Comet(h) : nWOD

04/27/2012
Comet(h)
World of Darkness

My fifth game for Indigo Entertainment was supposed to be an ongoing Pathfinder game, but since character creation is taking so freaking long to finish, I was wondering if it would end up being put on hold for a time.  Turns out, it would because I was then asked to run a game DURING office hours (meaning yes I got paid to do it, wheee!) for the four interns who were learning the basics of how to make games.  I was asked to run them a table-top role-playing game in order for them to expand their horizons on what gaming can be and what games can offer its players.  So with four new players who have never ever tried a table-top game in their lives before me, I decided to come up with a quick game that was to blow their minds.

Each player was given a simplified World of Darkness sheet to use.  Being new to table-top games, I wanted them to truly focus on creating a character and to be aware of how important it was to understand what character one wanted to play.  The group came up with the following:

Ric played Eric Hunter, an underdog kind of guy who happened to always have a string of good luck.  He was good at deciding things without thinking, escaping situations and asking for sympathy - traits which I felt really rode on the underdog concept.  He excelled at not getting noticed and really hated one-on-one combat, dealing with heights and thinking too much.

Armond played Croman, a vigilante type of guy who had a telepathic talent.  The concept reminded me of M. Night Shyamalan's movie Unbreakable so much I let it pass.  He was good with explosives, improvising things and creative writing.  I found the creative writing a nice touch since he saw it as a hobby the guy was into outside his concept.  He excelled in lying and had trouble with parties, shopping and had a huge dislike for smoking.

Ryan played Alex Grey, a guy who sadly often gets mistaken to be the bad one.  The concept was just pushing for a story so I approved it.  He was good with intimidation, survival skills and athletics and excelled in stealth.  He hated socializing, expression and being ordered around.

Lastly, David played Antagon Dark, a street smart guy who had a flair for detecting lies, lockpicking and surviving.  He excelled at using the knife in fights and hated having to use computers, deal with math or go dancing.

I began giving them all a touch of life, with some meeting family, others getting hanging out with friends and so forth.  The key event for the start was seeing strange lights in the sky.  An orange glow emerged in the sky and began to descend towards them.  Each reacted to the approach in their own way, but there was no avoiding the incident: the comet fell to towards the ground and slammed into them.  For some, the incident left them feeling strange.  Changed.  For others, the incident simply left them shocked.  And unharmed.

And that's when the stories began to take an interesting twist.

They began to manifest strange powers.  One found himself wreathed in fire, burning down the home of his ex-girlfriend and leading a mass of people to follow him all the way to Central Park where he had hoped to dive into the lake and douse his immolated form.  Another found himself turning all liquified, passing through a car with his sister as a witness.  The third discovered some strange control of metals, controlling them much like Magneto of the X-men.  And the fourth wasn't clear on his abilities, but I always gave hints of the weather patterns shifting with his mood.

As each of them started to grasp with these new manifestations, the second twist entered the story.  A woman of golden light approached each one of them.  In some instances, menacingly, while in others gentle and angelic.  In all, the golden woman tries to kiss them.  In all, she asks them to make a choice:  Accept or Deny the Responsibility.   As some players grapple with the choice before them, the larger story is then unveiled.

The four player characters are in stories set at different times from each other.  And the golden woman's visitation of each one actually represents her slow understanding of how to approach each of them.  The golden comet, as it turns out, is in many ways the planet's own immune system to keep the world running.  Each time it flies, it seeks a new willing vessel to be gifted with powers to help return the world to a stronger, livable state.  However, the power comes with a price: the power is fueled by the person's own life force.  A small sacrifice to save the world.  The four's choices explain the golden woman's difference in approaching each player.  The first reflected her determination and lack of sensitivity, hence her threatening approach.  The second showed a bit more kindness.  The third a grim realization of the fatality of it all.  And in the last, the player embraced the Responsibility and promised to do what he can to make the world better.  It was that moment when the Golden Woman admitted she is tired and longs to rest.  The player leaned towards her to kiss her, and accept her Responsibility as his own.

In the end, there is hope.

*

For a beginning game, I admit the story was kind of strange.  Fun, but strange.  But I personally would like to think it was still entertaining for the players who were in it.  While combat wasn't a primary focus (perhaps something to let them experience in another game), I would like to believe the players were still having a blast.  The fact they were asking when the next one was is one good sign they did.

Only one player opted to spend Will Power to boost a roll though.  I am starting to think I should come up with a new way to approach Will Power and make it something everyone is encouraged to use freely.

World of Darkness : Newbie Sheet

When breaking in players who have NEVER played a role-playing game before, it can help greatly to reduce the systems they have to learn to the essentials and have them focus instead on experiencing the act of role-playing.   The mere act of embodying the role of a character, then thinking and talking like the character, can be quite demanding to a new player.  Breaking past shyness and the inherent self-conscious mindset is critical to helping the new player enjoy the experience.

So to facilitate this, I created a simplified version of the World of Darkness sheet for my new players.   Given how I love running World of Darkness games, creating a sheet for this game seemed apt.  I've used this kind of a sheet for many games now, even for games as "out there" as Zombies, Harry Potter or "Disney Princesses."  The sheet reduces the information to focus on the concept of the character, the strengths and the weaknesses.  You'd be surprised how many new players find the idea of thinking of what they are good at, or bad at, daunting.  But personally I've always found this sheet to speed up the process of coming up with what to play, and getting the actual game going.

Hope you find it as useful as I have.
Download the sheet here.

Keep gaming!

Soundtrack Suggestion: Shame - Harry Escott

Shame - Official Soundtrack

Composed by Harry Escott

While the popularity of the movie may stem from Michael Fassbender and his notable... uh.. Rod of Lordly Might, I will have to admit that after hearing the very first track of this soundtrack, I knew I had to get it for the potential role-playing game use it would offer.   For those not familiar with the movie at all, Shame chronicles the events surrounding Brandon (Michael Fassbender) and his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) and touches on sexual themes the only way director Steve McQueen knows best: without any hint of shame at all.  Brandon is struggling with his sexual addiction and the stage is set in New York City.  These elements alone already suggest that the soundtrack would be a fantastic one to use for games that touch on mature themes or are set in New York City.

