I've got the itch to run something, or play something, and I've got like approximately no time to do it. I NO, RITE?>
So instead of doing the irresponsible thing and immediately announcing ME RUN GAME NOW OK and then having that fall apart because WHAT WAS I THINKING?, I'm going to take some time and collate ideas and try to figure out what kind of schedule might make a game possible. As usual, the responsible option is the boring option!
So, to satiate my unreasonable gaming BLÖDTHURST, let's chat about what's going on right now: what are you playing, running, all that kind of thing.
Playing in a Star Trek game using the system by Decipher (this is face-to-face/IRL). I'm a Trill Counselor with two previous hosts, one of them a Section 31 agent who faked her death to get out of the clandestine Federation intelligence agency, another a notorious con-artist. My crew-mates and Starfleet all think that my last host was a respected diplomat. Only the narrator and I know the truth.
Also playing in Polycarp's Republic Reborn game as Sanguineus Viviani, Consul of the Interior, a Roman nobleman with an interest in Islamic alchemy, and supporting Pope Victor over Alexander. Currently he's trying to clean up Rome's crime-infested riverside while establishing connections with the Senate's political elites and the Roman underworld.
Still playing in Rose-of-Vellum's play-by-post Cadaverous Earth game Clockwork Abattoir as Catena, a former slave of the lillix slave turned assassin/enforcer in Skein. The game's a little slowed down but I've been posting when I find the time.
Running a game of Fimbulvinter, set during the early stages of Ragnarök as described in Norse myth. This is a casual, drop-in/drop-out game where players are encouraged to play when they can without worrying about a regular schedule. It's going pretty fantastically. New players are always welcome. I keep the log updated for those who want a taste of the game and for players who've missed sessions.
I also run a Planescape campaign, but this is currently on hiatus while I try to finish my dissertation on the aesthetics of weird fiction.
I am p. interested in looking at ways to use the pbp format unconventionally
Okay, so I've been giving a lot of attention to my STA Fantasy which I have dubbed "Rivers of Panorah". I would love to run a game in this setting, BUT I've been struggling with a couple of things. I was going to make a post asking everyone if anybody would be interested in playing a PBP or IRC game or something, BUT i've never done anything like that before, and I don't know where to begin.
If you or anyone else is interested just say so.
IRL I'm playing in two custom FATE games, one drawing heavily from Accelerated Edition and the other much stranger. We're playing a post-apocalyptic game, set in the 2240s that draws heavily on Fallout and the works of Joss Whedon called Irradiated Earth. The other is set in the world of Avatar, though that's a misnomer - given that events are taking place long long before Wan -where we are some of the first humans entrusted with bending by the lion turtles.
I run a planar/space fantasy game. The character's are closing in on leaving behind the Multiverse in which Golarion can be found, by crossing the Ygaxian Manifold, to return to their Great Wheel home. It's Pathfinder with Mytic rules, soon to be D&D 5e.
I keep considering joining Polycarp's game but then life forces me to Lmns Crn-out and yell "WHAT WAS I THINKING?" A low-commitment weird fiction game would intrigue me greatly, as of late I've been attracted to the veneer of the American West.
Though currently on hiatus, I run a game in my setting, Opus, for sparkletwist (using Dresden FATE) through IRC. I'll be honest, I'm not really sure how to describe the setting. It's gone through so many iterations that it's more a joint project between Sparkle and I than something I made on my own. It's got steampunk and faeries and people who use magic Ink to write new realities and stuff. I think it's neat.
I'm also sporadically playing in my own setting of Opus (as in, when I'm free and Sparkle feels like putting my GMing skills to shame in my own setting) with Sparkletwist at the helm. She's really good. Like, better than me at my own game. It's also super cool that she actually thinks the things that I spew from my head are awesome.
I would also be running a PF adventure path (AP) called Serpent's Skull for my IRL players face-to-face, but it's also on hiatus. That one is fun because it's departed so heavily from the AP that it's sort of it's own beast and I love trying to figure out how to use the skeleton of ensuing APs as a framework for whatever crazy turn they'll take next. It's like a really fun jigsaw puzzle for me and my players enjoy trying to guess what few events were actually scripted to happen in the adventure.
