Investing Beyond Books

by ryanrocketship

Investing Beyond Books
by Tobie Abad

Originally published last 2009.

There are many things that a Storyteller can invest on in making his games a more memorable experience. Too often, gamers find themselves spending loads of money purchasing expansion sets, supplements and other books with offer lots of game items and systems but fail to expand on the gaming experience.

In this article, suggestions on other things to purchase, try or use in a game are mentioned. These are things I have personally used in my own games with much success. I hope that you all find them useful as well.

Music CDs (and nowadays, mp3s)
Many have commented on the wonderful use of music to add mood and depth to the roleplaying environment. Here, I do not offer a list of CDs to purchase (simply because I know everyone has his or her own approach and personal taste).  That I will save in another post.

Keep in mind that music can be used in various ways:

a) Ambient sound in the game
Have the music be the sounds the character hears in the game. Is the plot set in a club? Then have the appropriate music running. Perhaps the game is in a forest? Try using nature sounds and the like. This approach can be very fruitful if done correctly, but is not the limit of the use of Music CDs.

b) Mood sound for the players
Notice how movies with wonderful scores can evoke emotional effects even if all you see on the screen is a shadowy figure against a window. Scores, with their rising cresendos and their ethereal quality can touch players and stir their emotions with the least effort. In fact, many movie directors use scores to highten the emotional drama of a scene.

Internet
The internet is a cost-efficient investment when it comes to research and information gathering needs of a game. Everything from maps to country notes, language tips to finer details of almost any topic possible can be found online.

Not surprisingly, everything listed in this article can, in one way or another, be accomplished or found in the internet.

City or World Maps
There are loads of places one can purchase such, and these can enhance the believeablility of a game. For those who travel a lot (or know someone who does) don't forget that free maps (with detailed street information) is offered by Airports through out the world.

Magazines
From articles that house the information you need, to pictures to represent NPCs and locales, magazines (especially those sold in bargain bins with really low prices) can be a very good investment. Try looking for magazines with loads of pictures and images as well. The more obscure the images, the better, so players don't comment that the Prince of the City is Jennifer Lopez and the like.  Clip the pictures you need and paste them in index cards for easy reference.    When you need a new npc, draw a card with the look you want, scribble down the name and whatever notes you need and you got an easy visual reference to show your players.

Diaries
Keep a diary. Each day, when one's real life unfolds, there is a story to tell. And from these stories, boundless possibilities exist that can be used in games that touch on life and the human experience.

Travel
Even if travel means simply going to and from school. Take notice of the people around you. Their mannerisms. Their manner of speech. Accents. Clothing tastes. Such "cheap" research can allow you to create more believeable NPCs and characters.

by Rosa Menkman

Movies and non-gaming books
Never neglect the fact that many memorable scenes and events and lines can be taken from a movie and extrapolated onto a game. "Vanity is my favorite sin," for example, is a line from the Devil's Advocate and yet can be used for any game genre.

Likewise, many books can offer new ideas and approaches that you might want to incorporate into your games in the future.  After reading Frank Herbert's Dune, you might want to create an NPC inspired by the Navigators.  Or maybe after indulging in Clive Barker, you realize you'd want an NPC inspired by the deadly Pie O Pah.

There's nothing wrong with buying loads of books of the game you are interested in. But realise that one can create a lot of original and unique ideas by investing on other resources to use for in a game. Avoid getting trapped in the mindset that the only good games are those based on what their creators wanted. Stealing from many, and shaping these ideas to something new is not plagirism. Think of it as research. Or world-wide brainstorming.

Of course, using music and others in a game are not as easy as it sounds. These take practice. In future articles, I shall expand on tips on using music and the like in a game.

Hope this article provoked new ideas. Never give up in trying something new!

The Dangers of a Really Good Story

By umjanedoan

The Dangers of a Really Good Story
by Tobie Abad
Originally published August 27, 2000

I believe that Storyteller games are best when they have a great story.  We all love hearing a great story.
Even more so, to be part of a great story.

But GREAT STORIES can be detrimental to a storyteller game too, if one is not careful.  Sounds impossible? Stupid? Ironic? Perhaps, but in my experience, it has been discovered to be true.

The Situation:
A few years back, my gaming group and I played a Changeling: the Dreaming game that had so much life, fervor and adventure that even when the chronicle ended, we knew we wanted more.

Even when the cast of characters in the high-modern fantasy game reached the peak of their potentials (one was High Queen, replacing her late Uncle David's throne, another had become the greatest Knight in the land whose battle-prowess became a living legend, so on and so forth) we found ourselves struggling to think of reasons or ways to continue the game without resorting to godlike foes and world-sized opponents. We dug into our brains for possibilities and situations to toss to these characters who have finally found their heart's love and accomplished their destinies.

We started a second chronicle. Changeling: the Dreaming as well. Set in a different manner. And yet, in the same game world.  The former PCs were now NPCs. The new PCs were basic new characters.

The game was wonderful. It had history. Life. And even a sense of epicness. Being able to role-play a scribe narrating heroic battles of lore (which were scenes in the former chronicle) was so emotionally true, I was moved to real tears.

But soon, even that game ended.
And we persisted.

A third chronicle rose, much more grand than the first two, with a world spanning story that threatened to end the existence of life and dreams. The NPCs in the third chronicle touched base with the first two games. And in the end, when PC faced former PC and various scenes called for real tears, painful memories, regrets and denied love... we found ourselves in a world so beautiful and tragic that the game ended with us all sharing a long moment of silence. And sighs.

It was the most heart-touching emotional moment we ever shared from a role-playing game.
We stopped playing Changeling for a while, and began to trade stories of Vampire: the Masquerade, Mage: the Asencion and the like.
But we yearned for its return.

Now, a few months later since the third one ended, we began the FOURTH Changeling chronicle. Again, the NPCs were the former PCs. The new cast had barely any connections to the old ones and yet knew them to be historically heroes.

And yes, the game is tremendously fun.
And touching.
But there's a problem which my players have yet to notice. One I worry about now without telling them.

Can this game ever be just as good?
Or will this game spoil the beautiful and cherished memories of the previous ones.

by chrstphre

Many movies in history got progressively worse with each passing sequel. From SPEED, to NIGHTMARE ON ELM's STREET, to ALIEN (after the second), to HIGHLANDER and BATMAN, attempts to recapture the fun and beauty of a previous work tend to degenerate. Granted we have had our infrequent successes (BACK TO THE FUTURE, TERMINATOR and INDIANA JONES) the possibility of the new game being comparable to the old one is questionable.

And, for a storyteller like myself who does feel heavily (but not wholly) responsible to making the game successful, that worries me.

What if my new chronicle twists the events set in "history" too much that it ruins the "magic" of the Changeling multi-chronicle story? What if I damage the wonderful memories of a modern fantasy game that made us cry and feel?

What if this new story is nothing compared to the old one?

