Back to the Table

The last gaming session I participated in was probably last year as a player in the playtest of a Mutant Crawl Classics RPG adventure via Zoom. Until a week ago, my last in-person gaming session was two years ago when I ran "Temple Siege!" for Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. It is a short adventure by Julian Bernick included in the DCC Day 2021 Adventure Pack. As it states in the beginning, "This adventure is for 5 to 6 1st-level PCs (Some playtesters found that the adventure provided plenty of challenge for 4 to 5 2nd-level PCs as well.)" Well, we had three 2nd level player characters, and we were only halfway through the adventure when the session ended. Two years later (on 31 August 2024, to be precise), we finally met again to complete the adventure. Joe played Billie the Once Risen, formerly Billie the Squire (2nd level warrior), Sarah (my wife) played Francis the Creep (2nd level thief), and Leslie played George the Pupil (2nd level cleric). I re-described the circumstances of the adventure, what they had done, and where they had been, and they gradually recaptured the mood and party dynamics as if we had last played a mere week ago. The band was back! I would love to meet every week, but the schedules of adults are notoriously difficult to coordinate, and I'll consider us lucky if we can meet once or twice a month. It has been left to my discretion to pick the next adventure, so at least I'll have plenty of time to make a good choice and thoroughly prepare. I will be planning a mini-unmodule to lead into the adventure as I think we need more development of the player characters' local community and home bases. Their previous adventures, incidentally, have been Sailors on the Starless Sea, Doom of the Savage King, Frozen in Time, and, as I mentioned, "Temple Siege!"

Meanwhile, I will be running Mutant Crawl Classics RPG weekly for Mary (my mother) and Linnville, starting with the 0 level funnel, "Assault on the Sky-High Tower." I will be giving them eight 0 levels each (generated by the Mutant Crawl Classics 0-Level Party Generator by Purple Sorcerer Games). I have been developing a rich background for their tribe and location, which I hope will lend a feeling of community and shared history to the player characters. I think this is especially important to a far future postapocalyptic setting, which can sometimes be more difficult to visualize and relate to than more popular genres. I know it was one of the factors that dissuaded me from running Gamma World when I was a lad, despite a great desire to do so. Thankfully, I've learned how to surmount that inhibition.

I would very much like to run the new edition of Knave for some friends. I'm not sure who, where, or when, but I would like to try it as soon as possible.

I really need to get back on the phantom steed of running Ghostbusters. I can't remember when our last session was, but I really miss the wacky looseness of it. And I must run Teenagers from Outer Space! Either (or both) of these might be a good project for Halloween.

What games are you running, playing, or planning?

Blogs... in... Space!!!

I would like to thank everyone who left a comment on the previous article, "In Space, Can Anyone Hear You Blog?" Blogger provides no method of conveying approval short of comments, so I appreciate each and every one of them. For a brief time, Blogger incorporated the "+1" function familiar to Google+ users. It was similar to the "Like" and "Heart" of other social media platforms. It may not have offered the personal touch of a comment, but at least one knew that someone, somewhere, had read the article and enjoyed it enough to share that fact. Meanwhile, tracking the "views" on Blogger is pointless due to its inaccuracy. (Would you believe this blog occasionally has more readers in Singapore than in the United States? Neither do I.) Being added to blogrolls is helpful, but with more readers resorting to feeds, it isn't as helpful as it used to be. Unless I start a Patreon (and I know my blogs are not popular enough for that), the only way I can gauge whether anyone is reading anything I write is when I see the occasional comment. Towards that end, if it makes it easier, you are welcome to comment anonymously and just leave a "!" or an emoticon or a meme on any article in any of my blogs. I don't know if other bloggers would consider it annoying, but any kind of positive comment motivates me to keep blogging. Please consider it. Maybe, someday, it could become a universal method of encouraging bloggers everywhere.

That's all for today. Tomorrow, I shall blog again.

Be seeing you...

In Space, Can Anyone Hear You Blog?

