#DIY30 Goals for September 2018

My #DIY30 Mission Statement:

I will be using these thirty days to create (or adapt) campaign materials for my #YearoftheGoat home campaign and my as yet unnamed online campaign that I want to run for the G+ Flailsnails community.

 #DIY30 Preparation

Yesterday I spent five or six hours organizing and re-familiarizing myself with my #YearoftheGoat campaign materials as preparation for this #DIY30 writing challenge.  At one point this stuff was organized well, but the deterioration crept in last year and I'm just now getting things back in good order.  As I sorted yesterday, I began to see what I would be tackling for #DIY30.  What will follow in this post is a rough weekly breakdown of the writing, adapting, and cartography tasks that I've identified while organizing.

Caveats

Just as my campaign is a work in progress, this post will be as well.  I'm not sure how fast I'll be working, so I'll be coming back to update Weeks Three and Four after I see how Week One rolls out. 

 

Week One- First Things First

I will be starting in the area of the map around the city of Halwic.  The PCs were camped just south of Halwic when the campaign went on hiatus last August.  They were investigating leads regarding The Mimic Crisis.  Halwic has just experienced an outbreak of plague and a fire has devastated a district in the city.  One of the PCs is hoping to have his newly crafted sword blessed (enchanted) by a prominent leader of the Church of the Covenant.  I have Halwic itself roughly mapped and some locations detailed, but not mapped.  I'm counting on Vornheim to get me through any citycrawl stuff that comes up.  Locations nearby needing more work are the estate of Lord Vortulak and the small triplet of farming communities to the southwest of the city.

     -A follower NPC is in the city scouting ahead.  Are they alive or dead?  If alive, what information did they gather?  Where will the party re-unite with them? Done
     -Create relationship map for prominent city NPCs. Done
     -Create relationship map for the Abby of St. Forsythia (Church of the Covenant) NPCs. Done
     -Set a hook to the mega-dungeon Maze of the Blue Medusa (reading to be done on this, but I think it involves placing a specific painting....) Done
     -Figure out where to locate the Maze on my campaign map. Done
     -Write a description of Lord Vortulak's estate. Done
     -Make a map of Lord Vortulak's estate. Done
     -Finish the adaptation of the small farming communities southwest of Halwic.  These are from a pre-written module, so the work is less creating and more editing or adapting. Done

Week Two- Finish Week One's Bullet Points Before Moving On 

If week one was front-loaded too heavily with pieces to work on, then I will be continuing to work on those until finished this week.  While working on my home campaign is my main goal here, some effort will be made to start preparing for my upcoming online game world.


     -Finish all of Week One's bullet points before starting anything on Week Two's list.
     -Decide on a setting for my upcoming online game.  Choices I'm deliberating are as follows:
          +The Midderlands
          +Operation Unfathomable
          +Yoon-Suin
          +Red Tide Ding, ding, ding!
          +The Dark of Hot Springs Island
     -Once a decision on which setting to run the online game in is made, determine a starting area and make sure there is a city/town and a dungeon/lair/ruins nearby. Done
     -When a setting with it's starting point is determined, schedule a start day and time.
     -Make a G+ Flailsnails post with an invite to play.

Week Three- "20 Quick Questions"

I've answered 13 out of 20 of Jeff Rients' "Twenty Quick Questions for Your Campaign Setting."  Getting a few done this week maybe?


Week Four- 

Update 9/11/18
Welp, the votes are in and the group would like me to run them through Curse of Strahd.  So looks like I'm going to need to read that and start adapting it to LotFP and the specifics of my Year of the Goat campaign.  That's going on the end of the list, though, since it's so large it might take me awhile.

     -Life During Wartime Part Two blogpost.
     -The Temple of the Fractured Snail- adventure location idea I had.
     -The Seclusium of the Orphone- I started making a seclusium from this book and it was tedious af, lol, but I want to finish it so I can drop it in my campaign somewhere.
     -Scenic Dunnsmouth- I think I got my SD local map finished, just need to figure out where to put it on my campaign map and set hooks/write a rumor table.
     -Curse of Strahd adaptation.

         

#RPGaDay2018 Day Thirty One

Day 31 Question:  Share why you take part in RPG-A-Day.