Boy did I not regret this soundtrack!  Starting with the very striking opening theme, Brandon (01), which makes use of a constant tapping tempo, strings and a repeating signature harmony, the soundtrack does not waste time in lending itself to be used in so many ways.

The classical parts (Goldberg Variations BMV 988: Aria, Goldberg Variations BMV 988, Variation 15, Prelude &Fuge No.16 in G Minor) were a tad odd to have in the soundtrack but upon listening to them fully, one learns they can easily be used as soft background music during social scenes.  You have interesting vocal tracks like Genius of Love (track 03) by the Tom Tom Club, Rapture (track 04) by Blondie, and I Want Your Love (track 05) by Chic which clearly give the vocal tracks a 70-80s vibe to it.  But then a wonderful gem is My Favorite Things (track 06) by John Coltrane which is basically a jazz rendition of the Sound of Music song.  I've already used this track once as a dissonant element in a scene that featured a combat sequence.  Carey Mulligan herself lends her vocal chops in track 07 as she sings a poignant and doeful rendition of New York, New York.

Ultimately, while Brandon (track 01) and unravelling (track 11) sound very similar, the direction their emotional string pull at surprisingly is quite different.  And these two tracks plus the End Credits (track 15) make the soundtrack a worthy investment.


Shame track suggestions
WTF moment:  My Favorite Things (track 06), The Problem (track 13)
Introspective/calm moment:  Brandon (track 01), Goldberg Variations BMV 988(track 02), Genius of Love (track 03), I Want Your Love (track 05),
Tense/mystery moment:  Brandon (track 01), Prelude & Fugue No. 10 In E Minor, BWV 855 (track 09), Goldberg Variations, BWV 988_ Variation 15 A 1 Clav. Canone Alla Quinta. Andante (1981 Version) (track 10),
Combat music:  Unravelling (track 11), You Can't Be Beat (track 12),
Hopeful moment:  Let's Get Lost (track 08),   Unravelling (track 11),  You Can't Be Beat (track 12),
Drama/sad moment:  Rapture (track 04), New York, New York (track 07), Prelude & Fugue No. 16 In G Minor, BWV 885_ Praeludium (track 14), End Credits (track 15)

Best Used In: Games that have a subtle undertone of tension or danger.  Less appropriate for epic battles and extreme violence.  But for an atmosphere of subdued threat of pain and suffering, this one works pretty well.  The vocal tracks can give your games a touch similar to Luc Besson movies (The Fifth Element, Wasabi) if you play them right.

System Shopped: The River - World of Darkness

The River Flows Everywhere
System Shopped: World of Darkness
by Tobie Abad
April 2012

In the very well-written but sadly not as popular wuxia game Weapons of the Gods (by Brad Elliot and Rebecca Borgstrom), an interesting system was introduced:  The River.  In the game, when you make a roll, you are allowed to keep some of your dice to be used for later rolls.  This system allowed the player to determine when to have much more radical successes at more dramatically appropriate moments which made for a much more dynamic and fun game.  Here's my attempt to adapt the system to work for White Wolf Gaming Studio's World of Darkness.

The River
for the World of Darkness
It was like it was fated to happen.  


The catastrophic accident that took the lives of over fifteen people was a scene that seemed impossible for anyone to survive.  The 18-wheeler truck slammed into the cars like a rolling pin over soft dough and crushed each and every vehicle in an instant.  The fact the wheeler ended its spinning rampage by slamming into the nearby gas station only further established that this was a horrific incident that would force even angels to stare with helpless eyes.


But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Janet Prince rose from the burning debris and defied every sheared thread of destiny that decreed there was only death in this moment.  Janet miraculously survived the crash with the least of expected injuries and still had the mettle to crawl out of the crushed sports car and limp away to safety.

Perhaps she had the love of a deity on her side.
Perhaps, the river flowed in her favor this time.

From Final Destination 2

So how does this system work?

Plain and simple, every player character is meant to be the key member of the cast in a story.  While the World of Darkness is populated with billions of people - many of whom do have their own secrets and mystical traits - player characters are pretty much expected to be the stars of the show.  So it makes sense that they would defy expectations, or survive what seemed to be impossible odds.

But to make that too easy would be a disservice to the World of Darkness setting. After all, the game thrives in the sense of hopelessness and despair that pervades the world.

So here is how it works:
Each Player Character (not Non-player characters or supporting cast) has access to the system called The River.  For every two points of Permanent Willpower, a player character can store a die in her River.

At any point in time, when a character makes an important roll that may affect a major element in the game (examples include combat rolls in battles where the players are not having the advantage, investigation rolls which when failed can truly set the players back in their plans, etc) the player can opt to spend a Willpower point to store any of the successful dice she rolled into her River instead.  Since this expenditure happens AFTER the roll is made, it is possible to spend a Willpower point to gain +3 bonus dice that turn, and a second to store into her River one of the successful dice that was rolled.

Later on, in any future roll the player makes, the player can Flow the River into the roll.  What this means is, later in the game, whether or not the player should have dice to roll in a roll he wants to succeed in, he can move the dice stored in his River as part of the successes achieved in the said roll.

Characters who are of stronger will clearly benefit better from this system, and are able to store more successes in their River for later release.  They can store dice from a single roll, or gather them from numerous rolls (however, each time they Float dice into the River, it costs a Willpower point.)

all it takes in one BAD roll, even with twenty dice!

But since Willpower gives +3 dice, why would I want to waste it to move only (typically)  1-3 successes to a future roll?
Because the River does not care if you did or did not have a dice pool to use in the roll.    This doesn't mean a character with no Knowledge of Medicine can suddenly do brain surgery.  But it does mean the character can Flow the successes from his River to allow his (non-existent) Medicine attempt to keep the injured character alive long enough for help to show up.

The River is meant to encourage the player to think of adding to the drama of the scene.  The Storytellers are encouraged to throw suggestions on how a River enhanced roll actually worked out.  But personally, I think the players themselves will find it fun enough to try on their own.