For now, I have no answers to give. None other than a cop out saying, "One should not compare one game to another. Each should be judged wholly by itself." But such an adage doesn't really apply when the two games were approached to be seen as one, right?

As of this republishing of the article, I am now playing with a new group of players who are experiencing Changeling: the Dreaming for the first time.  As it turns out, it doesn't need to be the same group.  The fear of running a game to be as awesome, as inspiring, and as moving as the previous ones is a fear that will persist whenever a storyteller treads new ground.    But perhaps the fear becomes less powerful if one embraces the  concept of the Monomyth and celebrates instead each game chronicle as a new opportunity to re-explore the familiar grounds that were codified by Joseph Campbell.   And with that, things feel less a frightening attempt at recapturing the wonder achieved before and instead become an exciting new venture into familiar ground.

And ultimately, if the players and the storyteller are having fun... whose to have any right of saying it is being done wrong?

Easy NPCs

By Moon Soliel

Easy NPCs
by Tobie Abad

Originally published last 2009.

Name it:
Bus drivers, henchmen, police men, doctors, newspaper vendors, bums, aunts, next door neighbours, old teachers, schoolmates, former lovers, soldiers, grand mothers, office mates, sales clerks, street preachers... they populate our world and more often than not, exist also in our gaming worlds. Some games call them extras. Others, supporting characters. But most refer to them as Non-Playing Characters or NPC for short.

It can be difficult, managing NPCs when you are playing with characters who tend to have social skills. A simple scene of travelling from one area to another can suddenly expand into a larger scene if the player suddenly chooses to strike a conversation with the person sitting next to him in the bus. More so if you were the type of storyteller who set the game in a localized place (say a particular city) and actively tries to keep the sense of immersiveness alive in the game.

So how does one manage all these lists of names, identities and personalities?

Here are some suggestions:
Use an old diary/phone book entries
Diaries tend to have portions meant for the basic info: Name, address, phone number, birthday and at times a space for information. Why not use this as a ready-made form to fill out your NPCs. Worried about the fact that there already are names in there? Worry not for those same-said names CAN be used as the NPCs names (so long as your players aren't too familiar with them). That way, you don't even have to flesh out a whole personality for them. Just think of that actual person and try acting as him/her.

By Sister72

Old small photo albums
Old albums can be used as image banks for NPCs. Grab cut-outs from magazines, old comicbooks and the like and collate them all into an album, each having an empty sheet pasted behind it. On this sheet, write down any details important about the character. The fun here is that every NPC can actually have a picture if you play things right.

the Name list
Plain and simple, a name list is a major help. When you have a moment of free time, type one column of names, then type a second column of family names for the first colum, leaving enough space for other data to be scribbled next to the name. The Yellow pages, old yearbooks and even popular magazines can be sources for names to use. And there's no need to stick to the famous ones. Even the staff box of a magazine can be utilized quite easily for this.

Don't forget also that certain names are always more common than others.  Just think for a moment how many people you know have the name Mark, Brian, Ana, Lee or  John.  Why should your gaming world be different?  Don't be afraid to have some characters have the same name.  It can even be a cool twist to have times when the identities get switched or confused around in the story.

Index Card Filofax
For those with time, get one of these devices and create a card with a name, and possibly a picture. Names can be found in many places (see Name list above) while pictures shouldn't be too hard (see Photo album above). Each time an NPC is needed who you believe should be fleshed out well, grab a card with the image that you find appropriate, and use it in the game. Keep the used cards and the unused ones separate. And if you think it helps, make dividers based on geographic location or whatever appropriate divisor is necessary to make it easy to relocate past NPCs.

I always preferred making sure every NPC is just as interesting and lively as a normal person would be. The game stays lively and gives a more distinct impression of being immersive and real. Wouldn't you want that in your games?

"Too much Character" characters

By Fiona McGinty

"Too much Character" characters
by Tobie Abad

Originally published in 2009.

Many storytellers find themselves complaining that their group tends to create characters who LACK character. They would create vampires whose goals and motivations are as typical as "kill all the werewolves" or "gain more power." Strangely, this is no longer that common a problem as far as I have noticed in my end.

The problem that arose in my group was the opposite:
the tendency of displaying too much Character.

For example, through a story:
Storyteller: The two of you have made your way into the Labyrinth where the dreaded Toreador Infernalist is believed to have found sanctuary. You, (pointing to Player A, who is a Salubri on the Path of Heaven) can sense the evilness that permeates the place. The Gangrel (pointing to Player B) feels uneasy as well. You feel as if the nature around you is different. Strange.

Player B: "Perhaps we should rethink this approach. Methinks the Toreador witch has set us a trap."

Player A: "No. None shall stay the vengeance of God. We go. Now."

Storyteller: Moving deeper into the Labyrinth, you feel the slight changes in the area. The winds had turned stale and acrid. The ground you tread upon sighs as if alive. The flora about you seem twisted and distorted. Vines wrapping about flowers and choking thier pollen away. Gnarled roots eating through stems of their own branch. (rolls a few dice, for intrigue sake) Everyone roll Stamina.

Player B: Oops, I botched.

Player A: Made it.

Storyteller: The gangrel screams as pain shoots through his legs. Looking down, it becomes apparent that the flora about are dangerous. Thorns had bitten past the leather boots and suckled on the vitae. To your suprise (points to Player A), the same said thorns that have pulled the Gangrel to the ground have not given you a flicker of pain.

Player B: "Aargh.. these vines are..." Can I break free?

Storyteller: (to Player B) No. Having failed the Stamina check, the unnatural poisons of the vines actually keep you down. (to both) The gangrel's voice is cut as the vines wrap around his whole body, imprisoning him to the ground.

Player B: "Santiago... help me..."

Player A: "Nothing will delay the Hand of God." I raise my sword and decapitate him.

Both Player B and Storyteller: WHAT????

Player A: "The demon shall not have anyone to use against me." He may be corrupted by the dark forces eventually to serve the evil my character is hunting down. I will not let him delay me. "Nothing shall stay my duty."

Now, that was a scene I found myself facing when the group I was with were facing a Tzimisce Infernalist (who posed as a Toreador). The Gangrel and the Salubri were old time friends. Prior to the Salubri's taking the Path of Heaven, the two were together in many events; the formation of the Convention of Thorns, the Rise of the Anarch Revolt, etc.

But when the Path of Heaven was embraced, the Salubri player decided, "I want him to act deeply into his faith." Considering the path was embraced after the Salubri discovered rumors of the connections between his Clan and the Baali, it was wholly in character that the vampire would compensate by over compensating his beliefs.

It was all and good for the game, at first. When the Assamites attacked a Spanish town, the two characters helped without prodding. When a church was burning, the Salubri charged headlong into the fire (after successful Courage rolls) and rescued the tabernacle.

When the Salubri fell in love with a Lasombra woman, he turned her away for "the Heart can love only one... and mine already has found its passion."

