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So I was having a brief conversation with my old mate Danurai today. He’s been working up a potential new character fore our weekly D&D game, a Drow Avenger. Fair enough. Then he wanted to know if it was ok to be evil. he’d been reading an article about just such a thing, so before I started replying to him in BIG CAPITAL LETTERS saying NO, I thought I owed it to him to give it a read. As I did I realised that there are all sorts of ways to play a game, but there are some that simply don’t sit well with your regular home game.
“Whether or not you agree to let one person in the game play an evil character, or let everyone in the game play evil characters, you should absolutely have the talk. What’s that? I like to call it the “don’t be a jerk and don’t be a baby” talk. It’s a real, honest discussion about the tone of the game you are about to play. It’s a verbal agreement to not let the nefarious actions of characters spill over into real-life arguments. It is the group realization that you are about to play something that will be challenging. It’s going to be more work than a normal campaign.” Stephen Radney-MacFarland
A one shot is another kettle of fish though. Could an all evil game be just right if you had 4 or 5 hours to let rip with all your dark desires?
Of course, some RPGs make playing the bad guys all part of the fun, World of Darkness immediately springs to mind. But that’s the default way of playing in that world. What would be fun to turn on it’s head?
There’s been some cracking zombie games of late, All Flesh… being perhaps the best known. Maybe it would be interesting to turn the tables and actually play the roles of the brains seeking ravenous hordes? On a related note, did you ever catch the Marvel Zombies series where the traditional superheroes all caught the flesh eating bug. There’s got to be mileage in running a supers one shot where you all play the villains, undead villains at that.
Of course, the traditional games could get a makeover too. D&D has always had Drow, Tieflings and other ‘bad boys’. I’m not convinced there’s a viable campaign in igt, but for a one shot, I’d like to see the results. Or perhaps just flip the presumed game on it’s head and play the monsters defending their dungeon against the predations of a band of shiny armoured adventurers. I’ve got an Ogre based scenario that does just that, I’ll do a review of it if I remember.
Your thoughts, comments and opinions, always welcome!
The Organised GM
Every now and again I’ll be reviewing a role playing game from the viewpoint of Convention suitability. This is the first, the granddaddy of Con gaming, Call of Cthulhu.
This game should be rubbish. It’s got nothing going or it at all really. The system is barely functional, the background is too scholarly, and the PCs are pretty much useless in any conflict. Also, it’s expected that you die, or go mad if you’re lucky, in most games. Except, except, except…
Continuum
So this is some of the Smart Party. Good looking fellas all, I’m sure you’ll agree. From left to right: Evilgaz, the Marky Boy, G2, Lemur, BazKing (sitting), Pirate Julio, The ‘Nam.
Sometimes Con game prep is all about the scenario. However, let’s not forget that the scenario is only half the game at best. It’s the characters that really drive the game. As it’s a Con game, you have enormous power when you’re putting together your pregens. A great way of getting a coherent group is to think about the relationships they have with each other. I’ve pulled together some thoughts from other GMs who tried this, and am blatantly passing it off as my own work. See what you think.
Read the rest of this entry »
Over at RPGnet I’ve been slogging away at reviewing Dungeon Delve, a collection of 30 oneshots for D&D 4e.
I’ve just finished 20 of them, so would like to draw your attention to that thread if I may.
Full review to come when I’ve done the lot.
And my capsule review is now up at RPGnet right here!
There’s lots of chatter going on right now about Con gaming. Here’s where you can check out the wider debate. Come back here to add your comments of course!
The Irish method of organising Cons
When do you walk away from a game?
Peer reviews? Live Journal views
Any other debates going in in fora I don’t know about?
I saw a heated debate online about who’s responsibility it was to bring the fun and what lay with the GM. As with all these discussions, that can be a thousand and one things depending on which game you’re playing and who you’ve got round the table, but lets assume we’re talking about a reasonably middle of the road (“Trad”) game like something Savage or White Wolf or Cthulhu even. Lets also assume that people are their to try and have a good game and not just hanging about like a friend of a friend on a double date who got dragged along even though convinced the whole night is going to be a waste of space. If you think something is going to be rubbish going in, there’s a good chance it’ll be a self fulfilling prophecy. Spend your time more wisely and don’t risk spoiling everyone else’s fun by filling a space in a game you don’t want. Someone else might want it for starters, and they could be really interested in what’s on offer. Read the rest of this entry »
Gaz ran Legend of the Five Rings for us at LemurCon this weekend. Here’s my comments, and for the purposes of this ‘blog, my thoughts on using Lo5R for one shots and Con games generally.
I’ve played Lo5R a few times now. Once at a Con actually, and I don’t remember much about it, but what I do remember wasn’t particularly noteworty. Gaz and Lemur are long-term fans, and I’ve always kept my ear to the ground about the game’s fortunes over the years. I actually bought 3rd edn last year just to try to get in on the action. Never really got much further than a decent skim of the text. I managed to snap up a copy of 1st edn on the lads’ recommendation recently (30p off ebay!) and I really liked what I saw. The art was great, the text accessible, a great example of a complete core book. I have to admit I’ve struggled with the setting before, my knowledge of feudal Japan is restricted to watching Shogun on TV years ago and reading the novel a while back. I’m more of a western fantasy kind of gamer to be honest.
All the above makes me what I’d consider to be a typical Con customer. Most players I’ve encountered tend to be interested, but not immersed in the game on offer. The real experts are in the minority and if anything, come from the GM’s home game and are there for moral support as much as anything else. How does the game fare then? I’m going to look at three aspects: the system, the setting, and finally the scenario, all from a one shot perspective.
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