I've decided weekly progress reports to keep up with the work might help...
Still digging up random files, putting everything in one place synced with a cloud seems to be a VERY good idea now. I'm using google docs which will let me work on my computer and it shall update automatically.
I rebuilt the edges, outlined some gear, moved in the ship stats, and added ship parts. Not as much work as I honestly would like, but I only have myself to blame for that one. My plans for the next week include more fleshing out of basic ship stats, developing the ship activities further and perhaps tackling some outlines for the actual setting portions. It would also be nice to be done digging up numbers and have them all converted to the new document, but I have to go about dealing with converting one note files to a readable format. I SHOULD be able to do that, but we'll see...
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Friday, January 17, 2014
False Starts
I've done quite a few false starts in the interim. Tried to cover the various exploits I've pursued, explain my distractions.
Hardly really matters if nothing gets posted.
After many false starts I've decided to work on a complete work and submit it. Finally design something, finish it and submit it.
As such I am pursuing making my spaceship rules for Savage Worlds into a setting. I think the biggest difficulty will be maintaining the steam, but we shall see.
I don't promise to do continuous updates on progress, but wish I could say I will.
Right now I'm at the beginning. I'm recovering and covering old ground and putting it into one single document separated as one would an actual book. I intend to keep all the ship rules, the general universal and social structure and the character rules.
After I get the rules into a playable state I intend to make working character/ship sheets as necessary. Then I will be looking for viable play test scheduling. I'm actually part of a group that is working on getting another Savage Worlds product out there and has a record of succeeding at those, so I'm hoping if they have a gap in their schedule I can mix things in. Furthermore they probably have resources for art and advice. This is looking pretty far into the future however as we have a lot of things to do on the old project and some fun activities as a 'just hanging out' group we like to do too.
I've also done one vital thing. I'm using Google docs to back things up. I have a bad history of losing hard drives at inopportune times. Furthermore I have a vague concept of a special method of play testing that could be augmented with Google docs.
As shorthand for the rest of life...
I got fired from LucasArts over a year ago, got a new job that isn't really games anymore and am sad.
Rethinking my future path and how to go in that direction.
Played a lot of video games.
Still play pen and paper when I can, but mostly just here.
Also play on RPOL, but it's generally shit games.
Ran a superhero game on Skype and bombed it. (Rules good, GMing bad[big ego hit])
Attended Wasteland Weekend and met awesome people and did awesome things (huge ego boost)
Finally cleaned off my desk.
So yeah, life and stuff.
Hardly really matters if nothing gets posted.
After many false starts I've decided to work on a complete work and submit it. Finally design something, finish it and submit it.
As such I am pursuing making my spaceship rules for Savage Worlds into a setting. I think the biggest difficulty will be maintaining the steam, but we shall see.
I don't promise to do continuous updates on progress, but wish I could say I will.
Right now I'm at the beginning. I'm recovering and covering old ground and putting it into one single document separated as one would an actual book. I intend to keep all the ship rules, the general universal and social structure and the character rules.
After I get the rules into a playable state I intend to make working character/ship sheets as necessary. Then I will be looking for viable play test scheduling. I'm actually part of a group that is working on getting another Savage Worlds product out there and has a record of succeeding at those, so I'm hoping if they have a gap in their schedule I can mix things in. Furthermore they probably have resources for art and advice. This is looking pretty far into the future however as we have a lot of things to do on the old project and some fun activities as a 'just hanging out' group we like to do too.
I've also done one vital thing. I'm using Google docs to back things up. I have a bad history of losing hard drives at inopportune times. Furthermore I have a vague concept of a special method of play testing that could be augmented with Google docs.
As shorthand for the rest of life...
I got fired from LucasArts over a year ago, got a new job that isn't really games anymore and am sad.
Rethinking my future path and how to go in that direction.
Played a lot of video games.
Still play pen and paper when I can, but mostly just here.
Also play on RPOL, but it's generally shit games.