This is my first year taking part in #RPGaDay.  I actually meant to take part in #DIY30, but didn't bookmark that post when I saw it, so that by the time August 1st rolled around, I was like "Oh yeah, I was going to do one of these writing challenges/prompts!"  It was late in the evening and I saw someone on G+ was taking part in this, I looked up the OP's blog with the list of questions, and I started writing!  This has been a good way to blow out the cobwebs and try to write on a daily basis.  I didn't achieve that exactly because I got behind during the second weekend, but when I got caught up again I started getting some momentum and I figured out how to schedule out posts here on Blogger.  So I learned something while doing #RPGaDay, lol! This is actually my second to last post I'm writing for the challenge and I'm writing it on August 22nd.  Day 30's question is all that's left.  I've decided that I'll do the #DIY30 starting September 1st!  Here is a link if you aren't familiar with #DIY30:

https://plus.google.com/photos/photo/101682089631246978881/6584072107223598402

#RPGaDay2018 Day Thirty

Day 30 Question:  Share something you learned about playing your character.

Pass.

Day 30 2014 Question:  What is the rarest RPG you own?

Hmmmm.  I'm unsure of how to go about confirming this.  I'll list a few that I think are smaller print runs and/or out of print.

Dogs in the Vineyard-   Written by D. Vincent Baker.  It's a 2nd edition and it's out of print.  I've never played it.

Fish Fuckers-  Written and illustrated by Kelvin Green.  Published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess.  First edition, print run of 500.  You could only purchase the physical copy of this on April 1st, 2018.  PDF available on Drivethru RPG.

Tales of the Scarecrow-  Written by James Edward Raggi IV.  Illustrations by Jason Rainville and Jez Gordon.  Published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess.  Third printing, 250 copies.  PDF available on Drivethru RPG.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Twenty Nine

Day 29 Question:  Share a friendship you have because of RPGs.

All the fine folks I've chatted with or gamed with over on G+.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Twenty Eight

Day 28 Question:  Share whose inspiring gaming excellence you're grateful for.

I'm grateful for Zak Smith, James Raggi, and a parcel of other DIY D&Ders.  When I stumbled upon the OSR in 2013, I didn't know it would lead down such a magical gaming rabbit hole!  It's been a fantastic five years in my gaming life and so many of these creators are to thank for inspiring me.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Twenty Seven

Day 27 Question:  Share a great stream/actual play.

I'll share three.

I Hit It With My Axe is a D&D game with Zak Smith as the DM.
For your viewing pleasure check out I Hit It With My Axe episode one link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRsuBZvxg_8

Knights of the Night is a podcast that features a number of games.  Their first campaign was using Hunter the Vigil rules.  The story "Shit Luck" is written and run by their Storyteller Scott. 
For your listening pleasure check out Knights of the Night episode eighteen link:

http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/e/b/a/eba595d9c2ca3a43/KOTN_ep18_wod_Chap_7_Scene_3.mp3?c_id=2917027&cs_id=2917027&expiration=1534826062&hwt=ce7b606613a6e5886f61a1f330d3e23a

Grognardia, the blog that spawned Dwimmermount, is full of great ideas.  Read about the first session in James Maliszewski's home campaign in the famous megadungeon here:

http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2009/01/dwimmermount-begins.html

#RPGaDay2018 Day Twenty Six

Day 26 Question:  What is your gaming ambition for the next year?

I have more than one ambition for gaming over the next year.  I'm looking forward to this time next year when I can re-read my own blog post to see how many of these ambitions I've turned into actions.

1.  Start running my LotFP YotG campaign again for my home table.  I've said before that I've been wanting to run the 5e adventure Curse of Strahd with LotFP rules and OSR sensibility, but I want to confirm that my players are on board.  Once I get confirmation I can get into whatever preparation I deem necessary to run that.  If they aren't on board with Curse of Strahd, we'll continue with the game where we left off.  The players were just about to ride into the city of Halwic to investigate the ongoing Mimic Crisis, recent rumors of a plague, and a devastating fire.  Halwic is FUCKED UP, YO.

2.  Run games online.  Specifically run either a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly game on G+ for the Flailsnails community.  Right now I have a pretty open schedule and could conceivably achieve weekly, but I want to give myself enough leeway in case my schedule changes and only allows less frequent gaming.

