So I say now...
Anyway, I'm going out to work/write soon, after I take care of some business (read: errands) with the family.
I have a confession to make, one which pains me and reddens my face with shame. Yes, folks, it's true. I have a My Space profile.
I know I should have saved this admission for my inevitable appearance on one of any number of morning talk shows, but I couldn't keep it inside me any longer. If you'd like to check it out, feel free to follow this link. Proceed with caution!
My feelings on My Space have always been (and continue to be) fairly negative. It's an obvious marketplace for ads and commercialism, and the typical layout of profiles and blogs isn't very appealing. The only reason I really put up a profile in the first place was so that I could contact a couple of people through My Space. As you probably know, unless you have a My Space profile, you can't do squat.
I tend to doubt I'll be updating the My Space blog very often, if at all. That's what I've got this place (and Freelance Father) for.
So that's my confession. I'm so ashamed. I feel so dirty. I could cry.
Of course, if you're one of those folks with a My Space profile, and you wanna be my friend (awwwww! It's like high school all over again!), drop me a line...
30 September 2006
25 September 2006
Monday, Shmonday
Monday morning, and I'm not at work. I'm at home. We're prepping the boy for a doctor's appointment, and I'm going along as escort. These things are always easier when there are two of us along for the ride. He's likely going to be getting a couple of shots today, which always makes for an interesting time.
In the meantime, I'm feeling a little better than I was Friday through Sunday. The extreme sinus pressure I've been feeling since the middle of last week (and a bit before that, IIRC) has yet to manifest itself today. I pray that it doesn't, being as uncomfortable as it is.
I also figured that I'd post the starting stats for the character I'm playing in JD's Liberty campaign, just for grins. I'm still working on his backstory, off and on. I may post a little bit of that, too. We'll see.
Sahm al-Faris
Sahm is a stocky young man, standing nearly 5'8" tall and weighing just over 160 pounds. His muscle definition is obvious, but his build is by no means intimidating. Given his stocky appearance, he is nonetheless quite deft in his movements.
He has long dark hair, which is generally worn down unless he is wearing his turban, in which case he coils it up and ties it back. His eyes are brown, and so dark that they appear to be black in all but the brightest of light. His skin is dark, and his back, chest, legs, and arms are particularly hairy. Sahm makes it a habit to shave his face each and every day.
The clothing he wears is conspicuously southern in style, often comprised of desert-style robes the color of oatmeal, tied at the waist with a rather plain white sash. His default form of armor is a suit of inconspicuous breastplate, with a bronze helmet that comes to a sharp point at the very top.
His signature weapon is a composite longbow. When forced to fight in hand-to-hand combat, Sahm almost always prefers to use his scimitar (which he refers to as a "shamshir"). It is a fine weapon, with a curved blade of folded steel, and a golden hilt that has been wrought to resemble a scorpion (outstretched claws for the crossbar, with the tail curving down and around the hand to cover the ring finger). Lacking this, he has a broad-bladed katar/punch dagger that is effective despite its relatively humble origins.
Sahm bin-Fahad bin-Abbas al-Faris, CR 2
Male Human Fighter 2
LN Medium Humanoid (Human [Southern Empire])
Init +3; Senses Listen +1, Spot +1
Languages Common, Istarin
AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 16
hp 23 (2 HD)
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +1
Spd 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee masterwork scimitar +4 (1d6+1/18-20 ×2)
Ranged composite longbow +6 (1d8+1/×3)
Base Atk +3; Grp +3
Atk Options Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus (Longbow)
Combat Gear Breastplate Armor, Buckler, Composite Longbow (Str +1), Punching Dagger, Masterwork Scimitar, 5 Armor Piercing Arrows, 20 Normal Arrows, 5 Sheaf Arrows
Abilities Str 13, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 10
SQ None
Feats Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus (longbow)
Skills Climb +3, Craft (bowyer) +6, Handle Animal +5, Jump +2, Ride +10, Survival +2
Possessions combat gear plus Artisan's Tools (Bowyer), Backpack, Bedroll, Desert Robes, Flint & Steel, Lantern (Hooded), Oil ×3, Pouch (Belt), Rations (Trail, 7 days), Rope (Silk, 50 ft.), Sack (Empty) ×2, Waterskin, Whetstone, Potion of Cure Light Wounds ×2, Armor Piercing Arrows ×5, Normal Arrows ×20, Sheaf Arrows ×5, Money (25 gp, 8 sp, 8 cp)
In the meantime, I'm feeling a little better than I was Friday through Sunday. The extreme sinus pressure I've been feeling since the middle of last week (and a bit before that, IIRC) has yet to manifest itself today. I pray that it doesn't, being as uncomfortable as it is.
I also figured that I'd post the starting stats for the character I'm playing in JD's Liberty campaign, just for grins. I'm still working on his backstory, off and on. I may post a little bit of that, too. We'll see.
Sahm al-Faris
Sahm is a stocky young man, standing nearly 5'8" tall and weighing just over 160 pounds. His muscle definition is obvious, but his build is by no means intimidating. Given his stocky appearance, he is nonetheless quite deft in his movements.
He has long dark hair, which is generally worn down unless he is wearing his turban, in which case he coils it up and ties it back. His eyes are brown, and so dark that they appear to be black in all but the brightest of light. His skin is dark, and his back, chest, legs, and arms are particularly hairy. Sahm makes it a habit to shave his face each and every day.
The clothing he wears is conspicuously southern in style, often comprised of desert-style robes the color of oatmeal, tied at the waist with a rather plain white sash. His default form of armor is a suit of inconspicuous breastplate, with a bronze helmet that comes to a sharp point at the very top.
His signature weapon is a composite longbow. When forced to fight in hand-to-hand combat, Sahm almost always prefers to use his scimitar (which he refers to as a "shamshir"). It is a fine weapon, with a curved blade of folded steel, and a golden hilt that has been wrought to resemble a scorpion (outstretched claws for the crossbar, with the tail curving down and around the hand to cover the ring finger). Lacking this, he has a broad-bladed katar/punch dagger that is effective despite its relatively humble origins.
Sahm bin-Fahad bin-Abbas al-Faris, CR 2
Male Human Fighter 2
LN Medium Humanoid (Human [Southern Empire])
Init +3; Senses Listen +1, Spot +1
Languages Common, Istarin
AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 16
hp 23 (2 HD)
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +1
Spd 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee masterwork scimitar +4 (1d6+1/18-20 ×2)
Ranged composite longbow +6 (1d8+1/×3)
Base Atk +3; Grp +3
Atk Options Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus (Longbow)
Combat Gear Breastplate Armor, Buckler, Composite Longbow (Str +1), Punching Dagger, Masterwork Scimitar, 5 Armor Piercing Arrows, 20 Normal Arrows, 5 Sheaf Arrows
Abilities Str 13, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 10
SQ None
Feats Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus (longbow)
Skills Climb +3, Craft (bowyer) +6, Handle Animal +5, Jump +2, Ride +10, Survival +2
Possessions combat gear plus Artisan's Tools (Bowyer), Backpack, Bedroll, Desert Robes, Flint & Steel, Lantern (Hooded), Oil ×3, Pouch (Belt), Rations (Trail, 7 days), Rope (Silk, 50 ft.), Sack (Empty) ×2, Waterskin, Whetstone, Potion of Cure Light Wounds ×2, Armor Piercing Arrows ×5, Normal Arrows ×20, Sheaf Arrows ×5, Money (25 gp, 8 sp, 8 cp)
24 September 2006
Back to the Grind
I've been taking too many days off from writing lately. I have a number of reasons, most of them involving my sinuses at the moment, but I still have work to do, and the deadline isn't just looming; it's damn well standing in front of me, making obscene gestures and sticking out its tongue mockingly.
Being unmotivated is a tough nut to crack. By all means, I shouldn't be unmotivated, but I have this funny feeling it has a lot to do with feeling overwhelmed by life in general. If I didn't have to maintain a 7am - 4pm day job, as if I could afford such an extravagant career change, I'd have nothing but time to write, create, be that typing, tapping, literary artist I've always dreamed of being.
Not going to happen, friends. No chance in hell, I don't think.
See, I've got plenty of ideas swimming around in my head. I had a great (albeit, short) session of brainstorming the other day. It's the implementation of the ideas, it's the getting down to business part, making them work, defining the rough edges that have yet to fit in with the rest of the puzzle.
No one said it would be easy, this freelance thing. And I can't say it's particularly difficult most times, especially when the words are flowing like blood from an artery, and the time seems to flash past in a blur. I can look back at words I wrote, I can recognize that they're good words, too, can see my writing style in them, but, sometimes, I have no memory of writing them. That's what it's like when it's easy.
I wonder sometimes if I'm cut out for it. Self doubt? Yeah, I suppose. I've already proven a dozen times over that I am cut out for it. Hell, what more do I need to do to prove it? There are plenty of people who believe in me. It's too bad I'm not one of them.
Enough jibber jabber. Time to make good on my promises. Knock on wood.
Being unmotivated is a tough nut to crack. By all means, I shouldn't be unmotivated, but I have this funny feeling it has a lot to do with feeling overwhelmed by life in general. If I didn't have to maintain a 7am - 4pm day job, as if I could afford such an extravagant career change, I'd have nothing but time to write, create, be that typing, tapping, literary artist I've always dreamed of being.
Not going to happen, friends. No chance in hell, I don't think.
See, I've got plenty of ideas swimming around in my head. I had a great (albeit, short) session of brainstorming the other day. It's the implementation of the ideas, it's the getting down to business part, making them work, defining the rough edges that have yet to fit in with the rest of the puzzle.
No one said it would be easy, this freelance thing. And I can't say it's particularly difficult most times, especially when the words are flowing like blood from an artery, and the time seems to flash past in a blur. I can look back at words I wrote, I can recognize that they're good words, too, can see my writing style in them, but, sometimes, I have no memory of writing them. That's what it's like when it's easy.
I wonder sometimes if I'm cut out for it. Self doubt? Yeah, I suppose. I've already proven a dozen times over that I am cut out for it. Hell, what more do I need to do to prove it? There are plenty of people who believe in me. It's too bad I'm not one of them.
Enough jibber jabber. Time to make good on my promises. Knock on wood.
21 September 2006
Thursday: Lunchtime in my Cube
I ate soup for lunch today, which was mostly mediocre. The best part was the jalepeno bagel that was left over from this morning. The RA Manager brought them in (the bagels, I mean), and I'm going to have to shake him down and find out where they came from. They're damn tasty.
I might've met Hyrum, Stan, and JD at the food court across the way, but by the time they called to invite me, I was already mostly done with the soup, and well into my lunch hour. Curse you, wicked fate!
