Brian Rogers (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
subplotkudzu) wrote2006-09-04 07:40 am
subplotkudzu) wrote2006-09-04 07:40 am
Entry tags:
The Second Prospectus
I branched out a little in this one, producing some very off beat campaign ideas but obviously didn't do a good enough job explaining them, which combined with the players gravitation to GM directed games with questions of "it sounds...interesting, but what would we do?"
I also did some, er, campaigning. I explained to one player that the Trek game was really based on the SF game I had toyed with a few years back that she had been really enthused about, and this time she gave a very similar description a much higher rating, which ultimately put it over the top.
The Russia Campaign Book 2: Pilgrimage for D&D (A2, S3, K3, J4 = 12)
Maksyn's worst winter in a generation is finally ending. Clues that Reuvin pulled from discovered texts indicate answers to the old Boyar's madness might be found in Constantinople. How hard can it be to reach the center of Eastern Orthodoxy, evade the besieging Turks, find what you need in the city's literally Byzantine bureaucracy, avoid the war and return to solve the mysteries beneath this unassuming Russian village?
An option for the Russia Campaign, this one leads you headlong into the defining war of the 15th century. Constantinople is still a city of vast knowledge and impressive magic. Heading there might make the resolution of the Apocalypse Tapestry easier. All you have to do is survive. Obviously, part of our ongoing D&D campaign.
The Russia Campaign Book 2: Descent for D&D (A2, S4, K3, J3 = 12)
Maksyn's worst winter in a generation is finally ending. Months of practice and strange new companions make opening the door in the seashell tower a possibility. The Reptoids have fled below, into the depths that drove the old Boyar mad and inspired the images on the Apocalypse Tapestry. Dare you follow? Dare you not? What waits below is known only to God and the Kindly Old Woman of the Forest, and neither reveals much.
This is the second of the two Russia options, which has you plunge directly into the caverns below the mines below the church below the Mad Boyar's basement. There are serious threats below, but you have stout hearts, strong limbs, nimble fingers and unshakeable faith. What's the worst that could happen? Again, this is our ongoing D&D setting.
Star Trek: Old Life, Old Civilizations for ST:RPG (A2, S4, K3, J3 =12)
The USS Carter, a Miranda class science vessel, navigates the ancient stars of the Alpha Quadrant, seeking out survivors of Earth's centuries old slowboats, exploring the ruins of vanished races and contacting new cultures that live amongst these shadows out of time. Archaeologists & explorers, diplomats & defenders, the they learn the galaxy's history so that the newborn Federation need not be doomed to repeat it.
Very early Trek, concurrent with Captain Pike on the Enterprise, with 4 main crew, a small secondary cast and a lot of red-shirted extras dealing with archeology and diplomacy in space. Each session is a discreet story tying into a short season, and combines both SF and Space Opera elements using the ST:RPG. If this is a success, we may return to it.
He Sang Real for Over the Edge(A3, S1, K1, J4 = 9)
The Green Nights are a hard rocking bar band with members from across the country staying one step ahead of their personal pasts. Life can get strange on that road; stuff happens that button-down men can't understand. You do the best you can, making a lot of music, doing a little good and grabbing some fun along the way. So set up the instruments, down the complimentary beer and get ready to rock.
It's the Monkees meets the Fugitive, as conceived and written by Tim Powers. Sure, it's strange, but it's a Tim Powers novel. It's *supposed* to be strange. The game engine is Over the Edge (which is both dirt simple and wonderfully weird), and it's a complete story in one arc.
Sterling's Game for FUDGE (A1, S2, K1, J3 = 7)
In the year 2009 the full promise of electronic connectivity & virtual reality are coming true for the EU. Pressure is building for England to finally abandon its beloved pound and buy into the Euro. That leaves a very small window for cunning group of thieves and con men to make a fortune in transition. Four thieves, nine figures, one sterling opportunity. Don't believe them when they say it can't be done.
Here's a con game inspired by The Sting, Oceans 11 and Entrapment. It's a complete story in one arc, starting with recruiting the team and ending with each getting either 30 million pounds or 30 to life. The game engine hasn't been built - FUDGE with cyber-tech, netrunning and Dramatic Editing included.
Voices in the Twilight for Godlike (A1, S2, K1, J3 = 7)
World War III wasn't so much a nuclear annihilation as it was a land slog in Eastern Europe with some radiation and bio-chem weapons. The reality is that you're cut off behind enemy lines in Poland and the USA has just decided to exit the war. The unreality is that something has happened to you...you can hear the future, see thoughts and taste the truth. For people who can move things without touch, is getting home really out of reach?
