Like Mellow Lightning...

This was taken on Thursday. I totally forgot to finish my post.

...And this is Friday's ensemble...

Okay... The last couple of days have been interesting.

I have actually gotten more sleep over the last two days than I average in most weeks. You would think, as a result, I would be full of energy. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, had I not been needed to make draft at Friday Night Magic an even number of players, I think I would have gone home and taken a nap.

I have been cogitating on DICEBAG a bit, and I am not certain I want to introduce it to my current group even though that was the original intention. While they are not unintelligent folks, at least two of them are close to complete gaming "noobies" and I am not certain that the system will mesh well with them. DICEBAG requires a LOT of decision during combat, and our younger player is not the most decisive person, nor is he the most confident in what he is doing. It doesn't help that in an effort to "help" him, others at the table pressure him and question the decisions he does make. I do what I can to help mitigate this issue, but there are extenuating circumstances to it all that limit how much (even as the GM) I can step in.

As it goes, slow inspiration has been hitting. Now I just have to find time to get things written. Saturday is looking good. I have a couple of errands to do, then I have laundry to begin chewing through, but I should have some time to sort some thoughts. I also have Sunday afternoon to get some work done.

Now if I can get some things done without others intruding, that would be a minor act of a major deity...

-- GopherDave

Learning Curve...

We started the Last Sons Deadlands: Reloaded campaign last night. Things went a touch slower than I had planned due to having a group of brand-new-to-the-system players and a touch of unpreparedness on my part. Still, things seemed to go well as people picked up the system.

Like any good campaign, things got off with a bang and what was supposed to be a simple stagecoach robbery turned into broo-haa-haa of bullets, lightning, spin kicks, and blood. One character almost died as his player did not full heed the warning that Savage Worlds is a MUCH deadlier game for player characters than D&D/Pathfinder is. Coolest moment of the night has to go to the Chinese martial artist who killed a mook with their own bullet via Deflection.

The heroes won in the end, though one was badly wounded and ended up (after all available Healing checks could be made) still sucking on one wound. Every PC got to do something cool, and it is always fun diving in with a new group. The highlight of the night for me, though, was when the youngest (15) and most inexperienced player looked at me and said something to the effect of "I like this a lot. It's easier, and the system makes more sense to me than Pathfinder. I had a great time!". That right there counts to me as a win.

I did have a couple of quibbles about Sam Bass, the main NPC-bad guy, though. For being such a seasoned outlaw, the guy had no Notice or Fighting skill at all. He could shoot (D10 Shooting skill), but apparently whatever he was shooting at had to be obvious and the easiest way to bring him down was to engage him in a fist fight. Checking his Parry attribute to make certain it wasn't just a typo/misprint revealed the *incredibly* large number of... 2. Oh, and did I mention this was night time ambush?

So, the PCs saved the stagecoach (and themselves) from being robbed by the notorious outlaw "Oblivious" Sam Bass, and his gang (who all had the Notice skill at a rating of D6, go figure). Now, they are roughly 4 days walk from Deadwood in Sioux Nation territory, waiting on a stagecoach repair that will take 12 hours to accomplish. That's plenty of time for something else to happen, amigos...

-- GopherDave

Saddle Up!

This is going to be a LOOOONNNNGGGG day.

I was up at 6am to get ready for a work day that doesn't start until about 10AM or so. Why? So I could take my car to the shop. The shop opened at 7:30AM, and I figured the sooner they got it, the sooner they could tell me what is wrong with it.

Bullet (the car's name -- yes, I name my cars) has had a number of minor issues that has given him character over the years. Well, either a combination of those minor issues happened, or something entirely new jumped into the mix because now Bullet is REALLY loud, sluggish at speeds under 35MPH, and shakes like a heroin junkie who hasn't had a fix in three days. This all being said, the car has not stopped running, nor has it given out on me. It's just really sick. So, I took it to the doctor.

Meanwhile, in happy land, it is my daughter's birthday today. Pumpkin has grown into an amazing young lady, and I am more proud of her with each passing day. She is indeed something special, though she never ever wants to believe that. Loq and I need to work on that.

So, I ended up at the store at roughly 7:45AM. Most of what I need to do for open has been done. I am now currently waiting on shipments and reading Deadlands: Reloaded books. Tonight is the start of the Last Sons campaign I am running, and I want to brush up on some rules and tonight's adventure. It's been a bit since I sat behind the screen (I'm not counting last week), but it's go time, and I've never wilted under game pressure before. I am looking forward to it...

...if I can get there... =P

-- GopherDave

Shields Are Down...

Both literally and figuratively...

