Guest Post: Annah Shilts Talks About The Maid RPG

Today, I present something All-New and All-Different for the Dorkland! blog (please always remember the exclamation point)...a guest post from someone wanting to break into the fine art of blogging. Today I present Annah Shilts, talking about the Maid RPG. I'm sure that many of you who follow me (the Chris me) here and on the various social media sites around the web know that I'm a big fan of the Maid RPG, and picked up a copy from the initial press run a couple of years ago when it debuted at GenCon. I've been lucky to talk with the translators/publishers of the English-language edition of the game (and I've worked with Ewen on Open Anime for Battlefield Press).

The link above is to Annah's profile on Google Plus (where she I and first encountered each other). If you're a gamer and you're not on Google Plus you really should look into it. It is a hotbed of gaming discussion and perspectives, with only a minimum of the hassle that you will find in online forums for gaming. I have another couple of people who have discussed wanting to do guest posts on here, so I guess we will see where this one goes.

What we have are Annah's thoughts and impressions from her first time playing a game, that just happened to be Maid. After the jump you'll find more about her experience.

First, a little about this random person writing to you: Hi, I’m Annah. A twenty-seven year old librarian with lots of red hair, not enough time and way too many hobbies. I’m classically trained operatic singer, dream of being a voice actor, and have a David Tennant cardboard cutout in my living room. I’ve been playing games since my father brought home a very old Pong console when I was four. Since then I’ve gone the gauntlet of Sega Genesis to Play Station 3.

I am new to tabletop RPGs. I was raised a (fairly) well behaved Christian home schooler from kindergartener through high school. Dungeons and Dragons were demonic and RPGS nearly so. Lord of the Rings and freaking Chronicles of Narnia were considered too full of magic and witchcraft for little old me.

Talking About The Clockwork & Chivalry 2e Role-Playing Game

Building on the streamlined OpenQuest rules (which were in turn derived from the MRQ1 SRD), the second edition of Clockwork and Chivalry comes storming out of the gate and into a growing pack of games building on the foundation of either Mongoose's Legend/RuneQuest rules or Chaosium's BRP system. For those who do not know, OpenQuest is a fantasy game, a retro clone of earlier editions made possible by the OGL, much like the many Old School Renaissance games were made possible by the d20 SRD material.

One "fault" that I had with the OpenQuest rules were fixed in Clockwork and Chivalry was the lack of Professions. I like Professions because it is a way for players to customize their characters, without adding a lot of detail. Professions can emulate the best parts of class-based RPGs, without some of the drawbacks that go with class-based gaming. Clockwork and Chivalry also crank up the Faction/Cults rules, by giving them a bit more mechanical strength. The addition of the idea of Righteousness Points is a little complicated at first, but they give a reason to have a Faction/Cult on your character sheet, besides just because of the fact that you can get some extra skills. For a game set in the 17th century, I think that this particularly helps to make your characters more of a part of the world of the game.

Some faults that I had with this present game:

I'm not particularly a fan of the naming conventions for spells. I understand that they are intended to give spells a more "authentic" feel, but the grammar of the spells' names just come across as forced to me. And while I like the idea of Satanists and Satanic Witches in the game, I'm not as happy with making the Satanic Witch more powerful than other forms. I understand why the authors choose this route, but I don't particularly agree and that is something that would more than likely get house ruled into a change for me. I do like the effort that the authors put into making a justification for an adventuring group, and in putting some effort into making these groups fit together. That is something that can be a hurdle for many group, trying to justify why their characters are together, and it is particularly helpful in a historical game such as this one.

A starting character in this game is not only flavorful, and starting with story ideas that can be developed from the first session, but they are not handicapped. This is definitely a game that is about capable characters doing big things in their world. It is also nice that the Professions are set up with historical fidelity, as well as ways around those "restrictions," if the group wants to play the game more ahistorically.

This game does not scrimp on background or or setting material, so the group that wants to run a fantasy game outside of the box of the usual standards of fantasy gaming, or the group that wants to run historical settings but may not as expert on the time period as they feel that they should be are both supported by the setting material in this. There is more than enough background material for England and the important personages of the time and place to get even the most historically undereducated of people up and running for campaigning in this world. There are also a couple of very good starting adventures (complete with premade characters) to get games rolling.