But when that particular scene occured, that's when we realised, there IS such a thing as too much character. Although it was totally acceptable in the character's mindset and appropriate to his concept, it defied the main point of having a role-playing game: To have a great fun time with friends in creating a great story.

By killing off another player character, the player who was too much in character destroyed the fun of the game for another. It wasn't like simply complicating the other character's life. It was taking him OUT of the game.

Such extremes, thankfully, are rare. But they do happen. In my storytelling experience I had encountered three players so far who reached such peaks. It would be unfair to both the game and the players to simply disallow such actions. As would it be unrealistic to have some NPC show up each and every time it happens to STOP the event. So what can a Storyteller do?

Here is the suggestion that worked for me:
Call for a time out and talk with the players.

by Nina Matthews

In the example above, call for a time out and ask the Salubri player if this is really what he wants to do. Then ask the Gangrel character if he is willing to let it happen. If any say no, then fudge the rules a bit and have something happen.

Perhaps the Vines attack the Salubri and this time succeed in taking him down. This option still gives the game depth because now the Gangrel knows his friend no longer values his life like before and can add to interesting scenes.

Perhaps the Salubri's attack doesn't kill the Gangrel outright, but instead incites the Gangrel into a Frenzy. The Salubri and the Gangrel fight it out a bit, and maybe the players would like to have this fight be to the finish. If not, there's always TORPOR.

The player characters are the stars of the show. No matter what differences they may have in the game, their own battle against each other will always be a stand off until the LAST game session.

Think of any movie or book where there are two heroes who become enemies. If their differences towards each other can never be resolved, they do not have their climactic fight to the death scene till the end.

Perhaps, have the Salubri stop (take control for a moment) and realise that the Gangrel deserves a chance to die in his own time. He frees the Gangrel but makes it clear that he will not halt death if he comes to visit.

When a storyteller is confronted with a player character who has absorbed his "personality" too much to allow other players to enjoy the game, then the storyteller must resolve it immediately or watch the game deteriorate into a spite fest.

All games are intended to be an enjoyable experience for the gaming group. If one takes the game too far, it is common sense that the others will help him realise that he should return to his place. Likewise, if a character goes too far into his personality, then the storyteller and the players have every right to alter the personality a bit just to make the character more acceptable in his actions.

And when all attempts at proper communication fail, and the player character with the personality that disrupts fun gaming still persists, there is always one last resort other than asking him to leave the game.

Have his character suffer the best way and excuse to permit him to reduce the the unworldly amount of Character he has placed in his character: Amnesia.

Approaching (WOD) Disciplines

by Cavin

Approaching (WOD) Disciplines
by Tobie Abad
Originally published last 2009

Note: While originally written with classic WOD in mind, the ideas can still be applied to nWOD and other games.

An excerpt from one of our Dark Age games:

Storyteller: "The raven haired assailant thrust the sword faster than the eye can follow into Brittany's shoulder, and her scream echoed through the hall. Spying you and your companion turning down the hall, the man pulled the blade out, kissed its hilt and began to fade into the shadows nearby. What do you do?"

Player 1: I rush to Brittany, hoping to reach her in time to staunch the bleeding. "Bri! Bri!!! Hold on!"

Player 2: I use Auspex to scan for the attacker. Can I pierce his Obfuscate?

Storyteller: Are you even sure it's Obfuscate? (secretly rolls dice but ignores it since he knows the assailant simply ran into the shadows and used Celerity to spirit away quickly.) Nothing, the assailant seems to have escaped. Brittany seems to be still alive, although in a state of shock. Blood is pouring from her shoulder.

Player 1: I use Obeah to sense how grevious the wound. If its too grave, i use Obeah to heal her.

Storyteller: "You close your eyes and reach out your spirit to sense her state. Her soul resides in her still, although the chill of death beckons her to follow. Immediately, you fuel your vitae to awaken your aura to reach out and touch hers. You fill her with the warmth of healing and remind her to stay close." The healing costs you 6 blood points. Note it down.

Player 2: "Her wounds close... blessed Salubri, I doubt thee no longer. Thou art truly one of the holy few."

Player 1: "Nay, I be but a servant of the Lord... and my Master, who has martyred himself for all."

How do you approach disciplines?

Many players tend to approach disciplines like powers. Or special abilities which the Cainite Society is capable of. Commonly, discussions among Kindred include statements saying, "His Obfuscate is far greater than any I have seen." or "Beware, the Nosferatu are known for their Potence... and their Animalism can be deadly in their use." But is this how Cainite would really call such capabilities if the setting were realistic?

Discipline names, in my opinion, are best used for Player-Storyteller interactions. When it concerns the characters though, it is better to approach Disciplines as capabilities Cainites have. A Brujah with Potence 5 is known as a "powerful and deadly fighter" while an Assamite with Obfuscate 3 and Quietus 1 can be "rumored to be a master disguise artist whose sleath is without peer." Where's the fun and feel of calling a Toreador "that bitch with celerity" when you could call her "that bitch whose feet are faster than a damn cat!"

By Mark Braithwaite

Removing such "common parlance" of Disciplines allows the game to approach a more realistic and moody feel, instead of becoming a "Superheroes with Fangs" game. The Brujah become noteable warriors who are known to be strong enough to beat up four people without any of them being able to land a single blow. The Malkavians are strange eccentric Cainites with strange insight and infectious madness. The Ravnos, manipulative and mysterious... and unsettling to say the least. The Tzimisce, alien and inhuman with a touch that melts flesh. The Gangrel, beastial Cainites who have befriended the lesser beasts. Sticking to parlance would remove much mood and feel to the game.

Focusing on descriptive terms has other benefits as well:

Misinformation
Why is this a benefit? Because in any game where the players don't know something 100% is a good thing. Imagine being told that a Cainite can command the night itself, and can summon demons to do its wicked deeds. Is it a Baali? A Lasombra? A Ravnos? Or a Tremere? Perhaps even a Tzimisce with his motley crew of szlachta? What a player does not know can make him feel what his character feelings: uncertainity, fear, worry. Doesn't that simply probability add more suspense, mystery and drama to the game?

Reputation and Personality
A Ventrue known to be a masterful leader with a penchant for young women could be a Ventrue with simply really good social skills... or could be a Ventrue with Presence and Domination at high levels. If the players discover that the said Ventrue turns out to simply have Fortitude as a Discipline, and yet has his Social Attributes and Ability dots leaning towards the concept, he becomes a more respectable and impressive Cainite: One that does NOT need the Disciplines to reinforce his laws. Having the Discipline's parlance removed allows this tidbit to be revealed only after getting to know the Ventrue for some time... and when it finally is revealed hits with the shock impact of Darth Vader revealing his relations to Luke. Removing the "Disciplines are what are needed to _______" encourages both skill building as well as personality.

