top games: RPGaDay

Showing posts with label RPGaDay. Show all posts

Showing posts with label RPGaDay. Show all posts

#RPGaDay 2017 - A Retrospective

Another 31 days down, another 31 posts for #RPGaDay finished. As always, it was a fun activity. Although there was one major dud of a question (Day 24: PWYW was a very niche question), the alternate questions saved it from being the sub-par day.

On the selfish angle, I've subscribed to a few extra blogs with interesting answers, but most stopped posting by Day10. Heck, some haven't posted anything for the rest of August!

Reading through the throngs of dull "My favorite character was a warforged alchemist with the transplanted brain of a were-kanagroo in 4th Edition." answers on Twitter, I honestly gave up my daily search on the latest tweets pretty quickly. I barely watch Youtube videos as it is, much less people sitting there talking about gaming, when I could read their blog in a quarter of the time and get much more out of it. Heck, I rarely go back to my "note to self" recordings about gaming I make when I drive home from work and many times I should. Sorry, I'm not that demographic.

Traffic on this blog did get a boost, which was far better than prior years. I try to post "normal" stuff everyday, so with the extra post from #RPGaDay, I was up about 30% from when I normally double post in a day.

Then that third week hits (with or without GenCon) and historically traffic sort of tapers off. Nature of the beast (or the questions), I guess.

As of Midnight 9/1/2017 - Previous years include all historical pageviews.

And despite an effort on my part to make my tweets "pleasing," with a picture, a link, and an attempt to make it appear that I actually wanted someone to visit my site, Twitter traffic was a veritable ghost town.

I got a serious boatload of traffic from my public Facebook links. A lot of my blog-less friends gave their answers in the comments, and since I posted it publicly, their gaming friends must have seen it on their own feeds. Lots of conversation, some interesting discoveries, and a good time by all.

In a pleasant surprise, Twitter got slaughtered by Google+ as a traffic source for most of the process. There's a very active gaming community on it, and a few key "+1's" generated some surprising hits.

So, where do we go for the 5th Annual RPGaDay in 2018? I say let's go back to RPGaDay 2014 questions, and use a "where are they now?" style, where applicable, for those gamers who have participated since the beginning. That wouldn't help the "Still playing only Pathfinder" crowd, but would expand answers to "Toon is still my #1 humor game, but I had a great time learning Paranoia XP." or "PbtA is soooo much better than Fate Accelerated (or vice versa)."

Waiting with bated breath for #RPGaDay2018....

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 31: What Do You Anticipate Most From Gaming in 2018?

We wrap up #RPGaDay 2017 looking towards the future:

"What Do You Anticipate Most From Gaming in 2018?"

Short Answer: Friendship is Online

Long Drawn-Out Answer: I'm a quirky fellow that has tracked my all of my gaming since a Paranoia game in the Summer of '89. To make it even odder I've tracked my "Gaming Years" from October to September of the following year, so this question is nearer in my mind that most who are currently trying to find time to play the latest GenCon releases between now and Christmas.

What do I plan on running for my 2018 "fiscal year"?

Counting down to #1:

#4 Savage Worlds Pulp - Season 3 of the Pulp game I run with my girls is scheduled to start in January, simply to accommodate my wargaming responsibilities, a desire to purchase new terrain, and a chance to run some different stuff this Fall. The game will return to Egypt, with a few side-treks to jolly old England and perhaps a secret lair. Will the characters heed the warnings that you "Don't Mess With the Zola?"

A return to Urban Intrigue...

#3 Savage Mousling Fantasy - I've got a number of Mousling-themed scenarios for the girls, hence the push back of the Pulp game.
#2 My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria RPG - I'm targeting a lot of MLP RPG with the girls, for more "Theatre of the Mind" role-playing, and so I can run demos it for most of Mepacon. It is the one game Maja really wants to run, so I'll encourage that as much as I can.
#1 Online Gaming - We're just a few sessions into a 5th Edition D&D game on Roll20, but online gaming will probably become my go -to for dealing with "grown-up" gaming. 5th Edition D&D, Classic D&D, maybe expanding into Savage Rifts and Hackmaster. Still too new at this for long-term planning, but locking myself in the office for a few hours on Monday night, Yuengling Black and Tan in hand, has set some relaxing tones in the past few weeks.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 30: What RPG Genre Mash-Up Would You Most Like to See?

