Let's Talk About Unspeakable Oath #18

Yes, I know...I am a few issues behind the curve. Hopefully I will be able to catch up, during or after GenCon.

I have fond memories of the original print run of Unspeakable Oath. I was lucky enough to find the issue introducing Delta Green on a news stand when it came out, and that is what introduced me to Pagan Publishing and books like Golden Dawn and the Delta Green sourcebooks. While I have never been overly enamored with Golden Dawn, it just has too much Arthurian material that borders on the cliched, I have been a fan of Delta Green since that issue, having been lucky enough to run a few of my own DG campaigns over the years.

All of this brings us to Unspeakable Oath number eighteen, which is the triumphant return of the magazine. Arc Dream Publishing, the new home of the works of Pagan Publishing, has had some ups and downs in getting the Pagan Publishing material back into the public eye, but they have managed to overcome these problems and return to producing some of the best material for Call of Cthulhu available. Yes, that might be a little biased, but as someone who has a preference for the contemporary era in my Call of Cthulhu gaming, it's nice to see published material that is as close as the Delta Green material. All we need now is a post 9/11 update, and I think I will be happy with the setting for the rest of my life.

Live at GenCon 2011

I will be doing liveblogging, photography and hopefully some audio interviews as well. I am going to be combining this blog with the resources of other social media sites around the internet to bring you what I hope will be some of the best coverage of GenCon out there. In addition to this blog, be sure to also follow my Twitter feed (look to the right side of this blog for a link to my Twitter feed), as well as the Dorkland blog over on Tumblr (http://dorkland.tumblr.com) for supplemental posts. Audio interviews will be posted to this blog, as well as the Tumblr site, via the Soundcloud website.

It is (hopefully) going to be a busy four days around here. If anyone has any suggestions for things they would like to see (in photos mostly) drop me an email at christopher.helton at gmail dot com and I will see what I can do about getting photos. If you are an RPG publisher or professional who would like to arrange an interview, or perhaps provide material for review purposes, also please contact me at the above email.

Random Musing: Old School Modern (And Not What You Think...)

Those moments when I can't sleep is when the strange ideas creep into my head:

What would some like d20 Modern have looked like if it had been made at the same time as OD&D?

My one problem, for drawing influences, is that I can't really think of any contemporary "fantasy adventure" fiction or shows that could have been an influence. All of the stuff that I personally remember from the late 70s that had a contemporary setting was much more SF-oriented. Unless I use the SHAZAM/Isis television shows as a model. I don't know if anyone wants that. I know there has to be something, but either I didn't see it, or it shot by me completely.
 

I want something that is specifically fantasy in a (then) contemporary setting, and not just the fantasy fiction/movies of the time. I also don't want science fiction or science fantasy. I am thinking something along the lines of OD&D Modern, an equivalent to the d20 Modern core book but in old school terms.

Thoughts?

Update

What if OD&D Modern was influenced by Phillip Jose Farmer? #oldschoolmodernless than a minute ago via Spaz Favorite Retweet ReplyChris Helton
dorkland

ICv2 - No Titles Over 100K Again

In spite of the debut of DC’s Flashpoint event comic there was no periodical comic that sold over 100,000 copies once again in May and only 3 out of the top 25 comics posted gains in circulation. DC’s Flashpoint’s debut at #2 has to be considered disappointing. Several retailers contacted by ICv2 have indicated that they sold out of their initial orders, which means that Flashpoint might well have been under-ordered by retailers who are increasingly suspicious of the never-ending parade of comic book “events.”

Marvel’s Fear Itself event, which debuted with sales of over 125,000 copies last month, dropped a whopping 32,000 copies from issue #1 to #2, though it should be said that two of the three top 25 titles that actually posted gains, Avengers #13 and Secret Avengers #13, were both Fear Itself tie-ins.

Father’s Day Tribute To Jack Kirby From His Son

Two weeks ago we ran a blog post here at CO2 Comics titled The King and The Man that compared excerpts of interviews with Stan Lee and the late Jack Kirby who recollected their dramatically opposing perspectives of the creation of the FANTASTIC FOUR and much of the Marvel Universe.