And lastly, I sort of play in my friend's 5E D&D game (also IRL face-to-face). Sort of, only because he's been busy and it's his first time DMing so he's admittedly nervous and keeps thinking he's not doing a good job despite being quite good. It's actually pretty cool - we're stuck on this mountaintop that's always shrouded in mist with a rigid, structured society and caste system. Our characters were drafted for a war that has been raging beneath the clouds on the ground, but through a series of mishaps "accidentally" escaped, and we're slowly learning that the whole society itself seems to be in on something we're not aware of and that the war may be something completely fabricated to hide something much darker. Now we're back in the city trying to figure out who we can and can't trust and who to go to.
I WANT to run a few other ideas I have clattering around in my head, but I'm pretty busy working on a graduate degree so life is UGH stressful.
These "one GM, one player" games are interesting. It never occurs to me to try one, from either role. How does that feel? Is there something about the group dynamic that's problematically lacking?
I have played with one GM, one player before. It depends a lot on the player. If the player is a cool person it can be very fun, though in a very different way than a group. You don't get the joy of watching multiple plans and perspectives interact, but you also don't have to deal with bored players waiting their turn and distracting themselves/others. It can feel a little strangely "intimate" at first and somehow makes the potential "silliness" of roleplaying more acute at times. That said, because the player is interacting so closely and continuously with the setting, I think it's actually pretty brilliant from an immersion perspective. All worries of balancing the party or providing challenges for different classes vanish. All worries about catering to different tastes and providing an experience for everyone pretty much vanish. Probably the most fun I've had with solo games/sessions were playing my old Goblin game with my brother and playing some extended solo sessions with The Meanest Guest in CE.
As Weave already mentioned, I play and run in an occasional Fate game in Opus. It's quite a fun setting, so I enjoy the chance to play in it, and I also enjoy the chance to GM there, and I'm glad that Weave appreciates my attempts to bring the setting to life.
I agree that how well one player games work depends a lot on the player, and the GM too, of course. It certainly requires a creative and proactive player, because, ultimately, that player is the only one who is going to make things happen. I should point out, though, that none of the games I've played with Weave have been actual solo games in-character; in all of these games, the player has had a duo, threesome, or foursome of characters-- one of the big issues with a solo game is sometimes the GM's role being a little too strong because there's only 1 PC, and doing that addresses it nicely. The banter between the player characters is really fun to write, and they have to have contrasting personalities or I can never keep them straight in my head, so the party dynamic is always pretty livelyl. That goes a long way towards easing the problem of not seeing multiple plans and perspectives interact. Granted, the plan will never be quite as varied because it's still only one person thinking of it, but, on the other hand, it also means that the plan is always going to be coherent, which sometimes doesn't happen with actual multiple players.
Quote from: Tangential
IRL I'm playing in two custom FATE games, one drawing heavily from Accelerated Edition and the other much stranger. We're playing a post-apocalyptic game, set in the 2240s that draws heavily on Fallout and the works of Joss Whedon called Irradiated Earth. The other is set in the world of Avatar, though that's a misnomer - given that events are taking place long long before Wan -where we are some of the first humans entrusted with bending by the lion turtles.
I would play in this so hard.
Quote from: Lmns Crn
These "one GM, one player" games are interesting. It never occurs to me to try one, from either role. How does that feel? Is there something about the group dynamic that's problematically lacking?
EDIT: Sparkle beat me to it.
Steerpike pretty much hit the nail on the head. In my games with Sparkletwist, she and I both play 2-4 characters, which, if the player is okay with, is a good idea IMO. Especially prevalent in PF or D&D games, one character class or concept or whatever usually excels at some things and lacks in others, so sometimes adventures revolving solely around that character can get repetitive. A fighter without a good set of skills to deal with social encounters (diplomacy, bluff, sense motive, etc.) will be more apt to fight monsters than deal with political affairs of the state. FATE doesn't really have this problem nearly as much, but it's not entirely absent either. YMMV.
