What are y'all up to these days?

[Llew ap Hywel]

Mrs. The Butcher (herself an on-again, off-again gamer) thinks we can go back to gaming (here at home anyway, so I can help her keep an eye on Baby Butcher) but ironically now I'm tied up with Real Life (work/study) commitments and have opted to delay our return to mid-October.

Also a way to buy time to come up with something to run. ;)

Well I reckon anything on your plan list is a solid investment...except Cepheus, but that inky because I don't know what it is :rolleyes:

 

[The Butcher]

Well I reckon anything on your plan list is a solid investment...except Cepheus, but that inky because I don't know what it is :rolleyes:

Cepheus is a Traveller retro-clone that IMHO does a bang-up job of combining the best bits of classic and Mongoose 1st edition.

The thing about my particular brand of "RPG ADD" is that playing ameliorates it a bit, but prolonged stretches of not gaming kick it into overdrive.

I've decided to place Numenera on the back burner as a new edition (plus domain management!) comes out, and right now Cepheus (plus Orbital 2100, because my group is on a The Expanse kick, though I'd love to run some of the classic adventures) or Savage Rifts are looking most likely to see action at the table when I get back on the saddle.

Orbital's a decent sandbox but I'm kind of lost with Savage Rifts. All I know is that I'm dialing the timeline back to 102 P.A. — not a fan of either the Tolkeen War, or the Tomorrow Legion set-up.

Maybe I'll run the Sourcebook One adventure and get them mixed up with ARCHIE 3. (Is the Sourcebook One Revised any good?) Or just set up a sandbox centered on Kingsdale. Or Pecos. Or Ciudad Juarez. Or the Chi-Town 'Burbs. Or Quebec's Old Bones. So many choices! :o

Don't even get me started on ACKS or Mythras. ;)

 

[Llew ap Hywel]

Gamer ADD. How I feel your pain :oops:

 

[Tom B]

Currently, I'm playing in a Mutant Chronicles campaign. It's enjoyable, even if I'm not entirely sold on the 2d20 mechanics.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to GM for several years now. But there are several systems I've been reading and would be very interested in either running or playing:

Shadows Over Sol - normally skeptical of card-based mechanics, I like the use they make of the suites and face cards. Plus, the setting is right up my alley. A horror/SF game set within the solar system.

Shadows of Esteren - the setting intriques me. I don't have a grasp of the mechanics, but they're not d20/Fate/PbtA/etc., so I'm interested in learning more. I just need to get time to read it properly.

Mythras - a nice evolution of the BRP/RuneQuest mechanics.

 

[Endless Flight]

Welcome to the Pub, Tom!

 

[Baulderstone]

Shadows of Esteren - the setting intriques me. I don't have a grasp of the mechanics, but they're not d20/Fate/PbtA/etc., so I'm interested in learning more. I just need to get time to read it properly.

I played in a game of SoE. The mechanics are very smooth and simple. They are unexciting in a good way. I don't even remember them that well because I didn't waste any time thinking about the rules while we were playing.

 

[Tom B]

I played in a game of SoE. The mechanics are very smooth and simple. They are unexciting in a good way. I don't even remember them that well because I didn't waste any time thinking about the rules while we were playing.

That's what I like to hear!

 

[Imperator]

I am running the adventures in Mansions of Madness2nd edition for CoC, and they are excellent. It started as a one shot so a friend could try CoC, as she has little experience with classics, and it's been a blast. Also, I keep advancing in Giovanni Chronicles IV (best part of the series), and ocasionally run Esoterrorists.

 

[Tommy Brownell]

I'm running Curse of Strahd on Roll20 for my group after half of them moved to Florida and we added my son to the mix. Much easier to incorporate him into the group than to get used to running games for him alone.

 

[Bill Reich]

I'm running Curse of Strahd on Roll20 for my group after half of them moved to Florida and we added my son to the mix. Much easier to incorporate him into the group than to get used to running games for him alone.