In short, Clockwork and Chivarly is a very solid game, one that builds on the strong foundation of d100 gaming. If you are looking for a fantasy game that is well-designed and that goes outside of the boundaries of what you will traditionally find in a fantasy RPG, this is the game for you. I am looking forward to seeing what comes next with this line, and the supplements that are forthcoming look exciting and will greatly expand the game and the world.

The PDF version, while a bit pricy in my opinion is available from DriveThruRPG. As usual, there is an affiliate code attached that will help me pick up future releases to talk about here on my blog.

Talking About Mongoose's Legend Role-Playing Game

Mongoose's Legend is the spiritual successor to the RuneQuest game originally developed and released by Chaosim Games and Avalon Hill, back in the 70s and 80s. Mongoose's Legend is the actual successor to their own RuneQuest game, rebranded and given a life extension after Mongoose gave up the license on the RuneQuest name. Much like the earlier incarnations of the RuneQuest game, Legend does one thing very well: it gives gamers a grittier alternative to the 800lb. gorilla of fantasy role-playing...Dungeons & Dragons.

Inspired by, and derived from, the Basic Role-Playing System that has powered games such as RuneQuest and Call of Cthulhu, Legend is a fantasy game that relies on character attributes and skills, rather than classes and levels, to define the capabilities of a character. This might not be for everyone, and Legend would take some stretching to reach some of the power levels of that other fantasy role-playing game, but what Legend does...it does well.

Character generation in Legend is a snap. Legend offers two manners with which to create characters: the tried and true random method as well as a point buy method. Either of these are capable of creating well-rounded and interesting characters. Coupled with guidelines for Veteran characters, you can make characters that run the gamut from starting adventurers to seasoned pros, in no time at all. Cultural Backgrounds and Professions let you decide who your character was before becoming an adventurer, leaving it up to you to determine what your character is going to be through play. Having the option of both random determination and focused point buy should make a spectrum of gamers happy. Heroic abilities give your character the sort of "legend"ary capabilities to grow into that will make them the match of any fictional creation.

Task resolution is simple and everything is based off of the percentile dice, giving an intuitive way to explain what characters are capable of doing to both non-gamers, and gamers who may not be experienced with percentile-based game systems.

Legend postulates a world filled with magic, more so that many other fantasy games available on the market. One of the things that sets this game apart from many other fantasy games is the concept of Common Magic. Common Magic, simply enough, is the inherent magic of the universe, those magical effects that anyone can use without having to go through the training and experience of most magic-using characters in other games. This helps to create a richer fantasy world where magic is a part of the every day. This might not be fancy or powerful magic, but it can be life (and game) changing. This is one element that has been with RuneQuest since the very beginning, and it surprises me that has not been adopted by more fantasy games. Having common, everyday magic within the reach of everyone makes for a fantasy that is so much more fantastic that what you find in a lot of role-playing games.

The graphic design of Legend isn't fancy, but that isn't a problem. The black and white design is clean and easy to read. The illustrations, also in black and white, do a very good job of setting the tone for the game, and its implied world. Legend may not have a default setting, like when Mongoose published it originally under the RuneQuest brand, but the implied world that comes across through the text, the art work, and through design choices like Common Magic, makes for a rich implied world that is just waiting for you and your gaming group to fill in with the exploits of your characters. If Legend is not in your gamer's toolbox of fantasy games, you should fix that with this PDF. Even if you do not play Legend, the ideas presented in this game can be brought across to any fantasy game and enrich it with its different approaches to the genre.


Another nice thing about this game is that it is 100% OGL-released open gaming content. Obviously the illustrations and such are not a part of this, but there is still plenty of meat on this game's bones. What exactly does this mean for you? Basically, one of two things:

1. You can publish your own expansion material, settings, new rules options and the like for the game (you can find a compatibility logo over here on Mongoose's website). Your Legend games can then inspire and create games for others.
2. You can create a completely new game based on the Legend system. This is what D101 Games did with the earlier RuneQuest SRD to create their great OpenQuest game. I talked about OpenQuest in a previous blog post here, if Legend sounds interesting to you, you should check it out as well.