Point Focused Playing
Its a sad but true fact that when any Vampire player hears the Disciplines Potence, Fortitude, or Celerity, their reactions on its strength is all based on the rating. Even a really focused gamer occasionally slips out a "Oh, just ONE dot of Potence..." when facing such Cainites with less generous allocations. But is that how a character should really react to Cainites with these Disciplines? Getting rid of the "What's his number of dots?" mentality allows for more immersiveness in a game.Focusing on Potence as an example, although it grants only ONE automatic success, let us remember than even a single health level lost can appear as grevious as any other wound. The health level wounds simply show how much impaired the character is from acting. Any action film showing the main character bleeding with gun shot wounds, burns and bruises (think Rambo) could be a character with only two health levels of damage. He's bleeding his arse off, but is not that impaired from fighting/driving/having really bad conversations/etc.

So why should a Potence 1 character be treated as a weakling? Even without Aggravated damage, an automatic point of damage should be approached with seriousness. Think back, what else hits with automatic damage? Guns. Lethal weapons. If a punch can be as deadly, shouldn't you illustrate it?

Removing the term Potence and its rating when describing a character can make a big difference.

Example:
Shawn can beat up the Toreador without even breaking a sweat! His fists strike like guns, cracking with hideous strength. (Shawn, Strength 3, Potence 1)

So try approaching disciplines with more creative terms. With more descriptive words. Don't clutter the game with too much words that were meant for Players and Storytellers. Focus on the terms meant for the characters alone. Notice how the use of the word "Discipines" ruins the mood of the intro story in the Revised edition book, whereas the lack of such vulgar terms in vampire movies such as Bram Stoker's Dracula, Lost Boys or Nosferatu makes the Cainite power seem more... intimidating.

The game world is made of words and imagination.
Don't use one to destroy the other.

Health and Health Levels

by shrff

Health and Health Levels
by Tobie Abad

Originally published 2009

A little fiction first:
The Cainite struggled to her feet. Although blood, think and red, pulsed down her legs as if coating them in an armor of liquid the Lasombra called Imen Diabolos ignored the pain. She knew victory was close to her grasp.

"Bleeding bad, Keeper?" the Gangrel spat as he showed of the gleaming claws. "Not even your Sire could ignore the sharpness of-"

The sentence went unfinished for Imen had manipulated the shadows to grapple her foe. Twisting and struggling, the Gangrel cursed voicelessly and lunged its claws at the tentacles that seemed to be made of darkness itself.

"Do not ever tarnish my Sire's memory," the Lasombra, now triumphant, reminded the Wanderer before stabbing the sword of her sire down the Gangrel's chest. Although the Cainite heaved in pain, and blood poured out of its broken flesh in torrents rivalling those brought by rain, she knew that all she had bought herself was time.


Now the game stuff:
The Lasombra had been sliced up pretty bad. Although system wise, she had taken in 5 health levels of damage which were aggravated too, I envisioned the claws only causing small wounds. Compare the Gangrel taking a mere 4 levels of lethal damage. The image is worse, but that is considering the size of a sword being forced down into someone's chest.

My point?
The amount of Health Level Damage does not have to relate to the visual amount of damage visible.
Another common mistake in many roleplaying circles is assuming "the greater the amount of damage, the more damaged the target looks." Thankfully, this does NOT have to follow. Common role-playing sense itself can show you that someone stabbed with 7 daggers causing only 1 damage each time and someone punched for 7 levels of damage will look radically different, EVEN if the amount of damage as far as system goes is the same.

Why?
To allow more visual and graphic freedom in showing the dramatic and action element in a game.

Take your typical hero, rushing into the fray and fighting his way to rescue the stereotypical damsel in distress. When the villain calls upon lightning and strikes the hero in the chest, and the player discovers his beefed up hero takes only one measly point of damage... what happens? Did the lightning simply give him a slight jolt? Or do you go for the drama and describe how the character is struck back by the intensity of the bolt, pain coursing through his body and the sizzling fear of heat doubling into his heart... only to suddenly fade as the force is subdued by the strength of his determination to rescue his love.

Wasn't that better than simply saying, "Oh, you're still okay... what do you do?"

Use the Health Levels as merely a chart to see if the character is dead. But by all means, make him look as bruised, hurt, injured or bloodly messed up as you want!

Imagine a Mafia Overlord stepping out of his office after struggling against an Anarch. So what if the Anarch's potence dealt 5 levels of unsoaked normal damage? Have the Mafia Overlord merely have a trickle of blood down the chin where he was punched, and a bit of messed hair.

Why should the Tzimisce assaulted by his own Vohzd look untouched by the creatures multi-fanged maw? Ignore the measly one level of damage the creature dealt and describe the Fiend to having flesh torn open and blood slowly gushing out of the body. Describe the torn muscles and the hanging skin. Just keep in mind, as far as the character is concerned, it DOESN'T bother him much. In fact, it can easily be healed.

The system is used to simply keep track of whether or not the character is dead. But it shouldn't restrict the creative process of describing the scenes.  After all, the wound penalties are actually the only thing that affect the character's performance.

by graciehagen

This is most awfully true for games like Dungeons and Dragons where a character can have anything from 4 to 500 hit points.  The number of points does not represent how much a human pincushion a person should become before arrows kill him.  It merely represents how good the hero can ignore the wounds inflicted upon him before he drops down and dies.

Recall those movies where the Hero is pushed out of the elevator, then punched on the face, kicked in the chest, hit with the butt of a rifle then taunted... just before the hero, with an unknown source of strength, slams the telephone on the villain and rises to push him out of the window to fall to his death.

The Hero actually took 1 level for the elevator, soaked the punch, soaked the kick, got another for the rifle and yet was described as tired, weak and struggling to breathe. System wise, he could have simply ignored the damage (a measly -1 wound penalty) but instead we play on the dramatic and have it described as above.

Consider also targeting locations.
I never understood why 7 levels of damage must be accomplished to slice away someone's arm. Shouldn't that kill the target? Or does that mean each part of the body has its own health levels?

As a storyteller, I simply decide if the part is affected in a manner fitting the scene. Tossed a filled ashtray into the incoming Nosferatu's face? Okay, the Nossie is temporarily blinded (which is no problem since most are adept at acting in the dark). Used the staple gun on the Toreador's hip? Okay, the Toreador limps for a turn. A crusader lunges the axe at the Brujah's arm? Goodbye sword arm!

The hell with necessary health level requirements.

Thankfully, this idea has been better approached with the new World of Darkness combat system which assumes all normal strikes are intended to be vicious, and any called-location attacks are intended to cause other effects other than damage (like blinding, or disarming, etc)

Go for drama!

Granted not everyone would be too keen on such an approach. Many are used to having "realism" in a game. But when a game is intended to be more dramatic than real, with more action and mood than actual resolutions and scientific accuracy, then go for the most visually effective approach...

...and let the system take the back seat.