Eh, well.
A couple of things I just want to blog about for the time being. The first is the last of Ross Winn's columns over at RPG.net. Ross has been writing Close to the Edit for nearly two years now, and he just posted his last entry for the forseeable future. Whether you agree with Ross' views or not (he can be downright opinionated), it's a damn shame to see the column go tits up.
Also, I've learned of a couple of open calls for freelancers. The first, for Atlas Games, is an open call for freelancers for Ars Magica. The call is mostly aimed at culling some new talent from the loyal fanbase, but anyone is free to submit. Check out details here.
The other open call is with Morrigan Press, for their Talislanta line. Information was posted on RPG.net, and you can read it by following this link.
I own at least two editions of Ars Magica, as well as a handful of supplements (purchased because they were useful when I was running my Vampire: The Dark Ages games all those years back), but I'm far from an expert on the setting or the mechanics. If I were more familiar with the game (and less busy, to boot), I'd probably submit an entry.
Last note for the day (for the time being): the crew is dropping in tonight to roll up Cyberpunk 2020 characters. Woo hoo! Let's get this mechanical monster off the ground, eh?
I was thinking about it the other day, reflecting on the games we played "back in the day" (what a catchy phrase, that), and I realized that we never used miniatures in combats. The most we would do is sketch out a map on a piece of note paper and sort of wing it. I've been using minis for so long (in d20, etc.) that it's hard to imagine a game without them.
I do suppose I can use figs, though my resources are somewhat limited. I'm really unsure as to how I will go forward with the game. Like as not, I'll revert to the primitive methods that worked so well for me in days long past.
(Though I will probably use my battlemat for netrunning, heh.)
I might've met Hyrum, Stan, and JD at the food court across the way, but by the time they called to invite me, I was already mostly done with the soup, and well into my lunch hour. Curse you, wicked fate!
Eh, well.
A couple of things I just want to blog about for the time being. The first is the last of Ross Winn's columns over at RPG.net. Ross has been writing Close to the Edit for nearly two years now, and he just posted his last entry for the forseeable future. Whether you agree with Ross' views or not (he can be downright opinionated), it's a damn shame to see the column go tits up.
Also, I've learned of a couple of open calls for freelancers. The first, for Atlas Games, is an open call for freelancers for Ars Magica. The call is mostly aimed at culling some new talent from the loyal fanbase, but anyone is free to submit. Check out details here.
The other open call is with Morrigan Press, for their Talislanta line. Information was posted on RPG.net, and you can read it by following this link.
I own at least two editions of Ars Magica, as well as a handful of supplements (purchased because they were useful when I was running my Vampire: The Dark Ages games all those years back), but I'm far from an expert on the setting or the mechanics. If I were more familiar with the game (and less busy, to boot), I'd probably submit an entry.
Last note for the day (for the time being): the crew is dropping in tonight to roll up Cyberpunk 2020 characters. Woo hoo! Let's get this mechanical monster off the ground, eh?
I was thinking about it the other day, reflecting on the games we played "back in the day" (what a catchy phrase, that), and I realized that we never used miniatures in combats. The most we would do is sketch out a map on a piece of note paper and sort of wing it. I've been using minis for so long (in d20, etc.) that it's hard to imagine a game without them.
I do suppose I can use figs, though my resources are somewhat limited. I'm really unsure as to how I will go forward with the game. Like as not, I'll revert to the primitive methods that worked so well for me in days long past.
(Though I will probably use my battlemat for netrunning, heh.)
19 September 2006
It's Tomorrow
Even the crappy work coffee is denied to me this day. I am one of those people who cannot stand black coffee, and we are out of milk. My son, he just drank the last of it before drifting back to sleep, leaving me here to contemplate a trip to the grocery prior to heading to work. I need to buy gasoline, anyway, so I suppose I'll aim to leave a bit earlier than usual. I'm awake. I may as well.
I spent much of the weekend and Monday feeling good, but now I've got a somewhat stuffy nose and a scratchy feeling in the back of my throat. It's as if someone coated the area of throat behind my nasal passages with thick, industrial grade rubber cement. Not good. Perhaps this is only a momentary inconvenience. Perhaps not.
Last night's game went well. I had to prep dinner for my family (not to mention eat), so I was fifteen minutes late. It was a fifteen minutes that must have been vital, because I felt like I was constantly asking questions that JD was answering with, "Weren't you here when we talked about that?"
I'm still getting a grip on the character I'm playing, and I'm up to three pages on a backstory which I'll post once I'm finished with it. I'm not sure if JD is one of those DMs who awards XP for back-stories; I've played with folks who did, and with folks who didn't. In the end, it doesn't really matter to me, so long as I know where my character is coming from and where he intends to go. I'm not working to snag the proverbial carrot on the end of a stick.
It reminds me of a time when I was running Dark Sun, and I was prone to awarding XP to folks for back stories. They had to be at least a page, but writing ability wasn't the important part; it was effort. If someone sat down and hacked out a page of background for me, I was happy to award them a little something extra. In the long run, it really didn't make that much difference, especially at higher levels when the experience chart leveled out somewhat.
Still, one of the players handed in a backstory. I awarded him XP, and we played the game. Afterwards, I read what he'd given me, and it seemed somewhat...familiar. So I went looking, and discovered that he'd taken two stories from two different Dark Sun web sites, tied them together with a single sentence, and changed the name of the main character to match his own. When I confronted him about it, he admitted what he'd done. He wasn't a good writer, he said, and he figured I wouldn't mind what he referred to as creative plagiarism.
I tried to explain that it wasn't about quality or quantity, so much as it was about effort. All I expected was for players to try. I wasn't expecting Shakespeare. In effect, the stories made my life easier because they often provided hooks and information on PCs that I could implement into the current game, thereby tying them into the plot at a more personal level. In the end, I recinded his XP award for the story and told him I wouldn't accept any back-stories from him for a period of time. He didn't seem to care overmuch, except that he did tell me not to mention it to any of the other players.
YAWN.
Well, that's that. I've killed a few minutes I should've spent in the shower, especially since I'll be departing a little early.
Mmmmm. Phlegm.
I spent much of the weekend and Monday feeling good, but now I've got a somewhat stuffy nose and a scratchy feeling in the back of my throat. It's as if someone coated the area of throat behind my nasal passages with thick, industrial grade rubber cement. Not good. Perhaps this is only a momentary inconvenience. Perhaps not.
Last night's game went well. I had to prep dinner for my family (not to mention eat), so I was fifteen minutes late. It was a fifteen minutes that must have been vital, because I felt like I was constantly asking questions that JD was answering with, "Weren't you here when we talked about that?"
I'm still getting a grip on the character I'm playing, and I'm up to three pages on a backstory which I'll post once I'm finished with it. I'm not sure if JD is one of those DMs who awards XP for back-stories; I've played with folks who did, and with folks who didn't. In the end, it doesn't really matter to me, so long as I know where my character is coming from and where he intends to go. I'm not working to snag the proverbial carrot on the end of a stick.
It reminds me of a time when I was running Dark Sun, and I was prone to awarding XP to folks for back stories. They had to be at least a page, but writing ability wasn't the important part; it was effort. If someone sat down and hacked out a page of background for me, I was happy to award them a little something extra. In the long run, it really didn't make that much difference, especially at higher levels when the experience chart leveled out somewhat.
Still, one of the players handed in a backstory. I awarded him XP, and we played the game. Afterwards, I read what he'd given me, and it seemed somewhat...familiar. So I went looking, and discovered that he'd taken two stories from two different Dark Sun web sites, tied them together with a single sentence, and changed the name of the main character to match his own. When I confronted him about it, he admitted what he'd done. He wasn't a good writer, he said, and he figured I wouldn't mind what he referred to as creative plagiarism.
I tried to explain that it wasn't about quality or quantity, so much as it was about effort. All I expected was for players to try. I wasn't expecting Shakespeare. In effect, the stories made my life easier because they often provided hooks and information on PCs that I could implement into the current game, thereby tying them into the plot at a more personal level. In the end, I recinded his XP award for the story and told him I wouldn't accept any back-stories from him for a period of time. He didn't seem to care overmuch, except that he did tell me not to mention it to any of the other players.
YAWN.
Well, that's that. I've killed a few minutes I should've spent in the shower, especially since I'll be departing a little early.
Mmmmm. Phlegm.
18 September 2006
A New Beginning
Tonight, my friend JD is running the first session of what may be a long-term D&D campaign set in the city of Liberty. I decided to play a straight fighter, with a focus on bows and archery. The last time I did the archer thing, it was a lot of fun. Not that my character can't mix it up with the steel, but it's not his strongest point.
So that involves me in two D&D campaigns at present. Normally I'd balk, but the schedule is such that I'm not playing every week for umpteen hours at a stretch. Much easier on the family time that way. Not to mention the creative time.
My CP game is yet in the embryonic stages. I have a strong idea of where I want the game to go, but I need to sit down with the players and work out some PC mojo to hang all those minor plots on. Maybe this week, if my slacker players ever email me back to let me know what they want to do (yes, that means you guys).
So that involves me in two D&D campaigns at present. Normally I'd balk, but the schedule is such that I'm not playing every week for umpteen hours at a stretch. Much easier on the family time that way. Not to mention the creative time.
My CP game is yet in the embryonic stages. I have a strong idea of where I want the game to go, but I need to sit down with the players and work out some PC mojo to hang all those minor plots on. Maybe this week, if my slacker players ever email me back to let me know what they want to do (yes, that means you guys).
15 September 2006
Motivation
What a weekend I have in front of me. Aside from work (and this time around, I'm going to get some work done, dammit, even if it means wearing a hair shirt and resorting to self-flagellation), I've got plenty of other things to do. I also need to take the boy to the Wild Animal Park for a couple of hours tomorrow morning so that my wife can get the house clean enough to pass muster.
On top of that, I feel like I'm getting sick. Not surprising, considering that my wife has been sick since last weekend, and my co-worker has been sick for the past two weeks. Sinus aches, and a nose that alternates between cemented shut and running freely, are my symptoms. Yay.
So them's the haps. Exciting, hm?
In other news, I had some positive feedback on one of my recent initial turnovers. The praise came from a source I wasn't expecting it to come from, which made it all the more pleasant. Let's hope I can meet expectations based on this early encouragement.
On top of that, I feel like I'm getting sick. Not surprising, considering that my wife has been sick since last weekend, and my co-worker has been sick for the past two weeks. Sinus aches, and a nose that alternates between cemented shut and running freely, are my symptoms. Yay.
So them's the haps. Exciting, hm?
In other news, I had some positive feedback on one of my recent initial turnovers. The praise came from a source I wasn't expecting it to come from, which made it all the more pleasant. Let's hope I can meet expectations based on this early encouragement.