3.  This RPGaDay2018 writing challenge has been a good way to blow out the cobwebs and get into a near daily writing habit.  So for September I'm going to roll right into the #DIY30 challenge and get some progress on my pile of half-finished RPG writing projects.  So expect to see a post with more thoughts on that go up on the blog on August 30th or 31st.

4.  I want to run LotFP demos at a game store next year on Free RPG Day 2019.  It was fun to do that back in 2016.  I'm not sure what I'll run, yet.  It's a little far off, so I'll make a decision closer to spring.  A Stranger Storm from the Grindhouse Referee Book was a good adventure, but I might try another published adventure or even come up with my own.

5.  I want to play more in local gaming stores.  I'm not sure what form this will take, whether I try running something myself, play in something like D&D Encounters or something else.

6.  Playing in public.  I want to run a game in a bar, restaurant, coffee shop, library, or park.  Or maybe in the dining car of Amtrak!

7.  Play one of the games in my collection that I haven't played, yet.  It doesn't have to be a huge campaign.  This past year I had this as a goal and I actually achieved it!  I hadn't played Call of Cthulhu, yet, and we played a scenario of it this summer.  We've played three sessions so far and will probably wrap up on the fourth session.  Not sure which game I want to play...  I might make this into a blog post down the line!

8.  Sell some of the game books I know I'll never play.  I've been doing a bit of this already.  It started with giving The Dresden Files RPG core books to my boyfriend's co-worker about a year and a half ago.  He happened to be a huge fan of the fiction and had two daughters just the right age to get into roleplaying.  I've sold some stuff on Ebay over the last year.  All the World of Darkness 20th Anniversary Edition books I had accumulated, Don't Rest Your Head, Don't Lose Your Mind, A Penny for Your Thoughts, Vampire the Masquerade 2nd Edition, and some of the Chronicles of Darkness supplements I know I'll never use.  Still trimming that last category (CoD) down.

I've never been someone to make New Year's resolutions, and this question strikes me as akin to that.  But I believe it's good to write goals down for yourself and try to hold yourself accountable, so that's what I'm doing with this post.  Like I said up above, I look forward to looking back on this post in August 2019 and seeing how far I've come with these ambitions.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Twenty Five

Day 25 Question:  Name a game that had an impact on you in the last year.

Pass.


Day 25 2017 Question:  What is the best way to thank your GM?

Nine weeks ago I probably would have said "A bag of weed," lol.  I'm taking an extended break from smoking, so the "DM RRRRiiiipppppsssss" is not a ritual I'm participating in for an indefinite period.

How else could a player show me gratitude, then?  A simple thank you is enough.  I also like hearing about what a player liked specifically in the game.  Did I give them a good scare, run an exciting combat, play an NPC well, or give them a challenging and fun puzzle to solve?  That kind of feedback helps me when I prepare the next game.

I like being given snacks and beverages that are tasty and refreshing.  I've always been hydration obsessed, so if someone is making sure I have plenty of water or tea while I DM, that's considerate.

Lastly, I got to step out from behind the DM screen (figuratively, I haven't actually used a screen in several years) last fall.  One of my players jumped into the hot seat and started running games for the first time.  It was fun to be a player again!

#RPGaDay2018 Day Twenty Four

Day 24 Question:  Which RPG do you think deserves greater recognition?

Pass again.

Day 24 2016 Question:  What is the game that you are most likely to give to others?

That depends on if they are completely new to RPGs or they've been at it awhile.

I think giving the D&D Starter Set to someone with no experience with RPGs is a good route.  They'll be getting dice, a condensed version of the rules, an adventure, and pre-generated character sheets all in one box.  All they need to start playing except for pencils, friends, and snacks!  Once someone wraps their head around D&D, they can either keep going with that or branch out to other RPGs.

If on the other hand, I want to give an RPG to someone who has been playing for awhile, I would take a number of factors into consideration before handing them whatever game I'm jizzing all over at the moment.  If this is already someone's hobby I would really want to tailor an RPG gift to them specifically.  I would ask them what they've played before and liked or disliked, try and see what they already own or ask them what they already have on their shelves, and I would try and get a feel for what they like in other types of media.  For example, if the gift receiver likes Call of Cthulhu, dislikes D&D, has some World of Darkness or Chronicles of Darkness books, loves horror fiction, and has a deck of tarot cards they don't do divination with, they seem like an excellent candidate for Demon City or Night's Black Agents.  If on the other hand they love D&D, own a bunch of the official D&D books, they just watched the movie The VVitch and followed it up with A Field in England, then maybe I give them an OSR adventure like Death Frost Doom or Better than Any Man published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess. 