Moved to Florida, eh? I guess I started a trend. I moved down here May of 2016.

 

[Tommy Brownell]

It was actually moving back. My friend and his first wife moved there in 2009 and came back after a tragedy so she could be closer to her family. When they got a divorce, he started making plans to go back.

 

[Aglondir]

Shadows Over Sol - normally skeptical of card-based mechanics, I like the use they make of the suites and face cards. Plus, the setting is right up my alley. A horror/SF game set within the solar system.

I've had my eye on this one for a while. Can you tell me more about the system/premise?

 

[Sunsword]

I run a DnD 5th Edition game that is loosely using some of the Tales of the Yawning Portal adventures. It's my own setting, a mix of Nentir Vale and Greyhawk.

Usually, I run a second DnD game, but right now I'm playing a 4th Level Human Totem Barbarian who is a grown-up version of Bobby from the DnD Cartoon. We're playing through a 5E Troll Lords module.

 

[Tom B]

I've had my eye on this one for a while. Can you tell me more about the system/premise?

The premise is a setting a couple of hundred years in the future. There's no FTL travel, and the setting is within the solar system. The listed influences are: Alien, Eclipse Phase, Europa Report, The Expanse, The Thing, Transhuman Space, and The Void (rpg).

Per the introduction, the themes are:
"Isolation is a common theme in both science fiction and horror, and consequently, it is an important theme in Shadows Over Sol. Space is unbelievably vast. Voyages take months or years. Stations are but small specks of life in a vast sea of lifelessness. When the horror starts, no one is coming to help, and often there’s nowhere to run.

Social change is another important theme. The future is a different world with different social norms and different technologies. Subcultures see the world through their lenses, and this social distance can play into the themes of isolation.

Despite the horror, technology and human exploration march on. This ties in the theme of new horizons. Humanity is always pressing outward with the next distant expedition or colony, and it’s always inventing new ways to do things.

The counter to themes of social change and new horizons is the fear of the unknown. Exploration, new technologies and new ways of social operation bring with them risk, new dangers, and systems that are ripe for abuse. This is where the science fiction meets the horror.

Finally, the theme of conspiracy wraps it all up. With every new discovery, every social evolution and every lingering fear, there will always be those looking to suppress it or exploit it for their own purposes."

As to the mechanics, I can't really go into all of them here, but as an example, when you're taking an action you flip a card on the deck. If it's a number card, you add that to your relevant stat plus modifiers and compare it to a target number. Face values are J (+1), Q (+2), and K (+3). (A Joker is considered a critical failure, but you get to replace your current hand if you like.) If you draw a face card, you then draw another card and add them together.

Stats also have associated suites. If the card you flip matches the suite of the relevant stat, you get to flip another card. If they match you add them together. If they don't you take the highest.

Anyway, there are more ways that the suites and values come into play...but those are the basics. It's actually pretty quick and easy in play, but adds some nice bonuses and twists tot he process.

 

[Hautboy]

I'm running ICE's SpaceMaster adventure A War on Distant Moon (1988). I think the module is excellent. There are plot twists and turns in addition to an increasing overall sense of urgency or despair or panic. As we are testing a sort of troupe playing — six characters, three players (and 15 calendars) — I am ultimately trying to poke each character with problems that would require their special skills. Some of them will stick, some of them won't. The pace of the game is too slow for serious character arcs (player memory erases after three weeks), but by accident and design there are now additional underlying plots: a doctor discovered a nasty mind-altering alien species in a survivor of a wrecked ship, and there is uncertainty whether that the wreck contained coordinates of an Andrium (a vital and scarce resource) find or not. As a result, a lot of parties are interested. There are also character backround hooks waiting to be triggered. I am somewhat optimistic this will turn into a campaign.