13 September 2006
All, Then Nothing
Seems to me there was a rash of posts, and then nothing for nigh on a week. What've I been up to?
Slacking. Plain and simple. I've got plenty to do, but no energy. Maybe I need vitamins. My wife bought a bunch of pre-natal vitamins (on sale, and no, she's not pregnant...at least, I hope she isn't), and she told me I should take some. Call me superstitious, but there's something inherently wrong with a man taking vitamins that are designed with pregnant women in mind.
I'm so tired today. Even the crappy work coffee is doing nothing for my exaustion. The crummy thing is that I slept relatively well, and I woke up feeling pretty lively. What a different three hours makes.
I'm gearing up to run a Cyberpunk 2020 game. Going back to my roots, yes I am. We were supposed to get together this last weekend to talk shop, but two players were sick with the plague, and a third was back east visiting with friends. How long will it last? More importantly, will it last at all? And how will I deal with running such a deadly system, after doing little but d20 for so long? I'll probably kill them all off in the first session. TPK, man!
I should get back to work, after I track down some Tylenol. More later.
Slacking. Plain and simple. I've got plenty to do, but no energy. Maybe I need vitamins. My wife bought a bunch of pre-natal vitamins (on sale, and no, she's not pregnant...at least, I hope she isn't), and she told me I should take some. Call me superstitious, but there's something inherently wrong with a man taking vitamins that are designed with pregnant women in mind.
I'm so tired today. Even the crappy work coffee is doing nothing for my exaustion. The crummy thing is that I slept relatively well, and I woke up feeling pretty lively. What a different three hours makes.
I'm gearing up to run a Cyberpunk 2020 game. Going back to my roots, yes I am. We were supposed to get together this last weekend to talk shop, but two players were sick with the plague, and a third was back east visiting with friends. How long will it last? More importantly, will it last at all? And how will I deal with running such a deadly system, after doing little but d20 for so long? I'll probably kill them all off in the first session. TPK, man!
I should get back to work, after I track down some Tylenol. More later.
05 September 2006
In Retrospect...
I made a comment in my last post that has been bothering me a little bit. To wit:
"It would be interesting to see how these settings play out now that I'm older, wiser, and playing with a more mature group of friends."
The portion I'm emphasising is what I've been mulling over. Reading it as written makes me feel like I'm dissing on my old game buddies because they were immature. Well, they weren't, and it wasn't intended as such. So I apologize for that oversight on my part.
What I really meant was that we're all of us older now. As a result, I feel that I may yet be older and wiser, so I reckon that as I have aged and grown, the folks I used to play with have also aged and grown. "Mature," as in, "older," not "mature," as in "grown up." Though I daresay the distinction is probably pretty darn fine in some cases.
As I don't game with most of the folks I used to game with all those years ago, due to relocation, personal reasons, or loss of touch, it's hard to say what the differences might be in their current games, as opposed to the ones we played in our relative youth.
"It would be interesting to see how these settings play out now that I'm older, wiser, and playing with a more mature group of friends."
The portion I'm emphasising is what I've been mulling over. Reading it as written makes me feel like I'm dissing on my old game buddies because they were immature. Well, they weren't, and it wasn't intended as such. So I apologize for that oversight on my part.
What I really meant was that we're all of us older now. As a result, I feel that I may yet be older and wiser, so I reckon that as I have aged and grown, the folks I used to play with have also aged and grown. "Mature," as in, "older," not "mature," as in "grown up." Though I daresay the distinction is probably pretty darn fine in some cases.
As I don't game with most of the folks I used to game with all those years ago, due to relocation, personal reasons, or loss of touch, it's hard to say what the differences might be in their current games, as opposed to the ones we played in our relative youth.
02 September 2006
Saturday Morning Warm-Up
So, all this recollection and reminiscing makes me pine for the old games. I want to go back and revisit the ones that I enjoyed the most. Not necessarily with the same characters or storylines, either. You see, I'm older now. When I was in my teens or early twenties, I might have (heck, would have) run my games differently that I do today. It would be interesting to see how these settings play out now that I'm older, wiser, and playing with a more mature group of friends.
I was chatting with my wife the other night, and I commented that I'd love to revive Cyberpunk 2020. I briefly outlined my idea for the play group which, I'll admit, is more or less par for the CP course: a group of mercs, but international ones. Characters who involve themselves in brushfire wars, either on the side of a corporation or government or minor dictator, whatever. A little more on the "high power" end of things, insofar as equipment is concerned.
So, going over these things in general terms, I ask her, "What sort of character would you like to play?"
She thinks for a split second, and then says the last thing I expected: "A full 'borg conversion."
The surprising thing is that I agreed to the idea.
This is amazing, in and of itself. As little as five years ago, I would've laughed, shook my head, and answered, "Nice try." I'm somewhat amused that I have no compunctions about allowing someone to play a cyborg conversion. Granted, she's my wife, so there's a certain trust in place, but I have been historically resistant to allowing anyone to go that far.
Granted, there would be strings attached. Certain concessions would have to be made. Power comes with a price. Not to mention a great deal of humanity loss. The other stipulation is that I'd probably only allow a single 'borg in the group, depending on the size. IMO, full 'borg conversions should be rare outside of corporate or military organizations. The tough part is to ensure that the cyborg doesn't overshadow the rest of the group. I'd need to play up social elements, especially concerning prejudice and fear related to "tin can psychotics" and the like.
So that's my current direction. I've got a few things to do before I get there. I doubt I'll begin to actively prepare or plan for another month or so. In the meantime, I could lose interest and spin off into another genre.
Like Vampire, which is the other game I'm itching to dust off and play. My ideas for a campaign are less defined for such a game, though, so I'll like as not sit on them until they gestate into something a little less embryonic.
So, now that I'm warmed up, I'm off to work. More later.
I was chatting with my wife the other night, and I commented that I'd love to revive Cyberpunk 2020. I briefly outlined my idea for the play group which, I'll admit, is more or less par for the CP course: a group of mercs, but international ones. Characters who involve themselves in brushfire wars, either on the side of a corporation or government or minor dictator, whatever. A little more on the "high power" end of things, insofar as equipment is concerned.
So, going over these things in general terms, I ask her, "What sort of character would you like to play?"
She thinks for a split second, and then says the last thing I expected: "A full 'borg conversion."The surprising thing is that I agreed to the idea.
This is amazing, in and of itself. As little as five years ago, I would've laughed, shook my head, and answered, "Nice try." I'm somewhat amused that I have no compunctions about allowing someone to play a cyborg conversion. Granted, she's my wife, so there's a certain trust in place, but I have been historically resistant to allowing anyone to go that far.
Granted, there would be strings attached. Certain concessions would have to be made. Power comes with a price. Not to mention a great deal of humanity loss. The other stipulation is that I'd probably only allow a single 'borg in the group, depending on the size. IMO, full 'borg conversions should be rare outside of corporate or military organizations. The tough part is to ensure that the cyborg doesn't overshadow the rest of the group. I'd need to play up social elements, especially concerning prejudice and fear related to "tin can psychotics" and the like.
So that's my current direction. I've got a few things to do before I get there. I doubt I'll begin to actively prepare or plan for another month or so. In the meantime, I could lose interest and spin off into another genre.
Like Vampire, which is the other game I'm itching to dust off and play. My ideas for a campaign are less defined for such a game, though, so I'll like as not sit on them until they gestate into something a little less embryonic.
So, now that I'm warmed up, I'm off to work. More later.
31 August 2006
Past Campaigns, Part the Sixth
My friend CJ loved lycanthropes. You know, werewolves. When White Wolf released the first edition of Werewolf, he was all over it. He and I went to a local BK and went over character options and the like. I came up with Fianna hitch hiker, I think. Not much more can I recall, except that the adventure he ran me through had to do with defending a secluded farmhouse (and the family within) from bad guys.Later on, with the advent of Werewolf, second edition he ran another, large campaign. I came in somewhat late, but it didn’t seem to matter. Though the mechanics and ideas behind Werewolf were interesting, I was a bit put off by the fundamentalist nature of the setting. I understand, that’s what they were aiming for. After all, the Garou are nothing if not religious fanatics.
So, being me, I decided to play a Glasswalker galliard who moonlighted as an illegal arms merchant, and who didn’t have much use for the more religious aspects of Garou ideology. Customers were customers, after all. This did eventually come back to bite the character in the behind (almost literally), which annoyed me at the time. It would seem that one of his allies, who just happened to be a vampire, went with type and betrayed him towards the end of my involvement in the campaign. When the campaign ended, the character came out looking like an idiot.Hey, all’s fair, I guess.
I kept collecting the Werewolf product line for my own use. There was some good stuff in those books. Some of the changing breed stuff was especially neat. There was a lot of variety in those product lines, and of all the White Wolf RPGs in the original World of Darkness line, Vampire and Werewolf were my favorites.
Eventually, I had to put the books I was collecting to good use. I started a Werewolf game that was set following the Apocalypse. The details are a bit sketchy without checking my notes, but it was kind of like The Dark Tower meets Gamma World with fangs, set in the WoD. The world had “moved on.” Some areas of the landscape had been eaten by the entry of the Wyrm, while other portions were engulfed by the Wyld. Technology was slowly breaking down, leading to a perpetual dark age. Vampires had established little monarchies here and there.
Most of the PCs began as Garou. One player was a kinfolk. None of them knew what their tribes were, as they were all orphans that had been taken in by a kindly old werewolf who was their collective mentor. The kinfolk was a Mormon hedge magician from the wastes that had once been Utah, and while he was that much less powerful than the rest of the group, he still fit in really well once he’d been introduced. The kicker was that one of the players was an orphaned Black Spiral Dancer (bet you didn’t see that coming), which was to play a large role in later adventures.
Anyway, the whole point was that the PCs had to leave their mentor on a sort of quest to establish a new cairn at a node. In the meantime, they’d be accosted by vampires, mutants, wyrm critters, and (of course) evil werewolves.
I think the game made it past the second or third session before it got put on hold for one reason or another. To remember it, the players had begged me to go back to running my Dark Sun campaign (which was the single longest running AD&D campaign I’ve ever run). At some point, I’ll need to revisit the Werewolf game. When? Who knows?
After Vampire: The Dark Ages was released, White Wolf went off on a historical bent. Titles included Werewolf: The Wild West and Mage: Sorcerer’s Crusade. Of the two, Mage was the best. Wild West really turned me off on a number of levels, mostly because it didn’t seem to deserve its own product line. That, and there were several arbitrary rules (such as those deeming that silver bullets are somehow inherently inaccurate, as compared to lead ones) that bugged me. Sorcerer’s Crusade, on the other hand, was really well done. It was stylish, useful, and seemed like it would be a lot of fun to play.