Are you a person? Do you read this blog? If you are and you do, please leave a comment below. I am just trying to get an idea of how many actual readers this blog has. Applied Phantasticality gets a few thousand hits a month, but I have a difficult time believing most of them are not from bots. So, if you actually read this blog on occasion and you are not a bot, please leave a comment below. Feel free to do it anonymously if you prefer. And state your country, too, if you wish. It would be interesting to know where my readers are. All I really need are the numbers, so if you just want to indicate that you read this blog, simply type an exclamation point in the comments. I'll start.

N.B. All comments are moderated to prevent spam, but please do not let that dissuade you.

P.S. If you are a reader, thank you. If you leave a comment, thank you. Sometimes it's hard to find motivation in the silence of blogspace, and knowing one has actual readers means a great deal.

RPGaDay 2024: Day 31

31. Game you miss

The role-playing game I miss GMing and playing the most is Stormbringer 1st edition.

And that is the end of this year's #RPGaDay.

Be seeing you...

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2024 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2024: Day 30

30. Person[s] you'd like to game with

I've answered versions of this question before, but this time, I would like to game at the Canadians' table:

• Brent Butt
• Paul Sun-Hyung Lee
• Rakhee Morzaria
• Andrew Phung
• Nancy Robertson
• Sugith Varughese

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2024 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2024: Day 29

29. Awesome app

The answer to this prompt is The Crawler's Companion (for Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG and Mutant Crawl Classics RPG) from Purple Sorcerer Games. I highly recommend both the app and the HTML version.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2024 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2024: Day 28

28. Great gamer gadget

Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary defines "gadget" thusly:

gadget

an often small mechanical or electronic device with a practical use but often thought of as a novelty

Based on that definition, "great gamer gadget" is clearly a dice tower. Do I use one? No. Do I think they are amusing? Yes. Would I use one if I had one? Yes, if a) it was sufficiently amusing and b) my players can't keep their dice on the table otherwise. Personally, I prefer dice trays and dice cups, but dice towers are fine, too.

I think it would be fun if there were competitions to create the most interesting dice towers—elaborate Rube Goldbergian contraptions just to roll dice. And then OK Go could incorporate the entries into a music video. It seems like the universe would want this to happen.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2024 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2024: Day 23 Revisited

23. Peerless player[s]

Previously, I asked if anyone would like to offer an alternative topic to the 23rd prompt of #RPGaDay2024, but none have been forthcoming, despite it being the most-viewed post of Applied Phantasticality this month. (Technically, I was asked if I had considered the official alternative prompt, but I found it equally uninspiring.) Well, I no longer need any suggestions. I have an answer.

Peerless players? The Aquabats. We'll sit around a table in the Battletram, set it on autopilot, and I'll run the wildest game of our lives as we drink cherry sodas and eat gas station burritos. At least until real danger strikes or someone needs our help.

Behold the Floating Eye of Death!

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2024 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2024: Day 27

27. Miniatures

For war games, I prefer miniatures. For role-playing games, I prefer "theatre of the mind."

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2024 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2024: Day 26

26. Superb screen

I own a four-panel, landscape-oriented, customizable GM screen with clear plastic pockets on both sides of every panel so I can slide in reference sheets or art appropriate to whatever game I am running. It's called The World's Greatest Screen from Hammerdog Games. It's nearly perfect. The World's Greatest Screen: The Half Screen (soon to be launched on Kickstarter) might be even better (and I certainly plan to get one).

Another good option is the three-panel, landcape-oriented, Savage Worlds Customizable GM screen from Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

When I was a teenager, I used the typical cardboard, three-panel, portrait-oriented screens that were produced for various role-playing games by their manufacturers. They were already too tall for my purposes, but the situation was worsened by the fact that I ran my games from a desk that was taller than the card table at which my players were seated. To overcome this lack of visibility (a problem for me as I communicate nearly as much with gestures and facial expressions as I do with speech when I GM), I tended to sit on the back of my office chair. And tilt it backwards (a habit, not a strategy). I strongly discourage both activities. Fortunately, landscape-oriented screens (and playing at the same actual table) eliminate the need for such stunts.

Buy a better screen or make one yourself. It's worth it.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2024 specifically), read this.]