Legend is a solid game, a game that is well worth your time and effort to check out. I have a link to buy the PDF just below (which is selling for only $1 at the time this was written). If you have questions or comments about this review, you can find me over at Google+ or Twitter. If you follow me at Google+ and it isn't readily apparent for me why you are doing it, just drop me a mesage via my profile and let me know.

You can purchase the PDF of Legend from RPGNow/DriveThruRPG. Yes, that is an affiliate code, but it helps me to be able to pick up new material to be able to talk about with you. I have a couple of the other Legend PDFs, and if there is enough interest in this I will talk about some of them as well. Let me know in the comments here and either of the places I mentioned above, if you would like to see further material talked about on this blog.

And designers/publishers...you can reach me at either of the above links if you would like reviews done of your material as well.

Warren Ellis' Desolation Jones: An Appreciation

I am going to talk about Desolation Jones today. What is Desolation Jones? I hear you asking. Simply, it was a six issue mini-series published by the late, lamented Wildstorm Comics in 2005, written by Warren Ellis and with art by J.H. Williams III. We're not going to talk about the follow-up that Ellis was unable to finish in this and focus on the mini that was completed. If you click the link above, you'll find out how to buy it through Amazon.com, hopefully earning some affiliate credit for me.

First off, if you are a fan of the Burn Notice television show and you like comics I think you should check out Desolation Jones. The high concept of this comic is similar: spies broken by their jobs, or unable to interact normally with others because of agency experiments, are given a choice...die or move to Los Angeles. Yes, an interesting choice. However, in this comic Los Angeles is a secret open-air prison for former intelligence agents to are too important to kill but in too bad of shape (mostly psychologically) to still undertake missions regularly. Behave and stay within the city limits of L.A. and the former agents can continue to live.

Enter Michael Jones, former MI6 operative and survivor of the Desolation Test. I don't want to go into the Desolation Test in too much detail because the unveiling of it, and it's effects on Jones, are an important part of the story. Let's just say that, from what is revealed it wasn't a pleasant test, not that many things called Desolation are often pleasant. After the test Michael is give the choice by his government: we kill you, or you move to America and L.A. Michael chooses life (much like in the Wham song) and moves to Los Angeles, where he sets himself up as a private investigator to the former intelligence set. Some of this sound familar?

The story of this miniseries is an investigation into Hitler porn that Michael is hired to undertake. In true noir style, however, it quickly turns into much more. While well-written, keep in mind that Desolation Jones is not always a high minded comic. After all, this is the comic that gave us the quote "Everything goes better with bukkake." As Ellis often does in his comics, this story is a weaving of the high brow and the low brow. One of Ellis' throwaway ideas in this mini (which was going to be expanded in the unfinished follow-up) is the concept of supermodernism. Within the narrative of the comic, Ellis has Jones describe the concept as "The fact that we don't build places just to live in anymore. We build places to go through. To wait in. To be transient." As an aside, with my game designer hat on, Supermodernity is something that I think all game designers should learn something about. It is a fascinating concept that I think could inform a lot of designs in modern/SF worlds.

Jones is a detective very much in the Sam Spade/Mike Hammer mold. I don't think that the choice of the name Michael for the character is entirely coincidental. Jones solves this mystery with a mix of brutality and logic (even though Jones says repeatedly that he is not very smart) that would have fit well into any 30s L.A. noir story.

Williams art in this miniseries is on the cusp. This book was done in between his work with Alan Moore on Promethea and before he worked on the Seven Soldiers material with Grant Morrison. In Desolation Jones you can see glimpses of William's upcoming work on Seven Soldiers and Batwoman as well. This mini is very much a snapshot of an artist who is just about to come into his own, and his collaboration with Ellis on this really brings the characters and the world to life.

This comic is not for everyone. I will admit that. The themes are very adult, and there is a lot of violence and brutality in the book. It is, however, two creators that are really on their game, coming together and creating something bigger and better than what they could have done on their own. If you like crime stories, espionage stories, detective stories, noir, or even mild science fiction and you are willing to read it as a comic book then this is the miniseries for you. But mostly, I think this should be a required reading for those who are fans of Burn Notice and are looking for a comic book to fill in the time before we get new episodes. By the way, Burn Notice fans, let me know if anyone else thinks there is a commonality between the characters of Robina and Fiona.

