Moments in Gaming

-When a player role-played so well he got three mercenaries to work for him and provide him shelter, food, and equipment.

-When the Star Wars bounty hunter forced us to cut the adventure short because his quarry was dead after two well-placed blaster shots.

-When we tied the warrior to a ballista bolt and fired him at an enemy fortress.

-The battle between a band of mercs (above) and the Assassin's Guild after one player secretly tried to kill the other player. But the target had a team of warriors, and the attacker had around seven assassins.

-When the players assaulted an underground gnoll base and discovered that lit oil, does, in fact, burn things. However, when you light 6x6 underground passages on fire, it's hard to get out.

Just feeling a bit nostalgic today. Thinking about past adventures and looking forward to new ones.

GURPS is Too Complicated

Oh, man. I need to do some simplification.

Poll Response 5

75% of you said brick and mortar stores were the best place to buy RPGs. The other 25% said Amazon. My position is that brick-and-mortar is best if you can find a gaming store. I cannot.  Therefore, my second choice would be Amazon.  I think that was the most exciting post I've ever written.

Spec Ops Mission 8-28-11

Most of the game took place right here, in the alleyway.
Thanks, Google Maps!

So yesterday was the kickoff of our new Special Ops campaign. The players were independent agents that were hired (under the radar) by a higher-up in the army, who knew one of the players from his history with the Green Berets.


WARNING! Cliche plot ahead!


The team was to capture a shady arms dealer who was in Madrid currently. What followed would be described as a disaster in the real world, but as awesome in a game.  Madrid's citizenry seeing gunfire and subsequently running and screaming until the police were alerted. The police then chasing the agents. The agents chasing Ian Riage (the arms dealer) and his guards. The guards trying desperately to escape, hindered by the fact that Madrid streets are small, their car was hitting 120 mph, and that Riage was gravely injured. Mayhem. But extremely fun mayhem.

Level Up Your GURPS Characters

1. Estimate how many enemies they have defeated that were more powerful.

2. Multiply by four.

3.Estimate how many were less powerful.

4. Add to total without multiplication.

5. How much treasure have they (currently)? Calculate in est. worth. Divide by number of game sessions played. 

6. Add sums together.

10-100 First Level

101-200 Second Level

201-300 Third Level

...and so on...

Let's say Bill the Fighter has defeated 25 orc warlords and 6 ogres. (31 x 4 = 124) But Bill has also defeated 12 kobolds and 6 unarmed Halflings. (18) Bill has a full set of leather armor, a shortsword, and 6 copper coins, and 29 gold coins.  (200 + 300 + 6 + 29 = 535) Bill's played in seven games. (535 divided by 7 = 76)

124 + 18 + 76 = 218

Bill the Third-Level Fighter

GM Badges

Strange Magic has a post with GM Badges that describe one's GM'ing style. So, I thought I'd give it a go, and on that note, here are my badges.

Folly's Badges

Tactics-Very Important. Charging into battle without thought and strategy gets you killed.


Story-I do my best to tell an interesting story (which the PCs usually change)


Player vs Player-One of my players is plotting to take out another player right now.


Mirror- A week ago someone said, "It'd be awesome to fight a full-on dragon". This week the PCs fought a Blue Dragon.


GM is In Charge- Uh-huh.


Improvisation-I have a map and stats for NPCs. Everything else is improv.


"Beer-and-Pretzels"- We don't have serious games. I have spent half a game session watching players knocking on villager's doors and harassing them.


Tinkering-You know what? Sometimes, there's too many rules. Sometimes, I want to swing a sword without checking for encumbrandce, speed of swing, sword strength, chance of breakage, etc., etc.

I'm Too Ambitious

I've been thinking about new games and new campaigns, and I've made a list of things I'd like to try.

GM'ing a GURPS Special Ops/Spy style game

GM'ing an Alien Invasion game.

Pathfinder-as a player
Continuing my current fantasy game

Suggestions?

GURPS Session August 11 '11

The players finished the first level of my dungeon. The game lasted about an hour and a half, and was described as "hard". Well, I warned them! (Evil GM laugh) Halfway through the players had found crossbows in an armory. They were subsequently charged by three bugbears. The first received a bolt to the chest. The second received a bolt to the chest. The third ran in terror. He then received a bolt to the back. Oh well. Bugbears were made to be defeated.

My Victims...I Mean, My Players

So I've created HeroMachine versions of the players that will be braving my dungeon. And this dungeon? This is my most difficult dungeon yet. About 60 rooms, spread apart four levels, filled with traps and monsters and treasure to be won. A TPK may be scored today. Here are my victims, Elfina the Half-Elf Ranger and Canin the Protector.

