Night's Black Agents: Sus Specks

 

Just finished a year-long mini-campaign of Sus Specks, a mystery romp inspired by the likes of Killing Eve, Utopia, SE7EN, Legion, Mind MGMT, and, yes, Only Murders in the Building.  The game started with two players, Lanz and Vannie, who played intelligence officers who were pulled out of duty for different reasons.  But by the time the campaign ended, a third player, Emman, joined the fun.  

The game had them exploring murders that happened around the vicinity of their condo complex. What started as a strange possible serial killer with inclinations towards using medieval torture devices as murder methods eventually was revealed to have ties to a mission in Afghanistan which all three of them had been part of.  Eventually, the truth was uncovered and the roots of the events were traced back to the escaped captive, Metatron, who was a prisoner of something known as the Monarch Project.  The game ended with a building exploding, a showdown at an emergency room, and a bitter sweet realization that when push comes to shove and human compassion is the only thing that separates us from monsters, we will all remain suspects in our own cruel crimes.

Thank you for playing, Lanz, Vannie, and Emman.
Until the next TAG Bites mini-campaign!

Regency Cthulhu was amazing!

 The second game among my 12 New Games this 2023 was a session of REGENCY CTHULHU!

Got to run this with a bunch of good friends.  Originally meant to be a two-player game, I bumped it up to four players only cause the response was quite touching.  Claire, Trina, Henry, and Titus each grabbed a seat with my best friend, Flip, taking a final fifth seat.   We had a quick run down on the Regency world, drawing inspiration from movies like Little Women, Emma, and shows like Downton Abbey and Bridgeton.  Last minute, Titus had a small thing to handle which took him from his seat.  But we still got to explore the various themes safely and disturbingly well in a fun way.

Loving the small adjustments to the system that suit this game world.  I do wish there was a section dedicated to work as a quick guide for players and GMs to get the feels a bit more, but I guess the idea was a person who would get the book would have had a better idea of what the setting was already like.

We played ALAS FOR THE AWFUL SEA

 Shared a tale of horror and mystery with some friends as we played, ALAS FOR THE AWFUL SEA.
For our game, we opted to draw inspiration from movies like, The Lighthouse, and games like The Sunless Sea.  

Thank you to Titus who opted to livestream our session.  Thank you as well to Lanz and Aina for playing the game with us.
You can watch our session here:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1538509691

And grab a copy of the game here:
Alas for the Awful Sea

2021: 12 New Games this Year

Completed this year's goal of 12 New Games Each Year.  Might even add one more before the year ends.  But quite proud that I was able to still hit it despite things.

This year's list includes:

1) Night's Black Agents: Dracula Dossier

2) Fairview
3) The Warren
4) Call of Cthulhu: Raid on Innsmouth
5) Praxis: The Witch
6) Praxis: Black Monk, Book 5
7) Cats of Cathulhu
8) Interstitial: Our Hearts Intertwined
9) Thirsty Sword Lesbians
10) Brindlewood Bay
11) The Expanse

12) Mage 20th Anniversary
13) Call of Cthulhu: Fragments of the King

This officially is my eighth year of doing this, which means I've played 113 different game systems in the last eight years.  I'm proud of this personal victory and I will continue to push myself to explore new things.  I sincerely believe it has hugely made me the better GM I am today.

For those curious to the sessions those games had, I actually post session summaries in the TAG Sessions Facebook group.  I also offer lots of opportunities for one-shot sessions and the like.  Feel free to reach out and join the group.  

Thanks again for spending some time to read this!
Play safely!

We played ROOT the Tabletop Roleplaying Game!

Our usual Pendragon Campaign had to be rescheduled for now due to adulting reasons, so we decided to take a dive into another game to make the most of the time.  After spending some time to look at our options, we realized we could use this opportunity as a 12 New Games item for me.  So I checked if the rest of the group would be interested in playing, Root The Tabletop Roleplaying Game.

Oh man, ROOT was such a treat.

The way it uses the engine Powered by the Apocalypse is just amazing. It is kind of frustrating that in the Quickstart only Vagabonds are available, but even there its quite exciting seeing how the system works and makes each one unique.  The use of the boardgame's map itself as a prop was super fun too! And we we liked having fun injecting information from the boardgame experience into the game itself.

