Getting ready for my Godlike: Nazi Hunters game next week. I’ve reached the point of my prep where I feel I could do more but I don’t really need to. All the basic stuff is done. I could keep going, working up NPCs for further down the line but as far as outlining things goes, until I see how session 1 goes down, I can’t really set anything up for session 2.
Anyway, I’m into the fun stuff – drawing maps and finding inspiring images and whatnot. Really fired up about this one!
So we did our “campaign jam” last week and to my surprise have settled on a sort of steampunk-ish fantasy setting with airships and floating islands. Given who I work for, I’ve added a taste of Full Metal Alchemist to it for flavor (which also gives everyone a common reference point). But in all I’ve only really sketched things in broad terms with the players and fully intend to fill in blanks and make stuff up as we go along (or better yet, let them make stuff up).
To keep the momentum, we need to get characters done and get into the game soon. So next Friday I want to do character generation. I only have about an hour and fortunately, Legends of Anglerre/FATE should help move it along, but even that can take time I know. I’m going to encourage people to work out their characters by talking about who they are first before figuring out skills and aspects, since both of those things really come from the description anyway.
The three seasoned gamers in the group will probably blow through this quickly, unless they get hung up on aspects. The three newbies might also get stuck with Too Many Choices, so I’ll need to look at the chargen process in the book and think of ways to make it simple. I plan to encourage just setting things down and not worrying about what the exact mechanics are in game – if it sounds right, take it. If it’s not exactly what you thought later on, we can change it.
Hopefully this will go well and have everyone fired up to actually play. I’ll talk about how I’m going to set up a one-hour adventure later on!
I noticed during our last session of Dark Heresy that at certain times, it was feeling a little more like a standard sci-fi setting than the insane rococo nightmare that it is. Player feedback after the session indicated that atmosphere was really apparent in the session prior. I’m taking that to heart and I’ll be laying it on thick in the next one. Since 40K is a setting that’s already over the top, I don’t think you can go too far wrong by using lots of color descriptions.
Thinking back on what I did in previous sessions, it’s all about picking out a few things that are iconic about whatever aspect of the setting I’m trying to describe and then just getting baroque and weird with the details. When you look at the best 40K art, there’s always a lot of depth and a lot of little details you can pick out by looking closely. And when you do look close, some of those little details can often be disturbing, surprising or intriguing. So that’s what I’ll do.
The upcoming session is going to feature some interesting locations and potential scenes, and I’ve already thought of the descriptive detail I’ll use. I’ve been looking at 40K art for inspiration and also some other artists’ work that is along the same lines. The main thing is, the 40K setting is insane, dark and threatening, yet strangely attractive, and the color needs to bring that home. Even when I’m making stuff up on the fly I should remember this.
Is it 40K without that? Sure, but only in a passive way. The GM needs to pick up those atmospherics, find the cool parts and then show them to everyone.
I just realized I have several RPG balls rolling.
1. The 40K campaign is active and ongoing.
2. We’ll be doing a Godlike: Nazi Hunters mini-campaign in June.
3. I’ve done some groundwork on a 40K/FATE scenario for the EndGame Minicon later this year.
4. We’re going to do chargen for the Legends of Anglerre steampunk campaign I’ve started at work next week.
Should I stop?
Yesterday was session 2 of our 40K campaign. It went really well, with the PCs getting more than they bargained for with the Genestealer cult they were going after.
There was a head on firefight deep in the bowels of a cult stronghold with some serious action that left everyone seriously wounded and hanging on by a thread – several Fate points were burned. One particularly cool image was at the end of the fight, when the PCs finally took out the last of the cultists charging them, they were totally out of ammo – bolts locked back, power packs spent. Elsewhere, one of the PCs caught up to the Big Bad who tried to psychically explode out heroes head. But I choked a couple of die rolls for the villain, and our heroine shot him point blank then whipped out her mono-sword and cut him down. Awesome!