The "Twilight 2000/Psi-world crossover" idea I've played with for several years. While the setting might seem grim, I'll be using the slightly pulpier Godlike engine rather than T2K's bloody realism and the objectives are hopeful: can you get home, and how can your strange new gifts rebuild a shattered world? There is a potential sequel to this one.
This round of voting showed one of the weaknesses in my point system, in that three of the choices were tied with the same voting numbers. This means I got to pick my favorite of the three, but I still wish for a clearer mandate from the players. This might not be possible with such a small pool.
In any event, this one game a few new observations. The gratifying one is that Jason just likes every idea I put forward. The second is that by querying the players I can tailor ideas that didn't sell last time into ones that do sell, illustrated by the shift from 'the First generation' to 'Old Lives, Old Civilizations'. The third is that I can't trust that my players are going to share my pointless eccentric knowledge, as 3 of the 4 didn't catch the Arthurian Myth references in 'He Sang Real' - was trying to shroud it a little so there'd be some unfolding mystery in the setting, but in the pre Da Vinci Code days I was being a little too obscure.
The continuing observation is that the players again gravitated strongly to the GM-directed games: both of the D&Ds did well, and ST is very clearly GM directed, with either the problem planet of the week or orders from Starfleet. I broke in favor of ST and am very glad I did.
Trek was a shock for the players because while it was GM directed in what the problem was, it was entirely player directed in how to solve it. They had vast resources at their disposal, but no one to immediately turn to and no excuse to run away: out on the frontier, they were the Federation. The players really enjoyed the game, but ended each session feeling a wee bit wrung out.
Still, this experience left me thinking that if I were to give them a directed goal, I might be able to get them to take control of how to get there, freeing up some of the GM directed tendencies. And on to Prospectus 3.
I also did some, er, campaigning. I explained to one player that the Trek game was really based on the SF game I had toyed with a few years back that she had been really enthused about, and this time she gave a very similar description a much higher rating, which ultimately put it over the top.
The Russia Campaign Book 2: Pilgrimage for D&D (A2, S3, K3, J4 = 12)
Maksyn's worst winter in a generation is finally ending. Clues that Reuvin pulled from discovered texts indicate answers to the old Boyar's madness might be found in Constantinople. How hard can it be to reach the center of Eastern Orthodoxy, evade the besieging Turks, find what you need in the city's literally Byzantine bureaucracy, avoid the war and return to solve the mysteries beneath this unassuming Russian village?
An option for the Russia Campaign, this one leads you headlong into the defining war of the 15th century. Constantinople is still a city of vast knowledge and impressive magic. Heading there might make the resolution of the Apocalypse Tapestry easier. All you have to do is survive. Obviously, part of our ongoing D&D campaign.
The Russia Campaign Book 2: Descent for D&D (A2, S4, K3, J3 = 12)
Maksyn's worst winter in a generation is finally ending. Months of practice and strange new companions make opening the door in the seashell tower a possibility. The Reptoids have fled below, into the depths that drove the old Boyar mad and inspired the images on the Apocalypse Tapestry. Dare you follow? Dare you not? What waits below is known only to God and the Kindly Old Woman of the Forest, and neither reveals much.
This is the second of the two Russia options, which has you plunge directly into the caverns below the mines below the church below the Mad Boyar's basement. There are serious threats below, but you have stout hearts, strong limbs, nimble fingers and unshakeable faith. What's the worst that could happen? Again, this is our ongoing D&D setting.
Star Trek: Old Life, Old Civilizations for ST:RPG (A2, S4, K3, J3 =12)
The USS Carter, a Miranda class science vessel, navigates the ancient stars of the Alpha Quadrant, seeking out survivors of Earth's centuries old slowboats, exploring the ruins of vanished races and contacting new cultures that live amongst these shadows out of time. Archaeologists & explorers, diplomats & defenders, the they learn the galaxy's history so that the newborn Federation need not be doomed to repeat it.
Very early Trek, concurrent with Captain Pike on the Enterprise, with 4 main crew, a small secondary cast and a lot of red-shirted extras dealing with archeology and diplomacy in space. Each session is a discreet story tying into a short season, and combines both SF and Space Opera elements using the ST:RPG. If this is a success, we may return to it.
