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Back to normality. Or as close as I get.

First off, many thanks to those who read and commented on my recent post on mental health. The comments have been much appreciated.It wasn’t easy, but I got that far into it that not writing it would have felt worse. Again, you have my thanks.

Before I forget, I was meaning to post a writeup of a performance of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf I saw recently, and I’m still struggling to decide how to sum it up, with the closest thing that comes to mind being Apocalypse Now. Before you commence throwing things, let me explain. Both are overly long, begin with things seeming not to be going well, and that feeling of dread and unease only intensifying throughout, wih a last act that’s a cavalcade of WTF. This is possibly why I shouldn’t be reviewing theatre. Though in my defence, Margaret Pomeranz and I both quoted the same piece of Shakespeare* when we reviewed Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which I choose as a mark in my favour. I’m also 2 episodes into The 100, which I’m enjoying, though I think I’m between 10-15 years too old for it’s primary audience.

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It was the second session of my D&D game last night, and didn’t go too badly. I’m not as great as I’d like to be at running social encounters and there was a bit of railroading (And I regret it), but the players still seemed to enjoy things and that’s what counts. We learn by doing after all. The Wizard spents more time stealing cheese than doing anything magical, the Rangers are drunks with the Rogue not far behind, the Paladin has a secret identity as a masked vigilante and the Fighter is seemingly keener on theatre tickets than cracking heads. They’re an interesting bunch and I’m really enjoying devising adventures for them. I’ve a few plans for them in motion – they still have no idea who their mysterious benefactor is (I’m attempting to play him like Raymond Reddington crossed with Mr Morden) after all. They’ve also levelled up for the first time, so it’s almost time to UNLEASH THE OWLBEARS!

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Moving on, this will likely be the last update on the post apoc game for a while, as I have to delve back into the Hyborian Age to finish my Sydcon event. Been trying to write factions (Settlers, Scavengers, Ambos etc) and work out background stuff for it, but it’s both getting to the stage where I want to bring other people in and am having the dip in the initial enthusiasm. I love the idea of the settlement police being an in-character faction (Working name: The Boy’s in Blue) and have been trying to come up with Boons and Flaws instead of stats. I’m not proud, but I laughed at the idea of calling the sneak boon ‘Where the Bloody Hell are You?’ patching people up is ‘Band Aid’ and catching and returning thrown weapons had to be ‘Classic Catch’. I’m writing it, I’m allowed to be the only one amused. Trying to put an actual rules system together is one of the things I’m planning on leaving till last, as it’s not something I’ve done before, but there’s ideas I want to make sure I’ve put down incase I forget them. Background and overly purple flavour text? I’ve got that covered. Anyhow, the Hyborian game – 6 PC’s, 4 of them female and (mostly) wearing sensible armour. I’m kinda pleased with that. Pirates, savages, darkest sorcery, bloody combat, Northern barbarians, Southern decadence, the treasure of a long forgotten kingdom and candles that burn with a wierd green flame… It’s been fun to write. 🙂

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What else is up soon? Zedtown’s up in a few couple of weeks and I’m crewing that. I don’t know what role I’ll have yet, but I’m sure I can costume it with minimum effort. Should be a blast. Anyhow, time to return to the days of high adventure!

“I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom’s realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer’s Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content.”
Robert E Howard – Queen of the Black Coast

*Work out which bit and there might be a prize for you!

How much is too much?

I really want to like Critical Role. It get’s a lot of press, has done wonders for the table top gaming community and Matt Mercer is a fantastic GM who makes my shambling semi organised efforts feel thoroughly inadequate. What I’ve seen of the show I’ve really enjoyed (Viktor the Black Powder Merchant especially) , but the sheer amount of it to catch up on puts me off. 60 plus 3 hour long episodes? That’s a hell of a lot there. I’m starting to understand how people can go “I’m not going to watch Doctor Who, there’s too much to watch to be caught up.” (It’s how I feel about Supernatural and that’s only 11 seasons in) Sure, I feel those people are foolish and wrong and you should watch ALL THE WHO but they’re entitled to their opinion and not to be mocked for it. Much.

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Anyhow, the post 2005 version of the show has been set up with so you don’t have to watch the old stuff, or indeed much of the new show to understand it (Continuity done well, unlike the early 80’s Ian Levine era, but that’s a far, far nerdier rant than this one is going to be), but you’d be depriving yourself of the Sylvester McCoy era and to me that’s akin to calling yourself a heavy metal fan and not owning the first 4 Black Sabbath albums. Well, if you ignore his first year – we don’t talk about Time and the Rani. But Remembrance of the Daleks and The Happiness Patrol should be on any list of classic series Who to watch. I might write one of those if there’s interest?