Doesn't this suddenly make a lot of the threats less threatening?
It depends.  Storytellers who view games as a chance to be the players' rival may feel shafted by this System Shop.  But at the same time, they are more than welcome to have the River apply as well to any key villains or nemesis that exist in the game.

I personally like the idea of giving players some level of freedom in shaping the story to help them survive what seemed to be impossible odds.   While it may feel like a tiny box of Deus ex Machina in the hands of the players, I feel it does encourage the player to think of the story and focus on helping make it feel more dramatic and fun.

Game Idea: Objects of Legend

Game Idea:  Objects of Legend
System: Practically Any
by Tobie Abad
March 2012


You first sensed the world as her scream filled the void of silence.  You felt the tight grip of her fingers around you as she lifted you upwards and plunged you into... him.  His flesh slid open to your touch.  His blood warmly caressed you as you dove deep within the confines of his chest.  His heart kissed you.  And then he died.


You transformed that moment.  What was once a steel edge, your body transformed into obsidian mirror of a hatred that is not your own.  But these emotions swirled within you and became a new stronger passion:  Hunger.


You must have another taste.  Another heart.  You smile.  But fall asleep.


You awoke again after a long time.  A young man held your body tight with his hands.  They were hardened hands, calloused from years of training.  "Vengeance," you heard him say and released as you kissed skin once more that the throat you were cleaving was owned by she who first awoke you.  You feel the rush of air that once contained words that were to beg for mercy, but the words are lost now.  


*The Heart*


Your desire rises out like a passion.  The young man wielding you becomes powerless to resist.  He pulls the blade from her throat and stabs it where you had whispered.   And once again, you smile.


So, we play cursed objects?

Well, yes and no.  You play the role of an object - be it a weapon, an article of clothing, an icon, or a piece of jewelry - which holds incredible powers and eventually will have a legacy to be remembered by.  You play the stories that lead to the legends of Excalibur, The One Ring, or even the Wand of Wonder.  You play the dark forgotten tales of the Hope Diamond, and the unrecorded encounters of a Crystal Skull.  Like the movie Le Violon Rouge (released as The Red Violin), game sessions represent periods when you - the artifact - encounter events and people through out your eventual history.  Events can reflect periods in human history, or if the game is set in a fictional world, periods which mark key events in that fictional world's timeline.

What system do I use to represent my powers?
Ultimately, this is best answered with "What game are you using?"  A Pathfinder game, for example, already has a system for Intelligent Magical Items.  Whereas, the World of Darkness can easily be adapted to give the Artifact appropriate Attribute ratings.  Regardless of the system, consider the following things for a game like this:  

a) Experience Points do not matter
While you can start the game like a normal one where a weak item eventually grows into a legendary one, unless the object you are portraying is one which gains strength as it kills or something similar in its legend, there is no need to scale the item's advancement.  The scaling of power might even best be represented in each story arc.  Consider the One Ring.  As it goes through a story, it has key people it will try to seduce.  As those characters hold on to the ring longer, their capacity to resist the seductions grow weaker.    But even from the very beginning, the One Ring's powers are already strong.

b) Dying is irrelevant
Unless you want that to be the key point of the story, these objects should be "impossible to destroy" as far as the story will go.  Twists of fate, coincidental moments, unexpected twists should allow for the artifact to escape certain doom.  My personal view point is this:  While unrealistic that the object always escapes destruction, the point of the story to make the object a legendary or infamous artifact.  If it was destroyed sooner, it wouldn't BE a legendary or infamous artifact.  This again isn't your usual game where survival is part of the goals.  Keeping intact, however, should always feel like a challenge.  But outright destruction will probably be evaded with a light dose of Deus ex Machina when necessary, unless you deem it is time for the legend to end.

c) The Cast should be compelling
Since it isn't often that the artifact is as chatty as the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter, or Saba from the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, you better make sure each character who the treasures encounter have interesting stories for the player to engage in.  The Spear of Destiny falling into the hands of a soldier is fine.  But if you reveal the soldier deeply desires to merely go home to his wife, then the player, as the spear, might guide the solider to win the war single-handedly in order to be allowed to be brought home.  Or maybe, as the Spear, you fall into the hands of an antique collector who while cleaning you admits he hates his neighbors.. and you realize he isn't the best person to keep you, so you may want to influence him to succeed at something less... moral.

Keep the cast interesting and the players will feel challenged to bring the story forward.  Explore moral grounds, human virtues and remind them they are playing an object, not a person.  What counts as good and evil may radically be different (and possibly even more fun to explore!)

d) Map out a framework of the legend
If the object is an existing/prewritten legendary object, then you can quickly make a check list of key events and abilities it was rumored/believed to have.  These become a quick and easy blueprint of events and experiences to explore in the game.

If it will be a new object of legend, or one you and your players are cooking up to have a story (say, exploring the legendary adventures of the one and only Intelligent and Telepathic Portable Hole) then I recommend this:  Ask all your players to list down ten key events/encounters they think would be fun to explore.  Examples may include "a massive war" or "vengeance" or stuff as strange as "falling in love with an owner" or even "having a child" and mix all these in a bowl.  Then, have each player draw seven, and from these seven build the framework of the object of legend.  

Keep in mind the framework is mutable, at least when it comes to the chronological sequence the events transpire.  Don't use the framework to limit the fun.  Instead, use it as a nice guide to foreshadow certain events, to play with oracles and fated moments, and to give the players more freedom in approaching scenes.  You want them to have lots of ideas, not lots of problems.  You want them to have fun.

Once the Legend is Established, you've already got the best twist to throw in the next game!
Try being an Object of Legend in your next game.  Better even, ask your whole group to all try playing an Object of Legend.  Then when that chronicle is over... let your players play a different game as normal.. but then have the said objects (the very objects whose secret histories, vile machinations, selfish goals, and altruistic moments are known to them so dearly) appear.

Have fun!

