So I think I have come up with something that might just do what I have been wanting for a while. In actuality it is going on three or four things that would do the job, but this last one feels right. I have made a few characters with it now and am ready to test it out. It would be so easy to come up with the characters we already have and just jump right in.
I think the trick will be teaching the players and getting them on board. It is not that the group is close minded. They might start thinking they are just Guinea pigs that I am running through my experiments. The system though, I hope, will speak for itself.
It is as simple as I can make it while still having that D&D feel I was going for. It only uses D6s and usually just one. Character creation is straight forward and does what a good, simple system should do. There are holes there, but those holes are meant to be filled by the play group using it. At the end of the day, when all those holes are filled the system will really be what the groups wants it to be.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The System
I have been using Lamentations of the Flame Princess for my system for this game. That has worked out fine so far. For the most part everyone seems to like it, but I have a feeling that some of the stuff that I am going to want to do in the game are not going to work too well in LOTFP.
I posted a while ago about wanting a system that was what I wanted out of this game. Of course, realistically I knew, from experience, that was a near impossibility. It has only happened rarely in my life that a system has ever been perfect for what I wanted in a particular adventure or campaign. A lot of them do one or two things really well and then the other third of the game is kind of crappy. Maybe the system does not handle that situation well or the feel of the system is off. A great example is my Deep Dark Wood campaign (quick and dirty explanation is that it was Grimm's Fairy Tales reworked into a D&D world). D&D 4th edition was just out for a few months so we were using that. The combat was fantastic in that game for the first few sessions. The characters ran with it but then as the game went on a few issues arose. The biggest issue was that the game was very shallow if you were not wanting to run a big combat on a battle map with minis. I tried converting the game to Savage World but everyone was a little unexcited about it at that point, and besides I was not running a pulpy game, and that is what Savage World does best. Slowly we let it die in the back of our minds and we moved on. That sound is me sighing.
Right now I have two custom systems I am working on. I have my FAST system which is a narrative based game similar to PDQ and Fate. I love and adore what that has become but it is not great for what I am trying to do. Running a D&D type anything in that would be just odd. The other has a stand in name right now called Tooth & Nail. That names needs some explaining but that will have to wait. It is a system designed from the ground up to be sword & sorcery. It might just fit the bill but we shall see I suppose.
It is D&D flavored and very old school at that. I won't know until I run it how successful I was in that. I just know that I want to run this campaign, keep it going. I also know that the group is not going to wait much longer for me to choose a horse to ride to town on.
In the meanwhile we have our FAST campaign starting to wrap up, four more sessions to go. Maybe that will keep them occupied while this gets wrapped up.
I posted a while ago about wanting a system that was what I wanted out of this game. Of course, realistically I knew, from experience, that was a near impossibility. It has only happened rarely in my life that a system has ever been perfect for what I wanted in a particular adventure or campaign. A lot of them do one or two things really well and then the other third of the game is kind of crappy. Maybe the system does not handle that situation well or the feel of the system is off. A great example is my Deep Dark Wood campaign (quick and dirty explanation is that it was Grimm's Fairy Tales reworked into a D&D world). D&D 4th edition was just out for a few months so we were using that. The combat was fantastic in that game for the first few sessions. The characters ran with it but then as the game went on a few issues arose. The biggest issue was that the game was very shallow if you were not wanting to run a big combat on a battle map with minis. I tried converting the game to Savage World but everyone was a little unexcited about it at that point, and besides I was not running a pulpy game, and that is what Savage World does best. Slowly we let it die in the back of our minds and we moved on. That sound is me sighing.
Right now I have two custom systems I am working on. I have my FAST system which is a narrative based game similar to PDQ and Fate. I love and adore what that has become but it is not great for what I am trying to do. Running a D&D type anything in that would be just odd. The other has a stand in name right now called Tooth & Nail. That names needs some explaining but that will have to wait. It is a system designed from the ground up to be sword & sorcery. It might just fit the bill but we shall see I suppose.
It is D&D flavored and very old school at that. I won't know until I run it how successful I was in that. I just know that I want to run this campaign, keep it going. I also know that the group is not going to wait much longer for me to choose a horse to ride to town on.
In the meanwhile we have our FAST campaign starting to wrap up, four more sessions to go. Maybe that will keep them occupied while this gets wrapped up.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Is it possible?
I wonder if it is possible to have the best of both worlds. Can you have a game that feels like old-school D&D, with any of the new-school stuff I love.
Players want options and customization. They want to make each character their own, but as a gamemaster I don't want things to get too crazy. I don't want the character to be overly back-storied. Both are issues I have with modern games versions of D&D.
By the gods, I want both.
Players want options and customization. They want to make each character their own, but as a gamemaster I don't want things to get too crazy. I don't want the character to be overly back-storied. Both are issues I have with modern games versions of D&D.
By the gods, I want both.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Now the Dilema!
So here is the dilema. My Goblins & Gunslingers game has come to a point where the next installment is way unlike the last few installments. It is not a straight up fantasy action movie, it is a locked room mystery.
I have been working on this and fretting for a while. It is an important chapter. Not like they all have not been, but this game is a delicate puzzle that my group and I have been piecing together for a while. Now I want to shake it all up.
This nervousness is common, whenever I am going to run any game. This is a bit more nerve racking though. It is something that could easily be dead in the water right off the bat, a dead horse at the gate.