Almost there! The penultimate question for this year's #RPGaDay was also the second hardest for me to answer:

Day 30: "What RPG Genre Mash-Up Would You Most Like to See?"

This one sent me down some pretty deep tangents. I'll just cover the main points.

To quote the Barenaked Ladies, "It's all been done," and if it hasn't, there might be a good reason for it. If I scour RPGnow.com enough, I might find a Vampire Mecha game, or a troupe based Steampunk Wizard game, but most "new" genre mash-ups are variations on an existing theme.

So, upon my searches for previous #RPGaDay questions, I fell upon this gem:

I owned this book from West End Games back in the day, probably part of their $5 Pennsylvania fire sales that were epic on the local convention scene. It was a pretty decent book that I mined for ideas, but it was long lost in one of my purges, but it sparked my next question?

Are there any good Pulp Sky Pirate games?

I see a lot of fantasy related flying pirates material, but not much for true pulp 20's/30's esque style flying adventures. Crimson Skies is a bit overdone, and let's not mention SkyCaptain and the World of Tomorrow.

My first brilliant thought was that I just didn't want a classic sky pirate game, I wanted DuckTales!!!

And after four weeks of this endeavor, I finally looked up some episodes of DuckTales and despite my old GM Charles using some episodes for GURPS Humanx game back in the 90's, I realized that, beyond the catchy theme song (A-woo-hoo!) it wasn't what I had stuck in my head.

I stand corrected, I want a Tailspin game.

Maybe we can avoid the Disney licensing fees for a pretty obscure property (I assume more people could believe they could make money on DuckTales, Darkwing Duck, and Chip 'n Dale Rescue Ranger. If you add Goof Troop to that list, I will have to cut you.) Cool sea planes that don't completely venture into WW2 territory, anthropomorphic character in classic roles from the silver screen, and perhaps the only Disney cartoon property that has the words anti-aircraft artillery in its Wikipedia listing.

Get me a Tailspin game.

Or at least a sourcebook for the DuckTales RPG. I'm flexible.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 29: What Has Been the Best-Run RPG Kickstarter You Have Backed?

We have come upon day 29 of #RPGaDay: What Has Been the Best-Run RPG Kickstarter You Have Backed?

I'm more of a miniatures guy when it comes to Kickstarter. If I see greens or a reasonable production run, I'll bite.

I'm far more fickle with RPGs. Writing, artists, editing, and printing are all gigantic landmines, even for experienced crews.

I was initially going to go with Scavengers. I was quite happy with the campaign, the rewards, the communication, and I'm delighted with every piece of Travis Hanson art on each page. However, I only requested the core pdf with none of the stretch goals. I got my pdf seven months late and I was fine with that. However, the campaign stretch goals have finally been fulfilled after two years. That borders on old Chaosium Kickstarter territory.

With my skewed nostalgia corrected, I must first give a general shout-out to Golden Goblin Press. I've backed three of their campaigns and all three have been excellent. Good communications, delays are counted in weeks, sometimes days, and each item is a quality product.

Specifically, I give props to the De Horrore Cosmico scenario book for Cthulhu Invictus. Great rewards, great communications, with estimated delivery of April 2015 with the book arriving prior to GenCon (perfectly acceptable with 30 years of waiting for other gaming books).

And because I look out for my fellow gamers, even though I wanted none of the stretch goals, everything that was promised (including a short-story collection) was shipped out by September 2015, and Oscar Rios was busy cleaning up missing orders, missing items in October. The other Goblin Goblin campaigns were closer to their target dates, but stretch goals lingered on a bit longer.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 28: What Film/Series is the Biggest Source of Quotes in Your Group

Here's one of the softball thrown at us for #RPGaDay:

Day 28: "What Film/Series is the Biggest Source of Quotes in Your Group?"

Dude, if you've ever read this blog before, why did you even click on this post to see the answer.

Monty Python

Accept no substitutions.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 27:What are Your Essential Tools for Good Gaming?

Day 27: "What are Your Essential Tools for Good Gaming?"