Avengers : Ultimate Gambit - Part 2

04/01/2012
Avengers : Ultimate Gambit - Part 2
The Marvel Super Heroes RPG (Faserip)

My fifth game for Indigo Entertainment would be the first sequel session I ever ran for them.  Avengers : Ultimate Gambit reaches its climax as the secret master behind Kaizen Gammora's rise to power and the fate of Loki and Thor are revealed.   Using the classic role-playing game system, Marvel Super Heroes FASERIP system, five players take the roles of Iron Man (Tofie), Thor (Mark), Taskmaster (Ramir), Hawkeye (Jigs) and Doctor Strange (Jam) in this tale of heroism, genetic manipulation and self apotheosis.

The scene opens with Hawkeye learning the woman who called his name was no one else but Emma Frost.   Now a member of the X-men, she shares she was invited to meet a certain Zhang Tong for a business proposition.  She asks Hawkeye if the Avengers are on a mission and offers to stay telepathically linked in case he needs any help.   Hawkeye decides to work on the communications tower as per Black Widow's plan and to meet with Emma Frost at a cafe later in the day.

The Taskmaster, also invited by this Zhang Tong, enters a conference room and finds other notable villains in attendance:  Wilson Fisk, also known as the Kingpin of Crime, and the ever imposing Dr. Doom.  When Emma arrives, she is disgusted to see the gathered group of criminals and immediately opts to leave the room.  "I've long ended my dalliances with your lot."  The Kingpin wisely chooses to leave as well.  Taskmaster and Doom opt to stay, however, and they find a young seven-year old boy with green eyes and dark hair addressing them on behalf of the mysterious leader.    The leader happens to be the man known as the Mandarin and he unveils the proposal with much pride:  He has found a way to clone people with their mental faculties intact.  "Imagine Doom, a chance to murder the heroes you want over and over again... Imagine, Taskmaster, the chance to learn from each and every hero that has ever lived."  And worse, he even claims to have the genetic material of heroes from Alternate Earths.

Doctor Strange feels a disturbance in the astral planes.  He then receives a visit from the Fates who beseech him to find Thor.  With a quick incantation, he transports himself to Asgard and there learns from Odin that Thor has abandoned his godhood.  Promising to find him, Doctor Strange takes the belt which Odin had hoped to use to track Thor, and uses the Eye of Agamotto to find the missing scion.

Thor weighs on the choice the Fates have given him:  Allow Earth to be destroyed or slay his brother, Loki.  Jane attempts to sway him, asking him if there was any other way.  He insists he has to do this.  Jane tries to change his mind, stepping in front of him and reaching for the crack of light upon the World Tree as she asks, "If it were me who would make this choice, would you STOP me?"  Thor admits he would, but tells Jane he will return.  He leaps into the light and finds himself back at Asgard.  There, he reclaims his Hammer and with Odin's blessing, takes a rainbow bridge back to Earth.

Iron Man finds the power through-out the city flickering off for a few seconds.  Using this to his advantage as he dodged missiles from the enemy, he boosts himself out of the island's limits just in time before the shield was reestablished.  While safely above the country, he regains communications and learns from Captain America and from Pepper Potts that his disappearance has been for over two weeks, that the Wasp he had rescued from the hotel may not be the actual Wasp of the Avengers, and that Captain America is bringing a team via Quinjet to the location.  The incident has started becoming International with footage of the Hulk's rampage being used to portray the Avengers as terrorists attacking a sovereign country.  As Iron Man considers his options, Doctor Strange arrives and begins a descent towards the purple field.  Using his repulsors to grab the Sorcerer Supreme's attentions, Iron Man and Doctor Strange very quickly discuss matters and ponder on their next course of action.  As if the fates were intervening, that moment Thor also arrives and shares with them his worries of a vision of destruction and darkness.  Thor senses an incoming threat and warns the others but his warning comes too late.  A black figure strikes at them from Gammora and nearly takes down the Sorcerer Supreme in a single blast.  Doctor Strange, Thor and Iron Man find themselves facing a black metal version of the Iron Man.  Thor grabs hold of the suit, enduring a massive blast of an experimental cannon to the face.  But Thor spies Loki on the roof of a building below, and decides to head there instead of helping his fellow Avengers.

Hawkeye and Emma Frost head out of the cafe after hearing a massive explosion a block away.  As the Hulk emerges from the rubble, Hawkeye ponders on how to take the green giant down.  Brimming iwth overconfidence, Emma takes a step forward and mentally commands the Hulk to sleep.  But before he succumbs to it, the Hulk slams into the ground with a car and Emma is stunned from the blow.  Hawkeye wishes he had his arrows and watches as the Hulk tears down another building before hurling it onto the former White Queen!  She transforms into diamond in the nick of time, but does not emerge unscathed as her other leg is shattered from her body.  Hawkeye picks her up and plans an escape.

Taskmaster decides to turn the offer down, but the Mandarin takes offense.  As he begins destroying the room, Taskmaster opts to run for it.  Along the way, he spies the young boy and picks him up to escape the conflagration.  But instead of screaming in fear or thanking him for his sudden act of heroism, the boy begins laughing over and over.

Loki and Thor discuss things, with Loki claiming that Thor should help her.  She claims the fates are playing a trick on him, manipulating him to make himself within their purview.  But Thor remains steadfast and grabs Loki by the throat - ignoring her clear attempts to manipulate him by wearing Jane's face.  When he considers killing his own sister to save the world, he realizes there may yet be a way around the events:  The Fates demanded Thor kill his brother... not sister, after all.

Iron Man attempts to defeat the black metal Iron Man by tapping into the suit's systems to override the controls.  But instead, the black suit infiltrates his and uses Tony's own weapons to take Doctor Strange down.  The Doctor flies off to seek cover as Tony shuts down the opponent's armor before his fails.  Switching to an emergency override, he shuts down his own and begins falling towards the city, hoping to reboot his systems in time.

Taskmaster learns the young boy is actually a clone of Loki, and being a clone that cares nothing of the rules and laws that limit the gods themselves, the young boy relishes in his superiority.  Mandarin tries to strike at them again, but the boy merely plucks all the rings out of his spinal column (where he has had them surgically placed).  When the Taskmaster's words infuriate the child-god, he begins using his limitless powers to prove his godhood!  The players all begin to see that this Loki clone is the actual Loki that can threaten the world.  When Taskmaster is flung from one skyscraper to the other in the opposite side, the Loki clone threatens to slam the moon onto him.