I guess all I can do is run it and see what happens. I think I need to set a date, and push toward it full steam.
I have been working on this and fretting for a while. It is an important chapter. Not like they all have not been, but this game is a delicate puzzle that my group and I have been piecing together for a while. Now I want to shake it all up.
This nervousness is common, whenever I am going to run any game. This is a bit more nerve racking though. It is something that could easily be dead in the water right off the bat, a dead horse at the gate.
I guess all I can do is run it and see what happens. I think I need to set a date, and push toward it full steam.
Land of Fallen Idols
So I started my new sandbox game last Friday. I was too excited to wait, I suppose. The next night I ran again for the other half of my group.
The first group was the guys in my normal gaming group. The second was the three remaining members, who were all ladies. They were the least experienced, and not used to the type of gaming we were doing.
We usually play very story heavy, event based games. Traditionally not the kind of game we were now playing. I am using Lamentation of the Flame Princess, an old school throwback to original D&D (part of the Old School Revolution).
It is a great game system. Very much like old D&D, but changed slightly to create more of a Conan feel. It has a large focus on the uniqueness of the monsters and the supernatural. No stock monster listings, magic items are rare and incredibly unique and dangerous to wield. The dark is not your home, it is the monsters. Not one class or character race has low-light or darkvision. It is the game I have been looking for a long time. It is very accesible with simple rules. Actual roleplaying can not be boosted by skills or other rolls. Creatures can be created quickly and are simple yet versatile. Your level does not quickly eliminate options by making them too simple. I love it.
The first session with the guys went very well. They adapted quickly to the system. They role played and explored and came up with a plan of action based on the random stuff they were given, just as much as they used the weapons and equipment they purchased. Fun was had!
The second session was more of a straight up dungeon crawl. The girls had never experienced that. It was fun and a little aggravating adapting to that but new, for them and I. One of the girls seemed a bit aggravated by the lack of "serious role playing." Which I can understand, that is what she plays for. The other two were trying to adapt as quickly as possible. One of them, as far as I know, was playing only their third system. She played in my last attempt of a D&D flavored game that fell apart due to sudden imprisonments (in the real world) and in my story driven Goblins & Gunslingers game (using my custom system FAST). Her ability to get into and play this was cool as hell. The third and final girl played like a champ. She was a fighter and made the right decisions for that choice.
At the end of the night, the first girl had died, and she seemed a bit aggravated by that. The other two solved the issue at hand and survived only to be exiled to the Land of Fallen Idols.
I am looking forward to playing again, and hopefully joining the two groups up. When that happens it is going to be exciting to see the different play styles mesh.
I have been planning for that eventuality, making maps and random charts galore. I have made a new binder for it... Which is kind of strange as I realize I am not sure if we are ever going to play this again. Boy I hope we do. It was kind of like a big stress reliever for me.
When I run my story based games, I have a lot of fun, but I am pushing just as hard for the resolution as the group is. With LOFI, I am pushing the game forward but having no investments in what decisions the players make. It is going where they take it. It is like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I am sighing just thinking about it.
The first group was the guys in my normal gaming group. The second was the three remaining members, who were all ladies. They were the least experienced, and not used to the type of gaming we were doing.
We usually play very story heavy, event based games. Traditionally not the kind of game we were now playing. I am using Lamentation of the Flame Princess, an old school throwback to original D&D (part of the Old School Revolution).
It is a great game system. Very much like old D&D, but changed slightly to create more of a Conan feel. It has a large focus on the uniqueness of the monsters and the supernatural. No stock monster listings, magic items are rare and incredibly unique and dangerous to wield. The dark is not your home, it is the monsters. Not one class or character race has low-light or darkvision. It is the game I have been looking for a long time. It is very accesible with simple rules. Actual roleplaying can not be boosted by skills or other rolls. Creatures can be created quickly and are simple yet versatile. Your level does not quickly eliminate options by making them too simple. I love it.
The first session with the guys went very well. They adapted quickly to the system. They role played and explored and came up with a plan of action based on the random stuff they were given, just as much as they used the weapons and equipment they purchased. Fun was had!
The second session was more of a straight up dungeon crawl. The girls had never experienced that. It was fun and a little aggravating adapting to that but new, for them and I. One of the girls seemed a bit aggravated by the lack of "serious role playing." Which I can understand, that is what she plays for. The other two were trying to adapt as quickly as possible. One of them, as far as I know, was playing only their third system. She played in my last attempt of a D&D flavored game that fell apart due to sudden imprisonments (in the real world) and in my story driven Goblins & Gunslingers game (using my custom system FAST). Her ability to get into and play this was cool as hell. The third and final girl played like a champ. She was a fighter and made the right decisions for that choice.
At the end of the night, the first girl had died, and she seemed a bit aggravated by that. The other two solved the issue at hand and survived only to be exiled to the Land of Fallen Idols.
I am looking forward to playing again, and hopefully joining the two groups up. When that happens it is going to be exciting to see the different play styles mesh.
I have been planning for that eventuality, making maps and random charts galore. I have made a new binder for it... Which is kind of strange as I realize I am not sure if we are ever going to play this again. Boy I hope we do. It was kind of like a big stress reliever for me.
When I run my story based games, I have a lot of fun, but I am pushing just as hard for the resolution as the group is. With LOFI, I am pushing the game forward but having no investments in what decisions the players make. It is going where they take it. It is like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I am sighing just thinking about it.
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