Yesterday was the inaugural weekly (hopefully!) game day. The idea behind it is to have a gathering day for gaming that can be worked into peoples' schedules so that they can come and play some games on a weekly basis. Roleplaying, card, board, even video games are all on the table. One shot RPG one week, a Halo tournament the next. All depends on who joins and what people are in the mood for.
On Monday, 7/22/2013, there were three attendees: Griff, Akulas, and Weird Dave. We played only a single game, though it was a fun one - AEG's Smash-Up. The tagline on the game is "The Shufflebuilding Game of Total Awesomeness!" and I must say it held up to its promise. Each player takes two faction decks, consisting of 20 cards each and representative of an "awesome geeky" faction. Pirates, aliens, ninjas, tricksters, wizards, robots, dinosaurs, and zombies are the options. You shuffle your two faction decks together and being playing, which consists of playing minions and action cards to control one or more bases out on the table. You earn points by having minions on any given base at the time that the base reaches its threshold.
The rules are simple, gameplay is fast, and the art is evocative. There were there of us so only two factions didn't get played (zombies and wizards). All of the factions seem to be balanced against each other, which was nice, but they did lend themselves towards certain strategies. Aliens tended to return cards to players' hands, pirates shuffled minions around, tricksters made it difficult to play other minions, dinosaurs are just rampaging beasts, and robots make other robots. It was very fun and had quite a few replayable options given its very nature. And oh yes, there's an expansion! Which I'll be picking up soon.
Definitely would play this again.
After Smash-Up we decided to partake in a little cinematic gem making the Twitter rounds called "Sharknado". It's a SyFy picture made by Asylum, a studio renown for its ridiculous premises ("Sharktopus", "Mega Python vs. Super Shark", etc.). "Sharknado" did not disappoint as a low-budget, poorly made movie about a tornado that sucked sharks into it and hurled said sharks at people. A fun time, though.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Delta Green update
Here is a little overview for what has happened in the days after "Puppet Shows and Shadow Plays" and before the new assignment.
"Over the past months, you have continued your daily routine, investigating routine crimes as part of your duties with the FBI. At least, that is what it appears to your friends, family, and coworkers. The training sessions you have recently been called on are not too different from those before, especially since your capture of the vicious killer Emanuel Santana, whose motives during his cross country murder spree remain unknown. You know better, you and your new contacts in Delta Green.
You have been called into Washington, DC, with the excuse of a special “training session” after your handling of the Santana case. Delta Green remains secretive, explaining that the extreme sensitive nature of its operations makes its existence deniable, but it calls on the expertise of many agencies to fulfill its duties in investigating, combating, and destroying paranormal threats to the United States. You have met representatives from the CIA, the NSA, and several branches of the military (at least, that’s what they claimed to be, though their clearances were certainly high enough). You have been formed into “Cell Q,” with contacts in “Cell P” and “Cell R.” You will be providing reports and requests through the mysterious “Cell A,” spoken of but never encountered.
Your Code names are Agent Quincey and Agent Quinn. Also, Agent Quinton is part of your cell as well. You have been in contact with Agent Peter and Agent Regina, though neither know each other. You have also been given a Delta Green encrypted Laptop Computer and cell phone, for use on Delta Green assignments. It has all been very confusing, but so far (in spite of the strange number of odd questions being shuttled back between your Cell and other cells), things have remained calm. For now."
For the next session, I'd like to have a little background info for both your characters; next of kin, short professional history, etc. It may be important, depending on what happens...
Email with any other questions about Delta Green set up, etc.
Be seeing you...
"Over the past months, you have continued your daily routine, investigating routine crimes as part of your duties with the FBI. At least, that is what it appears to your friends, family, and coworkers. The training sessions you have recently been called on are not too different from those before, especially since your capture of the vicious killer Emanuel Santana, whose motives during his cross country murder spree remain unknown. You know better, you and your new contacts in Delta Green.
You have been called into Washington, DC, with the excuse of a special “training session” after your handling of the Santana case. Delta Green remains secretive, explaining that the extreme sensitive nature of its operations makes its existence deniable, but it calls on the expertise of many agencies to fulfill its duties in investigating, combating, and destroying paranormal threats to the United States. You have met representatives from the CIA, the NSA, and several branches of the military (at least, that’s what they claimed to be, though their clearances were certainly high enough). You have been formed into “Cell Q,” with contacts in “Cell P” and “Cell R.” You will be providing reports and requests through the mysterious “Cell A,” spoken of but never encountered.