Fear and Loathing

by outcast104

Fear and Loathing
by Tobie Abad
Originally published October 27, 2009

fear n. 1.anxious anticipation of danger, pain, etc. 2. awe - v.1. be afraid (of) 2. be in awe (of)

loath'ing n. intense dislike

Why is the difference between the two necessary?

Because many storytellers confuse which of the two are used in a game at times. Having your players attacked by something which you recall grossed them out so much in last Sunday's movie is loathing. Not fear. Having the players hear in a "cutscene" that the enemy is watching them right now and is aiming for a shot would bring out fear. But not in character fear.

So how does a storyteller invoke fear for a player that matches the character's feelings?

We have all known moments where the character and the player's ideas do not mesh. We've had players tell the storyteller, "I'll check if he still has a pulse," forgetting that such knowledge should fall under basic first aid or medicine. Finding the pulse is not so common a knowldege.

So how does a Storyteller make the player and character feelings mesh? Especially when the storyteller's descriptions or events seem to target the character indirectly? Telling the player that the character is hanging on for his own life does not make the player feel afraid. But the character would probably be sweating his body weight in 60 seconds. Telling the player that the enemy has rigged a bomb in the car as a cutscene would probably make the player scream in fear as his character steps into the vehicle. But the character has no knowledge of this fear.

by istolethetv

How does a storyteller make the player and character's feeling mesh?
By making the game cinematic and parallel to the player's experiences.

Consider this scenario:
You narrate to your player a few months of downtime, having him spend happy moments with his family. Sharing little sweet nothings. Perhaps even breaking the player's expectations by having a little "threat" crop up only to be dispelled ever so easily. Have the player feel the character's fulfillment for living this life.

Then drop a little hint. A newspaper headline about a serial killer. Mention it in passing.

More downtime. Perhaps a movie? Skating in the arena? Video games and paintball guns? Then the hook; wife has to go to work. or to her sister's. anything to make her seperate from the character.

Then the cutscene: have someone vaguely described to be watching her across the street, just outside the house.

Back to real time: character goes on with life as usual, perhaps get the player to begin worrying.

Then cut back and forth between real time and the cut scene. Have actions parallel to each other. Perhaps as the serial killer begins to stalk the wife, the character finds a cockroach and slowly stalks it. As the killer chases the wife into the subway, the character chases the roach to the living room and the roach hides beneath the television set. Perhaps the wife calls home hoping to get help. But the character is staring at the screen in worry, seeing news about the killer. The wife is trapped. The character picks up the phone too late. The killer closes in. The character rushes out of the house to find her purse on the floor. The knife gleams.

And the player and character had met halfway.

It was once said that the unknown can be the source of greatest fear. Strangely, in role-playing games, this is rarely true. The unknown brings confusion, while what is known by the player brings the fear. The character is worried that his reflection is missing, but the player is cussing and cursing in fear of what will happen now that his character is a Lasombra. Learning to use this "difference" in knowledge is a key to better inducing fear and loathing in your players.

But it doesn't mean using the unknown will not be possible to strike fear into the players.

Having a Non Playing Character merely smile when the player does something he or she thinks is wrong can invoke fear already. Or perhaps having described a Non Playing Character as vicious, impatient and destructive before having the players meet him as a casual and consoling ear. Such moments can have the players feeling their character's emotions screaming for an answer.

Music can be the most helpful tool in bringing about emotional distress. Music can be used in various ways, provided the storyteller takes time to prepare.

by dryhead

Using music as ambient in a scene helps establish a feeling. Imagine you're favorite jazz album playing each time you enter a club. Now, imagine entering that club, but hearing instead a children's nursery rhyme. Fear is envoked and touches on both player and character at the same time.

Try playing a piece totally unrelated or contrary to the existing mood and watch the players squirm. Once, in a game, i played a beautiful loving happy piece (for example L.O.V.E. by Natalie Cole) during a scene that was eschalating to a fight. The players were shaking their heads unconsciously, nervously anticipating danger and yet wondering why they were feeling uneasy. Psychological warfare can be tricky to use though. Some players find it too annoying to be helpful.

Last of all, fear is best brought about if the mood is well established. Requiring all players to follow basic guidelines can be very beneficial to the inclusion of fear into campaigns.

Sample rules in my games:

No side commentary
Noise is to be kept to a minimum whenever possible
Cellphones and pagers must be in silent mode or off.

Fear is a beautiful thing to add to the game. To get a player to actually feel fear would be to have a player talking about the game for the rest of the year as one game which made him feel fulfilled.

Feelings and Planted Emotions

By Shannon Phantom

Feelings and Planted Emotions
by Tobie Abad

Originally published Oct 27, 2009

A short sampler, as usual:
Storyteller: With a final painful shove, you feel the wood splinter and give. The door breaks open with a loud crash and, off-balanced, Yves Deveraux falls face first against the damp carpeted floor. (rolling some dice) The flashlight spins out of your hand and goes out.

Player 1 (playing Deveraux): "Ow, did anyone see where that flashlight went?" I slowly get up.

Storyteller: Irene Montgomery, the Toreador Harpy who asked for your presence, looks around carefully. Her eyes shimmer in the darkness, as if glowing with some hidden power. With her heightened senses, she looks around for the flashlight but sees instead the inside of the room. (as Irene) "Oh god..."

Player 1: I move to her side. "What is it?"

Storyteller: Irene doesn't answer with words. Instead, she slides away from you and walks into the room. Almost hypnotically or perhaps detachedly, she reaches for a chain that hangs barely visible and pulls at it. The harsh light from the bulb blinds you for a second, and as your eyes adjust, you wish you remained blind. The horror of the carnage that was within the room becomes apparent to you...

By GanMed64

"Tsk tsk... You cheated."

That's what another storyteller told me when I related to him this scene. In his opinion, as a Storyteller, I cheated by telling the Player what the character FELT instead of simply allowing him to come up with his own emotional response. By directing the player that his character "wished he was blind" upon seeing the carnage, the other storyteller believed that I broke one of the major unwritten rules in storytelling: I took control of the character.

Personally, I don't believe so.

Storytellers are present in a role-playing game to represent not just the whole world with all its non-playing characters and events, but also the character's senses. And to give the player suggestions on what the character feels at a given moment, in my opinion, is just as valid as telling a character "The gunshots are ringing over your head. You think they're coming from the western side."

It is not as if I said, "You see the horror of the carnage in the room. You run away in horror and decide no longer to investigate on such matters." No. That would be taking CONTROL of the character. All I really did was offer an "expected human response" to the character. Whether or not the character applies it remains in his control.

Dropping such guides can be useful as well to "hint" that the player is touching on an important part of the scene (see Routines and Scenes). The guides can be very beneficial to new players as well, who have yet to fully familiarize themselves with the game.

A few examples:
"You stare into his eyes and realise, that perhaps this is the first time in your entire life you felt satisfied just to look at another person's smile."