As for the other White Wolf titles, I played in a Mage game that I wasn’t horribly impressed with. The system (first edition) was too open-ended, seeming at points too open to abuse and too restricted. It was hard to determine what, precisely, a certain character could do with his powers. As was common with WW titles, this was cleaned up considerably in the second edition of the rules (which I much preferred), but we never did get to play that edition.Changeling? Hmm. I bought the first edition rules used for $5, just to look them over, but it’s a game I’d never play.
I bought Wraith right after its original release. I was interested in the dark aspects of the game, and in the chance to portray a ghost. As with the other WW games, the first edition didn’t do much for me. It was convoluted, the specific rules were muddy, it was hard to read. Or maybe I was just dumb. I don’t know.
I didn’t pay much more attention to it until well after the second edition was released. I bought the second edition of Wraith at a bargain basement price, and found that it was much improved over the original. Who would’ve thought it? Unfortunately, as was the case with a lot of titles I ended up liking, I got Wraith Fever just after the game had been drop-kicked by White Wolf. I guess it wasn’t popular enough. I tend to doubt that, had I discovered the second edition earlier on, the game would’ve been saved.
I’ve amassed a fairly large collection of Wraith books in the meantime, and I’m impressed with the depth of the setting material. It’s a very playable game, albeit requiring the right kinds of players. As much as I wanted to pull a game together on one or more occasions, it never worked out. Lack of interest on the part of some players played a key role at least once; time and energy (or lack thereof) was instrumental in the failure of other plans.
One of the interesting mechanics introduced in Wraith is that of the Shadow, a character’s dark side, the spectre within trying to get out. It acts like a little devil on your shoulder, commenting and making suggestions that aren’t always in the best interests of your character. What was most interesting about this mechanic is that your character’s Shadow is portrayed by another player, making the process incredibly interactive. Amusingly enough, this was one the big turn-offs for me when I read the first edition of Wraith. I’d have to go back and review the old rules, because I’m not entirely certain why I abhorred it then, but find it appealing today.My ever-evolving tastes in gaming, most likely.
I stopped buying WoD supplements as time went on. I purchased Demon: The Fallen merely because it was on sale, and I didn’t see any harm in having the core rules. I dare say I’ve only ever skimmed the contents, because I can’t for the life of me remember much about it.
For one reason or another, I’ve refrained from investing in the new World of Darkness. I find it a difficult expenditure to make, considering the vast library of supplements and core books I have that are, as of the new game’s release, obsolete. Big changes have been made in the new releases, both mechanically and thematically. I can’t say that I might not prefer the new editions over the old ones, were I to pick them up, read them, and play them. Alas, I am not wealthy enough to consider buying the WoD all over again. Besides, I like to think that I prefer the old WoD to the new one, given all the reviews I’ve read.
Yes, yes, I’m a grognard. I know.
Thursday May As Well Be Monday
Today was one of those days where getting up and getting ready for work was the last thing I wanted to do. It was a struggle. Not because I don't like my job, but because I was a) tired and b) would've preferred to be doing something other than working. After my Gen Con trip, I can't afford to take time off, so I pulled it together and went in.
I've got one more month on my current deadline, with a truckload of work to get done. I've worked out a schedule of sorts, and if I stick to it religiously in September, I'll be good to go by turnover time.
I've found that working weeknights (on writing) has become ever more difficult as the baby has gotten older. With him walking, it's hard enough for one of us to keep up with him. I don't feel right not being there to help Amy out after work, when we're both tired and the baby's energy level seems to be at its peak. He's such a little goon sometimes.
Sometimes, I even wonder if I want to continue writing, given all the responsibilities that have crept into my life since March of 2005. The sad thing is that I want to continue writing more than ever before, but after nine hours (or five days) in the office, sometimes the energy just isn't there.
Outside of games, I'd love to write fiction. I've been slowly realizing this, but I'm not sure where to go with it. Lots of game designers branch out into fiction, don't they? I reckon I can, too, given the opportunity. Do I need to start a book and shop it around?
Well, off to work for me. I'll check in later with another long-winded episode of "Past Campaigns."
I've got one more month on my current deadline, with a truckload of work to get done. I've worked out a schedule of sorts, and if I stick to it religiously in September, I'll be good to go by turnover time.
I've found that working weeknights (on writing) has become ever more difficult as the baby has gotten older. With him walking, it's hard enough for one of us to keep up with him. I don't feel right not being there to help Amy out after work, when we're both tired and the baby's energy level seems to be at its peak. He's such a little goon sometimes.
Sometimes, I even wonder if I want to continue writing, given all the responsibilities that have crept into my life since March of 2005. The sad thing is that I want to continue writing more than ever before, but after nine hours (or five days) in the office, sometimes the energy just isn't there.
Outside of games, I'd love to write fiction. I've been slowly realizing this, but I'm not sure where to go with it. Lots of game designers branch out into fiction, don't they? I reckon I can, too, given the opportunity. Do I need to start a book and shop it around?
Well, off to work for me. I'll check in later with another long-winded episode of "Past Campaigns."
30 August 2006
New GWAR Album
So, the new GWAR CD, Beyond Hell, has been released. I’ve put one on order with Amazon.com. I guess the initial release is a limited edition CD that includes a DVD or some such. I’m interested to see what the band has been doing since I last saw them in concert. Earlier this year, they posted a song from the new album, Alice Cooper’s School’s Out, which (as far as I know) is the only cover that GWAR has ever done. It’s definitely GWAR, but without the profanity. What do you expect? They’re trying to get some radio airplay out of this song. I have no idea if it’s worked, as I haven’t heard the song on the radio out here.
Then again, I haven’t heard GWAR on the radio since just before I met my wife, when one of the now-defunct “hard rock” stations played Crack in the Egg as a “smash or trash” listener vote deal. That was in 1992. I’m sure that playing GWAR on the radio would result in the FCC firebombing the station in retaliation for the sudden and scatological violation of the airwaves.
Why would someone like me, a fine upstanding citizen with a one and a half year-old son, a loving wife, and a respectable job, listen to drivel like GWAR? I blame Amber.
Amber was a girl I knew in high school. We were both photographers for the yearbook. She was an interesting girl. I can’t recall every musical group that she listened to, but I do remember that she was a big fan of both GWAR and Danzig. Due to my exposure to GWAR through Amber, I eventually picked up the Scumdogs of the Universe album on cassette tape. Was it loud? Yes. Perverse? Definitely. Inappropriate for minors? Assuredly. But it was funny, too. Whether you like heavy metal or not, the musicians in the band are really quite talented. If you can put the disgusting (and oftentimes downright offensive) lyrics aside, you might enjoy it.
Then again, you might not. It’s definitely an acquired taste, and it can get tedious for some folks (like my wife) if it’s all that I listen to. It’s a complete parody of what people stereotypically consider that kind of music to be, with tongue planted firmly in cheek. There’s a lot of licentious humor, politically incorrect verbiage, and make-believe mythology to it.
Since those days, I’ve picked up every GWAR album that’s been released (except for the Road Behind EP, which I never did get; it’s a perpetual entry on my Amazon wish list). I’ve seen the band in concert three times, and I’ve seen the Dave Brockie Experience (ie, DBX; one of GWAR’s side projects) once. I will continue to listen to them until they stop producing albums, I suppose, so long as the quality of the music remains consistent. I’ll have to protect my son from the music, at least until he’s old enough to understand that it isn’t proper to say certain words in polite society.
Then again, I haven’t heard GWAR on the radio since just before I met my wife, when one of the now-defunct “hard rock” stations played Crack in the Egg as a “smash or trash” listener vote deal. That was in 1992. I’m sure that playing GWAR on the radio would result in the FCC firebombing the station in retaliation for the sudden and scatological violation of the airwaves.
Why would someone like me, a fine upstanding citizen with a one and a half year-old son, a loving wife, and a respectable job, listen to drivel like GWAR? I blame Amber.
Amber was a girl I knew in high school. We were both photographers for the yearbook. She was an interesting girl. I can’t recall every musical group that she listened to, but I do remember that she was a big fan of both GWAR and Danzig. Due to my exposure to GWAR through Amber, I eventually picked up the Scumdogs of the Universe album on cassette tape. Was it loud? Yes. Perverse? Definitely. Inappropriate for minors? Assuredly. But it was funny, too. Whether you like heavy metal or not, the musicians in the band are really quite talented. If you can put the disgusting (and oftentimes downright offensive) lyrics aside, you might enjoy it.
Then again, you might not. It’s definitely an acquired taste, and it can get tedious for some folks (like my wife) if it’s all that I listen to. It’s a complete parody of what people stereotypically consider that kind of music to be, with tongue planted firmly in cheek. There’s a lot of licentious humor, politically incorrect verbiage, and make-believe mythology to it.
Since those days, I’ve picked up every GWAR album that’s been released (except for the Road Behind EP, which I never did get; it’s a perpetual entry on my Amazon wish list). I’ve seen the band in concert three times, and I’ve seen the Dave Brockie Experience (ie, DBX; one of GWAR’s side projects) once. I will continue to listen to them until they stop producing albums, I suppose, so long as the quality of the music remains consistent. I’ll have to protect my son from the music, at least until he’s old enough to understand that it isn’t proper to say certain words in polite society.
29 August 2006
Past Campaigns, Part the Fifth
All this talk about Cyberpunk has me hungry to run and/or play the damn game. Unfortunately, the rigors of Real Life (tm) have me at a disadvantage. Perhaps soon I will be able to reconnect with my role-playing roots in a more intimate fashion. As it is, there are other games I need to talk about, other characters and storylines to dredge up.
I had marginal interest in Vampire: The Masquerade after its initial (first edition) release. The AD&D group I'd been playing with (you know, the big one) was on its last legs. Roughly half of the players went one way (sticking with AD&D), and the other half went the other (switching to Vampire). There were a lot of political reasons for the group's break-up, not to mention some personality conflicts. I never got involved overmuch; I was more of a neutral bystander, and by that time I'd had enough of straight fantasy to last me a few years.
The group that chose to play Vampire consisted of good old Josh (you'll remember him as my friend Will's older brother), Josh's girlfriend, Louis, and a few others (including my friend CJ and his future wife). They really dug Vampire, and they played it very close to how they saw Anne Rice's Lestat books. I was involved in two instances before I took my leave of the group; my first as a Tremere scholar from England, followed by a Toreador duelist (who was eventually transformed into an Immortal, like those in the Highlander movies, through our own [very simple] house rules).
