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.

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.

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.

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!

DOUG Updates

It's really nothing more than formalizing the concept of playing a game on Sundays, but I've really grown attached to the concept of DOUG. So far so good I say. I'm going to try and maintain a separate "world" so to speak for each general genre of RPG game. For instance, the 1930's pulp adventure game will always take place in the same world. Not necessarily linked to previous scenarios but a persistent view.

With that in mind I'm going to keep track of each of these worlds, or campaigns, through Obsidian Portal. I find it a great way for me to jot down ideas and characters without having to sift through endless piles of notebooks. It also makes it easier for the players to dig deeper into the setting, if they want, or just recap previous events.

I've got most of them setup, including Shadowrun (called MaidenCall), 1930s pulp adventure (Tales of Pulp Matter), fantasy (HackMaster Fantasy), sci fi serial (Star*Drive), and a few others.

The plan this Sunday for DOUG is to do Necessary Evil, a supers campaign set in a world where aliens have taken over. You play villains banding together to take back the world cause these alien invaders are not interested in sharing. Time to take the fight to the enemy.

02/14/2010 DOUG: Mass Effect 2

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, a day specifically designed to make lonely people feel isolated and withdrawn. So for the DOUG I went out and picked up a copy of Mass Effect 2 for the Xbox 360. I won't post spoilers here, but instead just some general comments.

The general comment is ... I played this game for almost 10 hours yesterday. I normally don't have the attention span to devote that much time to a single game, so that's the first comment. Having finally played and beat Mass Effect 1 late last week, ME2 picks up RIGHT after the first one. And the decisions you made there affect the world of the new game like ripples in a pond. I find myself eagerly anticipating a second play through as a completely different type of character just to see how different ME2 can be.

Mass Effect 2 has an engrossing story with many side missions, and I feel compelled to go through most if not all of them (unlike ME1 which I did not, but kinda feel like I will on a second go around). The main gripe I have is one that many share - planet scanning is tedious and put simply, NOT FUN. Holy left trigger, Batman. I upgraded my ship's planet scanning functionality and it's still boring trying to scan every surface of an unexplored planet for iridium, platinum, element zero, and palladium (not the RPG company). Grr.

But beyond that the game is exceeding all expectations. I feel that it's going to consume more of my life here in the next few days.

DOUG on 2/14/2010

Sunday is Valentine's Day, so I'm sure there will be people wanting to spend the day with their respective sweethearts. For those poor, lonely folk (like me) DOUG continues! I think all that I'm going to plan for this Sunday is a game of Arkham Horror. Not sure on the expansions at this point, but since the game can be played with 1 to 8 people I think it's perhaps the best option. Or at least the most practical.

02/07/2010 DOUG: The Bones of Chinatown

The second DOUG went off extremely well I think, despite the amount of stuff going on that day. Well, more specifically the Superbowl and the amount of food preparation I had to do in addition to GMing. But I chose the food items for their relative simple setup so it all worked out.

Game: The Bones of Chinatown, Savage Worlds
Style: RPG
Genre: 1930's Pulp
GM: Dave Olson
Players (Factions/PCs): Alice (Malachi the Mysterious, magician), Aaron (Brent Hardcastle, ace pilot), Trenton (Jimmy Patterson, curious kid), Harris (Doc Davenport, mad scientist)

A pulp adventure in the vein of the thrilling 1930s escapades of yesteryear! The heroes were summoned by an "old friend" to the observation deck of the Empire State Building, only to arrive to find a body slumped on the floor. Worse, the glass walls shattered as a gang of hatchet-wielding Chinese tong assassins swung in from a hidden zeppelin outside! Like a well-oiled machine the heroes made short work of these nefarious goons, but more came in and combat ensued.

Jimmy's scattered marbles and a well placed smoke bomb caused confusion for the tong assassins, but Doc Davenport had his hands full as he dodged and weaved the ferocious hatchet attacks of one of them. Brent used his twin pistols to great effect along with his extraordinary athletic ability, kicking and jumping, while Malachi the Magnificent worked his arcane arts to send a few of the assassins flying. As the battle quickly turned against the invaders their zeppelin outside, bearing the symbol of Chinese criminal mastermind and sorcerer supreme Zho Fang, turned and began to flee.

But Doc Davenport wasn't having any of that! Switching on his Rocket Propelled Personal Conveyance Device (patent pending!) to full power the mad scientist rocketed after the fleeing zeppelin. He powered up his Light Emanation Ray, cranked the knob to maximum, and let loose a powerful bolt. The attack punctured the zeppelin's balloon and ignited the hydrogen gas inside! The flaming zeppelin descended quickly into the streets of New York City but was quickly corralled by the NYSP (New York Sky Police) into the Hudson River.

