#RPGaDay: Day Fifteen - Favorite Convention Game

I don't get to play in a lot of games in the role of a player. When I've gone to GenCon, I've made a point of getting into a game or two, generally those run by friends. When my friends are running games, it's generally by invitation only and I'm definitely a lot more comfortable with the turn-out. Even if I don't know everyone at the table, I'm generally satisfied that my friend's friends are going to be good human beings who won't ruin the game for everyone else.

I'm not a huge fan of random convention games because they're sort of like boxes of chocolates--you never know what you're gonna get. I've had some bad experiences with the kinds of players who show up for such games, so I tend to be gun shy about them. That's not to say all players are bad! I've been in some good games, too. It really comes down to how the GM handles his players and whether or not he allows them to walk roughshod over everyone else at the table.

I could tell you stories about some really horrible convention games, but that's not what this is about. No, dear reader, this is about convention games I've enjoyed.

The Executor is big. Damn big. Like, super big.

Chris Witt (of the Order 66 podcast) ran a Saga Edition Star Wars game at GenCon 2009 that I remember fondly. That particular GenCon was the last with Saga Edition in print, as Wizards would announce the following January that they had chosen not to renew the license. If I recall correctly, there was some last-minute RPGA support, and an official adventure, "Murder on the Executor," was provided. Chris had a copy and decided to run it for myself and a few others.

I won't spoil the adventure, but I got to play a nerdy sort of Imperial computer technician. We were ordered to solve a murder, which resulted in few run-ins with bad guys, bad droids, and some intrigue. During the final battle, I recall running into the bad guy's ship and closing the entry hatch, then hacking it so he couldn't open it from outside. He was wearing heavy armor, which made him a pain in the butt to hit, but it also kept him from beating me to the hatch. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

I've also run plenty of games at conventions. My first was a Cyberpunk 2020 game I ran for R. Talsorian at GenCon 1997 in Milwaukee. I've also run a game or two for Green Ronin (Thieves' World) and Fantasy Flight Games (Midnight). I suppose if I was to pick one of those games, I think that 1997 Cyberpunk game would be my favorite.

The players took the roles of KGB agents sent to Night City to track down an escaped Soviet hacker. I had some good groups for that game, including the 2-3 groups of playtesters I had prior to running it "live" at the convention. I printed photographs of Russian soldiers I'd found in National Geographic Magazine and attached them to player "dossiers" in manila folders. I wanted the experience to be memorable for the players, and I let them keep the dossiers after the game.

It makes me wonder if any of those players remembers it or not.

#RPGaDay: Day Eight - Favorite Character

An old sketch of Deadeye.

I'm a career game master. What this means is that I rarely do anything but run games for my friends. I'm pretty well open if my players want to run something, but I've tended to be the one behind the screen for the majority of my gaming life. I used to say, "I've been riding the GM horse so long I'm practically a centaur," for a reason.

I did a lot more playing in my youth, but I guess I liked being behind the screen too much. Players are more than happy with that arrangement, for the most part. Not everyone's made to run RPGs, and that's perfectly okay. I tend to get good marks from my players, so I assume I'm doing just fine. That's not to say I don't miss playing once in a while. I do. It's strange feeling when you don't have to worry about more than one character.

After I was introduced to the Cyberpunk RPG by a good friend, he and I ended up playing it a lot. I'd run games for him, and he'd run games for me. The character I eventually settled on playing was patterned after a dime store Billy the Kid. I went in all the way, too. He had no cyberware outside of his optics (one of them black and "dead"), and all his weapons were analog--an old .45 Peacemaker, a Winchester repeater, and a Bowie knife.

I remember my friend's declaration that I'd never survive the first game with a load-out like that. Either he went easy on me, or I proved him wrong. Whatever the case, I ended up playing Deadeye for a long, long time. It's the one character I've gotten the most mileage out of, and I've even let him make cameos in some of the games I've run in the past (and not as a dreaded "GMPC," either).

As the sessions went by, Deadeye changed. He got somewhat deeper as a character, more than just a sociopathic cowboy-punk with a chip on his shoulder. He lost three out of four limbs--Cyberpunk was kind of brutal that way--but that was sort of par for the course. His "outfit" (CP2020 slang for "gear") upgraded, too. The chronology is somewhat complicated at times, but like any character you play for a long time, it makes sense that it would be that way.

I don't know how many years it's been since I sat in a player's chair and played Deadeye. Maybe twenty years? A little less, maybe? But I'll always remember him and the fun I had playing him. I'll let him show up in any future CP2020 games I run if it's appropriate to do so, but I won't let him overshadow the PCs. After all, he's had his time in the spotlight. It's time to let someone else save the day.