New Year, New Game Indie Bundle

Because not just the big boys want you to play some new games this New Year, a group of small press and independent publishers and designers have banded together like a Justice League of Independence to offer to you some of their games and supplements at a reduced price. Why? Because they like you, and they want to get their stuff into your hands. While everyone else is speculating about D&D 5e today, we want you to pick up some neat new games that are not undergoing edition wars.

I should mention that my Open Core game is part of this bundle, but that is one of the reasons why you should pick up this bundle.

The bundle goes live shortly after this post goes up, so don't be surprised if some internet glitch causes a problem with the link below. Just take a deep breath and try again.

Here is what will be the link for this Bundle: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/prodPuct_info.php?products_id=98293&affiliate_id=1082

And now, some PR fluff to entertain you with, since I know that the link above is all that you really care about... (Have you clicked it yet?)


New Year, New Game Indie Bundle!

Looking to get your game on with some fantastic titles? It's a New Year and we have some great new games for you that scratch a variety of gaming itches from small press, independent publishers and designers. 

Ring in the New Year with 14 PDFs, 10 complete game systems to bring to your table.  The New Year, New Game Indie Bundle also features 1 print and play board game, a guide to conventions and several gaming supplements!

Pick up a new source book for your current system? Grab a few movie tickets and some popcorn? Why not get yourself and your group over $60 worth of games for just $30.66? Hours and hours of engaging and though provoking fun and new game systems to explore.

Hollowpoint from VSCA Publishing

Deluge from VSCA Publishing

Toys for the Sandbox: Apothacary from Occult Moon

Mi Gato se Incendia! (My Cat is on Fire!) by Benjamin Gerber

Argyle & Crew: Adventures in the Land of Skcos and two new scenarios by Benjamin Gerber

Mirkmoot’s Magical Accouterments for Creatures Great and Small by Benjamin Gerber

Shadow, Sword & Spell: Under Pashuvanam's Lush from Rogue Games, Inc.

Conventions for the Aspiring Game Professional by Jess Hartley

Instant Antagonist: The Creepy Cottontail from FR Press

Open Core Roleplaying System Classic from Battlefield Press

Toypocalypse from Top Rope Games

Old School Hack by Kirin Robinson

Kicking Historical Asses from Machine Age Productions

Homicidal Transients from Left of the Moon Games


Total Site Price:                         $50.75
Bundle Price:                             $25.16
Savings off Total Site Price:     $25.59

Go Play Something New!

My Top Three High Traffic Posts Of 2011

Of the posts that I made last year, three of them rose to the top to be my highest traffic posts for the year. I've never done a post like this in the past. Is this just a big for more traffic? Maybe. My commentary on each follows the link.

The highest traffic post was my repost of the start of the Speak Out With Your Geek Out movement, from over the summer. I like what became of SOWYGO, even if it was a bit rocky at the start. I have to say that I didn't like the fact that a male geek getting "slut shamed" for being a geek (and a championship Magic player) tried to get turned into something for women to be proud of being geeks. Everyone should be proud to be geeks, and I do not like the growing trend of ignoring what happens to men online. Yes, women have bad things happen to them..but I don't think the existence of one bad thing negates the existence of another. As geeks we need to start being nicer to each other...men and woman alike. Kudos to Monica for getting this off the ground and turning it into an event for everyone.

My second most popular post of the year was my post about the D&D With Pornstars people: Fear & Loathing In Gaming: D&D With Pornstars. Controversy (and naked women) gets clicks, apparently. In a way, these two posts are intertwined. There's been a lot of talk this year about gender issues in gaming. Many of them are right on the nose. We do need more women in gaming, honestly we need more people in gaming period. However, I come out on the side of this issue where I think that any coverage of gaming in the mainstream press that doesn't equate it with suicide or Satanism is a good thing. Really, we could use more mainstream attention. Who cares if the people being talked are porn actors? A lot of people online. Many people have spent a lot of time and Twitter and blog posts going on (at length) about how bad for the hobby this article was. Poppycock. I wish I had as much gaming as these people do. I wish most of the "commentators" on this issue had as much gaming as the D&D With Pornstars people, because then they would be more like to be gaming instead of bitching. If you come across this issue of Maxim at a store (not that I condone Byrne stealing of magazines or comics....pfft) or a library (What? I'm sure some library carries this magazine), I really recommend checking it out and actually reading the article.

