RPGaDay 2023: Day 08

8. Favourite CHARACTER

As I mentioned before, I do not think in hierarchical terms. Instead of designating a character as my favorite, I'll choose the first of my characters that springs to mind.

The character is Victor M. Valiant, director of silent films and founder of Valiant Pictures. I created him for a nighttime Call of Cthulhu adventure my friends and I played at a campground in Mukwonago, Wisconsin c. 1990. We were attending Gen Con (then located in Milwaukee), and camping was more affordable than any hotel. David was the Keeper (having read the adventure on our way from Ohio to Wisconsin). Tim's character was a jazz musician from New Orleans, and Andrew's character was a doctor. It was tremendously fun, and I regret we never had the chance to continue their adventures.

Here are the character's details:

Name: Victor M. Valiant
Age: 50
Occupation: Film Director [and founder of Valiant Pictures]
Nationality: American
Residence: U.S.A.
STR 12
CON 11
SIZ 12
DEX 10
APP 15
SAN 96
INT 17 (Idea 85)
POW 10 (Luck 50)
EDU 19 (Knowledge 95)
Magic Points: 10
Hit Points: 12
Cash on Hand: $149.70
Noteworthy Skills
Bargain 40
Chemistry 84
Cthulhu Mythos 3
Credit Rating 20
Dodge 50
Drive Automobile 30
Electrical Repair 30
Hide 25
History 34
Library Use 31
Oratory 11
Photography 94
Read/Write French 61
Ride 16
Sneak 37
Speak French 15
Spot Hidden 41
Swim 40
Track 30
Pump Shotgun 60

An Incomplete Filmography

• Nefarious Dreams
  
• Juju Dreams
  
• The Scoundrel of Baghdad
  
• The Bureaucrat
  
• Steamer to Shanghai
  
• The Black Widow
  
• Fig. 13
  
• The Engines of Peace
  

The names of the films were jotted on the back of my player character sheet as Andrew and I ad-libbed about some of my character's past filmmaking exploits. The conversational improvisation between player characters was one of my favorite aspects of that session.

And here is the original character sheet:

[Click image to enlarge.]

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2023 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2023: Day 07

7. SMARTEST RPG you've played read

"Smart" has many definitions. For the purpose of answering this question, I choose the version of "smart" defined as "witty" or "clever." So, with that in mind, what is the wittiest role-playing game (in my opinion)?

Instead of mentioning commercially published role-playing games that most gamers already know about, I'll list the three SMARTEST independent RPGs that are free and currently available:

• The Drones ("A light-hearted after-dinnerish roleplay game" inspired by the works of P.G. Wodehouse) by Ian Crowther, Sheila Thomas, and Victoria Uren
• The Skool Rools ("Also nowen as KLASSROOMS & MATRONS, the roll-playing game of British educashun") by Phil Masters
• Star Wreck (based primarily on the Finnish movie, Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning) by Mike Pohjola

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2023 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2023: Day 06

6. Favourite RPG you NEVER get to play

Asking me to name my favorite role-playing game I never get to play is like asking me to name my favorite role-playing game, which is no easy task. You might as well ask me to name my favorite book or poem or movie. I do not think in hierarchical terms. I like many role-playing games and I never get to play as many as I'd like. So, my answer will be a role-playing game I never finished designing (although someday I may): Cargoes & Castaways.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2023 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2023: Day 05

5. OLDEST RPG you've played

The oldest role-playing game I've played is Mazes & Minotaurs. No, that's not true (although I wish it were). The oldest RPG I've played is, of course, Dungeons & Dragons, the first commercially published RPG in the world. Everyone reading this knows what D&D is, but I think fewer readers know about Mazes & Minotaurs.

Mazes & Minotaurs, by Olivier Legrand, answers the question: What if the first role-playing game had been inspired by Ray Harryhausen's Jason and the Argonauts and Homer's Odyssey rather than fantasy fiction? Based loosely on the rules of the third edition of D&D, it is a brilliant interpretation of a further fictionalized mythical ancient world, and it's free.

Both versions of Mazes & Minotaurs (the 1972 Original Rules and the 1987 Revised Rules) are available as PDFs and are far superior to most role-playing games on the market. And again, they are free.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2023 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2023: Day 04

4. Most RECENT RPG bought

The most recent RPG I bought this year was Tim Snider's Fie, I Say!, "The D6 Comedy-Fantasy-Parody Roleplaying Game" inspired by Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Roleplaying Game. I'll write more about it later in Decidedly Six-Sided.

Fie, I Say! is available in two different formats (PDF and black & white softcover book) here from DriveThruRPG.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2023 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2023: Day 03

3. First RPG BOUGHT (this year)

The first print role-playing game I bought this year was Richard Woolcock's Tricube Tales, a rules light system using one to three six-sided dice. I'll write more about it later in Decidedly Six-Sided.

Tricube Tales is available in three different formats (phone PDF, standard color softcover book, and black & white softcover book) here from DriveThruRPG.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2023 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2023: Day 02

2. First RPG GAMEMASTER

I have already answered this in response to similar #RPGaDay questions over the years (see the first entry for RPGaDay 2019), but I'll repeat it: my first Dungeon Master was my friend David who introduced me to Dungeons & Dragons.

We were in third grade when we met and he proudly announced, "I play D&D with my brother." My blank and uninterested expression led him to follow with an explanation: "It means Dungeons & Dragons." To which I replied, "So?" I can't recall the rest of the conversation, but the subject died until we were in fifth grade and I was excited about an advertisement for a computer game called Deathmaze 5000 I had seen in an issue of 80 Microcomputing. To paraphrase what I told my friends David and Andrew on the playground, "What if there were a game like Deathmaze 5000, but instead of using the computer, which has a limited number of responses to a limited number of commands, you could try to do anything you can imagine and there would be endless possibilities! I wish it existed!" To which David responded, "That's what D&D is." Thusly did the lightning bolt strike me, and a short time later I played my first role-playing session with David as the DM.

It seems like a silly little anecdote, but it was the beginning of a lifelong hobby and it forged a bond of social activity and creative endeavor amongst my friends and me. Role-playing games were, and continue to be, a shared language amongst many of my closest and oldest friends. Thank you, David, for that first adventure.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2023 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2023: Day 01

1. FIRST RPG played (this year)

The first (and only) role-playing game I have played this year is Mutant Crawl Classics RPG. I've been lax in my active gaming this year, and I only have the Lords of Chaos to blame. MCC RPG is a fine game, but there are so many more I wish to run and play. The year is not over, however, and I may yet find Tanelorn.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2023 specifically), read this.]

Preparing for the 10th RPGaDay

RPGaDay2023 is nigh, and this time I shall be posting my daily responses throughout August on Facebook instead of Twitter. As usual, I shall compile them in a single article here in early September. Are you participating, and if so, where?

[Correction: I'll avoid subjecting my non-gaming friends on Facebook to my #RPGaDay answers and subject the readers of this blog to them instead. Daily. Sorry, readers of this blog (if there are any).]

[Click image to enlarge.]

Phage from Below Crowdfunding in Progress

The Kickstarter project for Phage from Below, Tim Snider's 2nd level adventure for Mutant Crawl Classics RPG, is currently in progress at the low price of $5.00 for the PDF and the option to purchase an at-cost, print-on-demand copy. Add-ons include the 1st level adventure The Desk in Room 8-10 and the 0 level funnel Dead in the Water at $5.00 each for the PDF and the same hard copy option. The deadline to back the project is 15 July 2023.