New Games and Old, Tactical and Theater of the Mind

So:

1) I started playing Starfinder, through the Starfinder Society. It's challenging to travel 40 min, meet new people on a rotating basis, and play a game that I'm learning, but generally fun. The lore is interesting, the graphics are amazing, the options are many.  There's a lot of dice-rolling, much more than I'm used to, everything seems to require a skill. The amount of paperwork and accounting is truly epic. Luckily I just look annoyed or confused and someone else does it for me, so that works out fine.

2) My most-downloaded game product is my free Hyborian intro-adventure for The Black Hack. I gave myself 3 months to add some detail and produce 2 maps, before the 2nd ed of Black Hack came out. I failed. Maps and monster stats are hard for me, apparently. Deep sigh.

3) I'm really loving Everywhen, RPG rules powered by Barbarians of Lemuria. I wondered how it would do in a more skirmish-focused game, and it did great. Fast, easy, exciting and still plenty of room for role-playing. Looking forward to 2nd playtest of my Time Trippers game on Saturday.

4) The Fantasy Trip. I enjoy it for the tactical combat, and it produces moments of excitement and humor on a regular basis.  I'm very curious to see what it's like in social situations and exploring an enemy location. I worry it might feel too mechanical.

If you're still reading, the thing I'm thinking about today is whether someone who's blind could play Everywhen: Time Trippers or TFT online. I think Time Trippers is possible--if the GM explained movement and combat options, described the terrain, etc. TFT would be harder I think; it's the opposite of "theater of the mind."  I'd like to test this out sometime.

A board game by SPI in 1978, a setting hack for a role-playing game in 2018

John Wick, Retired: Ver 2.0

Can you and your fellow Assassins survive being hunted by John Wick? Probably not all of you.  Maybe just one.  Possibly none. 

Version 2.0 includes several optional rules you can add to the game, including a PVP option. This is my reskin of the awesome Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf by Matthew J. McPherson.

Download it here:  John Wick, Retired ver 2.0

By GlebTheZombie on Deviant Art

John Wick, Retired

Inspired by a conversation I found online, and wanting badly to play a game set in the world of John Wick, I decided to reskin Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf.  Many thanks to Matthew J. McPherson for his fun, simple framework.  You can play John Wick, Retired as serious or as silly as you want.


Download it here:  John Wick, Retired

Art by abiku009 on Deviant Art

The 100: the Game Setting

I'm a big fan of the sci-fi post-apocalyptic setting, and The CW's  "The 100" struck me as a particularly good one. I also think it lends itself to a good game world if you expand it to include factions and ruins exploration. Sort of a "The 100" meets "The Morrow Project", "Aftermath!", or even "Gamma World", when played less-gonzo.

So here I present my fan project, just-for-fun, Barbarians of Lemuria: The 100 game! 

This first link takes you to my The 100 Setting Primer, all fluff and pretty pictures, for those who need a refresher on the world or have never seen the show. Spoilers ahead:

The 100: the Game Setting Primer

This link takes you to the master doc with rules for playing in the world of The 100, using the Barbarians of Lemuria rules system:

The 100: the Game

If you've never watched the show, get past the first three episodes and you'll be hooked.  If you're already a fan of the show, I hope the setting I've created here will allow you to run games in the exciting, dangerous world of The 100!

This could be you.

A Conan-Inspired Scenario for The Black Hack

I wrote a simple, introductory scenario for The Black Hack roleplaying game.  I've updated it with a map and more detail, but tried to keep it simple and low on description; when I ran it myself, it was fast and full of action.

So here you go: The Black Sword of Shem


The far south-western coast of Zingara, in the hot, bustling, river-port town of Jerida, at a tavern and gambling hall.

The characters have been traveling together, and have blown all their wealth on booze and gambling.  They are hung over, and they are in debt.

The Honorable Senior Magistrate Vilerius arrives to the tavern, of which is he part-owner, with a squad of veteran spearmen.  They surround the party, and the Magistrate holds an improvised court.

"You are in debt.  Debt is not allowed; it is illegal, you are outlaws.  But I won't throw you in prison, indefinitely, if you'll do me a simple favor: head down the coast past Argos, and just over the border to Shem.  Bring me back the Sword of Justice.  Don't return without it.  You can keep anything else you find in the tomb, and I’ll even provide a ship and a guide."

And so it begins.

Review for Infected Zombie RPG Scenario: Keep Your Friends Close

I've been following the Infected Zombie RPG for a while now.  It has some amazing post-apocalyptic art, great plot hooks, and exceptional support from the designer.  Recently, Immersion Studios (publishers of Infected Zombie RPG) released a scenario for the game and I was keen to check it out.  Immersion Studios sent me a pdf of the module, for the purposes of this review.

Keep Your Friends Close builds on the existing fiction of the game, as described in the rule book.  This won't affect your ability to run the module if you don't have the main game though; this scenario could be dropped into any number of post-apocalyptic game campaigns, or run as the one-shot that it's described as.

The PCs are part of a diplomatic crew in the service of a warlord's railways. A particularly crucial train is coming through the mountain bottleneck to dock with an oil refinery. The whole railway is short on oil, due to mounting attacks from enemy-affiliated groups, and this train only has enough diesel to get through this route. But something's not quite right in town. Though they're friendly enough, there's an underlying tension. Something is up...

The art is realistic and very good.  The NPCs are fleshed out well and many are fully statted out.  The story is well-crafted, and will appeal to a mature audience--there are some serious things happening in this scenario, and Immersion Studios believes you can handle that.

A few times, the tactical locations of the PCs in relation to the NPCs will matter, so you'll want to be clear about locations, range, and spacing if you play this scenario "theater of the mind."

There is a lot going on behind the scenes in this adventure; the GM will need to keep in mind how the actions of the players affect the NPCs, as well as how and when NPCs will affect and interact with the players.  I would consider Keep Your Friends Close to be an intermediate to advanced scenario to run, potentially very challenging for a newer GM.  I strongly recommend reading through the entire module before running it, as a lot of events are time and reaction dependent.

Finally, you get a lot with this scenario, for a low price.  I recommend picking it up, for your post-apocalyptic needs.

Keep Your Friends Close scenario

Infected Zombie RPG

Death, Character, and Free Reign

I've been in a Swords and Wizardry Whitebox campaign since last October, which for me, is an extremely long time.  And it's been even longer since I had a character I was invested in die. Permanently dead, not coming back, pushing up daisies, farm bought, sleeping the big sleep.

Despite the fact that I had a new character rolled up in 15 minutes, and a name generated from the NPC Birthing Sac generator (NPC Birthing Sac), I was surprised to feel a little sad about the fictitious passing of my fictitious fighter.  Thanks in part to our excellent GM, Roc the Literate had developed a long and amusing history, with a complex reputation that I'd sullied with a bad Carousing roll.

I think that means both the GM and the players are doing things right. I found myself surprisingly invested in this virtual, dangerously curious arsonist in a way that really made me look forward to the game.  I could picture him in my head, stupidly sticking his hand into summoning circles and igniting expensive linens with oil from his ever-present flask.

Video games are great, and there was a time that I played a lot of them. But at this point I'd much rather have the kind of free reign over my character's actions that only a tabletop role-playing game can offer.

Roc is dead.  Dead is dead.
Long live The New Guy: Thuul-Botha Cinth, the Embodiment of Catharsis!

This song I'm singing here is weirdly appropriate. Just replace "cancer" with "huge poisonous spider"   This Too Shall Pass

I drank a beer in the name of my fictional guy because why not