In this scene, I wanted the player to get the hint that this character was someone who can develop into a main NPC. I also wanted the player to realise that this NPC was a hook for future stories. Just to add, of course, I molded this NPC to what I believed the player wanted his character to fall in love with. If it didn't work out, then it didn't. The player chose to take the bite and started a conversation. The characters ended up eventually getting married.

"The decision makes you think twice. What if the Prince finds out?"

A "thought" I had the player's character think of when he was contemplating on diablerie. As a storyteller, I didn't care whether he did or didn't. But I was concerned if the player was really willing to complicate his undead life further. He still committed the Amaranth.

"Her stare cut deep into your soul. You found fear creeping into your heart. It felt much like the fear that assaulted you the first time you learned you were undead. Your body refuses to move. Your lips feel frozen together. All you can think of right now is that you wish she'd ignore you and walk on."

This was when a character met the Prince who was using Majesty. Again, the approach links with disguising Disciplines as traits of a person and makes the player realise what his character is thinking. The player still chose to have a willpower point spent and attempt to act, as per classic WOD Vampire: the Masquerade Presence rules.

Some storytellers believe that the player's emotions should be shaped through mere words and not through direct guides, the way I approach it.

For example, you want the player to realise his character is in pain, describe the wound in detail and gore until he gets it. Sadly, not all players see things that way. I've had times when I'd describe a leg wound to be "a large jagged tearing of the skin with blood oozing out like sweat. The cut begins just under the knee and extends to the inner thigh. Bone had broken and muscle had torn away, to dangled like small ropes" only to get the response, "Can I still run?"

Where as, when I mentioned to another player, "The blade had cut deep, slicing to the bone. You feel the pain shoot through your leg and rebound, as if unwilling to leave. You are hurting bad. In fact, hurting is an understatement. The terrible pain is far more than anything you dreamed. You don't even want to put your weight on it." I got the player roleplaying his character's groans and declaring that he needed time to heal his wound.

By Anna Guttermuth

Such guides are also used to give the impression of certain stats. If a Cainite has Charisma at 5, how does one express that the player should role play his character as trusting the fellow?

[ "He sounds trustworthy and very humble. You believe he can be trusted."]

Can be seen as a direct stamping on the player's choice, but it is a valid declaration considering the NPC's stats.

As Storytellers, we should not be afraid to act as the character's senses. And that includes the unconscious voice of reason, worry, love and doubt. So long as this is not abused, nor taken to a level where the player is merely a spectator and controller of merely the character's motor control, then the game becomes a more interactive and realistic encounter.

Dealing with Jaded Immortals

Is that you, Peter?

Dealing with Jaded Immortals
by Tobie Abad
Originally published April 2, 2001

Immortality can get you down.

The reasons can be terribly many, but for some it boils down to one thing: BOREDOM.

It doesn't matter if the time in your hands allows you to earn so much resources you can buy a small nation (or maybe a big one!) and no one would be the wiser. It doesn't matter if you have zillions of followers seeking to even catch a glimpse of you singing a Sinatra. It doesn't matter if the person who has fallen for you is a drop-dead gorgeous human being who is adored by millions and untouched by all.

It just does happen that some players who get into deep immersive role-playing eventually find themselves proclaiming for their characters, "I'm tired!"  Or  "I need something new."

In Vampire: the Masquerade, it could be "I'm tired of all this politics, manipulations and mysteries." In Highlander, it could be "I'm tired of all the death, the betrayals and the innocent lives lost." Maybe in Nobilis, the character has just lost all interest in doing the same old stuff.  The point is, there are times the players think they want their characters to kill themselves, because they think that's what the character would do.

Strangely, 99% of the time, the player feels quite the opposite. The player does not WANT to end the character's life, but just feels as if he should.

How does the Storyteller coax the player to get the character to find a reason worth living again?
Here are some ideas:

By Michael Casey

a) Hit one of them with 'True Love'.
Perhaps the elder encounters a mortal that actually breaks his jaded-ness and inspires life. Perhaps in that brief moment, the elder 'experiences a touch of Humanitas'

Or perhaps the encounter reminds the immortal of a love that worked before, but ended tragically, and this inspires the character to "take another chance."

One could even turn things around and have the character "courted" by one who has truly fallen in love with the character. That could catch the player off-guard and raise his interest and curiousity enough to keep playing!

b) Encounters a 'mortal' descendant who inspires the elder to either watch or influence or protect the scion.

Its a classic tale. The old wizen master finds someone whom he cannot ignore. And the things he had learned can be useful for the descendant.

One could even combine this with the first one for a truly multi-faceted experience.

c) Bring up Flash Backs
Maybe the character seeks the freedom of death and the player doesn't think its feasible to change that because it defeats the tragedy of the character's story.

But neither want the game to end.

Then go backwards.

Bring up memories. Perhaps the immortal is spending the last day looking at things and reminiscing on his life. Each item touched, noticed or discarded releases a memory long forgotten.

PLAY THEM!

And don't be surprised if the "memory" might change the jaded character's mind and give him strength to move on.

Hey, that's what happens in real life.

d) Miracle occurs
Fine, its being to blatantly obvious and its really affecting the plot too directly and everyone hates that, but it does also bring up exciting roleplaying opportunities.

Consider an elder vampire who hasn't seen the sun suddenly waking one day to find out he is mortal.

Or perhaps a wanted criminal who has fled for thousands of years from his immortal captors, suddenly learning that he can "become someone totally else" with a certain ritual.

They're pushing the envelope of believability, but they just might pour the juice back into the game.

Just don't over do it!

e) Break Routine of the PLAYERS
Its a common practice for the Storyteller to break the routine of the players, hoping to awaken their character from their jadedness.

Try a new approach: Break the PLAYER's routine.

During the game, hand out pre-made character sheets and tell them they're going to play a second story which relates to the first one.

I have no idea by who.

This can be a story of the servants, or neighbors, or maybe even the enemies of the character. Get the players to do something totally different. After all, distance and time makes the heart grow fonder. If the players stop playing the jaded guy for a while, it might help them find reasons for the jaded character to return to activity. Especially when they realise that their jaded character is surrounded by NPCs (who are played for now as PCs) with little stories of their own waiting to be learned.

This can be the hardest to pull off, and mind you not all players would want to do this; do remind them though, its this or spend you're whole gaming session trying to roleplay boredom and ennui excitedly.  Or worse, just cancel the game and call it quits.

Trust me, they'd try the experiment.

-
Jaded characters are not at all a bad thing, unless their being jaded threatens to end the game itself. Of course, some games are best ended with the jaded character giving up on everything or simply leaving everything behind. Only the gamers and the Storyteller can decide on that for certain.

But if you want to try and break it simply because none of you want the game to end, I hope these suggestions work wonders for you like they did for me.

Routines and Scenes

By Janielianne

Routines and Scenes
by Tobie Abad
Originally published December 2001

Author Note: This article was written with Vampire: The Masquerade in mind. But the ideas and concepts within can be applicable for any role-playing game.