What I am enjoying is Force Grey: Giant Hunters – they’re only 6 episodes in (At the time of writing) and those are in 25-40 minute chunks, far more digestable. To add to that, the intro is  utterly adorable and fast working it’s way up my list of favorite TV intros (The Top 5 being Doctor Who, Monkey, Cowboy Bebop, Danger Mouse and Babylon 5). Oh, and Matt Mercer still makes me feel like a terrible GM.

Switching topics to the ‘It’s about fucking time’ desk comes the first new Metallica song in about 8 years. It’s far from a classic, but it’s short, fast and furious (A welcome return to the days of Kill Em All) and for those reasons alone is a welcome breath of fresh air in a sea of overly long sludgy epics. Here’s hoping the rest of the album’s like this.

It was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind…

So, pondering writing games in licensed settings over the weekened and I returned to my love for Babylon 5. It struck me that I’ve not really had an idea that I felt was well, worthy of the setting. Part of that, well most of it, boils down to my love of the show and not wanting to screw it up. My games tend to be B-movies and I’m OK with that. I could manage something like The Parliament of Dreams or Soul Mates without much trouble, but something like Comes the Inquisitor or  And The Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place, yeah, that’s not going to happen. Aha, but during a discussion with Wife on the way home, Sunday, I might have cracked. Sure, it’s mostly inspired by the episode Learning Curve and what little I remember from the TV movie The Legend of the Rangers, but here goes.

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So, the Rangers are an organization comprised of Humans and Minbari, but are seen to be opening up their ranks to the other races late in the show. So, what if the PC’s are the first group entirely from them? That would mean the PC’s would be a Narn, Drazi, pak’ma’ra, Gaim and Brakiri. (There was temptation to add a Centauri to conlfict with the Narn, but I agree with my wife that they wouldn’t be interested.) They’re on a shuttle in hyperspace on the way to Minbar for the inaguration. Something goes kaboom, the engines are dead and they begin to drift. After fixing the engines (And finding evidence of sabotage), they limp to Minbar, and have 3 days to spend before the inaguration trying to dodge assassins, members of the MInbari Warrior Caste (Who aren’t trying to kill them, but being dicks) and prove to others that they can be worthy of the rank.

So, not sure if I’ll ever run it, but it was fun to work out the idea.

On those lines, the Star Trek:Bridge Crew game that was being talked about. No, nothings happened with it yet, but I know one thing for certain – if we use a Klingon ship I’m writing them. It’s not that I couldn’t write a Federation or Romulan ship, even a Cardassian or Vulcan, but there’s that whole proud warrior race thing appeals more to my macho idiot side (Yes, I do have one. Try not to laugh). Plus, there’s vast amounts of scenery chewing and seeing if I can make the players sing.

As for the post apoc game, I don’t have any updates, other than the idea for emphasising hostipality (Whether in background or a game mechanic) to reference the theme to Neighbours. I’m not proud.

Ah, nuts.

So, I may have said recently that I was trying not to get involved in another game. Well, I’ve broken that and got involved in another LARP. Cut a long story short,  I’m now part of a group (Well, a duo at the moment) writing another game. The plan is a mix of tavern and day games, to balance between the political and fighty players, but little more has been written. On the bright side, I’ll be busy and I’m a lot better mentally when that happens. If you’re intersted in helping, drop me a comment.

In unrelated news, there’s some wonderful things that make me misty eyed. It took me a long time to get adjusted to the idea of wanting children, mostly due to not having spent much time around them. As my Niece and Godson grew older, that spark began to grow, and flared at the point that I could start introducing them to stuff I loved. Showing Niece The Princess Bride was incredibly nerve wracking, as if she didn’t like it, well, we may not speak ever again. (Spoiler: she spent the rest of the night yelling “I am not left handed!” at me) Even Star Wars was less nerve wracking – we finished showing her Jedi the morning of taking her to The Force Awakens and upon seeing Han she turned to me and asked “Why’s he so old?” Godson has also developed a ferocious Doctor Who obsession in the last year or so and despite him calling The Web of Fear boring and only wanting to watch regeneration episodes (He’s 7, so I havn’t disowned him yet) it’s incredibly heartwarming to see how much he loves the show. This was also somewhat inspired off by the recent Ghostbusters, which made me want daughters to show them an example of strong, awesome female characters.

To get to the point I was trying to make, seeing video of Phil Campbell and The Bastard Sons at Wacken Open Air 2016 did that as well. It’s no boast on the band name, as three of Campbell’s kids are band members. Watching them roar through Killed By Death and seeing the look on Campbell’s face… We miss Him and will continue to, but Campbell worked with him for over 30 years – what’s he’s been feeling the past few months I can’t begin to comprehend. Getting back on stage is one thing, but playing those songs again must stir up something pretty primal. We grieve for those we have lost, but celebrate what they gave us.