Giving whatever I like the most at the time seems self serving, unless the interests of the gift receiver align well with my own.  There is no one single RPG that is going to satisfy every player, especially if someone already had well developed likes and dis-likes.  If I were hoping to give an RPG to a person new to the hobby and I knew they had a strong dislike of the fantasy genre, I would amend my D&D Starter Set idea to something else.  I have little experience with space, sci-fi, and superhero games, so I would probably have to consult with someone better versed in those types of RPGs to get an idea for giving those as gifts.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Twenty Three

Day 23 Question:  Which game do you hope to play again?

I hope to return to Changeling the Lost at some point.  I ran a CtL campaign for five or six years.  Both picking up my campaign where it left off or starting a new game appeal to me.  It would be great to try this game as a player as well.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Twenty Two

Day 22 Question:  Which non-dice system appeals to you?

I own one dice-less system, Dread, which I have never played.  It uses a Jenga tower as it's challenge resolution. 

I am intrigued by the system for the Demon City game by Zak Smith.  It uses a tarot deck, but if you don't have those it has an alternate dice system.  The Kickstarter just completed for this game last week.  This is a total chocolate and peanut butter situation for me personally: horror RPG + tarot cards resolution mechanic = yaaasssssss please!  The icing on the peanut butter cup is that it's written by my favorite RPG writer.  Can't wait to see it!  If you want to read up on it here is a link to the Kickstarter page.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1070557469/demon-city-the-ultimate-horror-rpg?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=demon%20city%20

Like I said earlier, the Kickstarter campaign ended (successfully) last week, so you can't contribute, but you can see the art and read up on it.  Also, Zak's blog Playing DnD with Pornstars has a number of posts detailing monsters, mechanics, etc. 

#RPGaDay2018 Day Twenty One

Day 21 Question:  Which dice mechanic appeals to you?

I think the advantage/disadvantage mechanic from 5e is elegant.  I've borrowed it for my LotFP home game and will probably use it when I run LotFP online in the G+ Flailsnails community.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Twenty

 Day 20 Question:  Which game mechanic inspires your play the most?

Maybe it's because I GM more than I play, but I don't have a singular mechanic that inspires my play.  If I were to pick a game or game style as what inspires my DMing the most, that would be OSR or DIY D&D.  If you are unfamiliar with OSR or DIY D&D styles of play, the best resource I could point you towards is A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming by Matt Finch.  Matt also has a great YouTube channel:


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwQ6cSVDLklOoQ8VSMsxp5Q
 

#RPGaDay2018 Day Nineteen

Day 19 Question:  What music enhances your game?

I don't use music in my games.  Maybe I will someday, but right now I've got enough on my plate without having to DJ and DM at the same time.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Eighteen

Day 18 Question:  What art inspires your game?

I am most inspired by art I feel like I can get lost in or that that makes me uncomfortable.  If I'm getting that feeling of drinking too much coffee, having not had any, that's a sure sign what I'm looking at is penetrating my being.  If I were to start listing everything that inspires me, I'm not sure I could get anything else done.

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed, William Blake

                                                                                                                                                           

#RPGaDay2018 Day Seventeen

Day 17 Question:  Describe the best compliment you had while gaming.

While I strive to melt the faces off of my home group and they thank me for it, I think I got the best compliment at the Free RPG Day 2016 LotFP Demos I ran a few years back.  Several of the players told me that the one hour demo session I ran in the middle of a loud, packed, brightly lit game store was "spooky."  

#RPGaDay2018 Day Sixteen

Day 16 Question:  Describe your plans for your next game.

