What are y'all up to these days?

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Good luck, I feel you.
Thank you, man:thumbsup:! I might be forming a new group, though, with all the kids...


And that is actually the biggest thing I've been doing lately: running a game for the boys as well. Until now, they've been too young, too easily distractable, and too immersed in a world of distractions.
So I got them while we were at the mountain retreat. Sure, they still had phones to distract them...but those phones need recharging at times. And sometimes it rains.

What does a Referee do to attract new players? Why, I waited until the phones were charging, and offered them to run a game for them, which is like the game they've been playing! (There was some kind of mouse in it which guards some kind of portal and you've got to collect cheese and keys. I don't know the details, but I've been running games for over 20 years...you think I can improvise something from there:angel:?)
Bottom line, my boys played their first session at 5 and 4 years old, respectively. Getting them while they're young has worked for so many other hobbies, why not for roleplaying as well:shade:?
The ruleset? Ah yes, there was one, but it was FKR-inspired...and we didn't have dice, due to an oversight on my side. So we used cards instead (I removed the face cards, turning them into 2 decks of 1-10 results...so basically, a d100:tongue:).
 
We had a great Pub game of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. I had a lot of fun even though I screwed up by playing too conservatively towards an economic victory and underestimating one of my opponents. My trash-tier slave gladiator managed to take out a bear in the arena!
 
Started writing out the adventure seeds for Smoke Wagon, so I can get it finished. The ones I've written so far all take place in the same region, where a conflict is developing between rival groups of ranchers, with a recent influx of farmers adding to the hostilities. Most of them have a gun battle as a possible consequence of failure, so I was trying to come up with a few that have no gun fights. Decided the first seed is a hoedown that pushes one side to initiate violence in some of the later seeds, simply because they're sore losers.
 
Steel Aces: Playing Jacks 2, Page 15: Blister Packing

As the Aces rescue the kidnapped alien, Dr. Green triggers her contingencies.

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How's the game system been for you? Are the cards clunky? I found running the Alien rpg with the 10 card initiative cards kinda a PITA. They're hard to shuffle and just feel lacking. The players felt the same way btw on that. It was their only real complaint about the Alien rpg.

The system's been great for me. I've been running the current Savage Worlds Adventure Edition for three years and I ran the prior Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer's Edition for 2.5 years prior to that. If I were to start a new campaign today, I would probably choose something a bit simpler, but Savage Worlds works well for my group.

I'm not that big on fantasy, so I would rather use a generic game than one that defaults to fantasy, so that was a factor in originally choosing SW.

My main gripe with the core Savage Worlds book is that there isn't enough sci fi stuff in it. For example, in the gear section, there are several pages of real-life guns and literally three sci fi guns. There's plenty of sci fi stuff in some of the setting books, though. My own campaign world is a hodgepodge of things from various Savage Worlds setting books, various other RPG books, and, of course, my own imagination.

The card-based initiative is one of my favorite things about the system. I love how it makes for dynamic initiative that changes every round. I find it really easy to deal out the cards and count 'em down. I do use an oversized deck, so they're easier to see from across the table.
 
The card-based initiative is one of my favorite things about the system. I love how it makes for dynamic initiative that changes every round. I find it really easy to deal out the cards and count 'em down. I do use an oversized deck, so they're easier to see from across the table.
I really miss Savage Worlds initiative. The cards were a simple way to bring fun and excitement to the table; I also enjoyed the initiative-based Edges which managed to feel impactful without being OP. The static initiative of later-edition D&D sucks hard in comparison.
 
On Saturday, I'm doing my first RPG program at the library since the pre-pandemic days. I'm honestly a little nervous, because I'll be using Into the Unknown and, while I have a fair bit of experience running Savage Worlds, as mentioned above, I've never run any flavor of D&D before. Also, I've never met any of the players before.

It will be a 3-hour one-shot using pre-generated characters. IME, a 4-hour slot is the typical length for public games, but I can't do that because it is a workday and I will have to tend to some of my other librarian duties.
 
On Saturday, I'm doing my first RPG program at the library since the pre-pandemic days. I'm honestly a little nervous, because I'll be using Into the Unknown and, while I have a fair bit of experience running Savage Worlds, as mentioned above, I've never run any flavor of D&D before. Also, I've never met any of the players before.