Let me explain that Josh, who ran these games, started them in rough historical version of the 15th century (as far as I can fathom). His plan was to start the game off at that point, and eventually work the characters into the modern day (as elders, I presume). My participation didn't make it that far, so I don't know how successful it was. Simply put, I got tired of Vampire pretty quickly, and ducked out of the group. I don't really know why I tired of it. Maybe it's because it was the hot title at the time, and I had to be some kind of teenage nonconformist. More likely, though, was that my involvement with Grant's GURPS group (and the Bad Streets campaign) kept me occupied.
I eventually came to terms with Vampire, after the release of the 2nd Edition. I even bought the core book and the Player's Guide, dabbling with the rules a little bit. Despite my initial unhappiness with the game, I turned into a big fan after a while. I still considered some of the themes inherent in the game to be juvenile, specifically the "Peter Pan/Lost Boys" syndrome that was so common in the games I'd seen. There was some true potential, both thematically and mechanically, with the game.
One thing that really sucked me in (heh, heh) to the Vampire RPG was the Vampire CCG, Jyhad (which was eventually renamed Vampire: The Eternal Struggle). I absolutely loved that card game, and I got pretty good at it. I even scored third place in a V:tES tournament up at DunDraCon in San Ramone in 1998, and I'm not generally competetive. I haven't played the CCG in years (not since WW got the rights back from WotC), so most of my strategies (such as using Dragon's Breath Rounds with a Zip Gun) are like as not against the rules these days.
Through a series of savvy trades, I manage to amass quite a collection of White Wolf books, spanning from V:tM, Werewolf, Mage, Wraith, to several other titles in-between. To this day, the only stack of books in my apartment that even begins to rival my White Wolf stack is my D&D v3+ stack. Go reckon, but those White Wolf boys were busy bees! And the books were relatively economical, too.
Though I did run a few short-lived Vampire: The Masquerade games, I didn't see much success in running long-term campaigns until Vampire: The Dark Ages was released. To this day, it's probably my favorite release for the series (and much, much better than the later Dark Ages: Vampire; what a difference an edition makes). I started a small campaign, starring my wife as a Toreador architect, and Grant as a Gangrel ex-crusader. The themes of the game involved love, mortality, politics; it was a lot of fun. As the game continued, more players became involved. Notably, my good friend CS. The game did end, but I eventually revisited it with a new group of players some years later, exploring the struggles between Clan Tremere and the Tzimisce in Eastern Europe.
Besides Dark Ages, I also ran a successful (IMO) Vampire game set in San Francisco during the Roaring Twenties. The PCs were all Caitiff. Apart, they were scorned, but together in one group, they were a pretty influential power bloc in 'Frisco. The game centered on the efforts of the Camarilla, the Sabbat, and the Anarchs in the city trying to bring the PCs to their way of thinking, thereby tipping the balance (population-wise) in their favor. It was a good group of players, too, IIRC.
So, that's that. More later, I reckon. I'll try to touch on some other White Wolf titles, such as Werewolf and Wraith. Until then...
I had marginal interest in Vampire: The Masquerade after its initial (first edition) release. The AD&D group I'd been playing with (you know, the big one) was on its last legs. Roughly half of the players went one way (sticking with AD&D), and the other half went the other (switching to Vampire). There were a lot of political reasons for the group's break-up, not to mention some personality conflicts. I never got involved overmuch; I was more of a neutral bystander, and by that time I'd had enough of straight fantasy to last me a few years.
The group that chose to play Vampire consisted of good old Josh (you'll remember him as my friend Will's older brother), Josh's girlfriend, Louis, and a few others (including my friend CJ and his future wife). They really dug Vampire, and they played it very close to how they saw Anne Rice's Lestat books. I was involved in two instances before I took my leave of the group; my first as a Tremere scholar from England, followed by a Toreador duelist (who was eventually transformed into an Immortal, like those in the Highlander movies, through our own [very simple] house rules).Let me explain that Josh, who ran these games, started them in rough historical version of the 15th century (as far as I can fathom). His plan was to start the game off at that point, and eventually work the characters into the modern day (as elders, I presume). My participation didn't make it that far, so I don't know how successful it was. Simply put, I got tired of Vampire pretty quickly, and ducked out of the group. I don't really know why I tired of it. Maybe it's because it was the hot title at the time, and I had to be some kind of teenage nonconformist. More likely, though, was that my involvement with Grant's GURPS group (and the Bad Streets campaign) kept me occupied.
I eventually came to terms with Vampire, after the release of the 2nd Edition. I even bought the core book and the Player's Guide, dabbling with the rules a little bit. Despite my initial unhappiness with the game, I turned into a big fan after a while. I still considered some of the themes inherent in the game to be juvenile, specifically the "Peter Pan/Lost Boys" syndrome that was so common in the games I'd seen. There was some true potential, both thematically and mechanically, with the game.
One thing that really sucked me in (heh, heh) to the Vampire RPG was the Vampire CCG, Jyhad (which was eventually renamed Vampire: The Eternal Struggle). I absolutely loved that card game, and I got pretty good at it. I even scored third place in a V:tES tournament up at DunDraCon in San Ramone in 1998, and I'm not generally competetive. I haven't played the CCG in years (not since WW got the rights back from WotC), so most of my strategies (such as using Dragon's Breath Rounds with a Zip Gun) are like as not against the rules these days.
Through a series of savvy trades, I manage to amass quite a collection of White Wolf books, spanning from V:tM, Werewolf, Mage, Wraith, to several other titles in-between. To this day, the only stack of books in my apartment that even begins to rival my White Wolf stack is my D&D v3+ stack. Go reckon, but those White Wolf boys were busy bees! And the books were relatively economical, too.
Though I did run a few short-lived Vampire: The Masquerade games, I didn't see much success in running long-term campaigns until Vampire: The Dark Ages was released. To this day, it's probably my favorite release for the series (and much, much better than the later Dark Ages: Vampire; what a difference an edition makes). I started a small campaign, starring my wife as a Toreador architect, and Grant as a Gangrel ex-crusader. The themes of the game involved love, mortality, politics; it was a lot of fun. As the game continued, more players became involved. Notably, my good friend CS. The game did end, but I eventually revisited it with a new group of players some years later, exploring the struggles between Clan Tremere and the Tzimisce in Eastern Europe.Besides Dark Ages, I also ran a successful (IMO) Vampire game set in San Francisco during the Roaring Twenties. The PCs were all Caitiff. Apart, they were scorned, but together in one group, they were a pretty influential power bloc in 'Frisco. The game centered on the efforts of the Camarilla, the Sabbat, and the Anarchs in the city trying to bring the PCs to their way of thinking, thereby tipping the balance (population-wise) in their favor. It was a good group of players, too, IIRC.
So, that's that. More later, I reckon. I'll try to touch on some other White Wolf titles, such as Werewolf and Wraith. Until then...
Roleplaying Purity Test
I thought this was amusing enough to post...
It's a little bit long, so if you're going to take it, make sure you've got a couple of minutes to spare.
| Your Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Score | ||
| Category | Your Score | Average |
| Hacklust | 60.38% Enjoys the occasional head-lopping | 53.5% |
| Sensitive Roleplaying | 60.76% Will talk after everyone important's been killed | 54.7% |
| GM Experience | 47.1% Puts the players through the wringer | 69.5% |
| Systems Knowledge | 72.46% Local rules guru | 90.4% |
| Livin' La Vida Dorka | 45.98% Has interesting conversations in public | 63.4% |
| You are 57.7% pure Average Score: 68.9% | ||
It's a little bit long, so if you're going to take it, make sure you've got a couple of minutes to spare.
27 August 2006
Past Campaigns, Part the Fourth
Let me preface this by saying that, yes, I was productive yesterday. I'll be headed back to the coffee shop in a couple of hours to pick up where I left off. For the time being, the house is quiet, the child is asleep, and I'm going to blog a little bit.
Even though I was a die-hard Cyberpunk fan, I had my experiences with Shadowrun. The AD&D group I originally played with also hosted a Shadowrun campaign, and I was happy to participate. The powers that were in that group didn't like Cyberpunk. I won't go so far as to say that they were actively adversarial to CP, but I never heard a single positive comment about it from them. They preferred the setting, magic, and metahumans of Shadowrun. I wasn't overly fond of SR's setting or mechanics, but I shouldered the burden and enjoyed it as best as I could.
My character was Sleeze, a city shaman from somewhere on North America's eastern coastline that claimed the rat as his totem. It was, overall, a fun character to play. I could be disgusting, cowardly, and conniving. Plus, I got to cast spells, which (by and large) is a big advantage in Shadowrun. Along with Sleeze, the PCs included at least two other magic users: an arcane spellcaster, and a wolf shaman. The three of us eventually formed some kind of pact with one another, much to our mutual benefit. We were like our own little power bloc within the party.
As with a lot of the earliest games I'd played, I don't really remember the overarching plots or themes of the SR campaign. There was a lot of inter-character action, though, that I remember. We "ran the shadows" against corporations, made enemies, and tried to get rich. It was pretty typical stuff.
Much later on, my wife and I participated in another Shadowrun game that Josh's girlfriend, Naomi, was running. Again I took on the mantle of a shaman, but this time I chose the fox totem and the name of Todd. The game was brief; I believe we went through a book adventure, Mercurial.
Now, my troubles with SR started with my original group's overt and unbiased preference for the game and setting over anything else (aside from AD&D), in conjunction with their outright dismissal of my favorite game, Cyberpunk. Prior to playing Shadowrun, I'd never had a bad thing to say about it. I even bought the 1st edition book to get ideas for my own CP games. I was regularly needled about the fact that I liked CP better than SR, a fact I never denied, but I certainly don't remember turning to blows over it. To me, it wasn't that big a deal. The "SR snobbery," though, didn't improve my opinion of a game that I eventually came to view as mechanically flawed in a number of ways.
As for mechanics, we originally played the first edition rules. The system wasn't intuitive, not in the slightest. The rules weren't well-written. Back then, I never had much more than a tenuous grasp on the way things worked. I knew what dice to roll, but I always relied on the GM to determine outcomes based on my results. Combat, especially, was a headache. I'd been spoiled by Cyberpunk's "roll one die to hit, then roll damage if you do" simplicity. In SR, we were regularly rolling great gobbing handfuls of d6's, over and over again.
The setting was simply okay, in my opinion. I was never fond of the Native American magical themes, though I'm not entirely sure why. It was a different take on spiritual magic, I suppose, one that (at the time) I wasn't really into. Thinking back, it wasn't as if SR could introduce a vast pantheon of gods, as in Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms, so I guess the inclusion of tribal totems and shamanistic magic makes sense in that regard.