With the tong assassins defeated the heroes tended to the unconscious man on the floor whom they recognized as eminent Japanese businessman and entrepreneur, Dr. Itohiro Nakami. Dr. Nakami explained that Zho Fang was seeking the Eyes of the Lo-Man Tiger, twin rubies of mystical origin that supposedly gave its possessor control over time and space. He was making a bid for the first one which lay in the vault of the San Francisco Chinatown kingpin known as the Jade Dragon.

Dr. Nakami needed the heroes to break into the Jade Dragon's vault and retrieve the Ruby Eye before Zho Fang could. They agreed and set off immediately from New York City across the dust-ravaged Midwest to the City by the Bay, San Francisco! Quickly they arranged a trolley ride to Chinatown and took to foot after that. They were seeking the Dragon of the Black Pool, a restaurant owned by Dr. Nakami's friend Egg Chen who would be able to assist the heroes in breaking into the Jade Dragon's heavily guarded tong warehouse. Unfortunately no one knew their way around the twisting and crowded streets of Chinatown, so they hired a child guide by the name of Ping Pong.

Ping Pong led them through the roads around fireworks dealers and all sorts of strange animals before finally arriving at the Dragon of the Black Pool. The heroes entered, only to be confronted by an old man running out of the kitchen shouting "Get down!" They obliged, and luckily too as an explosion rocked the restaurant and filled the room with smoke! After only a moment Egg Chen greeted them politely, inviting them to tea.

He listened carefully and was expecting them so he filled them in on the details of what they needed to do. The Jade Dragon kept the Ruby Eye in the lowest level of his Vault of Ghosts, and the safest way into said vault was through the underworld of Chinatown. Egg Chen sketched out a map, and once the sun went down he led them to an abandoned sewer grate that would take them into the very bones of the neighborhood. He gave Malachi a wooden amulet, but before he could explain anything a group of tong goons arrived! The heroes descended into the darkness while Egg Chen held them off.

In the dank depths below Chinatown, the heroes were in a world that seemed halfway between the living realm and the spirit realm. Jimmy took the lead with his Boy Scout training, but even with that they managed to get lost several times in the dark tunnels. Throughout the trek they heard whispering voices and harsh laughter, and after an hour of tromping around the voices revealed themselves as belonging to hopping vampires! These undead spawn jumped out of the brackish water of the river and confronted the heroes with diseased claw and slavering jaw.

Brent held off two of the creatures valiantly but found his bullets less than effective against the hopping vampires. The vampires seemed paralyzed by Malachi, and he decided to try the wooden amulet Egg Chen gave him. That seemed to do the trick, and once the magician pressed it against the undead flesh the vampire let loose a howl and was vaporized within moments. Meanwhile, Doc Davenport was having a hard time and was slashed during several debilitating attacks, nearly sending him into unconsciousness. Jimmy used the flash on his camera to disorient the remaining creatures while Malachi used the wooden amulet to finish them off.

With the hopping vampires defeated the heroes turned their attention towards bandaging up Doc Davenport. Unfortunately, the Doc was the only one with skill in healing so he was forced to attempt to bandage his own wounds. It did not go well, and after an hour he gave up with little success. Brent was also a little wounded, so the Doc then turned his attention to the ace pilot - and managed a miraculous bit of first aid!

They continued on afterwards, and eventually they came upon the entrance to the Vault of Ghosts. It was a circular chamber with a pool of brackish water in the center. On the far end was a round portal with raised markings. Malachi, having spent some time in the Orient, was able to translate the markings which were ancient Chinese. It was a reference to the belief in Shang Di and how the most wicked would be punished by having them spines flayed for eternity while they turned in a circle. As they looked closer they realized that a human spine encircled the portal, and Brent noticed that it could be moved.

With a mighty heave, Brent and Malachi went to work at turning the spine which gave groans of protest with each move. The sound seemed to alert something in the pool, which roiled and bubbled before erupting into a dozen thick tentacles! Doc Davenport and Jimmy went to work distracting the tentacles while Brent and Malachi kept at the turning. In the fray the Doc discharged all of his energy in his Light Emanation Ray and Jimmy used purchased firecrackers to great effect.

The portal finally opened and the heroes rushed inside, and the tentacles tried following - but only managed to pull down the stones and rock over the portal, collapsing the entrance. Whatever happened next the heroes knew that their only option was to move forward.

They found themselves in an octagonal chamber with fanciful murals along the wall. The murals depicted a robed, masked man in various events - one where he commanded an army of Chinese soldiers, another where he conferred with an emperor, and a third where several demons bowed to him. The room was ringed with 8 foot tall demon statues bearing hideous grins and wicked weapons. A faint emanation illuminated the area, originating from a pedestal in the center upon which, on a velvet cushion, sat a large ruby.