The three played Vagabonds who found themselves in the center of the Eyrie attempting to suffocate a Cat dominated clearing by cutting off its supply chains. But after some hilarious moments with the Riverfolk and some odd dealings with the Lizard Cult, the three soon learned they best helped the Woodland Alliance to bring some level of control in the region. With their help, the Mouse territories rose up and shattered all chains binding them to other factions.
Freedom is within reach.

Some examples:

"The Eyrie are traditionalists. They can be predictable. And we can use that to our advantage!"

"The Woodland Alliance cannot take all three regions at once. Only one region per faction would heed their calls."

"We're here merely to welcome you to our faith. The Cult does not join politics."

"Don't trust them. They might seem harmless but that's because they prefer to move at Night. Shall we meet come tomorrow's Birdsong?"

And best of all, this game was the game that allowed me to finally hit the 12 New Games a Year challenge this year!  Whooo hooO!  I was so scared that this year would be a failure.  Thankfully, friends were there to help usher us across the finish line.

Keep playing!

 

Jim Henson's Labyrinth - the Adventure game

TAG Bites one-shot session: October 2020

Lady Adler (played by Karen), a feline Knight of Yore with a naive-but-brave crow mount, Sherlock, gathers companions on a quest to the Goblin King's Castle to try and take back their ability to dream. Accompanying them are Wifi (played by Mai), a white fire who can be quite forgetful, Kraplat (played by Jovan), a young goblin junk lady with a selfish desire for metal shinies, and Winicent, a blunt worm with sharp senses and a killer fashion sense.

They journey through the Stonewalls, navigate the Hedge Maze, slip through the Lands of Yore, and find their way through the Goblin City which surrounds the heart of the Labyrinth. They face against sleeping traps, cooking goblin challenges, a convention of junk ladies and bandit fairies armed with staves soaked in the Bog of Eternal Stench. And eventually, reach the Goblin King and face him to demand their dreams back.

Thank you for playing, Rocky, Jovan, Karen, Mai. And thank you to Michelle, Myna, and Christian for watching and sharking in the laughs. Here's to more games in the future. And to playing this awesome game even more!


This is the eight game for this year's 12 New Games For The Year.

1) Praxis: Black Sun - Sunrise End
2) Protocol: Dinner Guests
3) Protocol: Chebyshev Function
4) Maze Rats
5) Dreams of the Aquarium
6) Trinity Continuum
7) Eldritch High
8) Jim Henson's Labyrinth - The Adventure Game

Given it is now October, here's hoping that I get to still hit twelve despite the Pandemic and everything else.

12 New Games for 2020 - first update

Now that is 2020, it is time for a new set of 12 new games to try playing in or running.  I greatly encourage others who want to become prolific designers to embrace a similar mindset towards games and playing games. Unless you broaden your horizons and experiences, you might be doomed to limit yourself to a large extent in your potential designs.

For this year, however, things are starting slow:

1) Praxis: Black Sun - Sunrise End

Our first new game for the year was a session of Black Monk, Sunrise End. For this game, I got to play it with Thomas and his friends. It was a cool introspective exploration on the meaning of worship and the reasons one would ever choose to bow before a foreign power. 

I'm hoping to be able to try other games this year, including Trinity Continuum, Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne, The Expanse RPG, and maybe even Continuum!

2019 October : TAGBites : Lords of Gossamer & Shadow

Inspired by Roger Zelazny's The Chronicles of Amber books, the Lords of Gossamer and Shadow is a diceless tabletop role-playing game that has players portray almost godlike entities who are involved in vast intertwined machinations and political maneuvering.

Learn more about Amber here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Amber

2019 August: TAG Bites : Tiny Frontiers

Inspired by shows such as Firefly, the Expanse, and Leverage, this is a heist and gunslinging science fiction action opera using Alan Bahr's amazing Tiny Frontiers Revised system. The game was a request by a dear friend, Arj, who was hoping to get a chance to play with us again (schedules must align!)

Currently, the game has two open seats for anyone out there interested in trying out this elegant and super easy to learn system.

ONGOING : This Block of Ours - Changeling the Dreaming 20th edition

In our desire to have a street level Changeling the Dreaming game, we ended up having a game where each player is still a student trying to balance the Dreaming and its mysteries with the need to finish school and graduate.  Sort of a mix between Buffy the Vampire slayer and Steven Universe.

