively use elsewhere.

Basically, this was a world once populated by all those public domain superheroes I'm so fond of, who were never seen or heard from again after the Golden Age. In this universe, an event connected with the appearance of an extraterrestrial object (called 'The Ragnarok Star' in my version), eliminated all major superhuman powers in 1964. There was never a Silver Age.

Ever since, the governments of the world, evil organizations, former heroes and villains and adventurers looking for a score like no other, have been searching for the hidden fortresses and secret labs of the great costumed crusaders and criminals of yesteryear.

Our adventure found the PCs in the employ of Taylor Peddy, grandson of the original Red Panther. After many years of searching, Peddy had discovered the lair of The Laughing Skull, a former enemy of Red Panther and a member of the villainous Death Battalion. Peddy's family never recovered the mantle (costume) of the original Red Panther, said to be made from the hide of a mythical African animal of the same name.

Peddy would fund the expedition to raid Laughing Skull's base, located behind Niagara Falls (and based on a real life abandoned power station there), if the PCs would return the Red Panther's uniform to him if they found it there. Oh, and a cut of the loot from any notable finds to repay his expenditures.

The PCs agreed, each having their own (awesome) reasons for wanting to raid the base.

The game ran well if a bit short. We really only got to one encounter with a group of robot skeletons guarding the tunnels that lead to the base proper. The PCs then descended into the base and we had to call it quits (work the next day for most of us).

Dave echoed my thoughts on the game exactly when he said, "I can see its potential".

I couldn't agree more, but would I have the patience to wait for its potential to be fulfilled when I could be GMing Champions or M&M. Maybe. I'm not sure.

***

Another annual event that seems to occur with our group (and strongly related to the 'new year, new game' dynamic mentioned above) is my taking the role of a player in a campaign run by my friend Ray.

Since my medieval fantasy campaigns haven't been hitting the mark with the group or myself lately, Ray declared his interest in running Pathfinder.

Pathfinder. With me as a player.

Let that sink in.

I'll be honest, I am intrigued if not overly excited. I tend to not like to play as I've mentioned and Pathfinder is simply version 3.x of a game I am not found of. I am certainly not enamored of the genre it focuses on.

On the plus side, it's Ray and Ray tends to run a good game. He knows and likes the setting and system a lot which is key and I have faith in him to make it a step above when I imagine it would be like. If anyone can make Pathfinder more than the sum of its perceived parts it's Ray.

Stay tuned friends. If nothing else, reading my descriptions of ripping my own hair out should be entertaining.

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Barking Alien

*Don't forget gang - Gatorade is thirst aid, for that deep down body thirst.