Ran a superhero game on Skype and bombed it. (Rules good, GMing bad[big ego hit])
Attended Wasteland Weekend and met awesome people and did awesome things (huge ego boost)
Finally cleaned off my desk.
So yeah, life and stuff.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Subtlety
So as I have decided I would like to try and do some more player centric posts until either I determine them useless, offend a GM who may or may not read my blog, or until I can get some REAL content. Bear with me, these posts are going to have stories and anecdotes and references to rulings or whatnot. I'll try and be quick about mentioning the rule set in advance so nobody gets confused.
This post is going to be on subtlety. I hope my GM doesn't mind my picking apart something even he admitted was not a success (perhaps not for the same reasons as myself). Especially given it may have a long standing effect. I'm fairly certain his players don't read this content.
The system is Savage Worlds, but mainly I would like to deal with story telling. In particular my GMs attempt to create a low magic setting. A setting where magic and supernatural are uncommon if not rare. It at it's base was set near the gold rush period in western US.
I gave this GM a piece of advice before we started. If you want to ensure the players believe in a low magic setting if they are surprised by magic and it becomes a special or rare thing, first and foremost you need to have mundane adventures. Preferably multiple mundane adventures. Furthermore, I feel like you should just lie. Just straight up lie to the player's face. No, no there is no magic.
The second the GM mentioned that magic existed, one of the players jumped on the possibility of magic and immediately began attempting to create a character that could use it. Then when denied, a character that could use it in the future. And so on and so forth for much longer than it should have gone on.
This felt like a poor start to me. Perhaps I am wrong, but I think the effect would have been better achieved with a lie, or a lie of omission or something to that effect. This problem was compounded about half an hour into our first adventure. A mundane adventure by my advice. Around when the army of cultists (obviously cultists) surrounded our inn, started burning it down and asked us for a 'something' that is clearly a reference to a religious item.
Personally I would have gone with a cave in. Or a search for a kidnapper. Or perhaps surviving a train robbery? They're all pretty epic if done right, AND mundane as hell. In fact, perhaps after several mundane adventures a gang of ruffians with matching tattoos shows up. Then things start to get strange. Just strange enough it could be edge logic. Swamp gas and whatnot, then bam, almost undeniable magic for one scene if possible, then gone, out like a light with the climax you have hopefully achieved.
It's not easy, and the GM agrees the adventure didn't go as well as he would have liked. And it is his game so perhaps he didn't really want mundane.
There you have it, a player post. Hopefully if anyone was looking for one of these I could get some feedback on how I could improve.
This post is going to be on subtlety. I hope my GM doesn't mind my picking apart something even he admitted was not a success (perhaps not for the same reasons as myself). Especially given it may have a long standing effect. I'm fairly certain his players don't read this content.
The system is Savage Worlds, but mainly I would like to deal with story telling. In particular my GMs attempt to create a low magic setting. A setting where magic and supernatural are uncommon if not rare. It at it's base was set near the gold rush period in western US.
I gave this GM a piece of advice before we started. If you want to ensure the players believe in a low magic setting if they are surprised by magic and it becomes a special or rare thing, first and foremost you need to have mundane adventures. Preferably multiple mundane adventures. Furthermore, I feel like you should just lie. Just straight up lie to the player's face. No, no there is no magic.
The second the GM mentioned that magic existed, one of the players jumped on the possibility of magic and immediately began attempting to create a character that could use it. Then when denied, a character that could use it in the future. And so on and so forth for much longer than it should have gone on.
This felt like a poor start to me. Perhaps I am wrong, but I think the effect would have been better achieved with a lie, or a lie of omission or something to that effect. This problem was compounded about half an hour into our first adventure. A mundane adventure by my advice. Around when the army of cultists (obviously cultists) surrounded our inn, started burning it down and asked us for a 'something' that is clearly a reference to a religious item.
Personally I would have gone with a cave in. Or a search for a kidnapper. Or perhaps surviving a train robbery? They're all pretty epic if done right, AND mundane as hell. In fact, perhaps after several mundane adventures a gang of ruffians with matching tattoos shows up. Then things start to get strange. Just strange enough it could be edge logic. Swamp gas and whatnot, then bam, almost undeniable magic for one scene if possible, then gone, out like a light with the climax you have hopefully achieved.