Admittedly, I really miss the Changeling the Dreaming of the World of Darkness. Most thought it was out of place and too colorful. In truth, it was one of the darkest as you played characters who might need to literally disbelieve in their own existence to save their lives.

Currently closed. No new available seats.

2019 July : TAG Bites : Kult Divinity Lost

Some old friends reached out with the request that I run a horror game for them and a new player! After debating between this, Alien the RPG, and Wraith the Oblivion as the game to run, this kinda won out. Anxious to see how the game will turn out this coming July 13.

So, to Jonas, Nicole, Alfred, and Rocky are going for a spin at the dark illusion that is the world of Kult: Divinity Lost.  And even more awesome, the game is now Powered by the Apocalypse! (I do still own the old Kult books though haheheeh)

Sadly, no seats available.

NEW DISCORD Play by Post Offering : Harrowing the Dead - Wraith the Oblivion 20th anniversary

This is a Discord play by post game which I hope to run for up to three players. As with previous Discord games, a dice roller will be used to resolve dice rolls, and all posts will be done in the third person, to make the stories easily accessible for others to follow.  This game will be using the Wraith the Oblivion 20th anniversary edition rules.

The game will be set in the modern day, in a fictional version of Los Angeles. All players will start as mortals, alive and happy to help get a sense of what they will be losing.   This game will touch on dark mature themes and thus is only recommended for players who can handle and enjoy such stories.

Up to three players will be accepted.

ONGOING : Exalted 81:18

Inspired by the Mahabharata, I've decided to run an Exalted campaign for Rocky and Urim which draws parallels to its amazing story. Even more awesome was the tremendously inspiring artwork by Mukesh Singh, whose artwork can be found here: https://mukeshsingh.myportfolio.com/18-days.

With it being a two-player game, this allows us to tell a story with a different pacing compared to other campaigns. Even better, it gives us more breathing room in trying to grasp the new 3rd edition of the Exalted game.

Currently closed. No new player seats.

Twitter Open Table Board Game Nights

Starting every Friday this month onwards, we are now opening Open Table Board Game Nights for our twitter friends and contacts. This is to encourage and share our love of gaming to even wider communities and non-gamers.

Interested in joining? Just let us know and shoot us a Direct Message on Twitter!
Let's play!

Happy Pride to you all! And Happy Screaming!

June ended with a fantastic series of events.
Rocky and I were able to attend the Pride March at Marikina this year!

It was a HUGE event with reportedly over 52k attendees.  Some even state that by the evening, the numbers neared 70k!  While there were some missteps and mismanaged communication and planning issues, the event overall was a beautiful testament to the diversity, color, and love that the LGBTQIA+  community. People we all respectful of each other and celebrating each one's diversity and identity.

We even got these beautiful pins to wear to work thru Maria and her friends at UP Babaylan and their merchandise brand, #PAK!

Come evening, we then headed to our favorite haunt and second home, O Bar, where we continued the Pride celebrations with dear friends and our expanded family. We saw the amazing numbers and emotionally powerful performances which the O Divas and guest performers prepared. We cried. We danced. We cheered. We bonded. We grew stronger.

Then, Sunday was one shot game of Alien, the role-playing game.  Rocky and I had three awesome friends take part in the Cinematic one shot of Chariot of the Gods. Aina, Thomas, and Titus, all three fantastic players who never played together in a single game, having the most awesome time screaming, hoping, and scheming as they faced off against the terrifying threats that can only come from such a delightfully terrifying franchise. 

Read up Thomas' AMAZING write-up on the events from his character's perspective. Note, however, there may be spoilers for those hoping to try Chariot of the Gods. You have been warned!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157242554034098&set=a.250723984097&type=3&theater

The game was admittedly, just incredible! The Stress and Panic rules were viciously cool, more so when panic starts to become contagious. The every looming threat of a synth or alien in one's midst was just fantastic for drama and story.  And the ending. Oh man, that ending which the players were able to build.  I will admit, I was quite teary eyed when they wrapped the game up in that way.

Then, there was Gwen's lovely Rappler article on diverse voices in the game industry!

It was a beautiful feature giving an inspiring spotlight to the many other creators, developers, and creative forces that work in their own ways to give us a voice and celebrate their own distinct vision. Too often, especially here in Manila, there is this old way of thinking that gay people are pamparlor  (hairdressers) or pangcomedy (comedians) only.  And while there is no shame or anything wrong with such professions, there is something wrong in choosing to limit what you believe a person is capable of based solely on their gender.