Your Code names are Agent Quincey and Agent Quinn. Also, Agent Quinton is part of your cell as well. You have been in contact with Agent Peter and Agent Regina, though neither know each other. You have also been given a Delta Green encrypted Laptop Computer and cell phone, for use on Delta Green assignments. It has all been very confusing, but so far (in spite of the strange number of odd questions being shuttled back between your Cell and other cells), things have remained calm. For now."
For the next session, I'd like to have a little background info for both your characters; next of kin, short professional history, etc. It may be important, depending on what happens...
Email with any other questions about Delta Green set up, etc.
Be seeing you...
Friday, March 12, 2010
Late Update on DOUG
This week has kinda taken me by surprise, hence the lack of posts. We did Aaron's Fantasy Craft game on Sunday, which was fun, and then on Monday I ordered a new screaming desktop machine from Dell and I purchased a new PlayStation 3, borrowing from Jesse a few key games. So this week, not only have I not been posting on the blog but on a personal side I also have not been keeping up with my exercises.
But slowly things return to normal, or relatively normal. Sunday DOUG is a one-shot Unknown Armies game being run by Harris, and the idea is to start at around 2ish.
Oh and Traveller is coming. Yes, yes it is.
But slowly things return to normal, or relatively normal. Sunday DOUG is a one-shot Unknown Armies game being run by Harris, and the idea is to start at around 2ish.
Oh and Traveller is coming. Yes, yes it is.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Sunday 3/7 DOUG Plan
Looks like the DOUG plan for Sunday 3/7 is going to be FantasyCraft. Aaron's been itching to play (me too, to be honest) and Harris is going to be in town. If for whatever reason that falls through we could instead play something Harris has cooked up or another session of Necessary Evil. Or even a board game. Lots of options.
Monday, March 1, 2010
02/28/2010 DOUG: Jailbreak!
Last Sunday's DOUG was a character creation session primarily for a supers game where the players play villains in a world overrun by an alien force. It's one of Pinnacle's earliest Savage settings called Necessary Evil, and it's perfect for DOUG.
Game: Jailbreak!, Savage Worlds
Style: RPG
Genre: Supers
GM: Dave Olson
Players (Factions/PCs): Aaron (Zeitlose), Trent (The Unspeakable Horror)
As most of the session was taken up with character creation the scenario itself was deliberately short. The two villains - a time-travel obsessed mechanical genius named Zeitlose and a force-controlling mime called appropriately The Unspeakable Horror - were captured by a patrol of K'tharens. These alien beings resembled a cross between a shark and a crocodile and were more commonly referred to as Fins, and they served the more insidious V'sori. It had been more than 2 years since the alien invaders came to Earth and managed to wipe out 98% of the world's superheroes, leveling cities and countries in the process.
Few cities were left intact, but the exception was Star City. An anomaly in its own right, Star City is built on an island off the coast of New York that was summoned into existence by an interstellar entity known only as the Outsider in the 50's. The island had the unique ability to grant super powers to individuals, and the government studied it for many years hoping to learn its secrets. They failed, and then parceled it off to corporations who came in and built Star City itself.
The V'sori have left most of the city intact but their presence, and that of their cruel Fin servants, is ever present. Which is how the two villains were captured. They were being transported aboard a M'buna, an alien prison ship, likely to be taken off world for "re-education." As they sat together, shackled by power-inhibiting manacles, the M'buna suddenly dropped in altitude and spun in a tailspin! With a crash the ship plowed into the ground, knocking the two villains around in the billowing smoke and small fires.
The sounds of gunfire were heard from outside, and in a moment the hatch door on the M'buna was ripped open. Stepping out of the smoke and darkness came the figure of Earth's most notorious super villain - Dr. Destruction. He held a massive laser in his hands and looked deliberately at the two imprisoned villains.
"Do you want to live?"