Yes, I know some are searching out the elaborate gaming tables, key dice, dice towers, custom GM screen or lucky con t-shirts (now con belly shirts after years of weight gain plus shrinkage). After nearly thirty years of playing, I don't get impressed by elaborate spreads:

My basic player demands:

Comfy, upright chairs. The whole cushy couch is not conducive to paying attention or rolling dice.
A table. Even a coffee table to roll dice on is an improvement over no table at all.
Food/Beverage - Pretty Generic, nothing too spicy or smelling too strong. A session with a dinner break must be declared before we start gaming.
Minimal distractions: My group is 3,000% into the kid zone, so barring removing the kids from the state, they will eventually show up at the table. It's inevitable, so we should pause the game for a time to address the tyke in the room. Ignoring them will just escalate the situation.
And bare gaming necessities. Dice/books/character sheets/GM Screen as needed. I haven't needed a gaming vest and lucky hat since Origins '96.

Not the actual design of my favorite button on my old gaming vest, but it will do...

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 26: What RPG Provides the Most Resources

Day 26: "What RPG Provides the Most Resources?"

Let's be honest here, I have seen some new games come out that are 300+ pages, yet there are no resources inside for players or gamemasters.

And then you look at Rockerboys and Vending Machines. It lays out how to create a character, how the mechanics work, and how you generate an adventure. It's so comprehensive on two little pages that I think I could probably pull off a freaking Shadowrun campaign with nothing else.

I've had so many books full of crunch for my olden days of gaming, but very few of them provided any advice or ideas on how to use that crunch.

For me the greatest game resource would be the AD&D 1st Edition Dungeon Masters Guide.

The first edition DMG does not have great writing. High Gygaxian is an acquired taste, but it simply requests high adventure and drama generated through the mechanics, not "the story."

The DMG is chock full of great resources, but the average player doesn't know how to take advantage of them. The Appendices in the back of the book is everything you need. You need a dungeon that doesn't need to be ecologically sound? The random dungeon generator is perfect. Need a random wilderness map? Hell, my entire World of Georic setting from 1989 to 2001 was created using the random terrain table.

Of course, a novice DM very early on is going to make a simple determination that not every dungeon dressing on the random chart is necessary (especially when medieval items fall within an Egyptian-style tomb) but you can run an all-out fantasy crawl using randomization. It's going to to gonzo fun, but you should figure out by session two or three that constant factors that get randomly rolled should have some campaign significance.

Players have gone on months' long wild goose chases for much less.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 25: What is the Best Way to Thank Your GM?

We're getting to the end of the #RPGaDay 2017 experience, so they threw me a softball.

"What is the Best Way to Thank Your GM?"

Show the Eff Up as often as you possibly can.

Seriously, most of us aren't running games for grand accolades, players fawning all over us, or wild gifts of Skittles and jerky.

Show the Eff Up.

Player attendance has a much greater effect on GM continued performance than anything else

If your GM is running an awesome game, you are probably already doing everything he needs to continue down the road to success. The best reward is simply continuing to show up and do what you're already doing.

Now, what if you can't "Show the Eff Up?" Communicate it to them as soon as humanly possible. A one-time cancellation can be remedied quickly. With a heads up, short term departures can be alleviated, heck, two weeks notice or more for someone to leave for a college night class, family responsibilities, or that seasonal part-time job at the Sizzler you've always dreamt of, is plenty for a good GM to get you into a workable position for future considerations.

I'd run B&B for my players in a heartbeat. They'd love it.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 24: Campaigns: Set-Length or Open-Ended Play?

Woo-hoo! Now we're scraping the barrel for a good portion of the gaming community with Day 24 of this #RPGaDay 2017. Good thing there are alternate questions available for those people.

Day 24: "Share a PWYW Publisher Who Should Be Charging More"

PWYW is "Pay What You Want," an option available for online content on RPGNow and DriveThruRPG. You can pay a million dollars, you can pay nothing, you can pay anything in between, the choice is all yours.

The only PWYW product that I ever thought of paying money to is The Village on the Hill. A clean concept that is certainly worth paying a buck or two.

In order to justify people coming onto the blog and reading this, I'll be one of "those people" and pick an alternate question.

"Campaigns: Set-Length or Open-Ended Play?"