He Sang Real for Over the Edge(A3, S1, K1, J4 = 9)
The Green Nights are a hard rocking bar band with members from across the country staying one step ahead of their personal pasts. Life can get strange on that road; stuff happens that button-down men can't understand. You do the best you can, making a lot of music, doing a little good and grabbing some fun along the way. So set up the instruments, down the complimentary beer and get ready to rock.
It's the Monkees meets the Fugitive, as conceived and written by Tim Powers. Sure, it's strange, but it's a Tim Powers novel. It's *supposed* to be strange. The game engine is Over the Edge (which is both dirt simple and wonderfully weird), and it's a complete story in one arc.
Sterling's Game for FUDGE (A1, S2, K1, J3 = 7)
In the year 2009 the full promise of electronic connectivity & virtual reality are coming true for the EU. Pressure is building for England to finally abandon its beloved pound and buy into the Euro. That leaves a very small window for cunning group of thieves and con men to make a fortune in transition. Four thieves, nine figures, one sterling opportunity. Don't believe them when they say it can't be done.
Here's a con game inspired by The Sting, Oceans 11 and Entrapment. It's a complete story in one arc, starting with recruiting the team and ending with each getting either 30 million pounds or 30 to life. The game engine hasn't been built - FUDGE with cyber-tech, netrunning and Dramatic Editing included.
Voices in the Twilight for Godlike (A1, S2, K1, J3 = 7)
World War III wasn't so much a nuclear annihilation as it was a land slog in Eastern Europe with some radiation and bio-chem weapons. The reality is that you're cut off behind enemy lines in Poland and the USA has just decided to exit the war. The unreality is that something has happened to you...you can hear the future, see thoughts and taste the truth. For people who can move things without touch, is getting home really out of reach?
The "Twilight 2000/Psi-world crossover" idea I've played with for several years. While the setting might seem grim, I'll be using the slightly pulpier Godlike engine rather than T2K's bloody realism and the objectives are hopeful: can you get home, and how can your strange new gifts rebuild a shattered world? There is a potential sequel to this one.
This round of voting showed one of the weaknesses in my point system, in that three of the choices were tied with the same voting numbers. This means I got to pick my favorite of the three, but I still wish for a clearer mandate from the players. This might not be possible with such a small pool.
In any event, this one game a few new observations. The gratifying one is that Jason just likes every idea I put forward. The second is that by querying the players I can tailor ideas that didn't sell last time into ones that do sell, illustrated by the shift from 'the First generation' to 'Old Lives, Old Civilizations'. The third is that I can't trust that my players are going to share my pointless eccentric knowledge, as 3 of the 4 didn't catch the Arthurian Myth references in 'He Sang Real' - was trying to shroud it a little so there'd be some unfolding mystery in the setting, but in the pre Da Vinci Code days I was being a little too obscure.
The continuing observation is that the players again gravitated strongly to the GM-directed games: both of the D&Ds did well, and ST is very clearly GM directed, with either the problem planet of the week or orders from Starfleet. I broke in favor of ST and am very glad I did.
Trek was a shock for the players because while it was GM directed in what the problem was, it was entirely player directed in how to solve it. They had vast resources at their disposal, but no one to immediately turn to and no excuse to run away: out on the frontier, they were the Federation. The players really enjoyed the game, but ended each session feeling a wee bit wrung out.
Still, this experience left me thinking that if I were to give them a directed goal, I might be able to get them to take control of how to get there, freeing up some of the GM directed tendencies. And on to Prospectus 3.
no subject
This has actually been a minor bug with the 1001NYN game. You and I have discussed how 'Large' Marge is the central hero of my Feng Shui setting (she's the only one who's been in every arc, and nearly every session), and I have always figured that she's be one who somehow brings down the 2056 regime: not a great stretch given that her stated character motivation is to put her technical skills to use against the Buro. So I keep putting things in the game that you could use as tools towards that goal, and your response is "Neat! What do you want me to do with it?"
This sometimes leaves me feeling that I'm running half your character by handling her strategies while you engage in tactics. In at least one of the teaser scenes I dropped you into the middle of one of Marge's strategic moves (infiltrating the Buro's contemporary base to install the wiretap) and at the end of the scene you admitted that it had never occurred to you that Marge could even attempt that.
I know that in Feng Shui at least you have a good grasp of the world since you own the core rulebook and have read some of the supplements, and I know that by this point you have a good idea of what Marge can accomplish so I have been wondering what her plans are. Your admission that you consider strategic planning to be tresspassing explains a lot about why you're waiting for me to tell you what Marge has figured out about how to take the Buro down so you can do it.