It's not easy, and the GM agrees the adventure didn't go as well as he would have liked. And it is his game so perhaps he didn't really want mundane.
There you have it, a player post. Hopefully if anyone was looking for one of these I could get some feedback on how I could improve.
Friday, February 8, 2013
An Introspective
I am a very introspective person. I take a lot of time to think about why I am, how I am and how I act. Sometimes I wonder how I got to where I am for a while. Not so much in a regretful, 'what I would have done differently.' But more of a consideration of what it says about me.
I have already decided on my greatest public fault and have fears about my greatest private one. I think these traits have defined my path in life. They have limited me and put me in the position I am in now. Escapism through games, distancing myself from many social situations, stagnant.
Even now, I'm almost fighting the urge to stop typing. To not just express publicly my faults. Perhaps because it would establish them as more real? Or their own self preserving characteristics are trying to limit me.
I think that if I could develop my self expression further it may help me develop. It may help me grow and perhaps even improve my life. It's my fault I'm not very good at it. I use sarcasm and jokes. I do everything in my power to be witty or 'charming' or silent. I excuse everything I do, and sabotage my own air of confidence with loopholes and escape routes in my text and speech. Even simple things I'm confident about I can subvert almost unconsciously.
Here I guess is as good a place as any to admit a few personal things about myself. With a regular readership probably numbering 2 due to my own lack of activity, it is a good place to start. Test the waters. Here I likely wont get any readers I know (regardless of my advertising to friends.)
For all my introversion, I don't know who I am. It's the easiest admission of coarse. I hear it's quite common, especially in my young age. I've been working five years at a job (note terminology, not career, job) that I'm sure I'm appreciated at... unofficially. I don't like what I do. I'm not bad at it, I'm not great at it, better than 95% of the people there for sure. But I don't know where I really want to go, or how to get there, or even if this industry is right for me.
I know I wasted 5 years at college, that's for sure. Half the new hires that get paid as much as I do have no college education, or completely irrelevant one. Most of them look to me for knowledge that I don't have and I ask myself if I even deserve to be where I am. I give a snarky answer, point them towards someone else and go on my life and feel like I hope I wont get caught in some kind of weird lie. I feel guilty.
I wake up in the morning and hurriedly put out the alarm feeling guilty that I may have woken my partner. I then proceed to put on some clothes and turn on the computer. I then feel guilty I spend time on the computer rather than make breakfast for me and my partner. Then, at the last second I make a quick lunch and feel guilty about all the crap I stuff in my backpack.
Some days I give a ride to my partner and feel guilty I only drop them off half way since they're downtown. I get to work and feel guilty I don't do an earlier shift. It's not necessary for my job, but there's still other folks doing it that need to. I start my day by checking emails and feel guilty about what I didn't realize would be a problem, or about getting some more hot water for tea or whatever. Eventually the end of the day comes, and as I'm feeling guilty about all the work I didn't do (but was of coarse not asked of me or even scheduled) I feel guilty about the game I am attending, or about to attend on Wednesdays or Fridays. That or I feel guilty that I hope when I get home my partner will not be there and I can have half an hour or an hour to myself.
If I do get time to myself, I feel guilty about the masturbation, or the not preparing dinner in advance, or whatever I do or don't do. Then during the time we have together I feel guilty that I play video games, or don't talk enough, or hold hands enough or am clean enough, or don't clean enough... Finally I go to bed thinking about me, and how I ended up here and how I feel guilty that I can't get over my issues.
Guilt isn't a problem though, it's a symptom. Just like my depression. I know depression, I've felt it a lot before. A long time ago I was even borderline suicidal. It is an interesting and unique feeling looking at the concrete support of an overpass and wondering how it would play out to hit it at oh... 100mph. I used to take 3 hour drives bi weekly back in those early college days.