It will be a 3-hour one-shot using pre-generated characters. IME, a 4-hour slot is the typical length for public games, but I can't do that because it is a workday and I will have to tend to some of my other librarian duties.
Good luck! If there is anything I can do to assist let me know.
 
I realized my son could reach my RPG books from his crib when I found him with the cover of my original GAZ 1: Grandy Duchy of Karameikos ripped in two. There were several out of print books in that crib… I’m glad the damage wasn’t worse. Help, my office doubles as a one year old’s sleeping quarters!
 
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I realized my son could reach my RPG books from his crib when I found him with the cover of my original GAZ 1: Grandy Duchy of Karameikos ripped in two. There were several out of print books in that crib… I’m glad the damage wasn’t worse. Help, my office doubles as a one year old’s sleeping quarters!

I feel you there. My older son was pretty good about leaving my stuff alone but my younger son developed a bond with Dad's things. On the one hand I kind of feel honored, the destruction is a sign of affection, on the other I've lost a few nice things despite added precautions.

Thankfully he has reached an age where he has better fine motor control so random accidental destruction is less common.
 
"I'mma beat you until your face looks like a walking advertisement for my favourite game" is not exactly my idea of metal, but whatever.
That's the person who's getting the tats, I was talking about the game itself (or the company in this case). Personally, I think paying for finger tats is pretty hardcore.
 
I made a last-minute executive decision to use The Black Hack for my library program tomorrow instead of Into the Unknown. I still used Into the Unknown to generate the dungeon, though.

And it's another night where I don't have very much of a plan for my home Savage Worlds group. I'm not too worried about that, though, as I know those players and their characters quite well & can riff off of them pretty easily.
 
I made a last-minute executive decision to use The Black Hack for my library program tomorrow instead of Into the Unknown. I still used Into the Unknown to generate the dungeon, though.

And it's another night where I don't have very much of a plan for my home Savage Worlds group. I'm not too worried about that, though, as I know those players and their characters quite well & can riff off of them pretty easily.
You can't go wrong with the Black Hack there. It's a slick little rules set.
 
Requiem game tomorrow, so I'm excited.

However, I've also been talking with my brother, my partner, and a few friends of mine about the old 1st Edition VTM, as we've been delving deep into re-reading the old books like the 1E Core Rulebook, the Chicago Chronicles Volume 1, Alien Hunger, and The Hunters Hunted.

Remember that VTM project I was working on? Still working on it but it's evolved in it scope, so I am going to be posting a thread on it soon.
 
Played pf2e last night. I’m increasingly disappointed with something with the game. I don’t foresee it lasting another two sessions.
 
Played pf2e last night. I’m increasingly disappointed with something with the game. I don’t foresee it lasting another two sessions.
So, about what I expect from PF2e:shade:?

Ok, someone's gotta ask...what does "cybernetic semen" mean?
TBH, I'm not quite sure that this was the exact question I needed to see asked...:grin:
 
Powering Through 4: Bike Mimicry
Vroom, vroom! The random button is back, and this week we teach you how to turn into a motorcycle in Metahumans Rising. We also have six new entries in our reject roundup for mini-powers, and tips.

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I forgot to update that I finished the Gygax 75 Challenge! Week 5 was fleshing out the larger world- something that already done before I started the challenge. The setting books cover plenty and a lot of the smaller details for my personal 100x100 mile slice of the planet were completed during a previous game. Stuff like a calendar, bestiary, factions, local food and liquor, biome encounter tables etc.

I highly recommend the Gygax 75 Challenge and Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master for people who want to use their prep time efficiently and focus their creativity on what benefits their game and omitting what does not.
 
Haven't done a whole lot of gaming lately. The Basic Fantasy game using Castle Xyntillan effectively wrapped up a few weeks ago, with the majority of the players leaving for college. We didn't get as far through the Castle as I would have liked. Also, while I like the *idea* of a mega-dungeon that can cover a whole campaign, in practice I tend to prefer shorter scenarios that can be handled in a session or two.

As far as the adult group goes, we've only played a few one-shots here and there thru the summer, as there's been a lot to schedule around. As some of the real-life stuff settles down, I may try to get a proper campaign going again now that I'm not running anything for the kids on a regular basis. Not certain what I want to run, though.
 