I'm not losing my grumpy tone on this one *yelling at a cloud*

Perhaps it's the Old School sensibilities I learned from the area gamers I hung out with, but dagnabbit, you played as long as you could with the characters you had and you liked it! One-shots or trying out a new system was one thing, but you progressed with your characters until they died out or everyone agreed to stop playing and start something new.

I'm in awe of and give pity to, those people who proudly proclaim, "I have a campaign for *XXXXX* that lasts six sessions!"

Have they ever met another gamer, much less 3-6 more? If you can get through half of your GM Agenda in the first session, you deserve the key to the city (of polyhedral dice).

And I've run into enough GMs who try to be practical, "Once they overthrow the El Presidente running the Banana Republic the campaign will be over, should be a couple of months, nothing crazy."

Sure, those are the people I talk to two years later and the PCs are fighting African Communists in the Mountains of Tibet, probably not looking into El Presidente's Secret Tibetan Bank Accounts either.

My advice: Give 'em what they want until they tell you otherwise. Games are a precious commodity. Don't shutter the mine while there's still a vein of quality ore left.

Now, if the canary in the cage is dead, get the hell out of there and don't look back...

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 23: Which RPG Has the Most Jaw-Dropping Layout?

I know we're all supposed to be Kumbuya during #RPGaDay, but I am seriously not the proper demographic for Day 23:

"Which RPG Has the Most Jaw-Dropping Layout?"

My biggest confession of this month?

I absolutely despise everything about "Modern" RPG Publishing, especially the layouts.

Seriously folks. Black ink on white paper, some token artwork, and keep the sidebars chock full of appropriate info, and I will buy as many products of yours as you can produce. I am certainly not the gamer demographic everyone is targeting.

Full-color, glossy paper, eye-popping extravaganzas? Your sixty dollar book will find its way to my local con's auction in the next six years and might fetch five bucks. Easy to read content is better than luxurious fluff.

We're having the same problem in the wargaming (non-GW) community: super fancy $50 rulebooks when the content couldn't hold a candle to something as basic as Laserburn.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 22: What RPGs are the Easiest to Run?

We begin the third week of #RPGaDay 2017 with "What RPGs are the Easiest to Run?"

The not so short answers: Anything I GM is Easy. Savage Worlds, D&D, Hackmaster, GURPS, PbtA, if I'm running the system, it's because I've picked up on the concepts and can easily related them to any new players.

Fun side story: I've seen plenty of rules-lite/improve heavy systems clunker down in the midst of combat, for a number of reasons, usually more in the player/GM spectrum. I managed to run the entire G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chieftain in Hackmaster in four hours and fifteen minutes. Did I mention that the PCs tripped the alarm early on, and outside of half-hour slog-fest when they did get pinned down in a room for a bit (It's f20 gaming, it happens.), they were able to break through and have a gripping, frantic running battle through the caverns beneath the steading? I don't have the exact casualties on hand, but they went through more than a dozen encounters, which, if they were playing other appropriate f20 games, would take numerous sessions for even the hardcore players I know. At 10:15 that night, the PCs were walking away from the burning steading with the chieftain's head in their possession, the end credits rolling, and the players taking their first deep breaths in hours. If you know your stuff, any RPG is "easy."

That being said, if I needed to run something RIGHT NOW and have it be easy and awesome, it would be Risus

C'mon, a handful of d6's, a scrap of paper to write down stats, and we're game for an adventure in the Horrible Dungeon of the Imminent Random Encounter, Supernatural Space Adventures Based Off of Comic Book Movie #15619, saving the village from the adorable rampage of dire pugs, or a simple trip to the convenience store to grab chips and queso.

Risus gives me the basic framework to make it happen.

Heck, those first three ideas could happen on the way to the store *spoilers!* The expired salsa is probably behind it all, but all fingers point to the guac.

Thanks #RPGaDay, I have the plot for the my next Illuminati University game!

"I left my coupon for the queso back at the house..."

EDIT: When the list comes out for #RPGaDay in July, I start knocking these bad boys out early for three reasons. First, my schedule in late August is particularly crazy, and I don't want to get this far in and not finish the experiment. Second, I don't want other people's answers to influence my measly thoughts, no matter how much better they are. Finally, I don't game enough that the sessions might radically alter my answers.

