Back from Con of the North
E and I spent most of the weekend at Con of the North, which was nice. I think I really needed the chance to just relax and have fun for a couple of days.
I played a "Star Wars: Saga Edition" game, and a D&D 3.5 one. We also played the big "Teenagers From Outer Space" game on Saturday morning, and then I ran my "Victoriana" game and E ran his "Mutants and Masterminds" game on Saturday evening.
Victoriana is based in an alternate version of the Victorian Age, with working magic and more steam technology than really existed. It's a very well done setting; the world is interesting and gives a GM and players plenty of room to explore and have fun. I based my scenario on the Jack the Ripper killings, so it was largely an investigative adventure. I tried to build in a lot of flexibility so that the players could go in several different directions during the investigation, but still end up solving it. Which they did, quite easily. It makes me feel like I've done something right as a GM when the players succeed, within the parameters of the scenario, and they have fun doing it.
The rules are based in a pool of 6-sided dice; the better a character is at something, the more dice they roll when they do a check. That seems to work well enough when it comes to skill checks and so on. I'm not as pleased with it when it comes to combat, though. It seems a bit cumbersome, and sometimes frustrating for the players. I especially don't like re-rolling initiative every round. I did come up with a way to work around that, which I may use if I decide to run the game again. Which I might, if I come up with a good idea for a scenario. But, to me, the system seems more suited to investigation and roleplay than to more combat-oriented adventures. There's nothing wrong with that, though; in fact, in some ways, that can be an advantage.
It's nice to be home, though. And I've had two velcro kitties since we got home. In fact, Gabrielle is currently on the arm of the couch next to me, and Xena is up on the back of the couch.
I played a "Star Wars: Saga Edition" game, and a D&D 3.5 one. We also played the big "Teenagers From Outer Space" game on Saturday morning, and then I ran my "Victoriana" game and E ran his "Mutants and Masterminds" game on Saturday evening.
Victoriana is based in an alternate version of the Victorian Age, with working magic and more steam technology than really existed. It's a very well done setting; the world is interesting and gives a GM and players plenty of room to explore and have fun. I based my scenario on the Jack the Ripper killings, so it was largely an investigative adventure. I tried to build in a lot of flexibility so that the players could go in several different directions during the investigation, but still end up solving it. Which they did, quite easily. It makes me feel like I've done something right as a GM when the players succeed, within the parameters of the scenario, and they have fun doing it.
The rules are based in a pool of 6-sided dice; the better a character is at something, the more dice they roll when they do a check. That seems to work well enough when it comes to skill checks and so on. I'm not as pleased with it when it comes to combat, though. It seems a bit cumbersome, and sometimes frustrating for the players. I especially don't like re-rolling initiative every round. I did come up with a way to work around that, which I may use if I decide to run the game again. Which I might, if I come up with a good idea for a scenario. But, to me, the system seems more suited to investigation and roleplay than to more combat-oriented adventures. There's nothing wrong with that, though; in fact, in some ways, that can be an advantage.
It's nice to be home, though. And I've had two velcro kitties since we got home. In fact, Gabrielle is currently on the arm of the couch next to me, and Xena is up on the back of the couch.