Grab bag - games to date
Still working through some stuff. Still having a hard time not turning on myself for the stuff I haven't done, or think I've done wrong.
Self-loathing is not a very good motivator, though. It's very self-perpetuating. I have had much more luck with building myself up gradually, but sometimes it feels like I don't have the sound footing to do so.
I am thinking about some of the RPGs I've got in the last while, and how much I've played or run them.
Paranoia 10+ sessions, mostly one-shots. I got this a long time, but I've probably run the most sessions of it. It's a great game, especially for one-shots, but I think my sense of adventure design for it could use a little work. Except for a few exceptions, most players seem to want more sharply defined missions and a little less overwhelming freedom.
Monsters and Other Childish Things Probably about 8-9 sessions between Cthulhu and the Deep Ones Save the Whales and the Team Rocket game. It's a solid rules set that has not quite clicked with me all the way. Definitely good enough for TR and pretty fantastic at some of the stuff it's going for.
Monster of the Week 2 sessions. I liked this a lot. I wish I hadn't kind of let the narrative off the rails during the last fight of the game - I was a bit too tipsy and got too nice. As monster hunting games go, it hits the notes I wanted from Hunter. My main critique is that sometimes, compared with other Powered by the Apocalypse games, the playbooks feel a little too focused - like it's a little hard to play against type.
Dungeon World About 5-6 sessions, I think. Plus a month of running an SA online game. Love it, especially with the Inverse World playbooks. I could've done a little better running the SA game, but it was a lot of work - if anything, maybe more than playing in person, and not quite as satisfying for me. The in-person game is going well, and should be hitting some more high points soon. The rules do a good job of doing what I want them to do, though I haven't quite got the combats to be as complex (in terms of what is at stake) or deadly as I want. So be warned, players who don't actually read this livejournal..
Apocalypse World Oh, Apocalypse World. I've only played it for about a month as part of an online game, but I really loved my character in that. (Core the unethically experimenting Angel.) I haven't actually run it for anyone, but I took a lot of things away from the rulebook - it really changed how I thought about a few things in RPGs. Something else cool about AW is that when you check the forums, there's a lot of people who don't seem to have played other RPGs - not so much D&D or WoD background. So that's pretty awesome.
I've been trying to think of a clever tag-type thing for my workout stuff, if only in my head. Like how Pat has FatmanToBatman. BrainerToBattlebabe? ..I got nothing. I did work out tonight, so there's that. Even if the numbers were about what you'd expect after a month off.
I have been getting some AW ideas again lately. I still want to run an icy post-apocalypse world, maybe centered in Chicago the city of 'Ago.
I actually used the AW roll structure for a very strange bit of drunken RPG stuff with Pat and Jen last year. Pat was a lizardfolk who preyed on goats; Jen was stuck on a plane ride. Or something like that.
Dogs in the Vineyard Haven't played it since a weekend gamecon in Undergrad years ago. Didn't really "get" it then. Still haven't run it or even run the whole thing. But Vincent Baker has so many insights on design, and I at least find the Dogs to be pretty compelling protagonists. Maybe I'll run it as a con game.
Mouse Guard I've run it twice, total of three sessions. I like it a lot but I have trouble getting my head around the Conflict system all the way. It seems more simple than it is, but it can absolutely vicious with a powerful opponent and a disorganized group of players. Which is intentional, I suppose. I love the setting, but the system has enough fiddly bits that it's not one of my go-tos, so much.
Hybrid system - Shane's system. Didn't actually buy this or anything. It's very interesting but despite playing 10+ sessions now I don't feel like I fully understand it.
Trail of Cthulhu Have written up most of a campaign, but have not played or run it. There's a ton of things I like about this. It fixes a few things I found off-putting about Cal of Cthulhu, though that is a solid system. I am looking forward to running it - I just don't know when just now.
DramaSystem This is from Robin Laws! I am pretty stoked at the idea of a game so clearly focused about drama and compromise as opposed to straight-up fighting. But I haven't played it, run it, or even finished reading it. I have a hard time reading it off the pdf; more a problem with me than with the file.
Exalted Ha, haaha. I could not be more glad that I skipped the kickstarter on this one. Not a single thing that's come out has had me excited.
FATE Haven't played, haven't run. I find Aspects tricky to fully grasp. I can look at something and think, that's not a great aspect, but when it comes to honing it into a good aspect, I'm not sure. My main experience with it was from the Dresden Files RPG, but that one is kinda verbose compared to the later versions, apparently.
A sidenote on the Dresden Files I was thinking about it and realized that I like virtually every character in the books more than Dresden. Michael Carpenter? The atheist knight of the cross? The guy who does autopsies? Murphy? Basically all of them I find more interesting, partly because they are coming from such perspectives of relative weakness. Dresden is so strong, and so neckbeardy at times, to really drag the series down for me. (Well, that and the problems with how the women characters are written/described.)