That depression was triggered initially in a low grade form by generic acne medication. This was compounded by my first girlfriend's desire to join the military. She was not very stable mentally I feel, but that might be my bias. This made me angry, sad and confused. That's why she broke up with me. That made me reached my lowest of low.
That's how I know I'm depressed. It's mild, slightly compounded by stress and guilt. Not that any of you would worry, but it's not that bad yet, nor do I think it will get that bad. I don't ask myself what I give to the world, or list who would miss me in my mind as I go to sleep... or well, try.
I don't know how to deal with real emotions. Every time I feel something other than amusement, like at a movie, or a book, it feels like the only response is to cry. It seems so pointless, and as I was raised, wrong. It wont solve anything will it? But what is there to solve?
I wont cry because I want to be strong. I've felt that way since my brother died, while watching them lower the casket, holding in one hand my father's hand, and one hand my mothers hand. I felt like one of us needed to be a rock, and they were so torn up like frothing waves that I should be that rock. It's all so damn hard though. Trying to take up this role stuck with me, and now the only people I feel safe enough to talk about it to is the anonymity of the internet. Sort of.
I'm too damn stubborn inside. I seem so wishy washy outside, but looking at it now, inside I'm stubborn. I dunno, that's not what I thought my private fault was.
I thought it was that I feared failure. I feared looking weak or showing fault. 'We were all teased as kids. I was no exception.' I put that in a single quote after writing it. It's cliched and wrong. It's a weak line and doesn't convey things properly. Using someone else's words so completely isn't right. I was hurt as a child. By other children who were probably hurt by someone else. I may have hurt other children too. If I were wrong, or showed weakness, or lack of knowledge in some area it would immediately be jumped on. I think that learning stuck. Didn't help I spent more time at home with legos or three different board games thinking up games recombining their elements for me and my teddy bear to play, than outside with other kids around my home.
I think it may be a common fault. All the new stuff going around work says that that fear is a sign I will not succeed in life. But what is success? There's no reward other than dying in life. So I may not succeed in my job. Or maybe once I get a career in that either. I guess this realization is supposed to make me seek out self help books and go to more work seminars.
My public fault is that I am too easy going. I'm too accepting of inconveniences. Of the things in life that successful people get so irritated about that they do something about it. But since I'm so easy going, it doesn't bother me enough to do anything about it.
For the longest time I didn't want to make this blog personal. Just games. But games replicate life. Or help us escape it. Where are we escaping from? Where are we escaping to? I hope it's nice getting this off my back. Maybe just for a little while. Maybe in the future I'll talk more. We could touch on my furry inclinations, or maybe my poor memory. Or maybe I wont be depressed and I can do a post on my greatest successes, as minor as they may be, or the things I like, love and care about.
Or maybe I'll rethink a midnight post and delete this a few days down the road.
I have already decided on my greatest public fault and have fears about my greatest private one. I think these traits have defined my path in life. They have limited me and put me in the position I am in now. Escapism through games, distancing myself from many social situations, stagnant.
Even now, I'm almost fighting the urge to stop typing. To not just express publicly my faults. Perhaps because it would establish them as more real? Or their own self preserving characteristics are trying to limit me.
I think that if I could develop my self expression further it may help me develop. It may help me grow and perhaps even improve my life. It's my fault I'm not very good at it. I use sarcasm and jokes. I do everything in my power to be witty or 'charming' or silent. I excuse everything I do, and sabotage my own air of confidence with loopholes and escape routes in my text and speech. Even simple things I'm confident about I can subvert almost unconsciously.
Here I guess is as good a place as any to admit a few personal things about myself. With a regular readership probably numbering 2 due to my own lack of activity, it is a good place to start. Test the waters. Here I likely wont get any readers I know (regardless of my advertising to friends.)
For all my introversion, I don't know who I am. It's the easiest admission of coarse. I hear it's quite common, especially in my young age. I've been working five years at a job (note terminology, not career, job) that I'm sure I'm appreciated at... unofficially. I don't like what I do. I'm not bad at it, I'm not great at it, better than 95% of the people there for sure. But I don't know where I really want to go, or how to get there, or even if this industry is right for me.