And even more importantly this is part of the article:


Sad but true, but there is still a lot of hate out there which keeps many people from feeling the freedom to come out.  Just as how there are people who censor themselves or their existence due to the pressures of society or the selfish demands more influential or privileged folk may have. The fight continues for equality.  And for pride.   Thank you so much for this feature, Gwen!

Diverse voices: Meet some of the LGBTQ+ folks in games development http://www.rappler.com//technology/features/234244-lgbtq-games-development-feature via @rapplerdotcom

That was a beautiful way to end the month.

And guess what, that leaves six MORE months to come!
Things can only get better!

2019 June: TAG Bites : Alien the RPG

Chariot of the Gods
This is the official Cinematic one shot available for those who pre-ordered the game.  I'm going to be running this awesome horror story on Sunday, June 30th, the day after the Pride March and Pride Party here in Manila! 

And even more awesome, is that I'll be running it for really good friends:
Aina, Titus, and Thomas.

No Seats Available.

2019 June: TAG Bites : Pret-A-Porter

Fashion. Beauty. Opulence.
Do you think you are ready to be the most successful fashion company with only a single year to make your name?

Players: Paolo G, Titus V, Rocky S, and Me.
No open seats.

TAG Bites expands to include requested boardgame nights!

2019 June: TAG Bites : Vampire the Masquerade, 5th Edition

The Kiss. The Embrace. There are many things which are romanticized when a mortal becomes one of the Kindred. But there are monsters out there which must be stopped no matter what the cost may be.

Terrible First Nights

This is a Vampire The Masquerade, 5th edition one-shot.

Current players:
Aina L, and Rocky S.
Two more seats available.
For Mature Players only.

2019 June : TAG Bites : The Sword, The Crown, and The Unspeakable Power

This June's TAG Bites session, I will be running a game of The Sword, The Crown, and The Unspeakable Power by Todd Nicholas and Thomas J.  Titus requested for a dark fantasy game for his family and I was more than happy to oblige.

Description from Drivethrurpg:
The Sword, The Crown, and The Unspeakable Power (SCUP) is a dark fantasy role-playing game from Wheel Tree Press. Reminiscent of the A Song of Ice and Fire or First Lawbooks, SCUP focuses on power, politics, and intrigue in a setting you create using a unique world building exercise. Built on the Powered by the Apocalypse system developed in Vincent and Meguey Baker’s game Apocalypse World, SCUP is designed to let players get their hands dirty in scheming, conniving, and backstabbing. Take control of powerful sorcerers, regal nobles, and hardened warriors as you plot your rise to glory. Will others step on you as they ascend the social hierarchy? Or will you hack and claw your way to be the one who wears the crown?

Check it out today:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/239692/The-Sword-The-Crown-and-The-Unspeakable-Power

2019 April : TAG Bites : Praxis, The King of Storms

Had a spectacular session of jim pinto's praxis game, King of Storms! Players for today's session included Titus as the Troll King, Bianca as the Iron Widow, Reyo as the Scion of the East, and Sophia supposedly as the Child of the Sea, but I messed up and forgot to print it out, so she ended up becoming the Prince of the Dead. This left me playing the Heir to the Sun.

We opted to have the game set in the modern day, giving it a fantastic American Gods feel with us gathering at some New York sky deck bar whenever we wanted to discuss godly things. The One King was dying and we all knew one of us was bound to become the new One King. Secret god-babies, information wars, and secret dealings with the Crones lead to the Prince of the Dead sacrificing her own daughter and the son of the Troll King and the Iron Widow to force me, the Heir of the Sun, to take her place and allow her to ascend to the One King's throne.

It was a blast, with us using all three Story Milestones, as well as a Plot Twist, and a Finale. The Troll King had a final valiant attempt to kill the Prince of the Dead, turned One King, but even the bullets from the people he had empowered were barely able to hurt her. With a gesture, the Heir of the Sun turned Prince of Dead then killed the Troll King. He did not find himself in the realm of the dead, however The Troll King felt pulled to a higher plane and there plots for his eventual revenge.

I will confess that in this game, I had a FANTASTIC time playing the Heir of the Sun with his abuse of libations and his impossible expectations from others. Given the world building also had us declare him and the Iron Widow as besties, we ended up patterning their relationship to that of Elliot and Margo from the fun show, Magicians.