#RPGaDay: Day Six - Favorite RPG Never Get to Play

One of the games that defined me.

I have so many favorite RPGs that I never get to play. It's sort of disturbing, really. In some cases, I'm in love with the concept of a certain game, system, or setting, but for whatever reason it never comes up in my rotation. It's tough to narrow down. I suppose if I have to pick just one of them, the one game I'd love to break out and play (assuming my players would submit to it), it'd probably be Cyberpunk 2020.

The original "black box" Cyberpunk RPG was one of my first true loves when it came to tabletop RPGs. When Cyberpunk 2020 came out, I played it, too. It was my go-to game. Being a designer at heart, even in those days, I fiddled with the game and house-ruled it all to hell and back. All those little house rules are still documented on the web, too. Cyberpunk was one of those games that made me want to get into the industry in some kind of creative role.

The last time I ran a Cyberpunk game was over four years ago, shortly after I started working at 38 Studios in Maynard, Massachusetts. I even started a blog about the game, which was called "The New Untouchables," but I never got very far in updating it. I think we had three or four sessions in total, but for some reason it fell apart. I'm thinking it had something to do with work getting busy, which is always a concern when I'm running games in the office. I'd start that game up again in a heartbeat if I could.

Wow. Four years gone by. The way time flies by never ceases to amaze me, and not in a good way.

I still have a shrink-wrapped copy of this.

Anyway, my Cyberpunk gaming library is pretty big. I have everything R. Talsorian ever released, more than one copy in some cases. As bloated as the game got over the years, it was still lots of fun. I used the system for a lot more than Cyberpunk, too. I adapted the movie "Aliens" to the system, eventually updating it with material gleaned from Leading Edge's Aliens Adventure Game and the Aliens Technical Manual by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood.

When R. Talsorian started developing their Fuzion! system, I didn't switch over. I have a copy of Cyberpunk V.3 (as well as the Bubblegum Crisis and Armored Trooper VOTOMS books), but it wasn't what I was looking for. Call me a grognard or whatever you like, but nothing beats the simplicity and flat probabilities of the original 2020, even if it does require a number of house rules to make some of its flaws less inconvenient.

About the only game that inspired me the way that Cyberpunk 2020 did was AD&D's Dark Sun campaign setting. Seeing as I ran Dark Sun in a similar manner to Cyberpunk, I guess it's not terribly surprising. Maybe I can talk about Dark Sun more in another #RPGaDay entry.

Moving on to June

This year is just zipping by.

Yesterday, 38 Studios and Big Huge Games celebrated their one year anniversary. BHG flew up to Maynard, and it was a day of feasting, gaming, and revelry. Remind me to never again drink beer before noon. I'm too old and fat to partake of such extravagances so early in the morning.

On the gaming front, I've been wondering if I've completely lost my GMing muscles or not. I suppose I'm a little rusty. I need to jump back on the bike and pedal a little bit harder. It's been over three years since I've run a campaign of any length or depth. Right now, I'm committed to running two of them.

The first is that Star Wars (Saga Edition) game I'm sure I've mentioned here at one time or another. I've got a lot of work to do so that next session will be a fun-filled destructo-fest for the players.

The second is my New Untouchables Cyberpunk 2020 campaign, which I'm resurrecting for a group at work. I started the game in Virginia at Mythic, but it was cut short by the loss of a number of my players. I always regretted that; it had a lot of potential, I thought. I figure this is my chance to see if I was right or not.

I've also been delving into other games, at least insofar as reconnecting with them goes. One of those is Alternity. Man, what a great system that was! I can feel the tugging of GM ADHD coming on, and I ... must ... RESIST! Though I may run a one-shot for some folks at work, anyway, for old time's sake.

I also picked up a bunch of the new Talisman 4th Edition stuff, but haven't played it yet. I wish my son could read, because we'd be playing right this second if he was literate. As it is, he's getting the idea of written language. I wish there was a reading/writing boot camp I could send him to.

I've more or less given up on freelancing again. I keep coming back to the topic, mostly because I miss it so damn much. But just because I've resigned myself to not freelancing again doesn't mean I won't if the right people ask me to (hint hint).

I think that this (long holiday) weekend is going to be a nice one if my kids can keep their internecine strife to a minimum. There's a coffee shop here in Hudson that looks promising, and I'd like to head over there with my laptop and see if I can do some mental exercises (not to mention work on my campaigns). Plus, if I do end up getting some freelance work heading my way at some point, it'll be nice to know if the place is a good place to work on stuff.