But my favorite moment was when the Acolyte team kicked in the door of the hab of another cultist and came face to face with a 4th generation hybrid child and a purestrain ‘stealer baby (and some other strangeness). There was much freaking out and blown fear checks and lots of panicked shooting and screaming. For some reason, I’d thought the Crew wouldn’t be so phased by this, but the looks on their faces throughout the encounter were pretty priceless!
I also enjoyed the denouement where they were summoned to the Tricorn Palace for their mission debriefing, and I got to lay on the massive, monolithic atmosphere of the 40K setting with a shovel. The two statues flanking the entrance of the basilica were not statues, but Deathwatch Space Marines on ceremonial guard. I came up with this on the fly, and the players worked the moment perfectly. It really felt very 40K.
Since we’re eventually going to be playing Deathwatch as part of this campaign, this little cameo sparked a couple of ideas I think I can build on down the line and should help provide some nice symmetry to the whole thing.
The Dark Heresy portion of the campaign now has 4 more sessions to go, and it’s evolving as we go along which I do enjoy. My antagonists have their plans but so do the PCs and one affects the other, so things are constantly changing. The conspiracy grows and mutates!
With that done, I’m now anticipating DunDraCon at the end of the week! My Godlike game is primed and ready for engine start, I have my Mountain Witch stuff ready, and I’m looking over Eclipse Phase since I’m hoping to get into a game of that on Friday night.
I always seem to have something in the works. Right now I’ve been focused on cleaning up my Godlike TOG302 adventure for DunDraCon. In that regard I’ve basically just spruced up the presentation.
I was really impressed with the character folders Wayne had for his Laundry game, so I got some similar folders and everything went into those. I also fixed up the character sheets with new images, checked them over for mistakes/omissions/inconsistencies/etc. And I made some inserts for these plastic photo stands that Jack (and now Wayne) both use that are absolutely great for use at the table (since everyone can see both the character’s name and image).
I’m also thinking about how to run the adventure itself. My game was slotted for 8AM (yes, really) at DDC, so I’m expecting lots of people to drag themselves in late or simply not show up. Jeezus, the earliest I’ve ever started a game in three decades of gaming was 9AM, so this is going to be a first…
Anyway, I’m looking at the adventure and figuring out “landmarks” for pacing purposes. For example, I know the big raid on Rabaul Harbor is a big complex battle and took about 2 1/2 hours in playtest. Since I only have 6 hours for the whole game, and the first hour is going to explanations and shaking things down and all that, I’ve really got 5 hours. But this is a simple game really. It starts with some roleplaying and character building opportunities the night before the raid. Then there’s the briefing, launch and flight to the target, and finally the attack itself. So the first two parts get about an hour each, and the attack squadrons need to be going in around 11Am and noon at the latest.
But aside from some tinkering here and there, that’s ready to go.
All the thinking about Godlike has me researching the Long Range Desert Group and getting started on an adventure based on the activities of this famous unit. The trucks and other vehicles may not be as sexy as a tank (if a tank is sexy), but when you start reading about them they are pretty cool. If that doesn’t convince you then there is this:
And this:
So if the thought of bearded British badasses driving around the desert in jeeps and trucks with Vickers machineguns all over them doesn’t float your boat, I can’t help you!
I also played Rogue Trader today, which was fun. I’m digging the scale of the game and I like that the PCs are the top dogs on the ship and still getting their hands dirty doing stuff. I’m learning a lot of things that I will apply when the time comes to run the Rogue Trader part of my own 40K campaign.
Finally, the EndGame GMs Seminar only has 9 seats left! If you’re sitting on the fence about this, don’t sit too long!
All right, re-did this after I accidentally trashed it the other day!
You want to write an adventure for Godlike (I assume). Before you get into the nitty gritty, you need to brainstorm, figuring out where and when to set it, and who the PCs will be. Do this without consideration of the Talent powers – you just want to get a good WW2 situation pinned down first.
First, think about what grabs you or inspires you. Just saw Band of Brothers and the night parachute drop got you excited? Watched Enemy at the Gates and can’t resist riffing on it? Go with your gut – if a particular story or situation has got itself in your brain, that’s the one you want to do. At the same time, pitch it to your group and see what floats their boat too.