However, last night, our friendly 5th Edition D&D game was cancelled and who came to the rescue with a filler game? *THIS GUY*

And what did I run? Risus. Although, despite all the talk above about comic books and queso, it was a hard sci-fi game. Characters were part of the early Mars colonists, just starting to terraform the planet. Outside a few botched rolls that transformed the Strategic Program Advisor (aka "Mars Commissar") into Steve Urkel, the game was run entirely straight and it worked great.

It was only the last five minutes when I revealed Nazis and a White Martian grabbing the commissar in some caves beneath the surface that things were guaranteed to devolve into B-Movie status we love so very much whenever we get the chance to play again.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 21:Which RPG Does the Most with the Least Words

Day 21 of #RPGaDay 2017 shows that I'm still hip with the trendy, small press games.

"Which RPG Does the Most With the Least Words?"

That goes to a recent discovery for me, Rockerboys and Vending Machines

Character creation, mechanics, artwork AND a cyberpunk adventure generator, for FREE? Aces in my book.

Yes, I know, it's a hack off of Lasers and Feelings, which is a boat load of fun, but the adventure generator for cyberpunk just feels more fleshed out L&F. It can be argued that the cyberpunk source material and inspiration can be a bit more varied, but every L&F actual play I've heard, regardless of story generated, sounds exactly the same.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 20: What is the Best Source for Out-of-Print RPGs?

Nostalgia in all its forms for #RPGaDay 2017 Day 20:

"What is the Best Source of Out-of-Print RPGs"

Enter the late-to-party Grognard, "Dagnabbit, I wish Crazy Egor's was all in his glory of the 80's and 90's you could get old-school modules affordably. Heck, they even paid YOU a penny if you added a copy of Isle of Dread with your order."

Yes, I know Crazy Egor still exists in some form in the Rochester, NY area, but I feel a trip up there could never match up with the simply ridiculous inventory that we encountered in our epic road trip in the early 90's.

Anyway, I've certainly left the Collector mentality after my great purge of 'Aught-Four. Now married with kids, I don't have the budget to snag up the cool old stuff I still want, and I certainly don't have the time to use it in play.

I'm resigned to use two avenues to access my sense of nostalgia:

eBay - This is not as awesome as it was even fifteen years ago. Ridiculous opening bids and Buy-It-Now prices that make it cheaper to purchase a time machine and go back in time and buy it at retail. I still have a few saved searches that I check for deals (they still exist), but most of them are for miniatures.
Auctions at local cons - I have the good fortune of having a local con (Mepacon) twice a year with solid auctions. The auctions started as a con dealer hosting an "Everything starts for a dollar!" auction to a well-organized, standard part of the convention. The dollar minimum still stands (outside large/rare items or charity auctions) and since it's fueled by attendees winnowing out their collections, it's a nice variety of stuff. Of course, there's also a pre-auction buyout price that can be listed on the item, so a few of us might be known to prowl the area looking for deals. Even then, I've given up a deal of a buy-out bid at, say ten dollars, only to pick it up in the live auction for three. No signed copies of 70's Chainmail, but I have rebuilt my Rifts collection for Savage Rifts for less than a sawbuck.

Plus that Russian copy of Scrabble I snagged is a conversation starter....

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 19: Which RPG Features the Best Writing?

Another #RPGaDay 2017 question that made me go, "Hmmmmmmm...."
Day 19: "Which RPG Features the Best Writing?"

I can think of quality publishers, a sourcebook of note, but I had to think long and hard into the past, only find the answer in the immediate past for some of the best writing in a rulebook I've seen in quite some time.

The My Little Pony Tails of Equestria Storytelling Game.

Yeah, you can stop laughing. This game makes your favorite game appear to have been written by dyslexic monkeys with hooks for hands who typed it up in the middle of Grand Mal seizure.

Now that I've offended everyone, let me explain.

This type of book needs to cover three groups: the Pony fanatics, kids and their parents, and the general role-playing crowd, and it successfully writes to each group at the same time, without talking down to them or going over their heads.