The question is whether you're happy with this GM driven arrangement or would like to try to do more planning on Marge's part?
no subject
Though speaking of that campaign, if I recall correctly, when we last left it we were busy FUBARing our mission ... the only idea I have for *that* is to blow out the back wall of the place with a satchel charge, which should at least make it easier for our team to get out of the building. I'm not entirely sure where we left the larger plot threads, either. E-mail me about it?
no subject
It's also clear that when Brian said "they're wheeling in light stanchions" we players thought one thing (portable stage lights on posts) while he meant something else (construction-site light towers with their own generators). Clarity on that one critical piece of information would have seen us develop a different plan entirely. Or, at least, I would not have put forward the plan that is currently exploding in our faces.
no subject
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If we do pick up right where we left off, I have a plan B. Plan B involves blowing for fortune dice and a lot of automatic gunfire to wipe out the four light stanchions. That would put us (kind of) back into Plan A: everyone panicking in the dark and us moving with night vision... OTOH, taking off a side of the building with explosives would certainly distract the guards from us! ;-)
no subject
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As for the other, I know I gave you guys clues that you decided not to follow up on (the lighting equipment that I hinted broadly about and Marge didn't approach, the fact that the thugs using the building were making sure they didn't turn up on the radar so they were limiting their power draw and so on). Sometimes even the heroes miss stuff and end up in tight spots.
Karen has already told me that the doc at your side is going to veto plan B, BTW. The goal is to get the girl out with the minimum possible risk. Pulling your pistol and firing off a dozen shots to black out the room when there are at least a dozen semi-trained hoods with uzis and a couple hundred drunk gang members makes the environment too uncontrolled for that to be a viable risk. She's well used to medical emergencies where the original operating plan is no longer viable due to an undiagnosed problem, and you have to change tactics to save the patient.
Personally, I think she's right - accept the fact that this plan has gone off the rails and don't try to force it back on. The end of session reveal of why the plan won't work is classic police show. Besides, Karen taking an active roll in pulling you back from a failed plan will give her more street cred in the setting and help cement the doc's position in the group. after that first session Karen could use some of that, since she felt a little sidelined by not being in on the mystery.
no subject
BTW, maybe somebody should tell Karen to get on LJ ...
no subject
Karen has already told me that the doc at your side is going to veto plan B, BTW. The goal is to get the girl out with the minimum possible risk. Pulling your pistol and firing off a dozen shots to black out the room when there are at least a dozen semi-trained hoods with uzis and a couple hundred drunk gang members makes the environment too uncontrolled for that to be a viable risk.
...Now there's an interesting point of reflection. We can see just how far Hoa's thinking has been altered by his experiences of the past couple years that "Plan B" seems rational to him. It probably wouldn't have back at the start of the game. Of course, at the start of the game he wasn't engaged in illegal interstate police work under the orders of a shadowy government group he knows will off people who cross them. If Feng Shui had SAN, Hoa's would probably be down in the 30s - 40s right now.
no subject
I also have no problem discussing things between games (or immediately after them - just before is rough from an immediate planning perspective) - that's usually when strategic planning occurs. Ideally the players will develop a strategic objective in game and in character, do the strategy in the long span between games and then handle the tactics in game and in character.
If there's more than one player angling for the objective, it's good that all the PCs involved give their buy in, and it can lead to a meaty role playing scene. The individual tactics are often the focus points of sessions. That leaves the strategies as things that can be pulled out, discussed, analyzed, tinkered with and so on in the month long lags between sessions. Plus, that sort of thing gives the GM time to develop scenarios based on the strategies.
As for flaking out, glad we didn't make you Captain of the Carter?
no subject
*Shudder*
Nonetheless, I thought about where Marge's knowledge of the enemy's plans was at last night, and the Black Company's assets as far as I know them, and I can see her arguing strenuously that they *must* act to stop the Architects from building that thing through the Netherworld, preferably by hitting it at both ends if they can. I don't think she knows about critical shifts yet, so that would seem like a plan to her.
And it would include seeking allies in the Netherworld: she knows there's at least one whole society there, and the Architects aren't likely to leave them alone once they've controlled the whole span of time, are they? And if the access point they control isn't helpful, they can use the gate.
Of course, there's the whole getting the other characters involved problem, but I'm sure we can come up with something. As I see it, there's a lot that could be done with regard to planning and executing the action(s).