A lot of what was included in SR seemed like a direct rip-off of either the Cyberpunk RPG, William Gibson's novels, or both. This isn't to say that Cyberpunk wasn't heavily derivative of Gibson's work; it was. Yet CP seemed more pure, adult, and less aimed at the youth market that SR was. For example, the currency of SR, the "Nuyen," was obviously just a derivative of Gibson's "New Yen," as compared to CP's "Euro" (which was based on a type of speculative international currency).
And then there was the aforementioned maturity level of the game. I said that CP seemed a bit more adult to me at the time, while SR was obviously aimed at a broader (younger) audience. SR was nice to look at, there were orcs and elves and trolls (oh, my!), but the one thing that really got on my nerves was the lexicon of the game. Artificial curse words like "drek" grated on my nerves, and I cringed everytime someone used coloquialisms like "chummer" and "decker" when they talked. It all sounded very artificial.
Not that Cyberpunk's "chombatta" was any easier to say (or listen to).
I do have some good things to say. Shocking, yeah. For one, although the mechanics of magic were unintelligable, I did enjoy the concepts of casting. Unlike AD&D, where you had an arbitrary spell list and a limited (daily) capacity for spells, SR allowed you to cast as much as you wanted -- provided you could withstand the rigors of channeling mana and magic through your body. This was reflected in drain, which you rolled after each spell and the difficulty of which was determined by the power of the spell that had been cast. I really liked that idea.
The other thing I liked about SR were riggers. While CP had rudimentary rules for direct neural connection to vehicles, SR explored the concept in detail. Even the name "rigger" wasn't as offensive to me as "decker," which helped quite a bit. The idea of driving a car or flying a plane with the power of my mind alone was pretty nifty.
I admit that my list of complaints about Shadowrun is long and (outside of the game's mechanical issues) largely superficial. These were problems I had with the game back then, and they don't necessarily apply today. The newest edition of the rules may be a shining example of harmony and simplicity, but I tend to doubt it. I've heard several gripes from folks who play the current edition of the game, and much of the lamentation stems from the clarity (or, rather, the lack of clarity) within the written rules. Still, SR continues to be supported (albeit by FanPro and not FASA). In fact, the game was always heavily supported in its heyday, and I reckon this was a result of FASA's deep pockets.
Even though I was a die-hard Cyberpunk fan, I had my experiences with Shadowrun. The AD&D group I originally played with also hosted a Shadowrun campaign, and I was happy to participate. The powers that were in that group didn't like Cyberpunk. I won't go so far as to say that they were actively adversarial to CP, but I never heard a single positive comment about it from them. They preferred the setting, magic, and metahumans of Shadowrun. I wasn't overly fond of SR's setting or mechanics, but I shouldered the burden and enjoyed it as best as I could.My character was Sleeze, a city shaman from somewhere on North America's eastern coastline that claimed the rat as his totem. It was, overall, a fun character to play. I could be disgusting, cowardly, and conniving. Plus, I got to cast spells, which (by and large) is a big advantage in Shadowrun. Along with Sleeze, the PCs included at least two other magic users: an arcane spellcaster, and a wolf shaman. The three of us eventually formed some kind of pact with one another, much to our mutual benefit. We were like our own little power bloc within the party.
As with a lot of the earliest games I'd played, I don't really remember the overarching plots or themes of the SR campaign. There was a lot of inter-character action, though, that I remember. We "ran the shadows" against corporations, made enemies, and tried to get rich. It was pretty typical stuff.
Much later on, my wife and I participated in another Shadowrun game that Josh's girlfriend, Naomi, was running. Again I took on the mantle of a shaman, but this time I chose the fox totem and the name of Todd. The game was brief; I believe we went through a book adventure, Mercurial.Now, my troubles with SR started with my original group's overt and unbiased preference for the game and setting over anything else (aside from AD&D), in conjunction with their outright dismissal of my favorite game, Cyberpunk. Prior to playing Shadowrun, I'd never had a bad thing to say about it. I even bought the 1st edition book to get ideas for my own CP games. I was regularly needled about the fact that I liked CP better than SR, a fact I never denied, but I certainly don't remember turning to blows over it. To me, it wasn't that big a deal. The "SR snobbery," though, didn't improve my opinion of a game that I eventually came to view as mechanically flawed in a number of ways.
As for mechanics, we originally played the first edition rules. The system wasn't intuitive, not in the slightest. The rules weren't well-written. Back then, I never had much more than a tenuous grasp on the way things worked. I knew what dice to roll, but I always relied on the GM to determine outcomes based on my results. Combat, especially, was a headache. I'd been spoiled by Cyberpunk's "roll one die to hit, then roll damage if you do" simplicity. In SR, we were regularly rolling great gobbing handfuls of d6's, over and over again.
The setting was simply okay, in my opinion. I was never fond of the Native American magical themes, though I'm not entirely sure why. It was a different take on spiritual magic, I suppose, one that (at the time) I wasn't really into. Thinking back, it wasn't as if SR could introduce a vast pantheon of gods, as in Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms, so I guess the inclusion of tribal totems and shamanistic magic makes sense in that regard.
A lot of what was included in SR seemed like a direct rip-off of either the Cyberpunk RPG, William Gibson's novels, or both. This isn't to say that Cyberpunk wasn't heavily derivative of Gibson's work; it was. Yet CP seemed more pure, adult, and less aimed at the youth market that SR was. For example, the currency of SR, the "Nuyen," was obviously just a derivative of Gibson's "New Yen," as compared to CP's "Euro" (which was based on a type of speculative international currency).
And then there was the aforementioned maturity level of the game. I said that CP seemed a bit more adult to me at the time, while SR was obviously aimed at a broader (younger) audience. SR was nice to look at, there were orcs and elves and trolls (oh, my!), but the one thing that really got on my nerves was the lexicon of the game. Artificial curse words like "drek" grated on my nerves, and I cringed everytime someone used coloquialisms like "chummer" and "decker" when they talked. It all sounded very artificial.
Not that Cyberpunk's "chombatta" was any easier to say (or listen to).
I do have some good things to say. Shocking, yeah. For one, although the mechanics of magic were unintelligable, I did enjoy the concepts of casting. Unlike AD&D, where you had an arbitrary spell list and a limited (daily) capacity for spells, SR allowed you to cast as much as you wanted -- provided you could withstand the rigors of channeling mana and magic through your body. This was reflected in drain, which you rolled after each spell and the difficulty of which was determined by the power of the spell that had been cast. I really liked that idea.
The other thing I liked about SR were riggers. While CP had rudimentary rules for direct neural connection to vehicles, SR explored the concept in detail. Even the name "rigger" wasn't as offensive to me as "decker," which helped quite a bit. The idea of driving a car or flying a plane with the power of my mind alone was pretty nifty.I admit that my list of complaints about Shadowrun is long and (outside of the game's mechanical issues) largely superficial. These were problems I had with the game back then, and they don't necessarily apply today. The newest edition of the rules may be a shining example of harmony and simplicity, but I tend to doubt it. I've heard several gripes from folks who play the current edition of the game, and much of the lamentation stems from the clarity (or, rather, the lack of clarity) within the written rules. Still, SR continues to be supported (albeit by FanPro and not FASA). In fact, the game was always heavily supported in its heyday, and I reckon this was a result of FASA's deep pockets.
26 August 2006
Productive Weekend..?
Today and tomorrow, I write. I have much to do, and only a relatively short time in which to accomplish it all. You may have noticed, I've been blogging a lot lately. I'm trying to get back into "writing trim," because my fingers have been idle in relation to my keyboard. It's time to bring the magic back, delve into the work at hand, and make the best of my weekend.
I'm liable to put in 4-5 hours today, along with an equal amount of time tomorrow. Next weekend, I'll do much the same. On the weekdays, I'll put in some time, too. The work, it can go slow; it can also go extremely quickly. Let's hope for the latter.
So wish me luck. Here I go.
I'm liable to put in 4-5 hours today, along with an equal amount of time tomorrow. Next weekend, I'll do much the same. On the weekdays, I'll put in some time, too. The work, it can go slow; it can also go extremely quickly. Let's hope for the latter.
So wish me luck. Here I go.
Past Campaigns, Part the Third
I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I began using the Cyberpunk 2020 rules for just about everything. Interlock (as the system was called) was versatile for modern and future settings, ultimately configurable and easy to understand. I've used it to run plenty of non-cyberpunk games, from Aliens to The Morrow Project, as well as Star Wars.
My Aliens mods were one of my most appreciated adaptations, at least overseas. For some reason, they were really quite popular in Poland, of all places. They haven't been available online for some time (at least, not through my wife's CP2020 site), though I've considered posting them again. There are a few other Aliens adaptations out there (at least one of them using CP2020 as a basis; another used Millenium's End, IIRC), but being the snob that I am, I'd only ever use mine. I appended them at a later time with rules for the title critter from the Predator films, too.
When my rules were written, the only sources I had available were the theatrical release of the Aliens movie, the novelization of the film, the Aliens role-playing game (produced by Leading Edge Games, using a scaled-down version of the Phoenix Command rules), and a little-known small-press game titled Bug Hunt (not to be confused with TSR's Bug Hunters expansion for The Amazing Engine system). The Colonial Marines Technical Manual was not in print at the time, and if it had been, it would have proved to be quite inspirational.
The original inspiration for the Aliens mods I wrote was, of all people, Josh, my friend Will's older brother. After the movie Aliens was released, Josh wrote up his own statistics for the Colonial Marines and their xenomorph foes using Revised Recon as a basis. The games he ran using those rules were pretty memorable, and (like many of his other games) they typically ended with the PCs being violently killed. We loved those games.
Like Josh's games, the ones I ran using the Interlock system and my own Aliens adaptation often ended with the PCs dying. There was some playtesting that needed to be done, as my initial take on the "acid for blood" rules was a bit unbalanced. In some cases, the PCs were their own worst liability. I even went so far as to run a multi-session Aliens mini-campaign, which involved corporate interests, a xenomorph infestation of a colony world, and synthetics/androids programmed for combat duty. That game was a great deal of fun.
For my Interlock Star Wars adaptation, I started with equipment conversions. I may have overdone it, but blaster weapons in that game were freakin' deadly. The PCs were Imperial conscripts taken from some outer rim hick planet, given shoddy training, and sent off on a suicide mission on a moist jungle world (with a stop on Tatooine for some much-deserved R&R, not to mention a drunken brawl with a group of Naval troops in the Mos Eisley Cantina).
One of the characters, unbeknownst to the rest of the party, was an Imperial spy, sent to keep an eye on the rest of the conscripts. What was amusing was that one of the other players had assumed that a specific NPC was the Imperial agent, and would confide all of his anti-Imperial sentiment in the actual spy. This wasn't revealed until the game ended, at which time there was much lamenting and gnashing of teeth.