The heroes had found the Vault of Ghosts and the Ruby Eye. Positioning themselves strategically around the area, it was Brent who reached out and grabbed the relic. Nothing happened, and they breathed a sigh of relief. But then one of the demon statues roared to life! They quickly realized that the iron demon statue would be a nigh-impossible foe and they opted to run.

And run they did! The demon statue gave chase with its plodding foots, and chased the heroes out of the vault, up spiral stairs, to a locked door. Luckily Brent's shoulder proved more than the door could handle and the chase continued into what was apparently a warehouse, with many Chinese workers. Wounded as he was, Doc Davenport was having a hard time keeping up, but he decided to use his Rocket Propelled Personal Conveyance Device to get away. He managed to get up the spiral stairs using a clamp to lock onto the rail, but in the warehouse the demon statue pummeled him into unconsciousness. Jimmy let off some more fireworks, creating a panicked mob of workers and explosions!

Tossing the Ruby Eye to Malachi, Brent and Jimmy turned around to help their friend while the magician plowed on ahead. The plodding steps of the demon statue were gaining quickly when they reached the limp body of Doc Davenport. Brent, experienced ace pilot, decided to try and use the jet pack strapped to the Doc's back, and with Jimmy hanging on tight the ace pilot punched the device into gear.

Off they went, with Brent and Jimmy riding Doc Davenport's unconscious body like a sled! The rocket pack barely lifting the three of them off the ground, but it got them out of the demon statue's grasp. Malachi, utilizing powerful arcane arts taught to him by HP Lovecraft, Headmaster of the Academy of Prestidigitation and Conjuration, sent magically endowed playing cards exploding against the demon statue.

The iron statue had taken enough abuse, and collapsed on the ground just as Doc Davenport's jet pack ran out of fuel. The three of them (carrying the unconscious mad scientist) continued to run through the building, quickly reaching offices leading out to the Chinatown street. They emerged in the light of the rising sun - only to be confronted by the robed, masked figure depicted on the murals in the Vault of Ghosts!

The sound of cocking rifles and Tommy guns echoed in the street and the heroes knew they were outmatched. The robed figure - the Jade Dragon in the flesh - asked why they had stolen the Ruby Eye from him. Malachi, quick to act, instantly muttered the words to a powerful puppet spell as a last ditch effort, knowing that the Jade Dragon was probably an accomplished sorcerer himself.

Against all odds, however, Malachi established dominance over the Jade Dragon! Under the magician's control, the powerful Chinatown tong boss ordered his men to stand down, and Brent stepped forward with his boot knife drawn to finish the fight once and for all. As the Jade Dragon pushed back the cowl of his robe and pulled off his mask, however, he collapsed! All that was left of him was the pile of robes where he once stood ...

Egg Chen greeted the heroes in his tour bus and brought them quickly to the Dragon of the Black Pool. He patched up Doc Davenport with ancient Chinese mysticism and relayed a message from Dr. Nakami. The Japanese philanthropist needed the heroes to bring the Ruby Eye to his safehouse in Shanghai as soon as possible ...

What great adventure awaits these brave heroes on the horizon? Stay tuned next time for another thrilling escapade in ... Tales of Pulp Matter!

DOUG This Sunday

I think what I'm going to have ready for DOUG (Day Of Universal Gaming) this Sunday is going to be my pulp adventure published in Knights of the Dinner Table, The Bones of Chinatown. I'll have six pregenerated characters ready to go so we can get started and finished before the Super Bowl, which I believe is around 5ish. I can play with only two people or up to six, so I think if you're available you're definitely welcome. Worst case scenario I'll come up with more pregens.

Quick plug for the scenario: set in 1936, the heroes are quickly thrust into the deepest underbelly of San Francisco's Chinatown fighting their way through tong gangs, mysterious creatures, explosions, and hair-raising chases in a quest to recover one of the fabled Ruby Eyes of the Lo-Man Tiger. Pulp adventure awaits!

01/31/2010 DOUG: Runewars

The other thing I wanted to do with the concept of the Day Of Universal Gaming (DOUG) is to write a synopsis or review of the session the day afterward. Since yesterday, 1/31/2010, is going to be the official start to DUG (new name too) I'll write a quick synopsis/review of what we did.