Next, think about who the PCs will be, and by extension, what they will do in the adventure. What’s the hook? Paratroopers gotta jump. Snipers gotta snipe. That’s what the PCs are and what they’ll be doing. Whatever else you do, as long as those characters do the core thing that originally caught your attention, you’ve got a good base to start with. Yes, paratroopers really don’t jump into action as much as they get trucked in, but that’s boring. And yeah, a sniper can get stuck in a close quarters shootout in the ruins, but that’s not what we’re here for. We want a thrilling jump at 500 feet into the pitch darkness and a long range sniper duel in the ruins. That’s all going to happen.
Right, you have a focus. Now, do a little research. Even a little goes a long way here. Two things you should try to get (somewhat) right are the location and units involved. Usually not too hard to do. While you’re looking through your source material, keep your eyes peeled for a key engagement – a skirmish or battle that was a turning point. This is where the PCs will be. Even if they aren’t at the very locus of the action, they’ll be in the immediate vicinity.
You’ll want to pay attention to the historical flow of the engagement. If you need to, make a little time-line for yourself in your notes. Regardless of what you end up doing, the events of this battle form a backdrop for your scenario, and can even influence it if you want it to.
So, you’ve got paratroopers doing a night drop on D-Day. You go with the British 6th Airborne dropping on Pegasus Bridge. You figure out the timeline, the German units involved, great. Your PC have to get in there, take the bridge and hold until relieved. This is creeping into what, exactly, the mission is all about, and you should be thinking about this at the same time. What is the objective for the PCs?
For my Godlike TOG302 game it was purely military – blast the hell out of the Japanese base at Rabaul. The secondary objective, because this is Godlike, was to take out enemy Talents. Talents are going to figure into the mission of course, and they can be part of the primary objective (as targets or something specific to the mission) or as secondary targets of opportunity (as they were in my air combat game).
Again, I’m just telling you how I do it, and my style and approach to running Godlike assumes fairly “high red” and “low blue” levels (to borrow from Wild Talents). Though the Talents are in play, I don’t really go very gonzo (I think) with what happens (70-foot dragons not withstanding!)
And with Talents, things start to get weird… Stay tuned for part 2!
More tomorrow!
And something about the Devil’s work? I’ve got about 6 or 7 weeks until the kickoff of my 40K campaign. Between busting out the Godlike project for Arc Dream, I’ve busied myself with figuring out what to do with the 40K stuff.
I’ve been R(elationship)-mapping the NPCs, which is always fun. Doing a visual representation always helps me see ways of spinning things I would have missed otherwise. As I was going through the characters in one particular faction, I realized it would be logical to have another group involved. So, I’ll be working up some more NPC stats. Usually, I hate doing NPC stat blocks and skimp by with the bare bones. But I have the time and inclination to do complete writeups now, and it’s helping me get more familiar with the system, so it’s all good.
I used to mind-map RPG adventures, which worked quite well for me for a long time. But I’ve moved away from that and I’ve been using R-maps for the past few years. I really like them since at a glance you can see who’s into whom for what and decide what they’ll do in the face of some other character in the web taking action. If the web of relationships is sitting inside a situation, then the adventure almost writes itself. Actually, I think what I’m doing is sort of a hybrid mind-map/r-map thing.
I also use R-maps to figure out published adventures sometimes. When I ran Hellas at the EndGame minicon back in October, I used a rough draft of an adventure the publisher of Hellas had done for GenCon. I’m sure the notes made lots of sense to the guy who wrote them, but I was like, “Whaaat?” So I started plugging the characters into an R-map. When I did, it all became clear what was going on and why, and I was also able to tweak and improve a few things as a result. Here’s a shot of the map (sorry for the shitty photo – I don’t have a scanner):
With this, I was able to run the game a lot easier. I could just glance at it in play and know what to do next.
Anyway, the R-map for the 40K game will be well-populated and the situation very sticky. Looking forward to this a lot!