Also, it's easier. You're just trying to make one person enjoy your game, rather than 3 or 4 or 12. Steerpike is right, though; you miss out on the camaraderie of a group getting ready to play, the variegated banter of players with different perspectives, the immersion of having other living, breathing characters with real, tangible goals that aren't just some ham-fisted DMPCs. And that's a big hit.
From the player's end, it's faster and more engaging. It's mano a mano between you and the GM, so you get the opportunity to get on each other's level and really, I dunno, jive with one another. "Same wavelength" stuff. It definitely takes the right person.
One big advantage to solo gaming is that the player can go off and explore whatever they feel like: there doesn't need to be any consensus about what to do next. This is wonderfully liberating. You can also run games that make the player's character extra-special in some way without having to worry about marginalizing others.
Playing in Vreegs Collegium Arcana game on Thursdays. Lots of fun to be playing GS again. My PC is Durhum Lentilles, a son of a pair of assassins, enrolled in a school for the magically gifted.
Playing in Steerpikes Fimbulvinter, another fun game in a really cool setting. I play as Egil a Warpriest of Ullr.
Playing a GURPS game with Humabout, I'm currently the only PC, as Sir Durhum Lentilles, Paladin of Saturn, God of Agriculture.
Preparing, to hopefully run, a LotFP game set in ether Ember Valley or early-mid 17th century France. Really depends on player interest, hopefully I can get some.
All of these are IRC games, as I do not know anyone who games IRL.
Llum, what year/decade would you set the French game if you went for that? The time of the Fronde? Some time during the Thirty Years' War? One of the later parts, during Louis XIV's reign?
Don't mean to push you towards France over Ember Valley, just curious if you had a specific event/period in mind.
Also - knowing your voracious reading habits I wouldn't be suprised if you'd read them, but have you looked at Clark Ashton Smith's Averoigne stories? They're more medieval than early modern, though there are some that are set in the 16th century, and they're very "weird France." Also Brotherhood of the Wolf is a must-see in case you haven't seen it.
Quote from: Steerpike
Llum, what year/decade would you set the French game if you went for that? The time of the Fronde? Some time during the Thirty Years' War? One of the later parts, during Louis XIV's reign?
After the Thirty Year's War for sure. Ether during from the Fronde (1648-1653) or slightly after, no later than 1675. I like the Fronde since it's a time of particular unrest and there's a LOT of people who've seen combat kicking around the area (People/Mercenaries who fought during the Thirty Year's War for example, civil war, etc)
Quote from: Steerpike
Don't mean to push you towards France over Ember Valley, just curious if you had a specific event/period in mind.
I'm leaning towards it being in an area near the borders France (such as Alsace or Dunkirk or something). It would be weird and probably dangerous. I don't forsee myself creating Death Frost Doom dangerous, but when there's forces beyond humans knowledge, things are messy.
Quote from: Steerpike
Also - knowing your voracious reading habits I wouldn't be suprised if you'd read them, but have you looked at Clark Ashton Smith's Averoigne stories? They're more medieval than early modern, though there are some that are set in the 16th century, and they're very "weird France." Also Brotherhood of the Wolf is a must-see in case you haven't seen it.
I actually have Brotherhood of the Wolf queued up to watch this weekend! I am not really familiar with any historic (or semi historic) books, but I'll check those out.
Smith's Averogine stories are all pretty short (or at most novellette length). They can be found on a site called theeldritchdark.com; wikipedia actually has a list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Averoigne) of all the Averogine stories on that site, with links. Smith was roughly contemporary with Lovecraft, and wrote a lot of Mythos stories. His Averoigne stuff is usually more folkloric, with a lot of undead/witchcraft/werewolves, that kind of thing.
EDIT: That all sounds pretty awesome by the way. Musketeers vs. elder horrors from the outer void.