A simple statement to which both The Unspeakable Horror and Zeitlose readily agreed to. Dr. Destruction hauled both of them out of the wreckage and passed them off to yellow-jumpsuited servants who ushered them into a nearby low-grav carrier. Destruction joined them after a moment and the ship flew off into the night air. Thinking that they had perhaps traded one prison for another, the two villains were confronted after a moment by Dr. Destruction. He told them that he had a plan, and that in order to survive Zeitlose and the Horror were going to have to cooperate.
Then he slammed a button on the side of the wall, opening the bay hatch and sending the two villains plummeting into the night sky!
Dr. Destruction's telepathic voice informed the falling pair that they needed to release a villain named Mindjack from a V'sori prison compound, and if they agreed to help he would release their nullifiers. It didn't take much debate for the two to agree, and true to his word Destruction released the power-inhibiting manacles. The Horror was able to flap his wings and fly but Zeitlose crashed through the roof of the prison compound itself. Luckily he landed unharmed.
After a moment The Unspeakable Horror landed through the hole in the roof and the two villains opened a door leading from the office they arrived in. Shouts of panic greeted them as they found a block of cells containing prisoners, mostly non-supers. At the opposite end of the cell block the doors opened and a squad of drones - almost zombie-like slaves of the V'sori with impressive firepower built into their cobbled together flesh - showed up. Quickly the Horror pointed his finger and shot at the lead one, delivering a staggering blow of force, while Zeitlose activated his mind control device and easily took mental control over one of the drones.
But more drones showed up and the two villains dug in for a long fight. Blaster bolts ripped through the hallway, piercing Zeitlose several times while the Horror used his imaginary force guns to keep them at bay. During the firefight Zeitlose identified Mindjack but quickly realized they didn't have the key to the cells nor the technical expertise to open them. He mind controlled another drone and brought it to his side.
Behind him a prisoner begged to be released. She had blotchy skin, obviously some kind of mutant, and introduced herself as Valerie Ramirez, promising that she could help if she could be freed. The drone's electro-shock touch was able to free Mindjack, who was otherwise useless, so the Horror kept him safe while Zeitlose and the mind controlled drone dodged blaster fire to release Ramirez. After a few harrowing moments Valerie was freed, though she readily admitted to not having any relevant skills now. She said she was part of a large underground resistance movement beneath Star City and would help the villains later if possible.
With the mind controlled drone and the Horror's finger-pointing force gun powers the rest of the drones were dealt with. Klaxon alarms were sounding throughout the camp but so far the pair had not yet run into any of the Fins. Mindjack pointed them to the way out and the three of them ran through the rest of the small prison compound. Ramirez disappeared into the darkness with a thanks.
Once outside the building Dr. Destruction's anti-grav carrier arrived within moments. Zeitlose, The Unspeakable Horror, and the weak and wounded Mindjack boarded. The villainous doctor took Mindjack aside and had a quick private conversation as the carrier zipped away into the night. After a short flight the carrier landed somewhere in Southpoint in front of a long-abandoned warehouse.
Dr. Destruction opened the doors and ushered the two villains out. He told them that they're part of Omega now, and that the goal is to take back the world from the alien scum - since the villains are the rightful owners, not some backwater alien invaders. He provided them both with communicators and told them to stay low and don't get pinched by the Fins - but to expect some action in the near future.
With that, the world's greatest villain departed, leaving Zeitlose and The Unspeakable Horror in front of a warehouse - their warehouse now.
Game: Jailbreak!, Savage Worlds
Style: RPG
Genre: Supers
GM: Dave Olson
Players (Factions/PCs): Aaron (Zeitlose), Trent (The Unspeakable Horror)
As most of the session was taken up with character creation the scenario itself was deliberately short. The two villains - a time-travel obsessed mechanical genius named Zeitlose and a force-controlling mime called appropriately The Unspeakable Horror - were captured by a patrol of K'tharens. These alien beings resembled a cross between a shark and a crocodile and were more commonly referred to as Fins, and they served the more insidious V'sori. It had been more than 2 years since the alien invaders came to Earth and managed to wipe out 98% of the world's superheroes, leveling cities and countries in the process.
Few cities were left intact, but the exception was Star City. An anomaly in its own right, Star City is built on an island off the coast of New York that was summoned into existence by an interstellar entity known only as the Outsider in the 50's. The island had the unique ability to grant super powers to individuals, and the government studied it for many years hoping to learn its secrets. They failed, and then parceled it off to corporations who came in and built Star City itself.