Doctor Strange recovers enough and offers to help Thor and Loki deal with the cosmic aberration.  Casting a spell to make both levitate, Loki covers Thor and herself in an illusion of being a giant with a fur wrap.  "The boy would not allow you to come close, after all," Lokie admits, "As neither would I."  The three then take to the air to search for the source of the aberration.

Hawkeye tries to run off with the unconscious Emma Frost, but Hulk flings a fire hydrant right smack into the hero's head. Knocked out, Hawkeye lies helpless and at the Hulk's mercy.  The Hulk, however, walks closer, picks up Hawkeye, and mumbles, "Frieeeend..."  He picks the comatose Hawkeye up and launches away with numerous leaps that cover miles of distance.

Iron Man clicks back his systems mere seconds before becoming street pizza, only to rise and find himself literally between Taskmaster and the Loki clone.  Sensing the danger the child poses, perhaps due to all the magical energies swirling around him, Iron Man dives for Taskmaster to pull him out of the way.  Loki child however strikes back with horrific power:  Iron Man finds himself drowning in his own armor which has somehow filled magically with booze, while Taskmaster finds himself losing the memory of the first time he ever called himself Taskmaster.  That moment, Thor and Loki engage with the child with Thor flinging Mjolnir at the child.  But Loki, overcome with rage at the child's usurpation of her title, grabs the strap and - perhaps due to fate - causes the hammer to spin and repeatedly smash into the child's head over and over again.  With each impact, the child's godlike powers disperse, unleashing energies that begin to undo the damage that has been done to the city.  With one final blow, Loki feels the hammer free itself from her grasp and fly back to the God of Thunder's open hand.

By the time the Avenger's Quinjet arrives, Captain America scolds Iron Man for the mess this whole event has been.  When the Wasp flies to Iron Man to ask about the "other Wasp," Iron Man can only present a shoe filled with pinkish goo.  Wasp shrinks down, flies into the helmet to throw Tony Stark a slap only she can, then flies out to remark he stinks of booze.  Taskmaster finds Emma Frost offering him a job to work for her, unaware that Emma is taking full advantage of the fact the once-highly paid master assassin has no memories of a life of crime.  Doctor Strange receives another visit from the Fates, who thank him for bearing witness to the events.  When asked why it was necessary for him to go, the Fates merely state a time comes close when Earth itself will be locked in a massive battle of cosmic proportions.  And Thor finds himself back among the hallowed halls of Asgard, with Jane simply hoping he would some day come back.

And Hawkeye awakes, gasping for breathing and screaming for Hulk to stop, as he continues to leap them submerge, then leap again across the very ocean.

And as a finale.  In the rubble of where the Mandarin once held his operations, man in armor reaches down and picks up ten colored rings.  "Yes..." says Doom with a smile beneath his metal cowl.

*

Definitely an awesome game.  Had we not been pressed for time, I would have had the players all gather up for a final battle with the Loki child plucking from their memories their greatest defeats.  But alas, I had another engagement to rush to and Tofie was already an hour late as far as going home was concerned.  This game session had players getting a better feel for the system as they began happily spending Karma points to boost their rolls, as well as embrace heroic deeds as a means to get better Karma.

Ramir and Jam had just joined in (although Jam had a taste of gaming under me during The Shotgun Diaries : Heavy Be The Rain) so they were given a crash course on the game system.  With the former Hulk player unable to join us, I had to relegate the Hulk character to a non-player character status.  Ramir wanting to play Taskmaster was an added level of challenge for me to find a way to have villains part of the Avengers storyline.  Not to mention three other players (who were to play Spider-Woman, Captain America and Scarlet Witch respectively) were too busy to join up.  So a lot of on-the-spot rewriting was necessary to make the game have a nice coherent ending.

Thankfully, it all worked out.  The game still had a touch of Avengers action and comedic moments, with Loki clone being a very effective and terrifying villain.  If anything, my biggest failing in mixing all these characters up was Ramir not being able to feel "Taskmaster"-y enough :-(  but he did admit he still had fun, so "yay!"

Soon to come would be a Dungeons and Dragons long term game, but a huge part of me is tempted to use Pathfinder instead.  Gotta admit, Pathfinder really nicely cleans up a lot of the systems.  But when it comes to actual books, I only have the Pathfinder main book, compared to The Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual for Dungeons and Dragons.  (3.0 baby! I never got into 4th Edition, thank the Gods!)  There's always something about running games with the actual books there on the table.  And there's the upcoming Romantic Comedy game too.  Ah, fun how gaming never ends :-)

Running a ROM-COM game

Running a ROM-COM game
by Tobie Abad
March 2012

Romantic Comedies, or Rom-Coms as they are popularly referred to, are a regular offering in practically every local cinema.   Movies such as The Break Up, 13 Going On 30, What Women Want, and Unofficially Yours entertain us with the amusing twists and turns that search for true love brings.  In such movies, you typically have characters who remind us of people we know as they experience the misadventures that love inspires, influences or requires.  While most people believe romantic comedies are best left in the movies for their girlfriends to watch while they do more manly (or geeky) affairs, why not embrace this genre as an offering on your next gaming night?  Who knows, this may lead to your significant other gaining a greater appreciation of why you and your buddies are willing to hunker down and stay home on a weekend night?

If you ever find yourself willing (or brave enough) to take a dive in this direction, here are some tips you may find useful in this most likely unexplored territory.

Embrace the Cliches
Romantic Comedies are filled with them.  From the over-worked, serious and independent woman who has no time for something as foolish as love, to the clumsy but determined geeky girl who wants to fit in, characters in romantic comedies are of all shades and colors of cliches.  So what if people have heard of them before or if this makes the characters more predictable?  A romantic comedy is fun because it is predictable, familiar and light.  

This is not to say, however, you cannot have deeper and more complex personalities.  As movies like Amelie, You Got Mail, and 엽기적인 그녀; literally, That Bizarre Girl or more popularly known as the original My Sassy Girl, characters may seem cliche at first but then be revealed to have a much more deeper or richer past.