That's about all, in a nutshell. Overall, I'm very positive about the future right now (as I usually am on presentation day). I've still got a couple of things I need to get done (enroll Stephen in kindergarten, which involves him having a physical exam and probably getting some shots), as well as register my car (which has been a comedy of errors, let me tell you). June is the month to do it, since my VA registration expires in July. Joy!

All for now...

A New Year

Happy New Year, folks.

With the new year, I'd like to try and play more tabletop games. The pickings have been fairly slim over the past year and a half, which is due more to being busy with work and children than to anything else. It's also a question of mood; I'm in no mood for fantasy-themed games, and haven't been for some time. Maybe it's due to my lukewarm feelings on 4E; I don't know.

Any gaming I do will have to take place away from home and without the involvement of my wife. She's more or less resigned to that fact, but she reckons that we will have a whole new era of gaming fun once our offspring are a little more self-sufficient. In other words, in 2-4 years. Ugh.

So this leads me to consider the types of games I plan to run (or maybe even play) in the coming weeks and months. The idea of actually working on a game is somewhat alien to me; it's been so long, after all. The last game I actually ran at work (over a year ago) consisted of a number of free adventures. Not totally original, no, but it was quick and easy until it petered out.

Speaking of petering out, I've got that GM ADD that I've mentioned before. I need to hit some manner of groove with a games I'm running before they really stick. This is all in my head, I realize that, and there are a number of silly psychological elements that either make or break me. Group composition is one; outside influences, such as worries about work and/or home, are another. Still, is it worth just tossing my GMing desires out the window?

I figure not. I want to run a game.

A game of what? I've already tossed fantasy out the window, which leads me to non-fantasy games and settings. What's really been driving me ape lately is Cyberpunk 2020, the game that got me passionate about gaming and game design. Sure, it's retro and the timeline is outdated and there are a number of flaws to the system, but I have this deep desire to revisit it. I'd have to apply my own rules mods, of course -- I can't consider playing CP2020 right out of the box. Though they do allow for a certain amount of min/maxing by players, I can (hopefully) keep it to a minimum.

Other titles I've been wanting to run include Star Wars Saga Edition and Top Secret/SI. SW would be fun, yeah, but I'm not sure I could get off on the right foot with it at the moment. I'm not inspired with a specific campaign idea at the moment, so I'd probably need to wait on running SW. Besides, certain folks (my wife in specific) will probably kill me if I run an SW game without them.

As to Top Secret/SI, it was one of the first games I ever picked up back in the days of my wayward youth. A good system, though somewhat clunky in areas. The clunkiness is forgivable on the whole, though. I have the same issue with the type of game I'd like to run, so I need to think on this one a bit more, too.

So I come back to Cyberpunk again. I do have an idea for a CP game, keyed to a law enforcement game. My favorite CP games were always "cops" games. They gave the players a bit more structure, rather than allowing them to be free-wheeling mercenary sociopathic rampaging cyberpsychotic killers (which gets old after a while). Though such games can (and have) devolved, they are ultimately more stable in the long run.

My preferences of campaign style haven't really changed much over the years. I'm still more keen to serious games with grim atmospheres and not a lot of wise-cracking banter. A little joking is one thing, but if every other word uttered by myself or the players is a sassy attempt at humor or an oft-cited movie quote, it gets in the way of the mood I'm trying to establish. Establishing mood is hard enough when folks are cooperating.

Which comes down to players. I don't have anyone in mind, really, since the game may not appeal to all comers. There are the usual suspects, obviously: those folks I've gamed with at work before, who I know well enough to decide if they'd be interested or not. Then there are the unknown quantities: folks who have expressed a desire to play, but who I've never played with.

So my thought is to send a general query out on the gaming community list at work, saying something along the lines of, "Hi! I want to run a grim and gritty retro-80's law enforcement-themed Cyberpunk 2020 game heavy on house rules. Please reply off-list if you're interested!" and see who bites. With luck, the response won't be so overwhelming that I have to actively dissuade folks from participating; of course, it might be that all I get for a response is the lonely chirping of crickets.

That will be Monday, which gives me a couple days to continue my brainstorming. Until then, sayonara.

Robocop

One of the guys at work sold a bunch of his old DVDs last week, and one of them was a Robocop boxed set including the original movie and the two sequels. I popped the original in and kept it on in the background while I wrote Warhammer stuff.

Man, that movie took me back. It's goofy, but it's almost as quintessentially cyberpunk as Blade Runner is. It gave me a serious jones for running an old fashioned CP2020 game. In relation to my last post, though, it'll be a cold day in hell before that happens.

Unless I run something at work, of course. That has its own series of problems, though. We'll have to see.

Anyway, just some random gibberish. I best get back to the task at hand...