Brings a tear to the eye doesn’t it?

It’s a belief of mine that everyone has that one great love in their life and whatever that may be is up to the individual. I love a lot of things with possibly far more intensity than I should, but rock and roll trumps them all. There’s something about it that effects me in a way I can’t explain, but it’s triggers, something, that irresistible urge to jump around, throw shapes and flail my hear around like a loon. The adrenachrome hit. One moment of perfect beauty. The Savage Beat. Whatever you want to call it, it’s a wonderful thing. From the Bellrays jazzrock fusion, Skindred’s genre hopping madness, the savage intensity of Testament, Radio Birdman’s well, everything, my beloved Iron Maiden and the sole reason I want to visit New York, the Ramones, I love it. It makes me rage with fury and weep with sadness. It also gives me the beserk energy I need to clean the kitchen. You can keep your booze, your drugs, your beliefs. I have guitars, bass and drums and I’m fine with that. After all, it sure ain’t noise pollution.

Original thought. What?

So, not much has been done on the post apocalypse game the last few days. It’s mostly been brainstorming ideas for factions and trying not to plagarize too much from other systems I’ve been reading about. Sure, being able to say “It’s like X” is useful, but I’d like to be a bit more original.

(If you don’t understand the reference, I can’t help you.)

Anyhow, my D&D players have been deciding on their characters for the upcoming campaign. So far, we have the following:

Half Elven Paladin of Sune – part vigilante, part dating service. Very dashing and swashbuckly.

Shield Dwarf Fighter who’s obsessed with the Waterdhavian theatre scene. I’m happy with this as I now get a chance to pastiche The Talons of Weng-Chiang* at some point.

Dragonborn Druid who’s come to tell people to be nicer to the animals. I’m assuming, with the threat of roasting them alive if they don’t.

Human Rogue, son of a noble house who lives to embarrass his family name and is loving every minute of it.

The last player hasn’t decided on a PC yet, only that it’ll be some form of Arcane caster. Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer is the current front runner.I’m hoping for Wild Mage, but that’s cause the Surge table is one of my favorite things.

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Campaign kick’s off next Monday night, so I should have an adventure written by then. NO pressure…

*The Jago and Litefoot audios are austonding aural accquisitions.

Pondering…

So, my players have been coming up with character ideas for the 5th Ed game, and there’s been some doozys (Paladin of Sune, God of Beauty – part vigilante, part dating consultant). Still haven’t got a plot yet, but I’m waiting till they’ve confirmed their characters before I confirm that.

As for the post apoc game, I’ve another skill tree idea.

BUSHMAN – Basically a D&D Ranger crossed with Les Hiddins. Has a higher chance to find supplies in the wild and knows about the local wildlife. (“Fresh dropbear tracks. When I say run, run…”) Possibly even making friends some of the local critters.

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As for inspiration, there’s numerous sources out there: Nuclear Snail have some fascinating tutorials, though the name strikes fear in my heart*. The games Sunfall:Metro, Wasteland UK and The World Went Dark have some stunning imagery. Given the lack of desert location near me, I’m aiming for a more forestpunk style (Which mixes in with the forests reclaming background I’m bashing out), but the standard levels of dirt, grime and blood will be present.

The world died. Cities fell, and the wilderness reclaimed them. People tried to survive, to carry on, but when their numbers grew too few, it collapsed. Some had hidden underground, in vast shelters built by the government, riding out the chaos in air conditioned splendour. Others unable to pay their way inside suffered and struggled, dying but for want of a few coins. When they emerged, the world had changed. The forests had grown over the cities of man, the once gleaming towers of glass and steel now overgrown with forest, a land filled with scavengers, monsters and other horrors. The animals had, changed, growing larger and more dangerous. The virus that had slaughtered the humans had mutated them and they had grown strong for lack of humanity. Now the wildlife is as much a threat as starvation, disease or raiders.

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Some have surrendered to their darker instincts, plundering the ashes of the old world. Some seek to learn from it, to reconstruct what was, or just to survive. I’m trying to give a number of options for possible PC’s, as large as I can, rather than ‘good guy or bad’ options.

The start: we start at a small settlement. Supplies can be found nearby, and there’s shelter. Possibly a small sporting arena for Blood Bowl or Jugger. What happens next, well, that is another story…

*I hate snails, and slugs for that matter – they scare the living hell out of me. Have since I was a kid.

Design. What?