After we wrap up this little Call of Cthulhu game, the next game I'm running will be my LotFP YotG campaign.  When we went on hiatus last August, I had been planning on running The Curse of Strahd with LotFP rules.  I'm still hoping to do that, but I want to talk it over with the group before committing to it.  Otherwise, I'll just pick the campaign up right where I left off.  The PCs are still investigating and hunting down the source of the Mimic Crisis.  BTW in my game Mimics aren't the D&D Mimics, they're changeling or shapeshifter type creatures.  Considering the game we played before starting LotFP was Changeling the Lost, I wanted less association with that campaign.  So when I started the LotFP campaign off with the adventure A Stranger Storm from the Grindhouse Referee Book, I went with the term Mimic instead of changeling.

I'm also planning to run some games online.  I'll be using LotFP, but I'm not sure what setting, yet.  Whatever I choose, I'll be running the games on G+ in the Flailsnails community.  So if you are reading this and want to get in on that action, go join that community and watch for my upcoming announcement.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Fifteen

Day 15 Question:  Describe a tricky RPG experience you enjoyed.

I ran Free RPG Day Demos of LotFP in 2016.  I had a "problem player" in my first game and I think I managed my table pretty well.  All my years of being a bicycle mechanic and dealing with aggressive Type A customers was key to me keeping my cool and making sure "problem guy" didn't walk all over me or the six other players at the table.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Fourteen

Day 14 Question:  Describe a failure that became amazing.

Nope.


Day 14 2017 Question:  Which RPG do you prefer for open-ended campaign play?

Lamentations of the Flame Princess.  I could rock other OSR systems, too, but Lamentations has been the game that I've been able to do this style of gaming with the most.  I'm hooked and so are my players.

http://www.lotfp.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=173

#RPGaDay2018 Day Thirteen

Day 13 Question:  Describe how your play has evolved?

On the continuum of prep heavy vs. prep lite DMs, I've crept a few millimeters from being as prep heavy as I used to be.  Part of that may be attributed to the game type that I changed to starting about five years ago.  I had been running a Changeling the Lost campaign for about six years, but when I encountered Zak Smith's blog Playing DnD with Pornstars and his book Vornheim, I proposed running an OSR game for my group.  Between the Changeling game going on hiatus and the beginning of my LotFP game starting up, I read other OSR blogs, specifically a lot of Grognardia and Jeff's Gameblog.  I became convinced that I could do less prep and do it more efficiently.  So when I started getting ready to run LotFP, the amount of prep I had done was much less in comparison to how I had started my Changeling game.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Twelve

Day 12 Question:  What is your wildest character concept?

Pass.

Day 12 2016 Question:  What game is your group most likely to play next? Why that game?

After we wrap up Call of Cthulhu, we'll switch DMs and play D&D 5E briefly.  I'm usually the DM, but one of my players started DMing last year and he's itching to run games again.  5E is "his system."  He jumped in last year running the Starter Set adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver, but he's crafting his own dungeon this time around!  I want to get back to running my LotFP campaign "Year of the Goat."  Getting a break from DMing will give me a chance to do the prep for what I'm going to do next with "YotG."

#RPGaDay2018 Day Eleven

Day 11 Question:  What is the wildest character name?

Pass.


Day 11 2015 Question:  Who is your favorite RPG writer?

Zak Smith AKA Zak Sabbath.  His book Vornheim helped pull me out of the gaming rut I was slogging through.  Reading his blog Playing DnD With Pornstars has helped me become a better DM.  Not only does he write beautiful prose, but he understands the need to craft truly useful gaming books.  I've written a two part review of Vornheim here:


http://mockorangecairn.blogspot.com/2018/02/vornheim-complete-city-kit-review-part.html

http://mockorangecairn.blogspot.com/2018/08/vornheim-complete-city-kit-review-part.html

Feast your eyes on his other books!  A Red & Pleasant Land, Frostbitten & Mutilated, and Maze of the Blue Medusa.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Ten

Day 10 Question:  How has gaming changed you?

Pass.


Day 10 2015 Question:  Who is you favorite RPG publisher?

Lamentations of the Flame Princess.  Audacity coupled with a commitment to excellence is a potent combination.  I've been a fan since 2013.


http://lotfp.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-hate-fun.html

Fish Fuckers: http://www.rpgnow.com/product/242322/Fish-Fuckers

Eldritch Cock: http://www.rpgnow.com/product/245987/James-Edward-Raggi-IVs-Eldritch-Cock

Vaginas are magic:  https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/214470/Vaginas-are-Magic?term=vagi&test_epoch=0&site=&manufacturers_id=2795"%20rel="/includes/ajax/tooltip_request_handler.php?products_id=214470

#RPGaDay2018 Day Nine

Day 9 Question:  How has a game surprised you?