RPG-wise, there's a few others I haven't really delved into, but that's the majority of them. I think.
well his heart ain't made of nothing but piss and vinegar
and his boots have trampled more than you could know
Self-loathing is not a very good motivator, though. It's very self-perpetuating. I have had much more luck with building myself up gradually, but sometimes it feels like I don't have the sound footing to do so.
I am thinking about some of the RPGs I've got in the last while, and how much I've played or run them.
Paranoia 10+ sessions, mostly one-shots. I got this a long time, but I've probably run the most sessions of it. It's a great game, especially for one-shots, but I think my sense of adventure design for it could use a little work. Except for a few exceptions, most players seem to want more sharply defined missions and a little less overwhelming freedom.
Monsters and Other Childish Things Probably about 8-9 sessions between Cthulhu and the Deep Ones Save the Whales and the Team Rocket game. It's a solid rules set that has not quite clicked with me all the way. Definitely good enough for TR and pretty fantastic at some of the stuff it's going for.
Monster of the Week 2 sessions. I liked this a lot. I wish I hadn't kind of let the narrative off the rails during the last fight of the game - I was a bit too tipsy and got too nice. As monster hunting games go, it hits the notes I wanted from Hunter. My main critique is that sometimes, compared with other Powered by the Apocalypse games, the playbooks feel a little too focused - like it's a little hard to play against type.
Dungeon World About 5-6 sessions, I think. Plus a month of running an SA online game. Love it, especially with the Inverse World playbooks. I could've done a little better running the SA game, but it was a lot of work - if anything, maybe more than playing in person, and not quite as satisfying for me. The in-person game is going well, and should be hitting some more high points soon. The rules do a good job of doing what I want them to do, though I haven't quite got the combats to be as complex (in terms of what is at stake) or deadly as I want. So be warned, players who don't actually read this livejournal..
Apocalypse World Oh, Apocalypse World. I've only played it for about a month as part of an online game, but I really loved my character in that. (Core the unethically experimenting Angel.) I haven't actually run it for anyone, but I took a lot of things away from the rulebook - it really changed how I thought about a few things in RPGs. Something else cool about AW is that when you check the forums, there's a lot of people who don't seem to have played other RPGs - not so much D&D or WoD background. So that's pretty awesome.
I've been trying to think of a clever tag-type thing for my workout stuff, if only in my head. Like how Pat has FatmanToBatman. BrainerToBattlebabe? ..I got nothing. I did work out tonight, so there's that. Even if the numbers were about what you'd expect after a month off.
I have been getting some AW ideas again lately. I still want to run an icy post-apocalypse world, maybe centered in Chicago the city of 'Ago.
I actually used the AW roll structure for a very strange bit of drunken RPG stuff with Pat and Jen last year. Pat was a lizardfolk who preyed on goats; Jen was stuck on a plane ride. Or something like that.
Dogs in the Vineyard Haven't played it since a weekend gamecon in Undergrad years ago. Didn't really "get" it then. Still haven't run it or even run the whole thing. But Vincent Baker has so many insights on design, and I at least find the Dogs to be pretty compelling protagonists. Maybe I'll run it as a con game.
Mouse Guard I've run it twice, total of three sessions. I like it a lot but I have trouble getting my head around the Conflict system all the way. It seems more simple than it is, but it can absolutely vicious with a powerful opponent and a disorganized group of players. Which is intentional, I suppose. I love the setting, but the system has enough fiddly bits that it's not one of my go-tos, so much.
Hybrid system - Shane's system. Didn't actually buy this or anything. It's very interesting but despite playing 10+ sessions now I don't feel like I fully understand it.
Trail of Cthulhu Have written up most of a campaign, but have not played or run it. There's a ton of things I like about this. It fixes a few things I found off-putting about Cal of Cthulhu, though that is a solid system. I am looking forward to running it - I just don't know when just now.
DramaSystem This is from Robin Laws! I am pretty stoked at the idea of a game so clearly focused about drama and compromise as opposed to straight-up fighting. But I haven't played it, run it, or even finished reading it. I have a hard time reading it off the pdf; more a problem with me than with the file.
Exalted Ha, haaha. I could not be more glad that I skipped the kickstarter on this one. Not a single thing that's come out has had me excited.
FATE Haven't played, haven't run. I find Aspects tricky to fully grasp. I can look at something and think, that's not a great aspect, but when it comes to honing it into a good aspect, I'm not sure. My main experience with it was from the Dresden Files RPG, but that one is kinda verbose compared to the later versions, apparently.
A sidenote on the Dresden Files I was thinking about it and realized that I like virtually every character in the books more than Dresden. Michael Carpenter? The atheist knight of the cross? The guy who does autopsies? Murphy? Basically all of them I find more interesting, partly because they are coming from such perspectives of relative weakness. Dresden is so strong, and so neckbeardy at times, to really drag the series down for me. (Well, that and the problems with how the women characters are written/described.)
RPG-wise, there's a few others I haven't really delved into, but that's the majority of them. I think.
well his heart ain't made of nothing but piss and vinegar
and his boots have trampled more than you could know