And then there was my Morrow Project adaptation to Interlock. Not much needed to be done here. Mostly, it was a question of adapting modern day weapons to the system. I changed things around a little. As the PC team was one of the last to be put into hibernation prior to the nuclear holocaust, they were armed with somewhat more advanced weapons (namely, H&K firearms). Once awake and out of their bolt hole, the PCs first encounter was a giant bear in the wilderness.
What the players didn't know was that there had never been a nuclear holocaust. Instead, the world had ended due to the return of the Old Ones (of Cthulhu fame). This became somewhat more obvious when their first encounter with actual people involved a cultist community that had kidnapped their NPC medic. A bloody battle between the armed PCs and the somewhat less armed NPCs ended with the medic's rescue and the entire cultist community population being shot, blown up, or run over. For some reason, the game was short-lived. I don't think it clicked, and I can't necessarily remember why. It just didn't.
So, yeah, I did a lot more with Cyberpunk than running Gibsonesque street-level campaigns...
My Aliens mods were one of my most appreciated adaptations, at least overseas. For some reason, they were really quite popular in Poland, of all places. They haven't been available online for some time (at least, not through my wife's CP2020 site), though I've considered posting them again. There are a few other Aliens adaptations out there (at least one of them using CP2020 as a basis; another used Millenium's End, IIRC), but being the snob that I am, I'd only ever use mine. I appended them at a later time with rules for the title critter from the Predator films, too.
When my rules were written, the only sources I had available were the theatrical release of the Aliens movie, the novelization of the film, the Aliens role-playing game (produced by Leading Edge Games, using a scaled-down version of the Phoenix Command rules), and a little-known small-press game titled Bug Hunt (not to be confused with TSR's Bug Hunters expansion for The Amazing Engine system). The Colonial Marines Technical Manual was not in print at the time, and if it had been, it would have proved to be quite inspirational.
The original inspiration for the Aliens mods I wrote was, of all people, Josh, my friend Will's older brother. After the movie Aliens was released, Josh wrote up his own statistics for the Colonial Marines and their xenomorph foes using Revised Recon as a basis. The games he ran using those rules were pretty memorable, and (like many of his other games) they typically ended with the PCs being violently killed. We loved those games.
Like Josh's games, the ones I ran using the Interlock system and my own Aliens adaptation often ended with the PCs dying. There was some playtesting that needed to be done, as my initial take on the "acid for blood" rules was a bit unbalanced. In some cases, the PCs were their own worst liability. I even went so far as to run a multi-session Aliens mini-campaign, which involved corporate interests, a xenomorph infestation of a colony world, and synthetics/androids programmed for combat duty. That game was a great deal of fun.
For my Interlock Star Wars adaptation, I started with equipment conversions. I may have overdone it, but blaster weapons in that game were freakin' deadly. The PCs were Imperial conscripts taken from some outer rim hick planet, given shoddy training, and sent off on a suicide mission on a moist jungle world (with a stop on Tatooine for some much-deserved R&R, not to mention a drunken brawl with a group of Naval troops in the Mos Eisley Cantina).
One of the characters, unbeknownst to the rest of the party, was an Imperial spy, sent to keep an eye on the rest of the conscripts. What was amusing was that one of the other players had assumed that a specific NPC was the Imperial agent, and would confide all of his anti-Imperial sentiment in the actual spy. This wasn't revealed until the game ended, at which time there was much lamenting and gnashing of teeth.
And then there was my Morrow Project adaptation to Interlock. Not much needed to be done here. Mostly, it was a question of adapting modern day weapons to the system. I changed things around a little. As the PC team was one of the last to be put into hibernation prior to the nuclear holocaust, they were armed with somewhat more advanced weapons (namely, H&K firearms). Once awake and out of their bolt hole, the PCs first encounter was a giant bear in the wilderness.
What the players didn't know was that there had never been a nuclear holocaust. Instead, the world had ended due to the return of the Old Ones (of Cthulhu fame). This became somewhat more obvious when their first encounter with actual people involved a cultist community that had kidnapped their NPC medic. A bloody battle between the armed PCs and the somewhat less armed NPCs ended with the medic's rescue and the entire cultist community population being shot, blown up, or run over. For some reason, the game was short-lived. I don't think it clicked, and I can't necessarily remember why. It just didn't.
So, yeah, I did a lot more with Cyberpunk than running Gibsonesque street-level campaigns...
25 August 2006
Past Campaigns, Part the Second
As if it weren't enough that my first role-playing experiences were set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, using one of the deadliest systems I've ever seen, my first true gaming love was the original "black box" Cyberpunk RPG.
I'd been a fan of the genre, though I didn't know it at the time. Before playing CP, I'd spent hours (if not days) playing the original Neuromancer video game on my Commodore 128. I even bought the William Gibson book that the game was based on in order to gain some vague insight into the secrets that were doubtless lurking within the depths of that cheesy video game.
I also had a penchant for cyberpunk-themed movies, Blade Runner, Robocop, and Terminator being the three I can recall most vividly. The idea of flesh mating with machine, of cyborgs, really struck a chord with me. Not only that, but "Night City," and the mean streets therein, were a virtual playground for my imagination. It was like coming home for the first time. I instinctively understood everything, from the mechanics, to the fictional technology, to the underlying themes of the game.
As I mentioned earlier, the person who introduced me to Cyberpunk, CJ, was a friend of a friend at the time. He'd picked up his original "black box" at a local comic shop, and (if memory serves) was itching to try this new game out. Me and the other guy (we'll call him Fred) were the willing guinea pigs.
Even before I'd met CJ, Fred had put the two of us in touch via phone to discuss my character options. Cyberpunk was a class-based system, although the classes were disguised as "roles," each with an exclusive "special ability." Given the list of choices (Techies, Netrunners, Rockerboys, Medias, Nomads, etc.), I was inclined to choose the "Solo" as the role for my first experimental character. Solos, for those not in the know, are the fighters of Cyberpunk: streetsmart killers wired up with the latest in cutting edge (and, most-likely, illegal) cyberware.
It was just my speed. Remember, I was young and wanted to bust heads. Depth of character was always secondary to combat ability.
I don't know if CJ came up with the name, or if I did, but my character's handle was "Wolfman." I'll be damned if I can remember the name of Fred's character, but he decided to play a Rockerboy (a revolutionary musician and charismatic leader-type). Our characters weren't awesome, so far as stats and skills were concerned, but we seemed to do well.
We met at CJ's parents' apartment, and took our gear downstairs to the complex's recreation room (down by the swimming pool). Sitting around a table, we moved right in to our first story. It started innocently enough, with us being jumped by some gang members in a public park after dark. We wasted the lot of them, and I don't remember it being very difficult to do so. Somehow, we managed to come into possession of a briefcase that seemingly belonged to a corporation known as Zetatech.
It was this briefcase, and its contents, that made things really happen. Zetatech wanted the case back, and they were more than willing to kill our characters in order to get it. Of course, we weren't going to stand for it. After a number of firefights, the most memorable of which saw us flying an AV-4 blind into a brick wall after wildly hosing a group of Zetatech goons with the aerodyne's miniguns, the game was somehow resolved. I don't remember too many details, but I think we ended up in the employ of another corporation with the ominous name of Arasaka.
I don't know if Fred really enjoyed his first game of Cyberpunk or not, but it seems that from that point on, it was just CJ and I playing the game. Fred never came back. Perhaps the game was too gritty, too dark, or too deadly for him. I'm not sure, and my memory doesn't serve well insofar as such details are concerned.
I ended up buying my own copy of Cyberpunk from the same comic store that CJ had picked his up at. We took turns playing and GMing, with me adopting a new character (a cyber-hick named "Deadeye") and he creating his own persona (a ruthless cop-killer named "Sting"), as well. Both of our characters were solos; not really that shocking, considering our preferred mode of play. Had we been playing with larger groups of people, we might have diversified a bit. At its core, though, Cyberpunk was a game about deadly encounters between dangerous people, and we weren't about to be caught with our kevlar-lined pants down.
We played those characters, alternating back and forth, for a long while, up until the release of Cyberpunk 2020. I remember CJ coming by my house with two copies of the original 2020 boxed set, one for me and one for himself. We opened them and read them with glee before getting down to the nitty gritty of updating our characters. We advanced our own timeline (which had moved from 2013 to 2015 or so) to the present of 2020, with my character spending the intervening years in cryo freeze. He'd been seemingly killed in our last game, so I was itching to see how CJ was going to bring him back to life.
Cyberpunk was the first game that I fiddled with mechanically. I even submitted a story/article to Interface Magazine. Though it wasn't accepted, the submission did result in a phone call from Chris Hockabout, who told me that he liked the story but that he was looking for other kinds of articles. I wasn't unhappy that the article had been rejected; I was jazzed that one of the guys on the magazine staff had actually called me to discuss it.
There came a time when CJ and I weren't playing Cyberpunk anymore. I was still running it, though; for my other game groups, and for my then girlfriend (now wife) and her friends. The list of players, not to mention different campaigns, is staggering. I'd be hard-pressed to remember them all...
There was the original Night City Cops game, where the PCs were members of Night City's finest, sent to infiltrate an illicit mercenary company that hired itself out to clients and performed black ops on their behalf;
There was the continuation of Night City Cops, which saw at least one of the PCs return in conjunction with a handful of new player characters;
Amnesia was a short scenario where two PCs awaken in Night City with no memory of who they were, where they were from, or why these strange people are trying to kill them;
There's the Coke Madness game, set in Panama City, which involved the players (scum, all of them) coming into possession of a sample of "new cocaine," a lab-grown strain of yeast-resistant coca, which caused them no end of trouble at the hands of Colombian criminals and American DEA agents;
On a somewhat X-Files-inspired lark, I ran the New Mexico Cops game, where the PCs were police outcasts sent to babysit the citizens of a corporate farming community in an irrigated portion of the New Mexican wastes. Not only was there some wierd alien invasion phenomena, but the farmers shared a border with the US military, who were responsible for some interesting phenomena of their own;
Let's not forget the Hoods game, where the PCs were ex-convicts out on parole, sent to perform underhanded work by their crooked parole officer;
Then there was Cops & Robbers, a game that was masterminded by my wife, wherein I portrayed a ruthless mobster, while another player (unknown to me at the time) portrayed a police officer who was investigating my activities in a separate series of games;
CJ and I did hook back up, eventually. The last character I ran in one of his CP games was a disfigured bruiser and heavy weapons expert by the handle of Belial. Belial was created shortly after my first character in that campaign, a government face man and talker by the name of Lowry Brooks, was gunned down on a mission to sabotage a nuclear reactor in South America. If the wimpy Lowry Brooks couldn't stand up to what CJ's game was dishing out, I felt that I'd better go with the gusto and create a character with a bit more durability.