Game: Runewars
Style: Board Game
Genre: Fantasy
GM: Dave Olson (moderator)
Players (Factions/PCs): Alice (Elf), Matthew (Uthuk), Trenton (Undead), Harris/Luke (Human)

I love Runewars, even when I'm just moderating instead of playing. It's like Twilight Imperium in a fantasy setting. The scope is a little smaller but the game runs a lot quicker in general, with smooth components and intelligent design. Really, this game represents everything great I've come to expect from Fantasy Flight Games.

To get things going quickly I setup the board knowing that I would be moderating, so I endeavored to set it up so that no one player had a distinct advantage over another. The map was laid out and I explained the rules a total of 3 1/2 times as various people showed up. Luckily the game concepts in Runewars are pretty easy to grasp and make sense once you start playing.

The point of Runewars is to capture 6 Dragon Runes, and each player starts with 2 to begin with. These tokens are placed on the individual map tiles of the configurable board, one each, and each player also had a false rune token. This meant that each of the three areas of a players' home realm had a Dragon Rune, but only two were real - one was a decoy.

The game is played out over the course of years, with each year divided into four turns represented by the seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter). Each player chooses one of eight strategy cards to play during each season dictating their action, and then the strategy cards are returned to your hand at the beginning of each year.

In the game itself I was actually pretty surprised at the lack of player-to-player hostility. Sure, it started off with Alice leveling Matthew's city but it didn't really escalate from there. Most players kept themselves engaged by dealing with the neutral factions surrounding them and sending their heroes on quests to retrieve Dragon Runes. After about the third year Harris had to leave and Luke graciously stepped up to fill the player void, but Harris had made some questionable tactical decisions that left the human faction in a very very tight bind.

The end of the game came when Matthew claimed 6 Dragon Runes in the winter of the fourth year. It seemed like everyone had a good time and the mechanics of Runewars kept the game flowing very quickly even for four people who had never played it before. Verdict? Definitely worth playing again.

Shadowrun Game Day Thoughts

I like Shadowrun quite a bit, and I think the style of play suggested by that game and setting really lends itself towards the Game Day application (see previous post). So Shadowrun is going to be one of the games in rotation but I wanted to post a few ideas I've had so that people had the right idea.

The first thing is that the actual runs won't be limited to a single city, or even a single country. There are a lot of really cool places and people in the world of 2071 and I'd like to get an opportunity to spread out. Now, with that said, each runner is still going to need a home, and I'd like to use Seattle as the default "base."

Each runner's piece of illegal gear will need to be written up on a small gear card that I have, for several reasons. The first is that every single Shadowrun character sheet I've seen has had very little space for equipment, which is odd considering how much emphasis the game puts on high tech gadgetry to get in and out of situations. Having each piece of illegal gear on a card allows for a much better management of on-hand equipment, so you don't have to take everything with you (some of it may be impossible to pass customs with anyway depending on its legality code). It also allows the player to jot notes about what the gear does for quick reference.

Also each runner's contacts will be written up on a small contact card, similar to the gear card. This avoids the issue of having too little space on the character sheet for contacts and makes managing them much easier. Your contacts are your lifeblood, and one of the rules I'll be using is the Friend of a Friend system - it's possible, depending on how connected your contact is, that they know someone in a city or area where you otherwise are without a friend. This will be the primary means for gaining new contacts.

I'm going to keep the naming convention of metal song titles for each run, and I might jump around a bit between artists. Definitely Iron Maiden's on the docket, but there are a lot of Megadeth titles that would work as well, plus some Metallica names I didn't get to use.

Official Game Day Post

I like continued campaigns with overarching stories, but I'm getting to the point where I can't seem to get players together on a regular basis to make it worth it. But I've still got a lot of ideas and access to a lot of scenarios and settings, and I want to start making it work. And thus begins ...

The Official DFGA Game Day!

Personally, especially lately, I've found my Fridays to be dull and boring, so I propose Friday late afternoon/evenings for the Game Day. Sunday would also work, I think, especially now that football season is over.

The concept of Game Day is a day to game - anything, something, in a format similar to the various anthology TV series (Outer Limits, Amazing Stories, Tales from the Crypt, etc.). Board games and RPGs would be the mainstay, and most of the RPGs I plan to have available with pregenerated characters for ease of play. This would allow us to play many different types of games in many different types of genres without having to worry about missing people. The goal would be to have each scenario take up a session with little or no overlap.

I also want to encourage others to take the helm of GM, as this format is perfect for many people to try their hand at gamemastering.

Here are some games/genres I've got planning right now: Shadowrun, RuneWars (board game), World War II, 1930s pulp adventure, space pulp adventures (like Star Wars), Victorian era monster hunting, modern day spy ops, Western horror, 1920s Mythos horror, D&D-esque fantasy adventures, pirates on the high seas, superheroes and villains, colonial era mystery and adventure, and many others!