One massively useful site for this is tvtropes.org.  Trust me, you will find a massive load of information just waiting for you to use in here.  

by origami constructions

Use Contrast
Embrace the power that contrasting characters and concepts can bring.  If your player is interested in playing a shy, nerdy character, make sure the best friend is the socialite popular blonde.  If your players are thinking of being successful independent women, be sure to make the leading man an unemployed handsome hunk with security issues.

Also explore using contrast to heighten scenes.  Maybe whenever the two love birds are apart, things are always messy and complicated.  But the moment they get together, things become wonderfully smooth and calm.    You can even go the opposite and have them all hilariously getting signs they shouldn't be together when they are, but receive all these visual and auditory cues that they should be when apart.

And that brings us to Music
In romantic comedies, music is a very powerful force that you should never ignore.  First, choose a key song to represent the romantic angle you are vying for.  Be sure to search for variations of this song (A Cappella, orchestral strings, maybe even a modern remix) so you can slide it in on scenes when the two love birds happen to have a nice moment.  Try to save the lyrical version for either the game's credits ending, or for a sequence when things seem to be finally working perfect.

Be on the look out as well, for great harmony tracks that can serve as background mood enhancers.  Movies like Julie & Julia, The Girl Who Leapt Throught Time, and My Sassy Girl have nice non-lyrical tracks that can be played during the comedic or cute moments in the game.  But don't overlook using popular songs from artists like Britney Spears, Rihanna, Kylie Minogue and the like to mark a scene down with a specific theme.    Imagine the couple dancing in a club, with the player wondering whether or not the guy is worth her time, and the next few songs playing are Love on Top, We Found Love, and If We Ever Meet Again.  That should throw the player some clues on what direction to take the story.

But before anything else, do your Research
Before you do start a romantic comedy game, one huge thing you should do is interview your players as to what romantic movies they liked the most.  Just as love is defined differently by different people, what constitutes as cute and charming for one person might not match what another would choose, so be sure to take note of what your players would respond to.  It would be pointless to throw stuff you find romantic and force them to respond in the same way if they don't like it.  And for an easy step in that direction, ask from them a list of their top three showbiz crushes.  And be sure to tailor your game's leading (and rival men) to their likeness and personalities.  That is sure to give the game a fun boost of fun that your players themselves will move in the right direction.

Have fun!

Avengers : Ultimate Gambit : Marvel Super Heroes FASERIP

03/02/2012
Avengers : Ultimate Gambit
The Marvel Super Heroes RPG (Faserip)

My fourth game for Indigo Entertainment would turn out to be the first two-part game that I would run.  Excited by the upcoming movie, as well as eager to get even more new players into the hobby, discussions at the end of the last game circled the idea of having a super hero based game which used the old Marvel Super Heroes FASERIP system.  The game system, for all its faults, was pretty fun to use and the familiarity of the characters allowed new players to quickly get into the role and play the game.  While I greatly minimized the system to just having the players roll when a FEAT was necessary, with me handling all modifications and column shifts, it allowed the group to very quickly embrace the concept of being a player in a role-playing game.  It didn't take long for people to start referring to their characters as themselves (By saying "I will try to.." rather than "My character will...").

Hello Loki...

Tofie, who had played Dungeons and Dragons before, joined the game as the Invincible Iron Man.  Jigs took the role of Hawkeye, whom his father James wanted to play (James sadly had to head off to another appointment).  JP indulged in portraying the conflicted soul that is Dr. Bruce Banner aka The Hulk.  And as the game progressed, Mark decided to dive in and enjoy the role of the son of Odin himself, Thor.    The game session opened with a quick foreshadowing sequence where the players are told Thor had given up on his godhood, on how Loki tried to claim the hammer but failed, and three shadows in the form of women come to threaten Loki.  Loki then escapes, vanishing into a flutter of raven feathers.

Then, I begin revealing to each player (save for Mark) that they are suffering from some kind of memory loss.  The game has Tony Stark awaken in his hotel room, slightly inebriated from a night of long drinking.  While Tony Stark struggled to make sense why he was in an unfamiliar hotel room, Hawkeye finds himself tied up and being prepped for torture.  Dr. Banner found himself in a similar bit of trouble, floating naked in a tank that was chemically keeping him sedated.

Tony finds an infamous babe sitting atop the suitcase that contains his Iron Man suit and it doesn't take long for him to realize who she is:  Loki.  Asking for his help, Loki bargains with Iron Man and tells him she can bring him to his two friends whose lives may be threatened, but in return they must help her find Thor.  When asked why, she refuses to say more.  Pepper Potts arrives with a cadre of Shield agents and fumes when she finds Tony with this beautiful almost naked woman.  Tofie masterfully portrays the Tony Stark we all love to hate and fumbles on explaining why he was naked in a hotel room with a woman.  He is surprised to learn, however, that he's been missing for TWO weeks.  And rushes after Pepper into an elevator with the Iron Man suitcase in tow.  She admits her concern on why he's in Kaizen Gammora (yes, I took the concept from The Authority and Image Comics) and fears they may have drugged him or coerced him to steal his password to the Iron Man suit.  Tony bends down to activate the suit and notices a greatly injured Wasp in her shrunken form hiding by holding on to Pepper Potts' heel.  He hears the familiar sound of a repulsor blast charging up and realizes "Pepper" is actually a battle droid in disguise.  Stealing Wasp away, he activates his Iron Man suit in time, then blasts out of the elevator to gather his bearings.

Hulk SMASH!!!!

Banner realizes these people have kidnapped him and tries to gather his anger and unleash the Hulk to escape.  Unfortunately what the Hulk gains in mass and strength, he loses in intellect (a character that JP wonderfully portrays!)  He breaks free from his containment and discovers the location's defenses are three women robots who are dressed as geishas.  While the robot's talons are too weak to harm him, he finds them immensely irritating and begins to destroy them without effort.  But just as he was about to destroy the last one, the Black Widow appears and tries to calm him down.  She tells him the geishas aren't robots but power suits, and tears one open to reveal a stunted human child.  Kaizen Gammora has been breeding clones to serve as biological computers that run the power suits.  She tells him she needs the Hulk to provide a distraction and vanishes into the facility's ventilation shaft.