Pass.


Day 9 2016 Question:  What things are a part of your ideal session, other than the actual game?

Whether I'm a player or DM, I need lots of water to drink.  Tea is another beverage I like to have, especially if it's cold outside or my throat is getting tired from talking.  Good snacks are another nice thing to have on hand, unless I'm playing an online session.  Eating on camera makes me self conscious in a way that is not conducive to playing.  From my perspective as a DM, it's ideal to have enthusiastic and engaged players.  If we switch to my player perspective, I still thinks it's ideal to have engaged players as well as a DM that knows how to do their "thing."  That encompasses presenting an interesting setting with a variety of challenges and adjudicating those challenges as needed.  DMing is somewhat akin to herding cats.

Vornheim: The Complete City Kit Review Part Two

     Vornheim: The Complete City Kit
      Art & Writing by Zak S.
      Published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess
      64 page Hardcover, also available as PDF

The steed I rode that day.  She's in someone else's stable these days.

I rode my bike to the UPS Hub on a crisp January day in 2013 to pick up my copy of Vornheim.  At the time, I lived in an apartment building populated with package thieves, so anything that didn't fit in my mailbox required an expedition to one of the shipping facilities.  I had to "pick-up" a visiting friend at the train station right afterwards, so Vornheim sat unopened for the weekend while we all went to another friend's show and then played Skyrim.  When I finally dug into the package, I was instantly impressed by the map on the inside of the dust jacket and the die drop tables on the front and back cover.  There is no wasted space in Vornheim, whatsoever.

One of my Skyrim characters.  An Argonian.

At this point in time I was running Changeling: the Lost, so Vornheim's first use in my gaming life was as inspiration for an NPC table.  I spent days making a City NPC table for the Salt Lake City portion of my Changeling game.  The tool for making connections between NPCs was the next useful bit.

NPC connections in SLC.

I was already reading Zak's blog Playing DnD With Pornstars.  Getting the physical copy of Vornheim piqued my curiosity about it's publisher, so I was soon reading the LotFP blog by James Raggi.  By the time Free RPG Day 2013 rolled around in June, I was pleased to grab the LotFP offering that year, Better Than Any Man.  Meanwhile, I was losing interest and motivation to keep the Changeling campaign going and started talking about switching up the game with my group.  There had already been an aborted attempt the year before to start an AD&D 2nd edition game with me DMing, but scheduling conflicts on a main player's part and general " how do you do this again?" flailing on my part resulted in some characters getting rolled up and some drinks getting consumed.

We moved out to the boonies an hour north of Portland in 2014 and the Changeling game went on hiatus.  In early 2015 I started my LotFP campaign "Year of the Goat."  I've used Vornheim's "Navigation Shortcuts for Busy DMs" to create my city maps representing neighborhoods and main thoroughfares for the three large cities of my campaign.  The die drop table to see the most use in my game is the one that generates common game elements, the front cover of the book.  I've used the books, fortunes, and "I search the body" tables.  And the d100 buildings table.

Chizhova, capital city on a volcano.

Halwic, western industrial mill city.

In conclusion, this has been the book to see the most use at my game table, besides the LotFP Rules & Magic book.  I haven't used everything in Vornheim, but I've used so much that has added to my DM enjoyment and hopefully my players' enjoyment of blasting around cities in my setting.  Thank you Zak Smith, your mind is a glorious treasure!

#RPGaDay2018 Day Eight

Day 8 Question:  How can we get more people playing?

Invite people to play!  Speak about RPGs in a positive and engaging manner!

There have never been more ways to enjoy this hobby than right now.  Playing isn't just at the home table anymore.  Game stores and conventions have been around as venues for playing almost as long as the hobby has existed.  Take someone you know to a great game store (if you have one nearby) on a demo day like the annual Free RPG Day.  Not only can they play a demo, but they have the opportunity to grab a free game or game supplement.

Are there any conventions in your area you can check out?  If so, you could bring along friends and family to see all the different games and ways of gaming.