I know I wasted 5 years at college, that's for sure. Half the new hires that get paid as much as I do have no college education, or completely irrelevant one. Most of them look to me for knowledge that I don't have and I ask myself if I even deserve to be where I am. I give a snarky answer, point them towards someone else and go on my life and feel like I hope I wont get caught in some kind of weird lie. I feel guilty.
I wake up in the morning and hurriedly put out the alarm feeling guilty that I may have woken my partner. I then proceed to put on some clothes and turn on the computer. I then feel guilty I spend time on the computer rather than make breakfast for me and my partner. Then, at the last second I make a quick lunch and feel guilty about all the crap I stuff in my backpack.
Some days I give a ride to my partner and feel guilty I only drop them off half way since they're downtown. I get to work and feel guilty I don't do an earlier shift. It's not necessary for my job, but there's still other folks doing it that need to. I start my day by checking emails and feel guilty about what I didn't realize would be a problem, or about getting some more hot water for tea or whatever. Eventually the end of the day comes, and as I'm feeling guilty about all the work I didn't do (but was of coarse not asked of me or even scheduled) I feel guilty about the game I am attending, or about to attend on Wednesdays or Fridays. That or I feel guilty that I hope when I get home my partner will not be there and I can have half an hour or an hour to myself.
If I do get time to myself, I feel guilty about the masturbation, or the not preparing dinner in advance, or whatever I do or don't do. Then during the time we have together I feel guilty that I play video games, or don't talk enough, or hold hands enough or am clean enough, or don't clean enough... Finally I go to bed thinking about me, and how I ended up here and how I feel guilty that I can't get over my issues.
Guilt isn't a problem though, it's a symptom. Just like my depression. I know depression, I've felt it a lot before. A long time ago I was even borderline suicidal. It is an interesting and unique feeling looking at the concrete support of an overpass and wondering how it would play out to hit it at oh... 100mph. I used to take 3 hour drives bi weekly back in those early college days.
That depression was triggered initially in a low grade form by generic acne medication. This was compounded by my first girlfriend's desire to join the military. She was not very stable mentally I feel, but that might be my bias. This made me angry, sad and confused. That's why she broke up with me. That made me reached my lowest of low.
That's how I know I'm depressed. It's mild, slightly compounded by stress and guilt. Not that any of you would worry, but it's not that bad yet, nor do I think it will get that bad. I don't ask myself what I give to the world, or list who would miss me in my mind as I go to sleep... or well, try.
I don't know how to deal with real emotions. Every time I feel something other than amusement, like at a movie, or a book, it feels like the only response is to cry. It seems so pointless, and as I was raised, wrong. It wont solve anything will it? But what is there to solve?
I wont cry because I want to be strong. I've felt that way since my brother died, while watching them lower the casket, holding in one hand my father's hand, and one hand my mothers hand. I felt like one of us needed to be a rock, and they were so torn up like frothing waves that I should be that rock. It's all so damn hard though. Trying to take up this role stuck with me, and now the only people I feel safe enough to talk about it to is the anonymity of the internet. Sort of.
I'm too damn stubborn inside. I seem so wishy washy outside, but looking at it now, inside I'm stubborn. I dunno, that's not what I thought my private fault was.
I thought it was that I feared failure. I feared looking weak or showing fault. 'We were all teased as kids. I was no exception.' I put that in a single quote after writing it. It's cliched and wrong. It's a weak line and doesn't convey things properly. Using someone else's words so completely isn't right. I was hurt as a child. By other children who were probably hurt by someone else. I may have hurt other children too. If I were wrong, or showed weakness, or lack of knowledge in some area it would immediately be jumped on. I think that learning stuck. Didn't help I spent more time at home with legos or three different board games thinking up games recombining their elements for me and my teddy bear to play, than outside with other kids around my home.
I think it may be a common fault. All the new stuff going around work says that that fear is a sign I will not succeed in life. But what is success? There's no reward other than dying in life. So I may not succeed in my job. Or maybe once I get a career in that either. I guess this realization is supposed to make me seek out self help books and go to more work seminars.