This is my first exposure to the Breathless system. I'm really liking it so far.
First off, thanks for checking it out, as I appreciate any support. I'm glad you like it. I'm finding that while it's fairly narrative, it has enough rules to build upon. It also helps that others who used the system contributed some of their own additions (called Gasps on the SRD website) for people to use. I love Survivor Points, which I tend to use in the games I write. While it was originally created for horror (the rules were designed for a zombie apocalypse rpg of the same name), it does work for other genres. That's why I thought it would work for a somewhat gritty western. I've got another rpg in the works using it (The Unbelievable Excerpts, which is a sort of sequel to my PocketQuest game, Beneath the Waters), and have at least 2 supplements for Hunter$ and probably one for Smoke Wagon as well
 
Got to run The Black Hack at the library where I work this past Saturday. I forgot a few rules, and got a few rules wrong, which made the adventure a lot easier than it was supposed to be, but everyone had fun, which is the most important thing.

Had three players, two of whom had never played any tabletop RPGs before. When I mentioned that we'll be having another RPG program for adults next month, they all looked interested.
 
Well, there are a couple of things I suppose.

For one, the characters seem pretty monochromatic to me. But this could also be a reflection of the adventure and the GM. The GM is not putting in the extra bits to glue everything together, so it’s turning into essentially a string of combats with very little flavor text. The characters seem pretty much only about combat. We were hoping the circus adventure would be about a circus and not a substitute for a tavern

in my case, I made a monk with a bit of tanking ability. That’s fine, but there is no movement in combat. I do the same things constantly. I go and stand in the front and there is no movement at all, even with them not provoking attacks of opportunity out of me.

friend of mine is playing a sorcerer and he is essentially pushing one button constantly, and he hates that. This is not surprising, as I ALSO hate that (and experienced it first hand with a sorcerer in 4e that lasted one session).

we are both going to swap around characters, but I have a sneaking suspicion it won’t fix much.

a third player is disappointed in the lack of social stuff. He’s playing a bard. He largely is not a combat fan, and he’s getting almost nothing he likes.

now, I suppose it could probably work. There are phases of the game - exploration time, etc. we could be doing more outside of combat. In our group, the GM has to be a teacher, becuase much of the group doesn’t rpg as a hobby. Most (any other than me) of them don’t sit on forums. They don’t read lots of the book. They are somewhat passive. Good players when brought to the well to drink, but they won’t go seek it. And there is just a lot of pathfinder 2e to consume. The rule book is over 600 pages long.

i have spent a stupid amount of time analyzing this. There is just so little investment by anyone at the table. Not enough to read the volume of rules. Not enough to fill in the gaps in the adventure (and it is one of those big sandbox sorts with an overall thread that requires a bunch of GM improv and the GM is treating it like a linear dungeon and I hate criticizing because he’s a super nice person). Not enough of either of those to breed more passion in the group to continue it.

one thing that I’ve found for myself is I WANT to GM, but I’ve also decided that I want seeds, and I keep looking to the players to provide some input becuase I worry about their approval, and I don’t want to carry it alone with my passion. I’ve had a lot of passion for games in the past, and for many years, and lately, it has been waning. Like there isn’t enough spark, or not enough heat to keep it aloft. I can feel the weight of it now, and it feels harder. I have ideas for stuff that might work, and structures too (big overarching isn’t going to fly becuase we have inconsistent attendance, or at least it can’t involve the people who miss regularly), but I need help driving it. I need others to be excited too.

I still have a few that I think I could drive on my own. But I definitely want some others as well. I drove them to learning a system and finding they preferred it (here’s to you, 60+ sessions of Mythras), even to the point of my least likely to read the book players reading the book as he fixed my excel character sheet that offended him with my poor coding. I’ve driven them through many campaigns and many amazing memories.

land I think this will come out when I step up to the plate again.
 
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Ok, someone's gotta ask...what does "cybernetic semen" mean?

Jizz from a dildo that's also an AI. It had been previously established that said dildo was capable of ejaculating. For the record, most of my players are women, and they're usually the ones injecting sexual content into the game.

Our super-hacker thought maybe the semen had some cybernetic properties of its own that she could use to reprogram the robot kangaroos if she got them covered with it.

When players ask me questions I had no possible way of anticipating, such as "does the cum have cybernetic properties?" which, iirc, is exactly what Annabelle asked, my usual approach is to roll a die, with odds equaling "yes" and evens equaling "no."

It came up odds.
 
Jizz from a dildo that's also an AI. It had been previously established that said dildo was capable of ejaculating. For the record, most of my players are women, and they're usually the ones injecting sexual content into the game.