As I gear up for the 40K campaign, I’m getting into the rules more, mostly with an eye toward how to run the game to alleviate the so called “whiff factor” that you get with task resolution type systems. This, coupled with the pass/fail percentile dice mechanic and the relatively low baseline chance of success (about 30% for an unmodified “challenging” task) means the whiff factor is pretty high. Only 3 times out of 10 will your character succeed at something without some help.
The game text gives no advice whatsoever about dealing with this, or even that it could be a problem. Inexperienced GMs (yes, there are some) will likely run into this issue a lot as their players pull their hair out trying to break down a door or boil water and keep rolling 31+. Actually, a routine or easy task can take you up to 50%, which if you look at it, is the default success chance in almost any skill based system not matter what the actual dice mechanics are.
It’s an issue I have with a lot of games – they don’t really tell you how to play this game. They tell you all about setting up adventures and campaign, but not the nuts and bolts of actually engaging the system, what to do and what to look out for. It’s like some schmoe buying a hot high performance sports car with a lot of power and tricky steering – yeah, you have a license and you know how to drive, but do you know how to drive this car and get the most out of it? Those dudes end up wrapping their Ferrari around a tree.
One of the major things with the 40K system is, baseline rolls default to a challenging level of difficulty. The rules even say this assumes doing something under stress. But it’s very easy to forget this and just go with that base chance all the time, even for easy stuff. To even things out, the GM really needs to be considering the nature of tasks, easy, routine, challenging, etc, and tossing those bonuses on there. For example, picking a lock when you’re unobserved and under no time pressure, should be pretty routine for someone trained to do it – throw that +20% on there. If the cops are coming, or something is trying to eat your face then yeah, sure, no bonus.
But even with the GM being generous and the players whoring for bonuses, with a game that has a whiff factor, the challenge for the GM is, in a nutshell, to make failure interesting. You can do this a couple of different ways:
* Approach a failed roll as something other than utter failure. Yes, maybe a failed roll on a shot at a moving target is a clean miss. But a failed roll on the maglock? Well, you got it open, but it set off the alarm. Land the dropship? Well, you land it, yeah, but you slammed it down so hard you caused some damage.
* If the margin of failure isn’t too wide, like, within say 5-10%, allow a partial success (which is kinda like the technique above).
This is probably how I’ll handle it. All that said, if you have a string of bad luck and just can’t roll less than 90, hey, sometimes the Gaming Gods just aren’t on your side that day. Shit happens, get a helmet.
So, the game kinda forces the GM to step it up in order to be successful. It’s just too bad they don’t tell you any of this in the rules.
I would very much like to see RPGs do away with the generic “How to play an RPG” section, or at least augment it with “How to play this RPG” which focuses in on the nuts and bolts of utilizing the system to have a successful game.
Lotta people agonize over preparing for their games. The ones that dread it do it out of some sense of obligation, but it is not fun for them, and perhaps the game they’re running doesn’t help.
Personally, I don’t need a lot of prep to run a game. Those of you who have seen the lengths I go to for some games are probably going, “Shee-yeah, right!” But that’s the thing. I don’t really need all that stuff, but making it is fun for me, so I do it. Usually, I’m happy I did it too.
I’ve spent most of this year getting things set up for the Godlike game I’ll run in two week’s time. And I think it will rock. On the other hand, I haven’t done much more for the Hellas game I’m running this Saturday at the Endgame Minicon than print out the adventure and ready-made characters. I may draw a quick map, but that’s it. Even without the level of stuff I’m doing for the Godlike game, I’ll probably have just as much fun with Hellas.
My adventure writing these days consists mainly of brainstorming situations, characters and motivations. Often, my notes for a day’s gaming session are three to four pages at most. Mostly, what I do is make props. The time I spend on the adventure proper is usually short relative to however long it takes me to draw maps, paint minis, or put together handouts.
So, am I wasting my time? No. As long as making stuff for my games continues to be fun, I will continue to do it.
 | Jacob on 40K moving forward, and other… |
| GMs Seminar at Endga… on EndGame GM Seminar! | |
| 2011 – My year… on Godlike: Nazi Hunters |