This would be one of those articles that may require an example to better explain.   Assume you are with your friends and you are having a session of Vampire the Masquerade.

Here's a typical vampire game:
Storyteller: "The darkness wraps around the city like the robes of death herself. Cold winds blow against the skyscrapers, flinging newspapers and various bits of trash into the air. You feel a heaviness in your heart as you awaken and realise that this cursed state has not ended... and the dream is not a dream. You are a vampire, and the night is your home. What do you do?

Player: I guess I hunt.

<cut to next evening>

Storyteller: "Having survived the brief interlude with the Primogen and his coterie, you embrace the silence the sewer offers. The next evening begins with a startling fear. You jerk upright upon realising that the Primogen you supposedly insulted had the strange ability to paralyze you with a gaze; a power which your Mentor described to you years back as a power of the dreaded clan known as the Setites. But your wounds from the vicious supernatural claws of the anarchs ache still and you need to feed soon. What do you do?"

Player: Hmm... I hunt.

<cut to next evening>

Storyteller: "The Prince has commended you for the revelation of who had been leaking information out to the dreaded Sabbat. With a gesture of appreciation... and prestation... he had given you a new haven and had cleared your name of all crimes. You are no longer Caitiff... and it is a new experience for you. Awakening, you find yourself feeling a strange sensation of satisfaction.. being a Toreador feels good. What do you do?"

Player: New night huh?

Storyteller: Yes, I downtimed a bit.

Player: Well, better replenish my bloodpool. I hunt.

---------

Sounds familiar?

If no, then congratulations! You're players have learned the big difference of Routine and Scenes. But trust me, there are very few gaming groups that have escaped from this little constant in gaming. And its not surprise, after all, players use Routine when they focus on their characters so much, they forget they are in a game.

Use that brain!  Make every turn COUNT!

Why Routine can be good?
It keeps your character in tip top form. And I don't mean this as a twink merit. Nor to I mean this sarcastically. If you're playing a Toreador who always waters his roses each night, then you're playing in character right? Routine allows you do play in character.

But please, must you really declare THAT as your action when your turn comes around?

Why Routine can be bad?
In my gaming circle, there tends to be four players. Strangely, a player turn tends to last for a range from twenty minutes to nearly half an hour. This is a time allotment which everyone in the group enjoys because it allows for the nice unrushed dialogue, the building of mood through music and pacing and the allowance to feel the emotional benefits of the scene.

Now, realise then that it is possibly an HOUR before one's turn begins again. Would you really waste some precious moments of REAL TIME declaring actions which the Storyteller knows you will do anyway out of habit?

Movies as an example:
Watch and movie and see how the moment a character is given a turn (meaning, he or she is the focus of a shot), the character is doing something that contributes to the story as a whole. Sure, we know that everyone gets dressed and fixes themself up before going to an important dinner. But if this scene shall not have any importance to it other than to let the Storyteller know you got dressed, then it does NOT have to be in the turn. It could be an understood action that the Storyteller does not have to play through.

After all, how many games have you had where you play each and every passing minute you wait for the Prince to finish his meeting with others? Or play in real time the trip from one building to another? We tend to downtime such moments simply because they can be taken as "having happened" without necessarily being mentioned as an action.

Example:
Storyteller: The Prince is busy. You will have to wait. Having waited for nearly half an hour, Samantha begins to sing to herself a song. She fails to realise that the song she is singing was the song that was playing in the background while the Sabbat used post-hypnotic suggestions on her.
Player: Can i make a roll to notice or feel that something is up?

In the example, the time to wait is immediately waived as an action to be declared. The Storyteller pushes forward and describes what happens. The player should realise that the Storyteller has removed the option because of the need for a scene that is beneficial to the game as a whole.

Does this mean the players should rarely talk?
No, it simply means the players should not waste time going through expected motions.

Take for instance a Dark Age game I was storytelling. The player had a Salubri who had befriended the townsfolk and had begun to be seen as a Saint. On the first night, the player mentioned to me, "I plan to visit the townsfolk each night possible. And when there is free time on my hands, I'd be speaking with the children and teaching them to read." As a storyteller,
I understood this was to be his routine and applied it as simply events that have happened and do not need to be mentioned... unless they have a reason to be. Such as when one of the children the Salubri was teaching turned out to be possessed. I begun the game session telling the player, "You are with Paolo, one of the children you teach to read." Instantly, the player realised that the scene had something of importance and approached it with interest. No time was wasted.

Again, simply think of the game in the sense as a movie.

Once the camera points at you and your part of the story is being told... do you waste that time on camera simply doing the usual everyday thing? Or do you bring up something of interest.

Make the game run smoother, but seeing the difference of Routines and Scenes.

Storytelling Versus Gaming

By Tallent Show

Storytelling Versus Gaming
by tobie abad (http://surf.to/tobie)
Originally published December 2001.

Author note: This article is written with White-Wolf Gaming Studio's Vampire: The Masquerade in mind. But the ideas and concepts within can apply to any role-playing game.

No, this is not your typical Storytelling is Vampire the Masquerade, Gaming is Dungeons and Dragons statement.   Nor is this a Simulationist - Gamist debate.  After all, as many of you are probably loathe to admit (and yet deep inside realise its true) more than half the Vampire: The Masquerade games have approached a Gaming method than a Storytelling one.

Considering how people would most likely have their own interpretations on what constitutes as gaming and storytelling,  it would be easier if I defined the difference between the two before continuing with this article.

Storytelling = Playing the game to make a great story and have fun in the process.

Gaming = Playing the game to have FUN and creating a story in the process.

In as much as it seems trifle, there is a big difference between the two. And this becomes evident if you've played both types of games.

Gaming - Let's pretend that you're the storyteller. You wake up one night and think, "I'd love to hold a Vampire game focusing on the Camarilla and how the players try to gain political power and yet not fall into the Elder ennui trap." So you begin crafting your plot thread, setting up the major points of the game and work out the NPCs. Before you know it, you're talking to your players and they begin grabbing the character sheets and asking you if they can play this or that Clan. You moderate their characters to not only be "well-developed concepts" but to actually have a reason of existing in the game. Many real time months pass and the characters develop further, going through conflicts and trials, emotional barrages and release... and the game goes on.

Storytelling - Let's pretend that you're the storyteller. You wake up one night and think, "I'd love to hold a Vampire game focusing on the Camarilla and how the players try to gain political power and yet not fall into the Elder ennui trap." So you begin crafting your plot thread, setting up the major points of the game and work out the NPCs. Before you know it, you're talking to your players and they begin grabbing the character sheets and asking you if they can play this or that... HOLD IT, you're probably thinking, why am I reading the exact same thing? Well, that's because Storytelling and Gaming types of games are nearly 100% identical in their presentation.

Notice I mentioned nearly.