Our super-hacker thought maybe the semen had some cybernetic properties of its own that she could use to reprogram the robot kangaroos if she got them covered with it.

When players ask me questions I had no possible way of anticipating, such as "does the cum have cybernetic properties?" which, iirc, is exactly what Annabelle asked, my usual approach is to roll a die, with odds equaling "yes" and evens equaling "no."

It came up odds.
Reminds me of how one of my D&D groups immediately began discussing turning a golem they just found into a sexbot.
 
Reminds me of how one of my D&D groups immediately began discussing turning a golem they just found into a sexbot.
The Wizard spell list lends itself to perversion. A lot of the high level wizards in my games have gone down the rabbit hole of degeneracy. The ones with great will and ambition avoid the pits of despair and ennui after exhausting the possibilities of the mortal form by working to transcend to a higher state. That could mean anything from lichdom to shedding the mortal form completely and becoming as the Old Ones.
 
Well, there are a couple of things I suppose.

For one, the characters seem pretty monochromatic to me. But this could also be a reflection of the adventure and the GM. The GM is not putting in the extra bits to glue everything together, so it’s turning into essentially a string of combats with very little flavor text. The characters seem pretty much only about combat. We were hoping the circus adventure would be about a circus and not a substitute for a tavern

in my case, I made a monk with a bit of tanking ability. That’s fine, but there is no movement in combat. I do the same things constantly. I go and stand in the front and there is no movement at all, even with them not provoking attacks of opportunity out of me.

friend of mine is playing a sorcerer and he is essentially pushing one button constantly, and he hates that. This is not surprising, as I ALSO hate that (and experienced it first hand with a sorcerer in 4e that lasted one session).

we are both going to swap around characters, but I have a sneaking suspicion it won’t fix much.

a third player is disappointed in the lack of social stuff. He’s playing a bard. He largely is not a combat fan, and he’s getting almost nothing he likes.

now, I suppose it could probably work. There are phases of the game - exploration time, etc. we could be doing more outside of combat. In our group, the GM has to be a teacher, becuase much of the group doesn’t rpg as a hobby. Most (any other than me) of them don’t sit on forums. They don’t read lots of the book. They are somewhat passive. Good players when brought to the well to drink, but they won’t go seek it. And there is just a lot of pathfinder 2e to consume. The rule book is over 600 pages long.

i have spent a stupid amount of time analyzing this. There is just so little investment by anyone at the table. Not enough to read the volume of rules. Not enough to fill in the gaps in the adventure (and it is one of those big sandbox sorts with an overall thread that requires a bunch of GM improv and the GM is treating it like a linear dungeon and I hate criticizing because he’s a super nice person). Not enough of either of those to breed more passion in the group to continue it.

one thing that I’ve found for myself is I WANT to GM, but I’ve also decided that I want seeds, and I keep looking to the players to provide some input becuase I worry about their approval, and I don’t want to carry it alone with my passion. I’ve had a lot of passion for games in the past, and for many years, and lately, it has been waning. Like there isn’t enough spark, or not enough heat to keep it aloft. I can feel the weight of it now, and it feels harder. I have ideas for stuff that might work, and structures too (big overarching isn’t going to fly becuase we have inconsistent attendance, or at least it can’t involve the people who miss regularly), but I need help driving it. I need others to be excited too.

I still have a few that I think I could drive on my own. But I definitely want some others as well. I drove them to learning a system and finding they preferred it (here’s to you, 60+ sessions of Mythras), even to the point of my least likely to read the book players reading the book as he fixed my excel character sheet that offended him with my poor coding. I’ve driven them through many campaigns and many amazing memories.

land I think this will come out when I step up to the plate again.
Yeah, if you treat a sandbox as a series of fights, you should really be playing Fight! the Fighting Game RPG (probably 2e). At least then you could say it's in-genre:grin:!
Jizz from a dildo that's also an AI. It had been previously established that said dildo was capable of ejaculating. For the record, most of my players are women, and they're usually the ones injecting sexual content into the game.

Our super-hacker thought maybe the semen had some cybernetic properties of its own that she could use to reprogram the robot kangaroos if she got them covered with it.

When players ask me questions I had no possible way of anticipating, such as "does the cum have cybernetic properties?" which, iirc, is exactly what Annabelle asked, my usual approach is to roll a die, with odds equaling "yes" and evens equaling "no."