Hawkeye breaks out from his captivity by first spitting into the torturer's eye with precision to blind him temporarily, then fracturing his ankle to slide the handcuff around it off.  Partly mobile, he then slams the chair onto the man, and finally knocks him out with a well aimed punch.  The Black Widow emerges from a ventilation shaft and helps him get to his feet, informing him of their kidnapping and that they are in Kaizen Gammora.  She tells him to bring her Avengers communicator to the nearby Communications Tower and use it to send out a distress beacon, while she will go and see if she can find where they have taken Tony Stark.  He sneaks out of the prison, which happens to be a very large steam room, and escapes the building by going down to the first level basement where a kitchen seems to be filled with active cooks.  Nearly mistaking one chef for an assailant, he makes his way street side and after accidentally threatening a cafe owner, tries to reach the Communications Tower in haste.

The game sequence wasn't this badass, but was awesome on its own way!

Elsewhere, Thor's whereabouts are revealed to be with the woman named Jane whom he befriended when he was first on Earth.  The two attempt to live a normal life with cooking and doing the groceries as part of their routine.  Thor ignores all calls to his Avengers Card, understanding that since he had lost all of his Asgardian powers, he would only be a detriment to the team.  But while in the grocery, he encounters the three shadowy figures and learns they are the Kindly Ones.  The three have come to ask Thor to embrace his heritage and make a "Choice," one which they claim needs to be done.  When asked what the Choice relates to, the three explain it has to do with the fate of the World Tree and that of Midgard.  He reaches out to the fates and accepts the responsibility.

Iron Man discovers a massive purple barrier surrounding the entire country of Kaizen Gammora, and learns the barrier blocks all attempts at communication outside the island.  He picks up the presence of two distress beacons and identifies them as belonging to the Black Widow and Hawkeye.  Seeing that the Widow signal is non-mobile he heads there to investigate.

Hulk begins destroying more of the building, vaguely comprehending the Black Widow's request.  He faces off with another robot, one capable of redirecting his intense strength (and looked like Bruce Lee to boot!) and changes tactics to defeat it.  Rather than punching and slamming, the Hulk grabs the robot and throws him into space.  He never reaches it, however, for the robot slams into the purple wall and is disintegrated upon impact with the energy source.  Later, a massive pair of doors begin to open and emit smoke, and the Hulk is lured closer by curiosity.  From the mist, a woman emerges and in Hulk's eyes, he sees the image of the woman he loves.  As he reaches out, however, to touch her, the city suffers from a ten-second long black out.  When the power returns, the Hulk is unconscious.  The woman was also an agent of Kaizen Gammora and had used the power of the city itself to knock the green giant unconscious.

Kaizen Gammora, for this game.

Hawkeye reaches the tower and plans his entry to connect the communications card to the grid.  But just before he could do so, someone seemingly recognizes him and calls out his name.  A mystery that will have to be resolved at a later session.

Iron Man locks onto the Black Widow's card, uses the tower itself to boost the signal and emit a message out to the Avengers Mansion.  As the message ends, Iron Man turns to face the coming flight of enemy soldiers.

And finally, Thor finds himself before the World Tree and sees the visions of a coming Armageddon.  He sees the massive swath of destruction that is looming and the deaths of his closest allies.  At the center of it all, he sees Loki.  Uncertain what to do, Thor requests to have Jane at his side as he makes his choice.  The Kindly Ones relent.  Thor holds Jane's hand and tells her he has to do what he must to stop this.   More so upon learning all are to come to pass within the hour.  When asked what the Choice he is being asked to make is, the Kindly Ones explain:  Loki must die for all this to be prevented from coming to pass.  Will you slay your own brother?

***

One of the biggest changes I made in the game was to be very generous in throwing out Karma for simply portraying the heroes the way they were approached in comics, movies and the like.  Given that for most of the players, familiarity with the Avengers characters was limited to the recent Thor and Iron Man movies, if no the Marvel vs Capcom game, so I didn't expect or demand much in the terms of accuracy.  I was throwing out around 20 Karma for each display the players did which made us all enjoy the game more.

Perhaps a scene in the game to come?

Another huge change I did was to ignore comparing Feat Intensities all together.  Since the players weren't that accustomed to using Karma to boost their rolls, I required practically Green results for most of the events that transpired and only Yellow and Red results when things were very dramatically appropriate.  Interestingly, there were many times the dice precisely hit the needed rolls ("You need a 66..." "I rolled a... sixty... six!"  Or "This is hard, so you need a 89" "I rolled a... eight... nine.. is that eighty nine or ninty eight?") which added so much more fun to the game too.  Funny how dice can be like that, eh?

Some great resources I used online for this game include these websites which provided the stats for some characters I needed.
http://www.classicmarvelforever.com/cast_list/heroes.htm
http://www.technohol.com/

I'm already excited for next week as the game may have three more players joining the fun!  Excelsior!

Soundtrack Suggestion: The Game of Thrones - Ramin Djawadi

The Game of Thrones Official Soundtrack

Composed by Ramin Djawadi

Considering the immense popularity of the Game of Thrones television series to the geek community, you'd be surprised that there are gamers out there who have not yet considered snatching a copy of this soundtrack to enhance their games.

While it is pretty much a no-brainer to consider using the soundtrack to musically enrich your table top games based on the books by George R. R. Martin, you can avoid the more theme-song tracks and still have a usable harmonic accompaniment that can work with any  game that has a larger-than-life feel and presence.

The songs tend to flow more on the orchestral side of things, with lovely strings mingling with horns and accompanying a heavy drum beat.  Interestingly, however, the soundtrack maintains a distinct character of its own and successfully avoids sounding like a variation of Hans Zimmer's approach to the soundtrack of Lord of the Rings.  The pieces are full of character and subtle tones, suggesting multi-faceted emotions hidden between the swirls of harmony.  At times, the music does sound mechanically (rather than organically orchestral) generated but surprisingly this does not reach a point that it distracts the listener.  Instead, the songs nicely have a chameleon-like quality to them that one can use them to enhance modern, fantasy, science fiction or post apocalyptic themed games with relative ease.