The V'sori have left most of the city intact but their presence, and that of their cruel Fin servants, is ever present. Which is how the two villains were captured. They were being transported aboard a M'buna, an alien prison ship, likely to be taken off world for "re-education." As they sat together, shackled by power-inhibiting manacles, the M'buna suddenly dropped in altitude and spun in a tailspin! With a crash the ship plowed into the ground, knocking the two villains around in the billowing smoke and small fires.
The sounds of gunfire were heard from outside, and in a moment the hatch door on the M'buna was ripped open. Stepping out of the smoke and darkness came the figure of Earth's most notorious super villain - Dr. Destruction. He held a massive laser in his hands and looked deliberately at the two imprisoned villains.
"Do you want to live?"
A simple statement to which both The Unspeakable Horror and Zeitlose readily agreed to. Dr. Destruction hauled both of them out of the wreckage and passed them off to yellow-jumpsuited servants who ushered them into a nearby low-grav carrier. Destruction joined them after a moment and the ship flew off into the night air. Thinking that they had perhaps traded one prison for another, the two villains were confronted after a moment by Dr. Destruction. He told them that he had a plan, and that in order to survive Zeitlose and the Horror were going to have to cooperate.
Then he slammed a button on the side of the wall, opening the bay hatch and sending the two villains plummeting into the night sky!
Dr. Destruction's telepathic voice informed the falling pair that they needed to release a villain named Mindjack from a V'sori prison compound, and if they agreed to help he would release their nullifiers. It didn't take much debate for the two to agree, and true to his word Destruction released the power-inhibiting manacles. The Horror was able to flap his wings and fly but Zeitlose crashed through the roof of the prison compound itself. Luckily he landed unharmed.
After a moment The Unspeakable Horror landed through the hole in the roof and the two villains opened a door leading from the office they arrived in. Shouts of panic greeted them as they found a block of cells containing prisoners, mostly non-supers. At the opposite end of the cell block the doors opened and a squad of drones - almost zombie-like slaves of the V'sori with impressive firepower built into their cobbled together flesh - showed up. Quickly the Horror pointed his finger and shot at the lead one, delivering a staggering blow of force, while Zeitlose activated his mind control device and easily took mental control over one of the drones.
But more drones showed up and the two villains dug in for a long fight. Blaster bolts ripped through the hallway, piercing Zeitlose several times while the Horror used his imaginary force guns to keep them at bay. During the firefight Zeitlose identified Mindjack but quickly realized they didn't have the key to the cells nor the technical expertise to open them. He mind controlled another drone and brought it to his side.
Behind him a prisoner begged to be released. She had blotchy skin, obviously some kind of mutant, and introduced herself as Valerie Ramirez, promising that she could help if she could be freed. The drone's electro-shock touch was able to free Mindjack, who was otherwise useless, so the Horror kept him safe while Zeitlose and the mind controlled drone dodged blaster fire to release Ramirez. After a few harrowing moments Valerie was freed, though she readily admitted to not having any relevant skills now. She said she was part of a large underground resistance movement beneath Star City and would help the villains later if possible.
With the mind controlled drone and the Horror's finger-pointing force gun powers the rest of the drones were dealt with. Klaxon alarms were sounding throughout the camp but so far the pair had not yet run into any of the Fins. Mindjack pointed them to the way out and the three of them ran through the rest of the small prison compound. Ramirez disappeared into the darkness with a thanks.
Once outside the building Dr. Destruction's anti-grav carrier arrived within moments. Zeitlose, The Unspeakable Horror, and the weak and wounded Mindjack boarded. The villainous doctor took Mindjack aside and had a quick private conversation as the carrier zipped away into the night. After a short flight the carrier landed somewhere in Southpoint in front of a long-abandoned warehouse.
Dr. Destruction opened the doors and ushered the two villains out. He told them that they're part of Omega now, and that the goal is to take back the world from the alien scum - since the villains are the rightful owners, not some backwater alien invaders. He provided them both with communicators and told them to stay low and don't get pinched by the Fins - but to expect some action in the near future.