My public fault is that I am too easy going. I'm too accepting of inconveniences. Of the things in life that successful people get so irritated about that they do something about it. But since I'm so easy going, it doesn't bother me enough to do anything about it.
For the longest time I didn't want to make this blog personal. Just games. But games replicate life. Or help us escape it. Where are we escaping from? Where are we escaping to? I hope it's nice getting this off my back. Maybe just for a little while. Maybe in the future I'll talk more. We could touch on my furry inclinations, or maybe my poor memory. Or maybe I wont be depressed and I can do a post on my greatest successes, as minor as they may be, or the things I like, love and care about.
Or maybe I'll rethink a midnight post and delete this a few days down the road.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Good Fortune
Now that I am finally on a rather large break from work, (My workplace has a VERY long winter break due to standard release schedules) I have an opportunity to sit back, relax and let everything fall into perspective a bit. Being so close to work all the time, the frustration at certain higher ups and how the bigger picture seems to be lacking me (at least for the last four weeks) and all that.
It helps that I have a piece of technology added to my toy box that I thought I would never own. Through a fortuitous turn of events an iPad has managed to fall into my lap. This immediately got me to thinking about all the wonderous and amazing things I could do with an iPad. First I started considering it's potential for 'pen and paper' gaming. Then I got distracted by all the iPad games I thought I'd never get to play. Now I am returning to the potential of mobile pen and paper gaming.
As of now I have installed Skype to the device for my online game, but until I get a dice roller app I am happy with and build a decent character sheet in any kind of app, I don't think it beats my PC yet. I am however looking forwards to using it to have video as well as be able to talk as loud as I want in the other room while my girlfriend sleeps in the bedroom. Furthermore the ability to talk to anyone with Skype will be super fun.
I installed an app called Numbers made by apple themselves (I figure if Microsoft makes one of the leading spreadsheet apps for PCs then hopefully Apple can make a good one for Macs, or in this case an iPad.) This looks like it has a lot of potential for use as a decent character sheet system. Easily duplicatable sheets, very customizable charts and graphs. It probably sucks for professional work, but for what I'm doing I think it's going to be perfect. Never again will I need to have a million pieces of scrap paper everywhere! I hope..
As far as dice rollers go, I've scouted out the basic free rollers and am a bit disappointed. I should really get off my ass and see what it would take to make my own. Just to be sure the programming isn't biased ;). From the ones I saw, there was one that biased the numbers, and another that didn't have quick rolls.
Eventually I would like to get a drawing app on the device. Draw character pictures, maps, sketch out plans and such. This is kind of a stretch goal, not necessary by any means, and I've only done extremely light research into it. Hopefully I'll find something.
I was talking to a co-worker at work about gaming on the iPad, and he and I both agree there should be an Ultimate <System> Companion. Just think, a whole suite with map generators, character sheets, inventory and magic items, dice rollers... Someone could EASILY sell it for 15$ a pop. I just hope someone goes in and does it. I would buy one for each system I actually use if they make it thorough enough.
Anyhow, I'm feeling a bit better than last post. Here's wishing everyone health, happiness and Good Fortune.
It helps that I have a piece of technology added to my toy box that I thought I would never own. Through a fortuitous turn of events an iPad has managed to fall into my lap. This immediately got me to thinking about all the wonderous and amazing things I could do with an iPad. First I started considering it's potential for 'pen and paper' gaming. Then I got distracted by all the iPad games I thought I'd never get to play. Now I am returning to the potential of mobile pen and paper gaming.
As of now I have installed Skype to the device for my online game, but until I get a dice roller app I am happy with and build a decent character sheet in any kind of app, I don't think it beats my PC yet. I am however looking forwards to using it to have video as well as be able to talk as loud as I want in the other room while my girlfriend sleeps in the bedroom. Furthermore the ability to talk to anyone with Skype will be super fun.