Oh, I still hate the photo I took.

My number three article has neither naked women nor controversy involved in it. While it's a good post, I'm not sure if it belongs with these other two posts. :) Number three was my review of the OpenQuest RPG, a pseudo kind of sort of retro clone of the old Runequest games put out by Chaosium. It quickly turned into one of my favorite games of last year. If you haven't checked it out yet, you really should. Click that link, read the review, and pick up a copy today.

So, those are my top three traffic generators for the year. Are they my best posts? No, probably not. The SOWYGO post is just a copy and paste job. I am proud of my other two posts, however. I think the writing is good in both. Opinion writing isn't easy. You really need to have more than just an opinion. Anyone can have an opinion. What makes opinion writing good, and what makes people want to read it, is having an informed opinion on something (which means doing some thinking and some research) and backing up that informed opinion. There's a lot of "I think this because I do" writing that goes on among the so-called commentary on gaming online. That's rubbish writing at best, and overly sensationalistic at best. We need to move past that and strive for a level of professionalism in our commentary and blogging about gaming. That should be a New Years resolution for a lot of online gaming commentators.

The usual rules apply. Feel free to comment, but if you can't say something nice...don't say anything at all. I reserve the right to publish, or delete any comments that I feel belong on my blog. If you don't like that, then post to your own blog.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Review

A couple of days before Christmas, I went to see the new American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (TGWTDT). I'm not going to call this a remake, since it was an adaptation of the book, rather than a remake of the Swedish movie (which I have not seen).

I read the book of TGWTDT back in August, and I have been looking forward to this movie since I heard it announced. Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara both do a good job of looking like the characters that I had in my mind as I read the book, Craig pulling off an admirable Blomkvist and completely making me forget about James Bond.

The filming of the movie, the cinematography, captured the brooding environment of the book. Much like in the movie Fargo, they managed to make winter a character in the movie, making you feel the cold and isolation that the characters must have felt. Blomkvist wandering about in a couple of scenes, his hand held out with his cell phone while trying to find a signal really captured this isolation.

Mara does a turn as Salander that is award-worthy. She manages to bring to life the quiet desperation and sometimes torturous existence of her character. The scenes where Salander's new "guardian" shows her how they can "work together" are particularly chilling to see brought to life on the screen.

The music of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross made great measures towards the feel of the movie with their score. The music would often weave in and out of scenes, as characters moved through physical spaces or used electronics. The title sequence cover of Led Zepplin's Immigrant Song (with vocals from Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who also did the music from 2009's Where The Wild Things Are) will go down as one of my favorite songs of 2011.

There were a couple of subplots from the book that were dropped from the movie. The subplot dealing with Blomkvist's relationship with one of the Vanger "sisters," as well as the subplot of Millennium's ongoing financial and legal battles, were both dropped from the movie. Admittedly, this was already nearly three hours of screen time but I really think that the plot of Millennium's trials and hassles would have really added to the overall feel of the story, not to mention making you happy for the end that Wennerstrom comes to in the movie. That conclusion seemed a bit too speedily wrapped up, maybe because of the fact that we lost the Millennium subplot.

Regardless, TGWTDT was an excellent movie. It drew me into its fictional world early on and kept me engrossed in what was happening, even though I already knew what would happen from reading the book. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes detective/investigative stories, or to any geek who wants to see a well-made movie and wants to escape from the doldrums of genre movies.

Culture Bully's 2011 Mashed

File this under Music and Mashups. Culture Bully has posted their 2011 Mashed compilation. You can find it here. This incredible production from The Reborn Identity (one of my favorite producers) kicks off the compilation.

The Reborn Identity - Cosmic Lifeforms (Florence + The Machine vs Carbon Based Lifeforms) by The Reborn Identity

Best of Bootie 2011

Here is Bootie's Best of Bootie 2011 mashup compilation. This is the continuous mix version. They also have an unmixed version with the individual tracks available.

Best of Bootie 2011 by bootie

Downloads and extras can be found at the Best of Bootie 2011 page. 

Fear & Loathing In Gaming: D&D With Pornstars

OK, this is another one of my opinion pieces. :)