The post sparked an animated debate throughout the internet in forums and discussion boards on comic related sites, highlighted for us at CO2 Comics by a brief and pleasant correspondence with the son of a legend, Neal Kirby who politely defended the validity of his father’s position.

This week as, we prepare to celebrate Father’s Day, Neal Kirby has delighted us again by offering CO2 Comics the opportunity to post a very touching Father’s Day letter that he has written as a tribute to his dad."

Double Agents and Moles: Options For Agents of SWING

Ever since George Smiley, the espionage genre and its fans have been interested in moles and double agents. These operatives were a cornerstone of Cold War espionage. The question is, how do you do this with your Agents of SWING games?

With NPCs, this is easy enough to do...in fact the upcoming Nefarious supplement will no doubt have some villainous double agents and defectors to plague your SWINGers. So, how do you add the drama of double agents to your play group?

Ever Agent of SWING character has a cover. This is even more important for a double agent that it is for a "straight" operative. Your character, the double agent, is walking a tightrop of truth and deception every day of their personal and professional lives. The Deceit skill is a job requirement, a survival skill, for your character. Important stunts from the core rules for a mole could be: Disguise of the Mind, Eye For Detail, Five Minute Friends, Hide In Plain Sight, and Honest Lie. Aspects that you might use to create a character who is a mole: More Than Meets The Eyes, Deceptive, Keeping It Bottled Up, and Strangely Sympathetic. You should have a double meaning to aspects that directly deal with your character's nature as a double agent, after all they shouldn't give things away to easily and you want to be able to activate them during play without getting your character into trouble.

The important thing to remember, particularly if you are planning on keeping your character's status as a mole secret from the other players, is to not lay it on too thick with methods of deception, or overly obvious hints about your character's true nature. For example, the "Keeping It Bottled Up" aspect mentioned above could have to do with the pressures your character faces in hiding their double life, or it could be that they close up and bottle all of their stresses in their life. On the surface, both of these choices could be justified by the same behavior.Keep in mind that your character will still have to do their day to day cover job within SWING and the group, so the bulk of their aspects, skills and stunts will need to reflect that. Their secret bosses won't like it if your character's cover is blow too easily, after all.

You also need to inform Control of your desire to create a character that is a mole. They may wish to approve any character concepts like this, to make sure that it fits in with the concept of the game and the campaign they wish to run for you and the other players. Remember that role-playing is a group activity and your idea for a fun character shouldn't ruin the fun for the other players.

There is a consequence to being a mole. Yes, that was intentional. Whenever you take any Mental or Social Consequences for your double agent character, it is a good idea to take consequences that flirt with or jeopardize your character's standing within SWING and/or the group of characters. This is particularly true of when you take a Severe or Extreme consequence for your character. You do not have to reveal you are a mole, even with an Extreme consequence, that would be too easy, but you can give broad hints. Being a double agent means straddling a razor's edge, and sooner or later your character will slip up.

Alternate Character Creation For Legends of Anglerre: Sword & Sorcery

I know that it is an artifact of the character creation rules in Spirit of the Century, but I'm not a fan of how the Phases of character creation are handled in it or in either of Cubicle 7's Fate offshoots: Starblazer Adventures or Legends of Anglerre. Luckily for me, Fate is an easily hackable game system. I like the idea of Phases in character creation, just not the implementation of it in these games.

This post assumes that you own a copy of Legends of Angelerre (that is, by the way an affiliate link that helps support my gaming habit, if you are interested in purchasing a PDF copy of the game) and is not intended to be self-contained. If you don't know about Fate, or the system that these games are derived from, check out this SRD (system reference document) for the base system.

I am a fan of Sword & Sorcery fantasy, much more than I am of the epic, high, traditional, or whatever we are calling it today school of fantasy. Blame Michael Moorcock for that, and for introducing me to the works of Robert E. Howard and others in this genre of fantasy fiction. With this alternate character creation system I am going to gear the Phases towards the creation of a Sword & Sorcery character, as I see it of course.

Each Phase still assumes that the player picks two (2) Aspects that are tied to the events of that Phase. Characters also still start with a number of Stunts equal to half the number of starting Aspects. This should give a starting character eight (8) Aspects and four (4) stunts, equivalent to a Great character (LoA 17).