As of now, we haven't played Cyberpunk for many, many years. I've been throwing around the idea of starting up a new game, using the old mechanics and my own house rules (which effectively took CP2020 and removed the class-based mechanics entirely).
Who knows, maybe I'll give it a shot sometime. Although the third edition of Cyberpunk is available, I don't yet know if I'm comfortable enough with the mechanics or the setting to put it to use. I think I prefer the original retro-eighties street feel of the "black box" and 2020 to the pre-transhumanism of the new game.
I'd been a fan of the genre, though I didn't know it at the time. Before playing CP, I'd spent hours (if not days) playing the original Neuromancer video game on my Commodore 128. I even bought the William Gibson book that the game was based on in order to gain some vague insight into the secrets that were doubtless lurking within the depths of that cheesy video game.I also had a penchant for cyberpunk-themed movies, Blade Runner, Robocop, and Terminator being the three I can recall most vividly. The idea of flesh mating with machine, of cyborgs, really struck a chord with me. Not only that, but "Night City," and the mean streets therein, were a virtual playground for my imagination. It was like coming home for the first time. I instinctively understood everything, from the mechanics, to the fictional technology, to the underlying themes of the game.
As I mentioned earlier, the person who introduced me to Cyberpunk, CJ, was a friend of a friend at the time. He'd picked up his original "black box" at a local comic shop, and (if memory serves) was itching to try this new game out. Me and the other guy (we'll call him Fred) were the willing guinea pigs.
Even before I'd met CJ, Fred had put the two of us in touch via phone to discuss my character options. Cyberpunk was a class-based system, although the classes were disguised as "roles," each with an exclusive "special ability." Given the list of choices (Techies, Netrunners, Rockerboys, Medias, Nomads, etc.), I was inclined to choose the "Solo" as the role for my first experimental character. Solos, for those not in the know, are the fighters of Cyberpunk: streetsmart killers wired up with the latest in cutting edge (and, most-likely, illegal) cyberware.
It was just my speed. Remember, I was young and wanted to bust heads. Depth of character was always secondary to combat ability.
I don't know if CJ came up with the name, or if I did, but my character's handle was "Wolfman." I'll be damned if I can remember the name of Fred's character, but he decided to play a Rockerboy (a revolutionary musician and charismatic leader-type). Our characters weren't awesome, so far as stats and skills were concerned, but we seemed to do well.
We met at CJ's parents' apartment, and took our gear downstairs to the complex's recreation room (down by the swimming pool). Sitting around a table, we moved right in to our first story. It started innocently enough, with us being jumped by some gang members in a public park after dark. We wasted the lot of them, and I don't remember it being very difficult to do so. Somehow, we managed to come into possession of a briefcase that seemingly belonged to a corporation known as Zetatech.
It was this briefcase, and its contents, that made things really happen. Zetatech wanted the case back, and they were more than willing to kill our characters in order to get it. Of course, we weren't going to stand for it. After a number of firefights, the most memorable of which saw us flying an AV-4 blind into a brick wall after wildly hosing a group of Zetatech goons with the aerodyne's miniguns, the game was somehow resolved. I don't remember too many details, but I think we ended up in the employ of another corporation with the ominous name of Arasaka.
I don't know if Fred really enjoyed his first game of Cyberpunk or not, but it seems that from that point on, it was just CJ and I playing the game. Fred never came back. Perhaps the game was too gritty, too dark, or too deadly for him. I'm not sure, and my memory doesn't serve well insofar as such details are concerned.
I ended up buying my own copy of Cyberpunk from the same comic store that CJ had picked his up at. We took turns playing and GMing, with me adopting a new character (a cyber-hick named "Deadeye") and he creating his own persona (a ruthless cop-killer named "Sting"), as well. Both of our characters were solos; not really that shocking, considering our preferred mode of play. Had we been playing with larger groups of people, we might have diversified a bit. At its core, though, Cyberpunk was a game about deadly encounters between dangerous people, and we weren't about to be caught with our kevlar-lined pants down.
We played those characters, alternating back and forth, for a long while, up until the release of Cyberpunk 2020. I remember CJ coming by my house with two copies of the original 2020 boxed set, one for me and one for himself. We opened them and read them with glee before getting down to the nitty gritty of updating our characters. We advanced our own timeline (which had moved from 2013 to 2015 or so) to the present of 2020, with my character spending the intervening years in cryo freeze. He'd been seemingly killed in our last game, so I was itching to see how CJ was going to bring him back to life.Cyberpunk was the first game that I fiddled with mechanically. I even submitted a story/article to Interface Magazine. Though it wasn't accepted, the submission did result in a phone call from Chris Hockabout, who told me that he liked the story but that he was looking for other kinds of articles. I wasn't unhappy that the article had been rejected; I was jazzed that one of the guys on the magazine staff had actually called me to discuss it.
There came a time when CJ and I weren't playing Cyberpunk anymore. I was still running it, though; for my other game groups, and for my then girlfriend (now wife) and her friends. The list of players, not to mention different campaigns, is staggering. I'd be hard-pressed to remember them all...
There was the original Night City Cops game, where the PCs were members of Night City's finest, sent to infiltrate an illicit mercenary company that hired itself out to clients and performed black ops on their behalf;
There was the continuation of Night City Cops, which saw at least one of the PCs return in conjunction with a handful of new player characters;
Amnesia was a short scenario where two PCs awaken in Night City with no memory of who they were, where they were from, or why these strange people are trying to kill them;
There's the Coke Madness game, set in Panama City, which involved the players (scum, all of them) coming into possession of a sample of "new cocaine," a lab-grown strain of yeast-resistant coca, which caused them no end of trouble at the hands of Colombian criminals and American DEA agents;
On a somewhat X-Files-inspired lark, I ran the New Mexico Cops game, where the PCs were police outcasts sent to babysit the citizens of a corporate farming community in an irrigated portion of the New Mexican wastes. Not only was there some wierd alien invasion phenomena, but the farmers shared a border with the US military, who were responsible for some interesting phenomena of their own;
Let's not forget the Hoods game, where the PCs were ex-convicts out on parole, sent to perform underhanded work by their crooked parole officer;
Then there was Cops & Robbers, a game that was masterminded by my wife, wherein I portrayed a ruthless mobster, while another player (unknown to me at the time) portrayed a police officer who was investigating my activities in a separate series of games;
CJ and I did hook back up, eventually. The last character I ran in one of his CP games was a disfigured bruiser and heavy weapons expert by the handle of Belial. Belial was created shortly after my first character in that campaign, a government face man and talker by the name of Lowry Brooks, was gunned down on a mission to sabotage a nuclear reactor in South America. If the wimpy Lowry Brooks couldn't stand up to what CJ's game was dishing out, I felt that I'd better go with the gusto and create a character with a bit more durability.
As of now, we haven't played Cyberpunk for many, many years. I've been throwing around the idea of starting up a new game, using the old mechanics and my own house rules (which effectively took CP2020 and removed the class-based mechanics entirely).Who knows, maybe I'll give it a shot sometime. Although the third edition of Cyberpunk is available, I don't yet know if I'm comfortable enough with the mechanics or the setting to put it to use. I think I prefer the original retro-eighties street feel of the "black box" and 2020 to the pre-transhumanism of the new game.
24 August 2006
Past Campaigns, Part the First
Everyone remembers their first character, right?Well, I certainly don't. I haven't got a damn clue who (or what) that character was. I don't even remember what system or setting my first-played RPG used. I have a funny feeling that it was probably The Morrow Project, and I'm sure we might've lasted most of the session before we were killed.
So, random memories of those early Morrow Project games...
I have a thought that my first character was a heavy gunner in a Recon squad, sitting in the turret of one of the V-150 armored cars that the MP was so fond of. At the time, the group I was playing with (my friend Will, his brother, and his brother's friends) had definitely played the game previously. Will's brother (we'll call him "Josh") was running the game. They explained to me that the mortality rate of gunners on V-150s was exceptionally high. So high, in fact, that Josh had introduced a house rule that all V-150's were issued a single flak jacket for use by the top gunner.
As you can see, we're off to a wonderful start so far.
I only recall this as being a one-session game, but it might have gone on for more than that. I remember encountering "snake eaters" (U.S. green berets, frozen and left to monitor the MP for the government) and "blue undead" (corpses animated by excessive radiation; not malicious, but deadly due to their innate radioactivity). Also remember encountering "maggots" (pale, mutated humans who lived underground, with stumpy limbs and cannibalistic appetites).
As for outcomes, well. I'm sure we died. I'm sure one (or more) of the encounters mentioned above was the cause of it. I do recall Josh messing with me, specifically; my character was on watch at night, and he noticed some movement in the underbrush. It turned out to be a skunk or something along those lines, a mundane creature, but I was very, very concerned up until I worked things out.
I also have memories of playing a medic in one of those Morrow Project games. We encountered some natives, one of whom was sick with (of all things) strep throat. I fixed him up, but remember wondering what the big deal was. Josh was obviously attempting to show that diseases that we might now consider to be mundane can be deadly serious business if antibiotics and other medicines aren't available.
As for the effects of these earliest of scenarios, let's put it into perspective. The Morrow Project was designed to be deadly. A weapon's damage, rated numerically in what was referred to as an "E-Factor," represented the number of inches of ballistic gel (or human flesh, take your pick) that a typical projectile of that size and power could penetrate.
Combine this with the fact that hits to different locations had different effects. You didn't just get shot in your torso; you got shot in one of four torso locations. Area 1 indicated the central chest, where most of your really vital organs are; Area 4 was the shoulders and outside ribs. A shot to Area 1 of any power had a pretty good chance of killing a character outright. Damage above a certain amount to an extremity resulted in amputation. All wounds resulted in blood loss, which meant that even a relatively small wound could still kill you if the bleeding wasn't controlled. Heck, one of a character's most important attributes was his blood type.
So the first games I played were lethal, combining modern military equipment with post-apocalyptic disaster. Was there any doubt that we would all be killed, one way or the other? As mentioned, I can't recall any single game lasting more than a single session, maybe two.
Thus, my penchant for realism. It also instilled a certain "kill or be killed" mentality, which was only reinforced by later scenarios and campaigns that used systems with comparativly moderate lethality. I could adapt, but those games set a certain tone that would define my style of play for quite some time. I still prefer gritty combat systems that provide for some possibility of instant death, no matter how slight. Fighting is a gamble, and there should be risks involved.
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