With that, the world's greatest villain departed, leaving Zeitlose and The Unspeakable Horror in front of a warehouse - their warehouse now.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
DOUG on 2/28
The plan for this Sunday is to do Necessary Evil, the Savage Worlds supers campaign where you play villains in a world besieged by an alien force for the past 2 years. I have a copy of the book along with a pdf so that can be utilized by people with laptops, but I'm thinking character creation will be part of the package. Especially since the first scenario is not very long. I'd like to start at about 1 pm on Sunday, and I should have a large box of miniatures to choose from to represent your particular villain.
Looking ahead slightly Aaron is ready for the next Fantasy Craft scenario which is tentatively planned for the first Sunday in March. Assuming Harris can make it, which hopefully he can.
DOUG continues!
Looking ahead slightly Aaron is ready for the next Fantasy Craft scenario which is tentatively planned for the first Sunday in March. Assuming Harris can make it, which hopefully he can.
DOUG continues!
Monday, February 22, 2010
My Perfect Sci-Fi Game FOUND!
I love the Star*Drive setting. I blogged about it last April indicating I was on the fence between GURPS, Savage Worlds, or just sticking with the original Alternity. Each offer its own benefit, but I pretty much ruled out GURPS by virtue of me getting rid of the core books.
So that left Savage Worlds vs. Alternity. Alternity was the system originally used with Star*Drive and would require the least amount of conversion, but it was also not supported any more. Savage Worlds is one of my favorite core systems but it wasn't crunchy enough - good space pulp, like Star Wars, bad for more realistic sci-fi. So I've tinkered with vehicle rules in Savage Worlds with the original intention of using them in a Star*Drive campaign.
I don't regret doing this, and I hope the vehicle rules and associated Tech Backgrounds see the light of day in some future product (such as Agents of Oblivion) but it still didn't satiate that thirst I had.
I was aware of the Traveller game in the sense that I had heard the name, and during my GURPS kick I looked seriously at the GURPS Traveller: Interstellar War for a good sci-fi game. I poked around and picked up Marc Miller's Traveller, which was the third edition of the game, at Half Price Books but didn't really look at it. It has sat on my shelf for a few months at least.
In early 2009 Mongoose Publishing released an updated Traveller ruleset. Again, I was aware it was out but never gave it a look. Well, I picked up the main book over the weekend and I've got to say - this is what I was looking for.
It's got everything I would need for a sci-fi game set in the Star*Drive universe. Excellent character background generation rules? Check. Crunchy starship construction system? Check. Random planet generator? Double check. Rules for trading and guidelines for goods and services related to the planet's statistics? Oh yeah, you know that one's checked.
I'm digging into the ruleset more to get a handle on things and I've already ordered off Amazon a number of the sourcebooks (Mongoose is nothing if not prolific) so expect more details soon. Really this time. Really.
So that left Savage Worlds vs. Alternity. Alternity was the system originally used with Star*Drive and would require the least amount of conversion, but it was also not supported any more. Savage Worlds is one of my favorite core systems but it wasn't crunchy enough - good space pulp, like Star Wars, bad for more realistic sci-fi. So I've tinkered with vehicle rules in Savage Worlds with the original intention of using them in a Star*Drive campaign.
I don't regret doing this, and I hope the vehicle rules and associated Tech Backgrounds see the light of day in some future product (such as Agents of Oblivion) but it still didn't satiate that thirst I had.
I was aware of the Traveller game in the sense that I had heard the name, and during my GURPS kick I looked seriously at the GURPS Traveller: Interstellar War for a good sci-fi game. I poked around and picked up Marc Miller's Traveller, which was the third edition of the game, at Half Price Books but didn't really look at it. It has sat on my shelf for a few months at least.
In early 2009 Mongoose Publishing released an updated Traveller ruleset. Again, I was aware it was out but never gave it a look. Well, I picked up the main book over the weekend and I've got to say - this is what I was looking for.
It's got everything I would need for a sci-fi game set in the Star*Drive universe. Excellent character background generation rules? Check. Crunchy starship construction system? Check. Random planet generator? Double check. Rules for trading and guidelines for goods and services related to the planet's statistics? Oh yeah, you know that one's checked.
I'm digging into the ruleset more to get a handle on things and I've already ordered off Amazon a number of the sourcebooks (Mongoose is nothing if not prolific) so expect more details soon. Really this time. Really.
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