The Alien Invaders Have Arrived!

Here are stats for an alien trooper in my new campaign. The Valis have an average ST of 18 and an average HT of 16-other stats are equal to humans.


Valis Soldier
ST-20[+20] HP-20

DX-12[+40] WILL-13
IQ-13[+60] PER-13
HT-18[+20] FP-18
Basic Lift 80 Damage: thr 2d-1/sw 3d+2
Basic Speed 7.5 Basic Move 7.5
Dodge 10 DR 1 SM +1


Languages
Valisian(Native)

Advantages and Perks
Acute Hearing 10 [20], Ambidexterity [5], Claws (Sharp) [5], Constriction Attack [15], DR 1 [5] Innate Attack (Thrown Plasma Bolt) 5d burn Range 40 ft, Armor Divisor 2, Cyclic (1 sec), Explosion, Inaccurate 1


Disadvantages and Quirks
Disturbing Voice [10], Frightens Animals [10], Monstrous [20]

Skills
Artllery (Guided Missile) 15, Beam Weapons (Pistol) 15, Beam Weapons (Rifle) 16, Spacer 14, Comm Operation 14, Sensor Operation 14, Explosives (Demolition) 14, Gunner (Machine Gun) 14, Gunner (Cannon) 15, Gunner (Beam) 15, Innate Attack (Plasma Bolt) 16, Liquid Projector (Flamethrower) 13, Melee Weapon (Knife) 14, Navigation (Space), Piloting (High-Performance Spacecraft) 14, Piloting (LIght Airplane) 15, Soldier 15

Equipment

Plasma Grenades (3) 6dx4 burn ex-Weight 1-Fuse 2
Laser Rifle 5d(2) burn-Acc 12+2-Range 700/2,100-Weight 10/neg.-RoF 10-Shots 150(3)
Under-Barrel Grenade Launcher-4d(10) cr ex [2d]-Acc +2-Range 150/440-Weight 3.5-RoF 1-Shots 1(2)
Blaster Pistol-3d(5) burn-Acc+5-Range 300/900-Weight 1/neg.-RoF 3-Shots 200(3)
Assault Boots-feet-DR 12/6-Weight 3
Ballistic Vest-torso-8/2-400cc-Weight 2
Belt
Shoulder Strap
Belt Holster
Blastgas Cartridge-Weight neg.-Shots 200
Solar Battery-Weight neg.-Shots 150
Concussion Grenades(3) 6d cr ex-Weight 1-Fuse 4

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 14-Psi Released!

Steve Jackson Games has released a new Dungeon Fantasy supplement, Psi.
Unlike Loadouts, this actually looks pretty cool!

The site says...


When you're roaming through a dungeon and you meet something elemental, transcendental, or hell-bental on destruction . . . it's time to get mental!


The PDF features 24 new psi abilities, a new profession (mentalist), mental power-ups (whatever those are), mind-powered monsters, and gear especially for psi characters. I won't buy it, but I think it looks alright.

New Campaign

So I'm thinking about a new GURPS campaign. I was watching a teaser for the new Falling Skies show on TNT, and I like the premise of guerrilla warfare against a technologically superior alien race. And of course I thought about that type of story in an RPG. I could pick up GURPS Ultra-Tech for the aliens' equipment. However, one thing holding me back from a modern campaign is the matter of transportation and the huge amount of available places to go (the entire world) The maps would need either to be immense in size or I would need to somehow limit the players' transportation. And then an epiphany was had. Google Maps! Maps for the entire world! In addition, there is Street View, so players can see exactly what the GM describes. So I'll continue my current campaign, but hopefully I can either gain some new players or clear it with my current ones.

Mini-Sessions

Lately I've been playing "mini-sessions" in RPGs. A game will last around forty-five minutes. It seems this works well, as we can then play almost daily. A minimum amount of preparation, and a short game. Less game time, but a game more often. So, blogosphere, what do you think? Anyone out there do this?

GURPS Session July 30 '11

Characters

Canin the Protector
Frederick the Archer
Smith the Dwarven Warrior
Bo'ul the Martial Artist
Corean the Swordsman

Since I finished Eadoria yesterday, I let the players loose in the city. It's been fully explored, and actually worked well in the game. Most of the sesssion was spent shopping, talking to NPC's (quite a lot of roleplaying-I think I ran out of accents) and harassing the city guards. Around the end of the game, the characters split up. While Canin was walking down the street, he saw a thief sprint out of a tailor's shop. Of course, being the Boy Scout he is, he ran after the thief. What followed was an extremely cool and unplanned parkour chase across the Eadorian rooftops. The thief eventually slipped and hung from the edge of a building. Before Canin could catch up, he fell to the alleyway below. The city checks weapons when non-citizens enter and returns them the next day, so Canin was unarmed. However, he has Judo skill. A few throws later, the thief was unconscious, the city guards were rushing in, and the tailor was enthusiastically thanking Canin. So, good session, but I think next time I'll have an adventure ready in addition to the normal city activities, so I can begin that once Eadoria starts to lose its luster.