This has some of the best explanation as to what an RPG/Storytelling game is, solid examples on how mechanics should work 99% of the time (without persevering on the 1%), and almost calming advice to those who want to run a game.

The kicker is character creation: With only one quick breeze through of the book, I was able to conduct full character creation with my six and eight-year old daughters in just a few minutes, because the section was so well structured that my eldest could pop between the required chapters to look up talents and quirks. Page numbers for other sections and basic explanations that make an experienced gamer admire its simple elegance was the apparently the mission of the writers/editors.

I'm willing to compare it to my Savage Worlds Explorer Edition, because (a) the kids love playing Savage Worlds and (b) the similarities between character creation and mechanics are oddly comforting (Maja, my eight year old, realized that all by herself). So, while portions of Savage Worlds are wildly in-depth, it's not the multiple options available for character advancement that turns Maja off, it's the lack of internal organization and reference points so she can compare and contrast. .

And their version of "Bennies" blows the lid off anything Savage Worlds does.

I was planning Mousling Fantasy games using Savage Worlds, but I figure a few more sessions under our belts, and I could easily set up under My Little Pony.

Heck, I assume after a few more read through and me teaching her what a basic story outline is, Maja will be ready to GM her first RPG any day now, and I'll be forced to run Mouslings if I want a chance of GMing something.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 18: Which RPG Have You Played the Most in Your Life

Day 18: "Which RPG have you played the most in your life?"

Short Answer: AD&D 2nd Edition

Long Answer: I was ramping up to become a DM right at the onset of 2nd Edition. I embraced it wholeheartedly. I eschewed splatbooks and weird plot devices. I fumbled through the narrative based sourcebooks. I did everything short of physical violence to avoid Skills & Powers.

I embraced THAC0 willingly and lovingly and 2nd Edition became the main staple of my gaming diet throughout the 90's. If it weren't for Hackmaster during the great d20 debacle, I would have easily returned to it through this day. Hell, I still have open invitations to not one, but two 2nd Edition campaigns, if I ever had the time.

I've tried 3rd, I laughed wildly at 4th, and 5th gets pretty close to 1st/2nd with all the modern nuances, but I still have THAC0 progression and xp monster tables memorized after all these years.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 17: Which RPG Have You Owned the Longest But Not Played?

Day 17 of #RPGaDay brings up another challenging question.

"Which RPG Have You Owned the Longest But Not Played?"

It sounds like an easy question, but after thirty years of owning RPG material, I've cycled/purged/edited my collection so often that it took awhile to remember what edition was purchased when.

I would have loved to list something truly old-school like Top Secret or *gasp* Star Frontiers, but I believe everything went with the great moving purge of Aught-Four.

The one item that survived the purge that I have yet to play was The End: Lost Souls Edition for d20.

The End was one of those games that originated infamous "BANNED FROM GENCON!" press, but the concept was simple.

The great plagues, blights, and wars foretold in the Bible have actually happened. With the world plummeting into sudden doom, the Rapture occurs, people simply disappearing without a trace. Most of the mighty have destroyed themselves, the righteous have ascended into heaven, and the meek (the PCs) have inherited an Earth that God has forsaken.

The early sessions are scavenger/survivor in nature, the characters finding dwindling supplies and allies, as man turns on himself. And the absence of God does not mean that the Supernatural no longer hides in the corners of man's eye. Rather, it has attacked the works of man in two ways. Nature itself has gone into overdrive, striving for a "Return to Eden." Man's works are decaying at a rapid rate. Libraries are turning to dust in months, structures rotting or crumbling away as the plants assault the abandoned structures. And if the flora isn't a big enough threat, the rumors of giant wolves ravaging the countryside certainly deter those looking to travel for a new life.

If that's not enough, truly supernatural entities still reside on the Earth, forming armies for a certainly nefarious purpose.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 16: Which RPG Do You Enjoy Using As Is?

Day 16: "Which RPG Do You Enjoy Using As Is?"

As I said yesterday, I'm pretty much a plug-n-play type of gamer. House rules are temporarily laid down to expedite a situation and are largely forgotten. At worst, I may simply omit time-consuming rules.

And the game I enjoy using as is, even willingly looking up obscure rules in the index, is Call of Cthulhu 6th Edition.

Or 6.2.1.57.pi edition...