I installed an app called Numbers made by apple themselves (I figure if Microsoft makes one of the leading spreadsheet apps for PCs then hopefully Apple can make a good one for Macs, or in this case an iPad.) This looks like it has a lot of potential for use as a decent character sheet system. Easily duplicatable sheets, very customizable charts and graphs. It probably sucks for professional work, but for what I'm doing I think it's going to be perfect. Never again will I need to have a million pieces of scrap paper everywhere! I hope..
As far as dice rollers go, I've scouted out the basic free rollers and am a bit disappointed. I should really get off my ass and see what it would take to make my own. Just to be sure the programming isn't biased ;). From the ones I saw, there was one that biased the numbers, and another that didn't have quick rolls.
Eventually I would like to get a drawing app on the device. Draw character pictures, maps, sketch out plans and such. This is kind of a stretch goal, not necessary by any means, and I've only done extremely light research into it. Hopefully I'll find something.
I was talking to a co-worker at work about gaming on the iPad, and he and I both agree there should be an Ultimate <System> Companion. Just think, a whole suite with map generators, character sheets, inventory and magic items, dice rollers... Someone could EASILY sell it for 15$ a pop. I just hope someone goes in and does it. I would buy one for each system I actually use if they make it thorough enough.
Anyhow, I'm feeling a bit better than last post. Here's wishing everyone health, happiness and Good Fortune.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
An Update
It is probably a terrible idea for me to post after midnight. A long time ago I determined that was a bad idea, therefore I'll try not to revert to my young adult ways of painful whining and cheap emotion. I've considered a new blog for such things, but don't know if it would be worth the pixels it would be displayed on for me or anyone else and I'd definitely not post it here. I feel this blog should at least pretend to be more... Professional?
The space game has ended. I've concluded the overall experience was at best a marginal success. At worst a grand failure. I am not entirely sure what the failing was specifically. However, I would be willing to easily submit that it was a combination of things including; the medium (Skype/Maptools), the players, and of coarse myself.
Towards the end, I wasn't into it. The players would not consistently show up, therefore the main plot could not continue. Furthermore, I guess I had no player trust. This I believe was a result of the players previous experience and perhaps the situation I had established. At every turn they were just waiting for me to steal their ship. Or short them some stat, or balance the game out of their favor (god forbid I create a challenge.) Also one player didn't seem to be 'into' the science role. They assumed it was a doctor, and not that they would man any real station. Finally, the whole thing was just to test the space combat, and the thing the players were determined to do? Avoid space combat. I did however get the opportunity to tweak the chase rules (AKA marginal success).
The players would not retain attention or attendance. Even during character creation and past campaigns even the best players would be browsing the internet, drawing, or at the worst, playing a video game! There were mixed expectations, conflicts of vision and so on... Some expected, but perhaps a tad heavier than overall expected.
Finally the medium... Nothing matches live. Not really. Nothing ever will. There's a certain accountability, lack of anonymity and... ceremony involved in the process. It feels like a good half goes out the window digitally. Not just GM respect, inter-player as well. For instance, the previously mentioned attentiveness. Grabbing and altering another players materials, pushing other players around... tracking resources.
Anyhow, to avoid the content mentioned in the first paragraph I'm stopping here. Perhaps someday this game will make it to the live table and more things can be noted, grown, developed. Now I just need to rebuild the steam to push onwards for other projects.
Oh, by the way, I joined a Pathfinder game at work. It's pretty cool, they have all their content online for free, so I didn't need to buy a book. The GM is... interesting. It's a bit slow right now as we basically have two newbies. The rules are just far enough from 3.5 I find myself assuming too much.
The space game has ended. I've concluded the overall experience was at best a marginal success. At worst a grand failure. I am not entirely sure what the failing was specifically. However, I would be willing to easily submit that it was a combination of things including; the medium (Skype/Maptools), the players, and of coarse myself.