The City of Eadoria!

Here are pics of my 9-page map of Eadoria. Yeah, they're pretty roughly drawn, but I've never made a map this size before. So I'd say for a beginner, I did alright. Open the pics in a new window to get a glimpse of my terrible photography skills.

A City Without An Adventure

The maps and NPCs for the city of Eadoria are almost done. (Pictures soon) I'm pretty satisfied with the results. However, I don't really have an adventure in the city planned. The players have stated they'd like to just mess around in the city for a while, as it's completely new to them. Is this a bad idea? Without planned encounters, will the session lack excitement and fun? Will the players hate me? Will I never GM again out of shame? If so, what is a good adventure or adventure idea to take place in a large city?

City-Building 101

A city called Eadoria has been a part of many of my recent adventures. However, the players have never actually been to the city. I've spent much of the day mapping out Eadoria, so the next game can take place there. The city will be split into six districts- Government, Crafting, Pleasure, Academic, Theatre, and Slum. (Chaotic Shiny helps a lot) I'll post maps soon.

I Just Had An Idea, Part 2

A while ago, I wrote a post about an alternate way to handle dodging in GURPS. Although I'm a little late with the answer, I have one now. I used the new rule in last night's game, and it worked beautifully. It added an element of unpredictability to combat I really enjoyed. I encourage other gamers to try this, as I found it to work wonderfully.

GURPS Session July 24 '11

Characters

Frederick the Archer
Smith the Dwarven Warrior
Corean the Swordsman
Canin the Protector
Bo'ul the Martial Artist

So, last night was a game night. The band of mercenaries were drafted into service by the government of Eadoria, the city-state the characters reside in (Drafted is the preferred term, forced into service is more accurate) The anarchist group known as the Militia had overtaken an abandoned Eadorian fortress atop a mountain far from the city. The Eadorian army couldn't make it up the mountain without being cut down by Militia forces. However, the characters specialize in the impossible. They ended up tying Canin to a ballista bolt and firing at the fortress. Once Canin took out some of the catapults that stopped Eadorian troops from assaulting the Militia, he signaled for the rest of the mercenaries and a small Eadorian strike force to attack the fortress. The mission was successful, and because of its exceptionally difficult nature, the characters were handsomely rewarded.

GURPS Character Of the Day #4

Cogadh the Warlock-277 pts

ST-13[+30] HP-13
DX-12[+40] WILL-13
IQ-13[+60] PER-13
HT-12[+20] FP-12
Basic Lift 34 Damage: thr 1d/sw 2d-1
Basic Speed 6 Basic Move 6
Dodge 9 DR 0


Languages
Common(Native)
Orcish(Accented)[4]
Elvish(Accented)[4]


Advantages and Perks
Combat Reflexes [15], Enhanced Parry [10], Fearlessness 5 [10], Magery 2 [20], Penetrating Voice [1]

Disadvantages and Quirks
Callous [5], Intolerance (Halflings) [5],

Skills
Interrogation 15 [8], Intimidation 15 [8], Leadership 15 [8], Broadsword 14 [8], Two-Handed Axe/Mace 15 [12], Parry Missile Weapons 15 [16], Riding 16 [16],

Techniques
Retain Weapon (Broadsword) 16 [3], Retain Weapon (Two-Handed Axe/Mace) 16 [2]

Magic
Ignite Fire, Shape Fire, Create Fire, Fireball, Detect Magic, Foolishness, Daze, Sleep


Equipment
Cloth Tunic-torso, groin-DR 0-20cc
Steel Corselet-torso, groin-DR 6-1,300cc
Plate Legs-legs-DR 6-1,100cc
Plate Arms-DR 6-arms-1000cc
Heavy Gauntlets-DR 5-hands-250cc
Sollerets-feet-DR 4-feet-150cc
Greathelm-skull, face, neck-DR 7-340cc
Heavy Cloak-DB 2-DR 1-HP 5-50cc
Broadsword-sw+1 cr/thr +1 cr-Reach 1-Parry 0-500cc
Great Axe-sw +3 cut- Reach 1,2-Parry 0U-100cc