Despite the online love for 7th Edition, neither I nor my players see a need to update the game. Plus there's almost 35 years of material that I can use with nary a conversion. Okay, maybe I need to adjust for zoology, but everything else from 1st to 5th is pretty consistent.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 15: Which RPG Do You Enjoy Adapting the Most?

I'm pretty much a plug-n-play type of gamer. Sure I might remove encumbrance or fatigue, but at the end of the day, I'm happy with most mechanics and ideas as-is.

You're not going to see me produce hacks that are Powered by the Apocalyspe anytime soon.

Most of my adaptations involved setting over game. I've enjoyed adapting Call of Cthulhu modules from New England into Pennsylvania coal country. Making General Sullivan's march into northern Pennsylvania and New York a mission to eradicate cultists was a fun week of research.

I also normally plug in any module I want to into my existing personal campaign setting without much fuss for AD&D and Hackmaster.

And if and when Talislanta: The Savage Land comes out, I won't adapt the system as much as I'll convert plenty of old sword and sorcery stories into exotic storylines.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 14: Which RPG Do You Prefer for Open-Ended Campaign Play

Alright, here's another question from #RPGaDay that tweaks my old-school sensibilities:

Day 14: "Which RPG Do You Prefer for Open-Ended Campaign Play"

So, a quick Google search for "Open-Ended Campaign Play" says it's essentially a high-falutin' term for a Sandbox campaign. So, eradicating my first thoughts on the subject, I'll keep today easy.

2nd Edition AD&D and it's illegitimate heir, Hackmaster 4th Edition. I'd give the nod to Hackmaster because of its skill system and enough random charts to help a GM fill in the spots when the party goes AWOL from the plot lures they lay out.

Random Tavern Name Generator on the GM Shield, anyone?

Word of warning: Bugbears and Drow hate Sandboxes.... Itchy.

#RPGaDay 2017 Day 13: Describe a Game Experience That Changed How You Play

Day 13 of #RPGaDay brings back waves of nostalgia:

"Describe a Game Experience That Changed How You Play"

Short Answer - September 22, 1990, "The Jade Monkey"

Long Answer -
Way back in 1990 I was a Junior in high school and a regular DM at the dining room table for my friends. The gaming convention, Lehicon III was descending upon the Sheraton Inn in Easton, Pennsylvania, my hometown.

I've talked about the con at length here, so today I'll focus on the Saturday night session, the RPGA Open game, the Jade Monkey.

My early days for D&D was like the majority of D&D gamers out that secretly reside out in the countryside, play the same system they've played for the last 10, 20, 30, nay I say 40 years. The play style nudges slightly closer to "Roll-Playing" than "ROLE-playing." A little sandbox here, a little flavor text there, SWAT style fantasy tactics during a dungeon crawl. No one's been trying to pretend they're doing Summer Stock for years, and at least one dude's version of role-playing is "Malthor the Mighty seduces the barmaid." And he hasn't changed that for 15 years.

FYI: There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Anyway, at my first convention, I hit some horrible AD&D games, but to wrap up my evening, I jumped in an RPGA Open one-shot, The Jade Monkey by Carl Buehler.

The adventure itself is pretty standard fare (check out Polyhedron #62) of tricks, traps, and a pig-iron pig golem named Wilbur, but this was the first game I had participated in that came with fully-fleshed out pre-generated characters, complete with backstories and opinions of the other characters.

Throw in our DM, Joe Ward and an equal mix table of men and women, and I got to experience proper PC and NPC interactions. It wasn't the new age improv gaming you can find on today's podcast actual plays, but the door to that style was finally cracked open.

"Copper Piece?"

I didn't go barging through that door of role-playing Nirvana, and part of it was by character design. William of Arinka was a shamed paladin disguised as a simple warrior. Shy and wary to use his paladin abilities due to his previous failings, William was fine to defer leadership to others, use his sword and magic items when asked, yet somehow I was still stuck in multiple awkward situations, including one involving the elf I had a major crush on falling on top of me while I was sans culottes. Lots of laughter, lots of fun, and the fate of Macon the Monkey Mage was an afterthought.

It's not exactly Powered by the Apocalypse, but for me, it was the start I needed.