It came up odds.
Makes total sense for a gonzo game:thumbsup:!

Reminds me of how one of my D&D groups immediately began discussing turning a golem they just found into a sexbot.
Pretty much like how I'd expect D&D adventurers to be... if you find something, either kill it, sell it, or find a way to rent it continuously:devil:!

The Wizard spell list lends itself to perversion. A lot of the high level wizards in my games have gone down the rabbit hole of degeneracy. The ones with great will and ambition avoid the pits of despair and ennui after exhausting the possibilities of the mortal form by working to transcend to a higher state. That could mean anything from lichdom to shedding the mortal form completely and becoming as the Old Ones.
You're doing wizards right, methinks:tongue:!
 
I've been looking at the Resistance Toolbox (the system for Spire and Heart), and thinking it would work well for the two Breathless games I released. As if I didn't have enough on my plate....
 
Thanks to Toric Toric pointing out something missing from the text of Smoke Wagon, I did a revision of the file with the missing info. I had to lower the font size a little, so I had room to throw in another adventure seed and a piece of art to go with it. I played around with the settings before export, and I think the art looks a little better in the pdf than it did before. I also did an version that doesn't use the page background image, so it's easier to print if someone wants to do so.
 
Well, there are a couple of things I suppose.

For one, the characters seem pretty monochromatic to me. But this could also be a reflection of the adventure and the GM. The GM is not putting in the extra bits to glue everything together, so it’s turning into essentially a string of combats with very little flavor text. The characters seem pretty much only about combat. We were hoping the circus adventure would be about a circus and not a substitute for a tavern

in my case, I made a monk with a bit of tanking ability. That’s fine, but there is no movement in combat. I do the same things constantly. I go and stand in the front and there is no movement at all, even with them not provoking attacks of opportunity out of me.

friend of mine is playing a sorcerer and he is essentially pushing one button constantly, and he hates that. This is not surprising, as I ALSO hate that (and experienced it first hand with a sorcerer in 4e that lasted one session).

we are both going to swap around characters, but I have a sneaking suspicion it won’t fix much.

a third player is disappointed in the lack of social stuff. He’s playing a bard. He largely is not a combat fan, and he’s getting almost nothing he likes.

now, I suppose it could probably work. There are phases of the game - exploration time, etc. we could be doing more outside of combat. In our group, the GM has to be a teacher, becuase much of the group doesn’t rpg as a hobby. Most (any other than me) of them don’t sit on forums. They don’t read lots of the book. They are somewhat passive. Good players when brought to the well to drink, but they won’t go seek it. And there is just a lot of pathfinder 2e to consume. The rule book is over 600 pages long.

i have spent a stupid amount of time analyzing this. There is just so little investment by anyone at the table. Not enough to read the volume of rules. Not enough to fill in the gaps in the adventure (and it is one of those big sandbox sorts with an overall thread that requires a bunch of GM improv and the GM is treating it like a linear dungeon and I hate criticizing because he’s a super nice person). Not enough of either of those to breed more passion in the group to continue it.

one thing that I’ve found for myself is I WANT to GM, but I’ve also decided that I want seeds, and I keep looking to the players to provide some input becuase I worry about their approval, and I don’t want to carry it alone with my passion. I’ve had a lot of passion for games in the past, and for many years, and lately, it has been waning. Like there isn’t enough spark, or not enough heat to keep it aloft. I can feel the weight of it now, and it feels harder. I have ideas for stuff that might work, and structures too (big overarching isn’t going to fly becuase we have inconsistent attendance, or at least it can’t involve the people who miss regularly), but I need help driving it. I need others to be excited too.

I still have a few that I think I could drive on my own. But I definitely want some others as well. I drove them to learning a system and finding they preferred it (here’s to you, 60+ sessions of Mythras), even to the point of my least likely to read the book players reading the book as he fixed my excel character sheet that offended him with my poor coding. I’ve driven them through many campaigns and many amazing memories.

land I think this will come out when I step up to the plate again.
Appreciate you taking the time to break it all down. Sounds like it's mostly the fault of the GM, but the players have certain amount of responsibility on this as well. Kinda a no win scenario it feels like.

I did pick up the 2e core book when it came out, but only skimmed through it having too much on my plate at the time. These huge books are a real PITA to deal with in my opinion. I'm really starting to become very stubborn that a core book needs to be less than 200 pages at most though I prefer around 100-120-ish for the main core book.
 
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