Running a campaign called Wild Seas Under Heaven, a 5th Edition D&D game about a band of pirates in Mythic China struggling to survive and take advantage of the consequences of the Mandate of Heaven being withdrawn.
Running the Bloody Sun, Shattered Sword campaign that I've posted about on here before - a creepy and evocative Japanese Dark-Fantasy game something like a cross between Princess Mononoke and Mushishi.
Playing in a 5th Edition D&D campaign run by a friend of mine who is a first-time GM, and occasionally providing co-DMing assistance when more than 6 or 7 of his players show up (he's mad). My character is a good-aligned Cleric of Death whose religion preaches that it is their duty to ensure that the undead and the wicked do not walk in Life.
Playing in a system-light Call of Cthulhu campaign based loosely off Beyond the Mountains of Madness, that is currently on hiatus. After the death of my first character, eccentric intelligent officer Lieutenant Archibald Davies, due to over-use of Mythos witchcraft and a resulting bullet in the skull, I'm now playing an Ainu whaler and survival expert called Petennouk.
Quote from: HippoRunning the Bloody Sun, Shattered Sword campaign that I've posted about on here before - a creepy and evocative Japanese Dark-Fantasy game something like a cross between Princess Mononoke and Mushishi.
Glad you got this up and running! You'll have to tell us how it goes.
>>Playing in a system-light Call of Cthulhu campaign based loosely off Beyond the Mountains of Madness,
That's a good setting choice for a CoC game-personally I love that novel and was disappointed when I heard a famous director (del Toro? Jackson?) backed out of producing a movie based on it. Are you playing in the official Chaosium sequel to Mountains of Madness, or is it homebrewed?
Quote from: Light Dragon
That's a good setting choice for a CoC game-personally I love that novel and was disappointed when I heard a famous director (del Toro? Jackson?) backed out of producing a movie based on it. Are you playing in the official Chaosium sequel to Mountains of Madness, or is it homebrewed?
It was del Toro - the studio would only give him the money he needed if they softened the rating, added a happy ending, or included a romantic sub-plot. There was a rumour floating around that the success of Pacific Rim (his last film) meant that the studio who produced it was considering letting him do Mountains of Madness, but nothing's yet been confirmed.
As for the campaign, it's a little of both. The campaign is definitely inspired by the Chaosium sequel (and also the Australian section of Masks of Nyarlathotep) but our GM has taken considerable liberties with adding a framing device grounded in Australian military/espionage history and tweaking things around to his liking.
>>meant that the studio who produced it was considering letting him do Mountains of Madness, but nothing's yet been confirmed.
Legendary... which I think is that studio- also is rumoured to have the rights to Mass Effect. Sadly I fear we'll never see either... Or if they do mass effect they wouldn't have the sense to go with the winning combination- do the trilogy of games with a female hardass Shepard rather than the worn out everyman male Shepard hero.
It's bizarre that At the Mountains of Madness has not been made into a film. Despite the odd assertions that it's "unfilmable" it's ridiculously cinematic and could be adapted very easily. Alien is about 50% At the Mountains of Madness already.
Quote from: Steerpike
It's bizarre that At the Mountains of Madness has not been made into a film. Despite the odd assertions that it's "unfilmable" it's ridiculously cinematic and could be adapted very easily. Alien is about 50% At the Mountains of Madness already.
I never got the "unfilmable" label for
At the Mountains of Madness either. I mean, call me crazy, but it feels like it's probably the most "filmable" for all of Lovecraft's works.
As far as I go, I recently wrapped up the 2 year long Dresden Files game I had going with the players finally destroying an original thing, The Realm of Broken Mirrors, (Which they affectionately termed the Negaverse, since it was populated by twisted versions of everyone on earth.) It felt good to wrap up a long running campaign for the second time in my history as a GM.
Now I'm playing with that group in a different FATE game one of the Dresden Players is running. Set in a Space Opera, I'm playing Jeremiah Black, a former bug hunter who has half his aspects and stunts as quotes from the Alien series.