Phase One: The Idylls of the Past
All Sword & Sorcery characters have a Before that tells us who they were before the blood and magic and savagery changed their life and their world. For many S&S characters, who they once were is what they are fighting to return to...or to avenge its loss. Sword & Sorcery characters can come from any sort of background within the world, ranging from the simplest commoner to the most important noble.

This Phase should be a peaceful one, providing a contrast to the horrors of the world to come, or perhaps demonstrating that there really is no safe place in a world of Sword & Sorcery and sooner or later the darkness and horror reaches everyone. Aspects tied to this phase should represent that peacefulness, or at least show the sense of longing or loss that the character may have for that time of their life. Much of the moody introspection of Sword & Sorcery characters can be tied into this Phase of their lives.

Phase Two: By The Prickling Of My Thumbs...
Sooner or later the horror, magic and blood of the greater world (or multiverse!) creeps into the world the character. It may just be harbingers of the greater darkness, enough to introduce the weird into the character's world and give them a hint at what is to come. Often at this point the character dismisses the coming darkness, or thinks that it is not powerful enough for them to trifle with. Often, for the S&S character, this is a Phase marked by arrogance on their own part, a Phase that brings the first whispers of evil and darkness into their lives and opens the door for the next Phase...

Aspects tied to this Phase should deal with the creeping darkness and blood into the previously idyllic life of the character. The scars from this Phase typically were not physical, but they last long and serve to remind the character of how what they did lead from the Idyll to the Doom.

Phase Three: The Doom
All Sword & Sorcery characters have their moment of downfall that leads to their entry into the greater world of horrors and darkness, and their upcoming life of adventure and savagery in that world of darkness. The character's Doom changes their world, and their life, forever. The Doom varies with the character, but it is always a personal thing...from the destruction of their homeland by the forces of darkness in the world, or the loss of their most loved at the hands of those same forces (or even their own hands). Pride comes before the fall, and this Phase represents that downfall in the character's life.

Aspects tied to this phase should represent that loss and destruction in the life of the character, due to their actions or inaction in the world. Where the Aspects of the previous Phases are often emotional and psychological, the Aspects of this Phase are mostly physical: the loss of their home, of their love, and of the scars and physical damage done to them during this loss. Now is when the character in a Sword & Sorcery story truly learns that they have to fight for what is important to them in this world.

Phase Four: Into The World of Blood and Darkness
The previous Phases of the character's life has informed who they were, what they have lost, and why they have ventured out into the greater world. Now, they set out upon a restless and rootless path, either trying to keep the blood and horror at bay for themselves and for others, or they are seeking a vengeance upon those who took everything from them.

Aspects from this Phase should be tied to the transition to becoming a warrior in a world of blood and savagery. Their old lives are over, but can never be forgotten, and now they seek a peace, or revenge, to quiet the voices and the ghosts of their past that still echo within them.

You now have created the life of your Sword & Sorcery character for Legends of Anglerre. I would suggest taking one of the Fighter or Rogue Occupations from Chapter Five, as they have more of a Sword & Sorcery flair to them. Some of the Magic User Occupations (except perhaps Wizard) can be used for more magic-oriented characters (Elementalist characters in particular fit well in a Sword & Sorcery world where the heroes use magic).

Skills in Castles & Crusades: Take 2

Readers of this blog and my Twitter stream know that I've become a fan of Troll Lord Games' Castles & Crusades. Just today on Twitter I mentioned wanting to see GammaSIEGE, a Castles & Crusades take on post-apocalyptic gaming that would combine the best elements of things like Gamma World and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and bring it together under the mechanics of Castles & Crusades. That tweet got me thinking about the game and tweaks to it I would like. I know I am in a minority, it seems, but I would like a skill system for Castles & Crusades. It's just the way that I role.

This is actually my second attempt at a skill system. My first (found here) was based off of the StarSIEGE game and hewed closer to the Siege Engine. This version is (to me) a bit simpler and is influenced by skill systems in more old school games.

I've uploaded a PDF to Google Docs that you can find here. I'm curious to hear comments and feedback, either in the comments for this post or in my Twitter or Facebook feeds.

Enjoy.