We played RoleMaster for years, so the the various charts and tables of SpaceMaster do not get in the way excessively. As the GM, I think I might prefer something like Savage Worlds, though. The world (or universe, rather) of SpaceMaster is of course a blend of sci-fi tropes of the 1980s, but I find it adequately cohesive and strangely intriguing. There are plenty of hooks to exploit — and there is a lot of material I haven't had time to read yet.

 

[Stevethulhu]

I'm running ICE's SpaceMaster adventure A War on Distant Moon (1988). I think the module is excellent. There are plot twists and turns in addition to an increasing overall sense of urgency or despair or panic. As we are testing a sort of troupe playing — six characters, three players (and 15 calendars) — I am ultimately trying to poke each character with problems that would require their special skills. Some of them will stick, some of them won't. The pace of the game is too slow for serious character arcs (player memory erases after three weeks), but by accident and design there are now additional underlying plots: a doctor discovered a nasty mind-altering alien species in a survivor of a wrecked ship, and there is uncertainty whether that the wreck contained coordinates of an Andrium (a vital and scarce resource) find or not. As a result, a lot of parties are interested. There are also character backround hooks waiting to be triggered. I am somewhat optimistic this will turn into a campaign.

We played RoleMaster for years, so the the various charts and tables of SpaceMaster do not get in the way excessively. As the GM, I think I might prefer something like Savage Worlds, though. The world (or universe, rather) of SpaceMaster is of course a blend of sci-fi tropes of the 1980s, but I find it adequately cohesive and strangely intriguing. There are plenty of hooks to exploit — and there is a lot of material I haven't had time to read yet.

I always wanted to play SpaceMaster, but never got to grips with character creation.

 

[Tom B]

We always enjoyed Rolemaster and Spacemaster. Less so when RMSS came out, but RM Classic is a great way to bring it back. Haven't heard enough to decide on the new "unified" version. Is this the new Spacemaster you're using?

 

[Aglondir]

The premise is a setting a couple of hundred years in the future. There's no FTL travel, and the setting is within the solar system. The listed influences are: Alien, Eclipse Phase, Europa Report, The Expanse, The Thing, Transhuman Space, and The Void (rpg).

Thanks for the writeup, It sounds like hard sci-fi (?) which isn't my thing.

 

[Aglondir]

I'm running ICE's SpaceMaster adventure A War on Distant Moon (1988).

How does SpaceMaster relate to RM: Privateers?

 

[Tom B]

Thanks for the writeup, It sounds like hard sci-fi (?) which isn't my thing.

Right. Certainly in comparison to Star Wars and the like. The goal is to make space travel lonely and dangerous, with unknown threats in the darkness.

 

[Hautboy]

How does SpaceMaster relate to RM: Privateers?

Do you mean SpaceMaster: Privateers? We're using SpaceMaster (2 ed.) that is compatible to Rolemaster (2 ed.). Apparently in terms of mechanics, SpaceMaster: Privateers is a rules update similar to Rolemaster Standard System. It also presents a new universe with new species (wolf people, cat people, hamster people, lizard people, ...). While the rules would be okay, I guess, I prefer the universe of 2 ed.

 

[Hautboy]

Haven't heard enough to decide on the new "unified" version. Is this the new Spacemaster you're using?

We're using the SpaceMaster 2. edition... with the space adventurer's crouching behind a control panel and shooting at an armored soldier on the cover.

 

[Tom B]

We're using the SpaceMaster 2. edition... with the space adventurer's crouching behind a control panel and shooting at an armored soldier on the cover.

That's the version we used. I have Privateers, but haven't had the chance to try it.

 

[The Butcher]

Super busy with work and family right now. Very little time to think, let alone post about RPGs. But still around

 

[TheophilusCarter]

Yah, worked really kicked up for me recently too. I set aside the solitaire DWRPG game I was posting at RPG.net for a while. Still doing some other online / email / PbP stuff, but at a very slow pace ...