In other news, my 3 year long one on one Marvel game is coming to a major turning point. The other Player and I share control of the universe, and since we have so many kids of heroes, kids of villains, up-and-coming-kid powers, etc, we're slowly retiring the major players to make room for the new blood - Dr Strange, Tony Stark, and Cyclops have all announced their intent to retire within the next few years for either their own child or a promising protegee, with more doing so in the wings. (Since we use the marvel sliding timescale, things always happen in one of 8 time periods - "Some Historic Period," World War II," "A few years ago," "Not long ago," "Now," "Soon," "In a few years," and "The Distant Future.")
The Realm of Broken Mirrors sounds pretty cool. It's basically a mirror-universe type thing, a la Star Trek?
Quote from: Steerpike
It's bizarre that At the Mountains of Madness has not been made into a film. Despite the odd assertions that it's "unfilmable" it's ridiculously cinematic and could be adapted very easily. Alien is about 50% At the Mountains of Madness already.
Frankly, John Carpenter's The Thing is about 50% of At the Mountains of Madness as well :D.
>>I never got the "unfilmable" label for At the Mountains of Madness either. I mean, call me crazy, but it feels like it's probably the most "filmable" for all of Lovecraft's works.
Agreed.
Quote from: Steerpike
The Realm of Broken Mirrors sounds pretty cool. It's basically a mirror-universe type thing, a la Star Trek?
Not exactly. I mean, everyone has an evil duplicate over there - basically, the Realm of Broken Mirrors is where everything you could have been exists. However, since there can only be one opposite of you long term, every time you make a choice that eliminates possible people you could have been, new "yous" pop up - and then fight it out, highlander style, since there can be only one. They then absorb the new "yous" that they kill, so they stay up to date on the choices that you are making - and the skills you would have learned, up to a point. So the result of this is the worst, nastiest, most power hungry you that could exist is the duplicate that manages to survive long term - even horrible people have an "evil-er" you over there. Those are the Could-Have-Beens.
On top of them, it's also filled with countless Never-Weres - the children that would have been born if you had had children with an ex you're no longer with, or if you hadn't used birth control at a particular moment. Since their potential is poorly defined, so are they - Never-Weres look horrific. A few were a young woman with a lamprey mouth for a face (the sister of one of the PCs if their parents hadn't split up), a man with a blank face and mouths in his palms and eyes on his wrists (the son of another PC if he had gone "all the way" with his first girlfriend), a person with two faces, melted together in the center of their head, and four arms (the twins the first PC would have had with her ex-fiance if he hadn't cheated and they had stayed together), and...you're getting the idea. Most Could-Have-Beens command a small army of the Never-Weres their Actuality (as they call people from the real would) would have spawned or that would have been family to them, kept in private citadels - the Mirror Shards.
The Could-Have-Beens (which the players took to calling Nega-BLANK, as in Nega-you and Nega-me or Nega-NAME, or alternatively, Cenobites, since many of them had appearances that were semi-inspired by Hellrazer*) want to take over their Actuality through possession and ruin their life. To do so, they have to drive the real you to such despair that you are ready to commit suicide (Thus stopping any more Could-Have-Beens from being possible for you) and then take over before you kill yourself. So when they can break through from the Realm of Broken Mirrors to our world, they spend their time making your life hell so you get to that point...and since they are twisted versions of you, they are very good at it. They almost had one of the PCs and they did get an NPC another PC was dating.
*One PC was ridiculously and hilariously unaware of anything involving Nerd culture, so she referred to them as Xenomorphs, or Xenobites, or Cenomorphs at various points. This is the one who, when faced with an impossible task, said "It's like the Kokomo Maroon" (The kobayashi maru)
That's really cool! Very Barker-esque, in a great way. Have you read China Miéville's novella "The Tain" by any chance?
Quote from: Steerpike
That's really cool! Very Barker-esque, in a great way. Have you read China Miéville's novella "The Tain" by any chance?
Thanks! And no, I haven't. I haven't read any Mieville, actually...probably should do that, given how often it comes up around these parts. :P