MASHURRECTED 2011 :: m i x t a p e

MASHURRECTED 2011 :: m i x t a p e by madmixmustang

01. Mashup-Germany - Everybody speaks no Americano [Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP vs. Backstreet Boys vs. Phantom of the Opera vs. Bob Sinclair vs. Benny Benassi]
02. A Plus D - Don't You Want My Bad Romance [The Human League vs. Lady Gaga]
03. DJ Morgoth - Carry On My Wayward Island [Pendulum vs. Kansas]
04. Pheugoo & Bo the MAN - TwilightBack (Pheugoo 2011 RMT Edit) [2 Unlimited vs. Justin Timberlake]
05. Dr.Waumiau - Let Me Think About Losing Control [Ida Corr vs. Fedde Le Grand vs. Missy Elliott]
06. mash2mix - Beat Rio In The Material World [The Police vs. Duran Duran vs. Michael Jackson vs. Black Eyed Peas]
07. Dylan Vasey - Blind Faith (One Day Bootleg) [Chase & Status vs. Matisyahu]
08. DJ Schmolli - Give It Away Bitch [The Prodigy & Sub Focus vs. Red Hot Chili Peppers vs. Bob Marley]
09. G3RSt - Kennys Last Rhythm [Mint Royale vs. Johnny Cash]
10. [MMM] MadMixMustang - The Double Dutch Jump [Malcolm McLaren vs. Van Halen]
11. Simon Iddol - Malibu Scene [Troels Abrahamsen vs. Good Luck at the Gunfight]

Compiled and mixed by DJ Morgoth

Inspirations and Game Design: Part One

Inspiration for a game designer comes in many places: books, movies, music, overheard snippets of conversation, the internet. In that way, game design is just like any other creative field. Inspiration comes in strange places.

For this post, I'm going to do something a little different than usual. Hopefully this works.

I am going to start with an inspiration, in this case a video that I saw linked in an RPGNet thread. This video is from Liquid Televsion, an old MTV experiment in animation that brought us Aeon Flux and the animated version of The Maxx. Here's the video:




Karma police, arrest this man
He talks in myths
He buzzes like a fridge
He's like a detuned radio
- Radiohead, Karma Police

An interesting video and I have to admit that I don't remember it, but with my memory that doesn't mean a lot. To the contemporary me, I see this as something that can be given a bit of Grant Morrison-esque strangeness with the backdrop of Hindu religion superimposed against the Noirness of the main character.

Dharma, voiced by Dick Rodstein, was a private detective who lived in Timbuktu sometime in the near future. The city is very heavily populated (with a population of 30 million people) and apparently ruled by an elite called the "Hipster Elders". Dharma is depicted as a trenchcoat- and fedora-wearing man with long, stringy hair and eyes that appear, like Little Orphan Annie's, to have no pupils. He seems to have psychic abilities. The plotline pits Dharma against corrupt public officials (including what appears to be the French Foreign Legion) and a mysterious organization called The Beelzebub Brotherhood.

From the Wikipedia page.

Now, since this post is named inspirations rather than adaptations, the idea isn't to directly convert the setting and characters of the video into a game, but to rather build a flavor of this setting and turn it into something that is interesting and playable.

The first step is to talk about system. For the purposes of this post I am going to pick something released under the OGL (which for those few who still may not realize this is more than just the old d20 System) because for a blog post I don't want to have to worry about licensing or anything like that. A good free license suits my purposes just fine.

As a game designer my primary goal these days is KISS. Not that band but the principal of Keep It Simple, Stupid. I prefer to err on the side of simplicity anymore in my game design. I just don't have the time for endless hours of gaming like I did, so a game that gets to the point and gets to the gaming is what I want and need. This desire spills over into my game design. As a game designer, if you don't design the game you like you won't like the game you design.

So, while I ponder the bits and pieces of how I want to take the next step (i.e. the system design) I leave you with this first post. If you want to make system suggestions (please don't just list a system if you make a suggestion, tell me why it would be a good fit for the idea of the setting) go ahead, in the comments, but just make sure they are a system available under the OGL.

I'm not sure if my next posting in this series will be about setting or system. I guess it depends on which comes up in my head first.