Storytelling types of games have an ENDING.

"All good things come to and end," is a quote which many of us have heard and sadly, I cannot recall who deserves the credit for such a wonderfully meaningful line. A story, i believe all would agree, would be one of the "good things." Thus, a story deserves an ending.

In a Gaming Type of game, the story is second of importance. So in the said example above, the characters would eventually reach a peak in the game... say, each player is now portraying a Prince of a City, or maybe they have all decided the Camarilla is not worth it and join the anarchs with the knowledge of the whereabouts of the City officials, or perhaps something in between the two threads... but the game keeps going on and on and on.

Why?
Because its fun.

In a Gaming Type of game, FUN is what is of primary importance. Yep, stop any Gaming Type of game for a brief moment and try to describe your character in a sentence and you'll find yourself in trouble. "He's a Gangrel who began as a woodman, embraced out of spite, struggled to learn the ropes of Vampiric existence, eventually became a Prince, fought the Sabbat, endured a Justicar's wrath, seiged against the Independents, awakened the beast, etc, etc..." But so what? He's still FUN to play right? And I'm not even speaking in the "powerful vampire" manner of fun. Imagine the emotional ranges you can have access to with everything he had gone through. Or perhaps try and see what new political ideas would actually form in his head to bring a unity and oneness in the Camarilla. Again, I say, it is FUN.

But it falls into the eternal trap:
"When does the Storyteller know its time to END the Chronicle?"

Gaming Type of games tend to go past the Storyteller's "Chronicle End" point. After all, they had fun and why should the fun end there?

High profile comic books such as Spiderman, Superman, X - men, Avengers, WildC.A.T.S are of this type. Notice that now, loking back at their histories, you find yourself going, "These characters when through WHAT???"  Somehow I suspect that was in a large part why DC Comics recently threw away a HUGE chunk of their backstories (and fans) with the new DC Universe reboot.

Sadly, this tends to lead to many wonderful games either turning sour and becoming absolutely distorted and multi-complexed due to the Storyteller's attempts to "keep the game going." A state which can even be detrimental to the Storyteller himself ("Did i give a good game? In the end, it sucked so bad...")

Storytelling Types of games have a definite end.
They are structured towards that end in mind. Just like movies. Or novels. Hence, they tend to have the more spectacular and memoreable endings.

"But don't Storytelling games sacrifice the player's freedom in the game?"

No. Because in a Storytelling game, BOTH the players and the Storyteller CRAFT the story as they move along. And as an added benefit, both the Storyteller and the players have a hint when to go for the more "heroic" moments for their characters. It may seem like cheating since you know that the story is nearing its end point, but come on, how many stories have the characters faltering every move and being afraid to finally give it their all in the end?

Take for example books such as Sandman, Enigma, Gen 13:Ordinary Heroes, Age of Apocalypse line of Marvel Comics. Notice how they have definite endings and their stories were more structured and yet they were still FUN to read and even interesting to imagine being in.

Even this movie had an ENDING.

So which is better?

Neither. Everyone of course has their own game type of interest. Some like things to focus on the story. Others like the game to simply be a moment where we can explore the character's experiences on and on. Some like a mix of both.

But KNOWING that these two approaches exist is helpful to BOTH the Storyteller and the player as a whole. When I told my players about these two types of games and asked then which one they wanted more, they all replied that it depends on what they feel like playing on certain days.

Thus we have a Vampire game set in the Dark Ages, played Storytelling Type, which has a definite end: Year of Revelations date.

And we have an Aberrant to Trinity game, played Gaming Type, where we see if they can avert history for taking its course.. and struggling to make the world a better place to live in.

Try having your gaming circle read this article. Then discuss what you want to achieve. Try one or the other at least once and you'll see how much better games can become with a clear understanding of what Type of game you are truly to play.

Chilling Images Volume One : nWOD and cWOD

Chilling Images - Volume One
nWOD or cWOD
A compilation of horrifying imagery and disturbing vignettes that are certain to inspire or terrify you for your next World of Darkness game.  Written by various forumites from the www.white-wolf.com forums, I compiled what I could into this first volume for easy use.

I wish I was able to store the other entries and compile them to keep them all available.  But I guess, better one that none.
Hope you enjoy getting scared!

Download the PDF. 

A Second To Try : cWOD

A Second To Try
cWOD
A group of Changelings learn the truth behind the Great Engine that exists deep in the Dreaming and learn that they have been given the chance to make amends and try again.  Best used with the the Scenarios "Pick Your Poison", "The Great Purge" or "A Crown of Shadows" especially if your players fail to bring a more cheerful ending to the scenario.

Originally published in Ex Libris Nocturnis.  This was my entry that won in a small contest for the best Time of Judgment supplement.  Hope you enjoy this Changeling: The Dreaming mini-module that you can add to your Time of Judgment game session.

Download the PDF. 

Crash : The Shotgun Diaries

11/04/2011
CRASH
The Shotgun Diaries

Zombies make a huge screamfest in this one-shot session using John Wick's incredibly mood building game called The Shotgun Diaries.

Survivors of a plane crash in New York City find themselves having to deal with a zombie menace as they try to make their way to a sanctuary.  Five players graced this game with two playing for the first time under me:  Mika and Patton have played in my Orpheus game (link to follow), Anton and Paolo were playing under me for the first time ever (and frankly I hope my gaming style and antics did not freak them out too much), and of course there was Rocky whose character was Terry O'Quinn from shows such as Lost and Millennium.    The group was making their way to the apartment of another player when they chance upon Terry O'Quinn already hiding out in the place with a pregnant woman named Bethany.  Bethany turns out to be a Lost fan who met Terry O' Quinn during a convention and ended up sticking close to him to survive.  Of course, when her mania reaches frightening levels, one in the group is forced to sacrifice her for his own survival.

The group eventually venture out to gather more supplies, witness a biker dude who gives up on life and blows himself up to kill off a large number of zombies, and learn that this game has frightening monstrosities similar to the fiends of the computer game, Left4Dead.  There was the tongue lashing wall-walker that had much similarities to the Smoker and the Resident Evil monster in the movie.   The Hunters were present too, but never had a chance to attack the players (none of them traveled alone).  I changed the concept of the Boomer, however, and it instead was a vomit-spitting monster that caused the Walkers around it to turn into Runners when its acidic spit burned their legs up.    Finally, the game reached its finale with an appearance of a Tank.

And ended with their escape car being slammed by the other car the Tank had thrown at them.

The game was pretty crazy, with players hitting as high as four Fear counters at this point, and sadly none of them ever got to use an explosive (one tried to create a Molotov to throw at the zombies, but ended up rolling a fear success, and he decided to keep it with him for safety.)

I wonder if there will be others who will dare play a session of The Shotgun Diaries.  For fun, I decided to keep the current Diary, and in future sessions have others add to it, so it becomes sort of an artifact of all the Shotgun Diaries sessions that I've run.