I revised, expanded, and finished shield rules and materials for DICEBAG last night. Now to work on armor and weapons. I have those pretty much done for a fantasy setting, but they need help in being brought into the modern-day context.

On top of that, I found an old (and much more complete) weapons chart for an early version of the DICEBAG rules, complete with references to rules I had forgotten about when I redid the system. While more "realistic", the new/old rules complicate things a bit. They would not be difficult to implement in the current iteration of the system. They would just slow things down a fair chunk. That may be why I ditched them originally.

As I type, I am having thoughts of "optional" rules to make things either "cinematic" (quick and dirty rules that don't slow the game down too much) or "realistic" (rules that are not difficult to implement, but could cause extreme slowdown of play). Gah! Too much to worry about at this stage of things, but given how my mind works, I am already trying to think of ways to implement a simpler variation in a relatively painless manner.

Tonight, at the store, is Friday Night Magic. Part of me wants to either play or ditch to go home and write/revise rules once we've started. Not sure if that will happen though. Ditching on our busiest day of the week instills a chunk of guilt in me that feels like it weighs about twenty pounds...

We'll see what happens...

-- GopherDave

Semi-Crunch Time...

Okay... not much got done last night or this morning as I piled myself into bed around 10:30PM (about three hours early for me) and woke up around 8:45AM. I feel rested, though.

Not a lot is going on today. We had three RPGs scheduled for the store, but I just received a note saying that one has been permanently cancelled. One of the others is a game that is trying to start but he is having trouble attracting players, so I don't expect that to be on the schedule that much longer. At this point, I am not certain if we are going to try to fill the empty slots with RPGs, or give the night to Malifaux so they can meet every week. No decision has truly been made, and I will be speaking to the players of the cancelled game to see if they are starting anything else up. Hell, depending on how things shake out, I may just try to run another DICEBAG playtest game. Who knows?

Depending on how Lo and the Pumpkin are feeling, tonight will involve me either diving into DL:R books to catch up on rules and setting or working on a modern-day genre document for Unveiled. I should be doing the latter, but will probably end up reading instead... ...and falling asleep while doing so. =P

-- GopherDave

Better Than Expected...

Though you cannot see them, I am also rocking dice cuff links. Boo-yaa...

So, last night was mostly a character building session for the Deadlands: Reloaded game, followed by a sample combat to get the group (who are all entirely new to Savage Worlds) kind of up to speed on how things work in the system. It was also a good way to point out the necessity of some skills in the setting. We'll actually be starting the upcoming campaign this Tuesday. The following week, we'll be doing characters for the DICEBAG/Unveiled game.

That gives me a week to read up on SW/DL:R:/the Last Sons, and two weeks to sketch out and write out a setting document for Unveiled. I've more in less time, but I was unmarried, without kids, and didn't have the responsibility of running a business on top of me. As it goes, I need to get off of the stick and get work done.

As for the sample game, it went well, though I have one player who is overthinking things and wants his character to be involved in everything that goes on, even if his character isn't in the same place as where the action currently is. Adding to this, the player is pretty much a boisterous, alpha-type person who is used to getting his way in a game. I don't want to discourage his playing, but I do want to curb his tendencies to dominate the proceedings, ESPECIALLY in situations that his character has no business in. It's going to be fun.

On a lighter note, there is much less kicking and screaming than I expected in regard to D&D familiarity to Savage Worlds. There were a number of intelligent questions asked, and I did my best to answer them. I did okay, but it did point out that I am out-of-practice behind the screen and with the game system.

I've got a week... =P

-- GopherDave

Back In The Saddle Again...

Yep, it's a little off-kilter, but I was in a hurry as usual...

...In more ways than one...

Tonight, I get to walk a bunch of folks who have not played much beyond D&D/Pathfinder/D20 into the quick as a hiccup system that is Savage Worlds, more specifically, Deadlands: Reloaded.

It's has been about a year, not counting the help I gave Shady at GenCon, since I sat behind the GM's screen. To be honest, it has been too damn long. I know that my absence from the chair is part of what has contributed to my stress and anxiety as of late. It's more a part of me than I realized.

To a certain extent, I am looking forward to it. I love introducing folks to new settings and game systems. I do anticipate some friction due to what these guys have experience with in terms of settings/systems. It's always a shock to be dragged out of the D&D pool. Initially, it rarely goes well, as things no longer work the way a player expects them to. I am pretty much ready for it, though.

As for campaign material, I have looked through the Last Sons campaign book for DL:R and I believe I will be using it as it will free up some prep time for me...

...and time is a commodity that I find myself in short supply more often than not...

-- GopherDave