All in all, while clocking a short one hour and seven minutes, the soundtrack is filled with potentially useful tracks for any game where players face massive odds or greatly frightening threats.

Game of Thrones track suggestions
WTF moment: The Assassin's Dagger (track 15), Kill Them All (track 22), King of the North (track 26)
Introspective/calm moment: A Raven from King's Landing (track 07), Things I Do for Love (track 09), A Golden Crown (track 10), Fire and Blood (track 28)
Tense/mystery moment: North of the Wall (track 02), The Wall (track 08), Winter Is Coming (track 11), A Bird Without Feathers (track 12), Await the King's Justice (track 13), The Pointy End (track 23), Victory Does Not Make Us Conquerors (track 24)
Combat music: To Vaes Dothrak (track 16), Jon's Honor (track 17), Small Pack of Wolves (track 20)
Hopeful moment: Main Title (track 01), The Kingsroad (track 04), The King's Arrival (track 05)
Drama/sad moment: Goodbye Brother (track 03), Love In The Eyes (track 06), You'll Be Queen One Day (track 14), Black of Hair (track 18), You Win or You Die (track 19), Game of Thrones (track 21), When the Sun Rises in the West (track 25), The Night's Watch (track 27), Finale (track 29)

Best Used In: Any game where heroes stand against nearly impossible odds, or face off against challenges that would overwhelm any lesser man.  The music enhances epic drama and the feelings of grandeur and royalty.  The soundtrack is a must for any period game, but can be used by creative storytellers for practically any genre.

Game Idea: Untold Monster Stories

by Mike Jones

Game Idea:  Untold Monster Stories
System: Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder
by Tobie Abad
March 2012


Once upon a time, there was a Princess who lived in a castle at the foot of a mountain.  The King was a wise old man who sought to find a suitable husband to claim and care for his daughter.   She was a beautiful woman, you see.  Her hair was as bright as golden thread and her eyes the sparkling gleam of emerald orbs.  And when she sang, her voice reached across the landscape and brought the birds to dance and the wolves to sing.


The man who the King chose was a well-fed man with muscles that seemed hard as steel.  His chin was square and his eyes sharp.  His skill with the bow was second only to his reach with the blade.  He was a raven haired warrior of great strength.


When the King brought his daughter to us, I was under the impression that she was to bid us farewell before she left for her wedding.  It was in their culture, you see, to send away their children to live amongst other families.  To spread their progeny among total strangers that were bound only by words and promises.  My daughters... your sisters... kept her company.  They fed her and played with her.  They kept her warm with their slender bodies.  They sang with her when she raised her voice to the sky.


The husband stole into our home in the middle of the night.  With a blade forged by foreign kings, he beheaded my daughters... your sisters... before either could call out for mercy.  He then crept into your father's chambers and impaled his wicked steel through his century old heart.  I was out hunting when the wicked man struck you see.  Hunting to feed you and make you strong.   Elk are meaty this time of the year, my son.


And now, you are ready.  Though years have passed and your sisters and father are long gone - their skulls, I have learned have been hollowed out, polished, and set on display above the proud evil young king.  In the last five years I have groomed you, fed you, trained you, to use every claw, every fang, to raise each wing, to swing strong your tail, and I pray to our gods far older than the gods of men, that you will find the courage in your heart and the fire in your breath to bring justice to our forsaken clan.

by fireflythegreat

Fly, my son.  
Fly and avenge us.


Did I read that right?  In this game, you play a monster?
Yes.  And I know what some of you are already thinking... Dungeons and Dragons/Pathfinder has already made rules on how to play monsters as player characters.  You can even have class levels for certain monsters to represent advancement.  


But no, that's not what I am suggesting here.  Instead, I am suggesting that you and your group run games that absolutely embrace the monster side of things.   Ignore class levels and experience points.  Ignore the deities and magical items that were originally provided in the main books for players who want to play the human or demi-human of their choice.  Instead, create a whole new world for them to explore, where dragons have their own religion and culture that humans have never truly understood.


What do you mean no classes?  No experience points?
Rather than focus on how the game has been approached before, explore instead the idea of playing the monsters of the world with everything viewed from their very own unique perspective.  Perhaps, as I wrote in the sample story above, dragons do have a concept of human culture and practices - but who is to say that how they interpret human actions makes the same sense from their perspective?  And likewise, maybe just like playfully friendly dogs, dragons imprison princesses and horde gold not out of spite, but out of the mistaken belief that is what humans enjoy?  


By doing away with experience points and levels as well, you can focus instead on the inner drama of survival and monstrous cultural differences.  Imagine a game session devoted to your dragon learning to use his breath weapon for the first time!   Or explore the idea of awakening one evening from your lair to learn two warring humanoid races have unfortunately chosen your territory as the location of their bloody campaign.  


"Levelling up" in this game has very little to do with killing enough creatures to gather experience points and more to do with surviving long enough to actually grow older.  And yes, your "monster manual" in this game is now the players guide with all the classes, magical items, and spells for your Dungeon Master to use at his disposal.


Why would this be fun?
Because telling stories from another perspective can always be fun.   By visiting the other side of things, you get a chance to reexamine priorities and virtues you once explored in a game as a human or demi-human, and even challenge yourself to explore the moral limits of one's actions while using in a different perspective.   

by Larry Elmore

The Dungeon Master can also have fun throwing at the players favorite characters and villains that were once explored in a game.  Someone with fond memories of the poor murdered  Cleric Aleena who was introduced way back during the Basic Set of Dungeons and Dragons might be excited to have a chance to interact with her once more on the monster side of things.  A fan of the Forgotten Realms comic books of Jeff Grubb and Rags Morales might love to meet Priam Agrivar and the rest of the crew of the Realms Master.  And who is to say monsters don't have their own epic moments and histories that mankind has never truly been aware of?


So take a taste of the "wild side" and try having a campaign fully devoted to playing the monsters.  You might be surprised at the kinds of challenges and trials a monster has to face just to get some peace and quiet in his darned subterranean home.  I mean, think about it:  Why the heck are all these two-legged mammals always trying to scavenge my home for shiny things anyway?  How many of them do I have to eat before they get the message they are not welcome?