First off: silly me, I put my hand up and am now running D&D 5E for my home group. Waterdeep, here we come…

Secondly, the post apocalyptic game. (Yes, at some point I will have a proper name for it.) While I’m still in the initial flood of ideas, so I figure a writer’s bible, or at least some sort of framework will be useful. Look, if it distracts me from the “Oh hell, what the fuck have I just agreed to do?” feeling that’s creeps in from time to time, that’ll be a good thing. Here’s what I have so far:

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1: I want it to run in my neck of the woods, or close to. Can you blame me?

2: I want it to be challenging. I’m not suggesting ‘You scrounge for 10 hours and find 2 bullets’, but I don’t want things to be too easy. That also goes for combat – I like the threat of death, but not character’s being bumped off left right and centre. Ideally, I’d like the players to feel like badasses, but not have them waltz through encounters. There’s no feeling of triumph without the struggle to ge there.

3: There’s not much desert type area near me, but there is a decent amount of forest. I’m fine with that – the Drop Bears need somewhere to live. Sure, there’s also civilians not to spook and council permission to get as well, but that comes later. grad001-2

4: Start small, then expand. I’ve already had one player ask to be a mutant Kangaroo (After a friend commented that I was writing Tank Girl: The LARP) and while I’m not saying no, I’d rather give it 6 months or so then start adding that level of weirdness.

5: Costuming. I love getting dressed for an event, it’s one of the main reasons I LARP, so naturally I’d like to see a good standard of costume. I don’t want to enforce that, but hope that the player base will continue to improve kit over time.

6: Lastly (For the time being): a sense of humour. I’m almost incapable of running a serious event, which is both good and bad for my GM’ing, but I game to have fun, not to engage in psycological torture. Well, not all the time…

More to follow.

 

SHINY AND CHROME

Right, so from the reaction the game idea got in the pub last night, it looks like post apocalyptic is the way to go. Whether that’s due to there being demand for that sort of event, or dropbears I’m not sure, but I’m not going to dispute it.Don’t have a name yet, with the most prominent ideas being FALLOUT:STRAYA and RECOVERY.

The ideas started flowing, some better than others. Cults based around TV shows (Or casinos, with the prayer sign mining pulling the handle), people who wear wearing bluetooth being mutated and now are able to communicate via hive mind or the Holy Wars between the followers of Farnesy and Barnesy. An underground mutant fighting ring (“The drop bear we captured last week against the platypus in the local river”). The perk to resist fear effects called Brown Underpants. A beer based economy or task resolution method, simulated by playing Beer Pong or catch with larger and more unweildy gloves. Mind you, I’m still cackling about the idea of sending a group into the wilds, playing the sounds of angry koalas through hidden speakers, and then –  A HORDE OF CREW IN BLOODSTAINED KOALA COSTUMES, CLAWS BARED FOR BATTLE charging from the woods. Yep, I like the sound of that. And we haven’t gotten to the spiders or platypus yet…

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First thought: what time is it, AKA, how long has it been since the world fell? I’m torn between it was 3 days ago and now the containment facilities (Built in secret at Macquarie Uni in the 70’s by ASIO and the CIA) have been opened. There was discussion of tribalism between students and faculties, what with everyone blaming the science students (“What, it was only a little Gamma radiation, what could go wrong?”)

or things went to hell a few years ago. Say, it started to crack in the mid 90’s. Enough time to local wildlife to have mutated, but the survivors still have some functioning tech (Possibly even WiFi in the really advanced areas) but enough time that history has fragmented. I’m more inclined to the second (As it’s a little more Mad Max, but am open to running the odd ‘just as the bombs fell’ one-shot in future), but I’m a little fixated upon having crude cyber tech – think the tech level of Warhammer 40,000 Orks.

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WEAPONS: Gun are rare, and ammo is rarer. People who can repair them or manufacture new ones are hoarded. You get shot, you’re in serious trouble. Bows have made a comeback, with people realizing you can reuse ammo. Melee weapons won’t tickle, but seeing a firearm pulled means things have gone south real quick. I’d like an element of danger, but I also don’t want PC’s dropping like flies. The threat of death is good, but not a TPK every game.

INSPIRATION:

The Mad Max series – do you have to ask?

Tank Girl – a film, despite it’s numerous flaws, that I adore for a piece of it’s soundtrack. Well, and Malcolm McDowell. Plus what’s not to love about a film with Ice-T as a mutant kangaroo?

The Mutants Down Under and Rifts: Australia sourcebooks. FUN FACT: A mate of mine knows/knew the author of Rifts: Australia, who was very firm about stating the giant kangaroos weren’t his fault.

More to follow…