 

[Endless Flight]

Work is kicking a lot of people now. My work kicked me about five weeks ago when I got laid off and I'm looking for a new job to kick me again. :rolleyes:

 

[TheophilusCarter]

That sucks, sorry.
The missuz lost her job just over three weeks ago, and it's been stressful. She's got some decent prospects, though. I'm hoping we'll have something settled by end of next week, but trying not to get too hopeful about it ...

 

[Endless Flight]

Thanks. I had quite a bit of advanced warning and I decided to stay until the end to get a pretty decent severance package. I've been kind of playing house husband lately and it's not bad.

 

[TheophilusCarter]

That's definitely the way to do it.

 

[Orbweaver]

Just wrapped up a Mythras/Luther Arkwright campaign on Roll20. Now playing in a Torg Eternity game, and prepping a Marvel Saga pbp game. Now watching Irma pass by on our left...

 

[Raleel]

Just wrapped up a Mythras/Luther Arkwright campaign on Roll20. Now playing in a Torg Eternity game, and prepping a Marvel Saga pbp game. Now watching Irma pass by on our left...

How did the Luther Arkwright go?

 

[Orbweaver]

How did the Luther Arkwright go?

It was a blast -- we made our way through the first half of the Parallel Lines scenario book. Good stuff. Players were all new to Mythras, but they picked it up quickly. One combat style for a PC was called "Space Dwarf" since he came from a high-gravity environment in a high-tech parallel. That caused some trouble.

 

[Raleel]

how was it troublesome?

 

[Orbweaver]

how was it troublesome?

Troublesome in a fun way mostly. I think I allowed too much leeway to the players for defining combat styles, but it worked out. The player poured tons of Experience rolls into it and was quite the gingery murder midget.

 

[OHT]

Been reading Mutant Chronicles 3rd as my Pathfinder game less than impressed (shame, i think it has potential. hey ho). It has the kind of chargen we all enjoy and the setting is cool. Not too sure about all the doo-dads, although there is, superficially at least, an actual in-setting reason for them. Not a fan of counting up bennies that have little to do with the action and more to do with artificial game manipulation, but i might still give it a go.

 

[Dammit Victor]

Well, I lost a week and another week's worth of work trying to fix technical issues with my website, but I'm back up and running and ready to start hammering out my 3.PF house rules again. Think I'm going to end up with more 5e than I anticipated... the 5e Warlock is OGC.

Then we'll see how well we can run some Spelljammer with them.

 

[Stevethulhu]

Well, I lost a week and another week's worth of work trying to fix technical issues with my website, but I'm back up and running and ready to start hammering out my 3.PF house rules again. Think I'm going to end up with more 5e than I anticipated... the 5e Warlock is OGC.

Then we'll see how well we can run some Spelljammer with them.

Did you see this?

Back when I was running 3.5, this came in handy when I dabbled with a bit of Spelljamming.

 

[Dammit Victor]

Yeah, I'm familiar with the site. Had it bookmarked for years, check it periodically.

 

[The Butcher]

Day 150 or something of my gaming hiatus. My group is playing Monsterhearts, a premise that failed to capture my... heart? (Heh.)

Let them brace themselves for my long-delayed, as-of-now-unscheduled but truly inevitable return. I shall bring D&D and Traveller, Runequest and Savage Worlds, WoD and WFRP in my wake. I will shatter the chains of PbtA that enslave them and drag them back into traditional gaming orthodoxy.

Unless they're playing The Hood or Urban Shadows, 'cuz I want a piece of that.

Or giving Apocalypse World or Spirit of '77 another go, because that was fun.

Or The Sword, The Crown and The Unspeakable Power has come out, because that looks totally sweet.

 

[Johnny Blade]

I Have an huge homebrew in the works. A science fantasy setting that takes place into the last inhabited dyson sphere of the Oecumene of Man in the year about 200K AD, Five Thousands Ab Globus Aedificatum.
It's pretty wild.