Playing online.  There's more than one way to do this, but I've only played on google hangouts.  All the games I've played have been with strangers (initially.)  This could be a cool way to stay connected to people you no longer see day to day.  I think these types of games work well in a shorter format.  Two hours seems to be the sweet spot.

If you are a fan of some of the games being streamed online, show someone you think would be interested.  I think that seeing people doing something and having fun is like catnip to others.  Streamed games can really demystify the process for a lot of fence-sitters, I think.

Public gaming in places you wouldn't normally associate with gaming.  Run an open table in a coffee shop, bar, or library.  I read a blog a few years back about a guy who gamed with his kids at a public park and a Five Guys Burgers.  This is bound to draw the curiosity of strangers, so be prepared to get interrupted and answer a few questions!  My goal of public gaming for awhile now has been on an Amtrak train.  I've done game reading and prep, but never actually run a game on a train.  One of these days;-) 

#RPGaDay2018 Day Seven

Day 7 Question: How can a GM make the stakes important?

Another pass.


Day 7 2015 Question: What is your favorite Free RPG?

The Lamentations of the Flame Princess Free Version which can be found in the following link:

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/115059/LotFP-Rules--Magic-Free-Version?manufacturers_id=2795

LotFP is my favorite RPG.  Period.  The free version comes without the cool interior art.  Otherwise, you get a complete rules system.  There are some other OSR games that you can get a free version of, but this is the game I would steer people towards.  You can also get the LotFP Referee book for free.  The Ref book has an adventure included called A Stranger Storm.  I started my LotFP long running campaign with it.  Link:

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/148012/LotFP-Referee-Book-old-Grindhouse-Edition?manufacturers_id=2795

While you are grabbing those, you might as well check out the Pay What You Want adventure The Doom-Cave of the Crystal-Headed Children.  Link:

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/132808/The-DoomCave-of-the-CrystalHeaded-Children?manufacturers_id=2795

Another OSR system to check out is Swords and Wizardry.  It is Pay What You Want.  Link:

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/86546/Swords-and-Wizardry-Complete-Rule-Book

#RPGaDay2018 Day Six

Day 6 Question: How can players make a world seem real?

Another pass.


Day 6 2015 Question: What was the most recent RPG you played?

I played a B/X type D&D game on Google Hangouts with some folks from the G+ Flailsnails group.  For those of you not in the know, Flailsnails games are any type of OSR system the DM wants to run and the players show up with any character from an OSR compatible system.  The DM has veto power on whether your character is appropriate and may set level ranges, but it's a pretty loose affair.  That's what makes it fun!  I need to get my shit together and run something on there.  I'm leaning towards The Midderlands, but a few other contenders are The Dark of Hot springs Island and Operation Unfathomable.

http://monkeyblooddesign.co.uk/epages/48e22cbf-79d8-4df7-bc38-7ed74676d5b2.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/48e22cbf-79d8-4df7-bc38-7ed74676d5b2/Categories/Purchase/The_Midderlands

http://shop.swordfishislands.com/the-dark-of-hot-springs-island/

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/233145/Operation-Unfathomable

UPDATE 8/19/18:  I'm kicking myself for forgetting the Yoon-Suin setting as a possibility!  When I was starting prep for my LotFP YotG campaign I had just gotten that book and it influenced some things about that campaign although I haven't used any material from it, yet.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/144820/YoonSuin 

#RPGaDay2018 Day Five

Day 5 Question: What is your favorite recurring NPC?

Another question I'll pass over.


Day 5 2015 Question: What was your most recent RPG purchase?

About a month ago I ordered The Dark of Hot Springs Island, Frostbitten and Mutilated, and Random Esoteric Creature Generator for Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games and Their Modern Simulacra.


http://shop.swordfishislands.com/the-dark-of-hot-springs-island/

http://www.lotfp.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=297

http://goodman-games.com/store/product/random-esoteric-creature-generator-for-classic-fantasy-role-playing-games-and-their-modern-simulacra-pdf/

The version of the Random Esoteric Creature Generator that I bought is the most recent print addition from the publisher Lamentations of the Flame Princess.  I'm not sure if it's still available, as it was a limited print run and the publisher is at GenCon as I write this.  So I posted a link to the PDF version that was published by Goodman Games.  I had been wanting a copy of RECG for years, and I gotta say I'm happy I waited because the presentation of this limited edition print run is out-of-this world gorgeous!

#RPGaDay2018 Day Four

Day 4 Question: What is the most memorable NPC?

I think because I DM more than I play, I don't want to answer this question, either. So like yesterday, I'll dive back to a 2017 RPG a Day question.

Day 4 2017 Question: Which RPG have you played the most since August 2016?

Going by the number of sessions, it looks like I've played 18 sessions of 5e D&D (as a player,) 12 sessions of Lamentations of the Flame Princess (as a DM,) and I've played about 5 sessions online in a variety of OSR type systems in the Flailsnails G+ group.  Honorable mention game is Call of Cthulhu at 3 sessions with a 4th imminent (I'm the keeper aka DM for this game, we'll play as soon as I get my prep for the next session complete.)

39 games divided by 24 months = 3.5 games a month!  Not bad, but I hope to bump that up this year.  I predict the  Flailsnails group on G+ is going to facilitate my being able to play more games, I'm hoping to run something there, too.


 

#RPGaDay2018 Day Three

Day 3 Question: What gives an RPG "staying power?"

Ugh. For whatever reason I'm irked by this question.  The phrase "staying power" seems better applied to products like deodorant, adhesives, or bike chain lube.  So I looked at 2017's Day Three question and found that more to my liking.


Day 3 2017 Question: How do you find out about new RPGs?

I have several sources for finding out about new RPGs.

I've been on G+ for about five years and I learn about many of the new OSR releases there.

My weekly email newsletter from DrivethruRPG is another avenue for learning about new games.  They like to spotlight a different free product every week, and that can be a great way to learn about games without the financial commitment.  Usually it's a quickstart or demo type product, but I feel like that can give me a general sense as to whether I would invest in the game or not.

Free RPG Day 2013 was pivotal to my gaming life!  I picked up Lamentations of the Flame Princess adventure Better Than Any Man.  I couldn't believe this was a free product!  I owned one book from that publisher already, the city creation book Vornheim by Zak Smith.  Those two books changed the course of my GMing for the better!  I started running a LotFP campaign back in early 2015.  We've been on hiatus with it, but will be returning to it soon.


Since this is my first year doing this RPGaDay writing challenge, I might dive back to prior years' questions again if I don't feel like the current year's question is compelling enough.

#RPGaDay2018 Day Two

Day 2 (Electric Boogaloo) Question:  What do you look for in an RPG?

The easy out here is to just say I'm looking for something that doesn't suck, lol.  But what does that mean exactly?  Let's drill deeper into the Mind of Bast to explore the things that inspire me to run and play games.

1. Art.  My mother was an artist and my exposure to art started at an early age.  I've always understood the power of it to affect me in deep and mysterious ways.  The RPG author and artist Zak Smith has said that art in RPGs should be doing more of the work than it usually does (not a quote, I'm paraphrasing) and I agree with this notion.  So I'm looking for art that tickles my fancy.

2. Production values.  Did the author(s) artists(s) layout/graphic design artist(s), editor(s) and publisher(s) care enough to hold themselves to a rigorous standard of presentation and usability?  The more so that they did, the more I'll be intrigued by their efforts.

3. Genre.  My tastes lean towards the horror end of the spectrum.  Low fantasy, grim dark, and dungeon punk are what really blow my hair back these days.  I'll take a sprinkling of gonzo here and there as well.

4. OSR compatibility.  I'm running mostly Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Call of Cthulhu these days.  So if I'm looking at other publishers' adventures or setting supplements, it's with an eye towards how easily I can adapt them to the campaigns I'm running.


 

#RPGaDay2018 Day One

I've never participated in one of these one-a-day for a month writing prompts/challenges... let's see how this goes!

Day 1 Question: What do you love about RPGs?

I love the combination of flexing my creative muscles and the social aspect.  Having participatory entertainment is satisfying to me in a way that more passive types of media and entertainment aren't.  It allows me to see the inherent creativity in those I sit around a table with in a way that I wouldn't if we all sat and watched a movie or TV show together.  I love the opportunity to be surprised by the people who game with me.

If you are curious and want to participate in this, here is the link:
http://autocratik.blogspot.com/2018/08/