Towards the end, I wasn't into it. The players would not consistently show up, therefore the main plot could not continue. Furthermore, I guess I had no player trust. This I believe was a result of the players previous experience and perhaps the situation I had established. At every turn they were just waiting for me to steal their ship. Or short them some stat, or balance the game out of their favor (god forbid I create a challenge.) Also one player didn't seem to be 'into' the science role. They assumed it was a doctor, and not that they would man any real station. Finally, the whole thing was just to test the space combat, and the thing the players were determined to do? Avoid space combat. I did however get the opportunity to tweak the chase rules (AKA marginal success).
The players would not retain attention or attendance. Even during character creation and past campaigns even the best players would be browsing the internet, drawing, or at the worst, playing a video game! There were mixed expectations, conflicts of vision and so on... Some expected, but perhaps a tad heavier than overall expected.
Finally the medium... Nothing matches live. Not really. Nothing ever will. There's a certain accountability, lack of anonymity and... ceremony involved in the process. It feels like a good half goes out the window digitally. Not just GM respect, inter-player as well. For instance, the previously mentioned attentiveness. Grabbing and altering another players materials, pushing other players around... tracking resources.
Anyhow, to avoid the content mentioned in the first paragraph I'm stopping here. Perhaps someday this game will make it to the live table and more things can be noted, grown, developed. Now I just need to rebuild the steam to push onwards for other projects.
Oh, by the way, I joined a Pathfinder game at work. It's pretty cool, they have all their content online for free, so I didn't need to buy a book. The GM is... interesting. It's a bit slow right now as we basically have two newbies. The rules are just far enough from 3.5 I find myself assuming too much.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Space Game
It's been a long time since I've GMed a game. But recently I have officially gotten into it again. I've modified Savage Worlds vehicle combat to make a space game. I'm three sessions in, but haven't tested the space combat, as the players are not familiar with Savage Worlds yet, therefore, I am trying to introduce them to the various systems session by session.
The first session was character creation, I introduced the world, the expectations, the disclaimers that things may change due to the experimental nature of the game, and the coming up with rules for things they want their characters to do, but don't have specific or particularly accurate rules for. Mainly this was an OCD engineer and a few other hindrances. Mainly as basic versions may not be hindering enough or perhaps even too hindering.
The second session was to introduce skill checks and to get the players their ship. This used a series of skill checks to scan some information, gather some hard to find supplies, gamble with the rabble on board, and then get into the ship. The ship itself was mainly random, they got some bonus rolls for some earlier skill checks, and had a chance to get less rolls if they did poorly on said skill checks. In the end, the party was, believe it or not, vocally disappointed the ship wasn't more of a wreck. I don't know if this is the case because I listed off a few bonuses they were getting, or if it was because they don't understand how many awesome things there are out there. Finishing up, they chose their destination, then headed off to the next station. After this there were complaints about no combat or 'great escape' with the ship. But I wanted to put off ship combat to it's own period of time.
The third session was introducing some person to person combat. I tried hard to keep the party from splitting, but even as I was going I saw it happening. I really didn't want it to happen, but so be it. There was a lot of social exchanges rather than fighting at first, but then at the end as things were wrapping up, the players actions caught up with them and there was a shootout. It was the most fail shootout ever, the players just couldn't roll for shit. On the bright side, neither could the opponents. I think I also tuned the enemies defenses a bit too high, so I'm going to drop that down a hair next time. This was person to person, which isn't homebrew at all, but it's just inexperience with GMing the system I think.
The fourth session is coming up, I have plans, but right now things are still in the works. Waiting on next Friday hopefully when things come together.
Outside the game I spend most of my time figuring out how best to display the space combat, and efficiently convey all the data from it. I'm hoping things go well when the time comes.
The first session was character creation, I introduced the world, the expectations, the disclaimers that things may change due to the experimental nature of the game, and the coming up with rules for things they want their characters to do, but don't have specific or particularly accurate rules for. Mainly this was an OCD engineer and a few other hindrances. Mainly as basic versions may not be hindering enough or perhaps even too hindering.
The second session was to introduce skill checks and to get the players their ship. This used a series of skill checks to scan some information, gather some hard to find supplies, gamble with the rabble on board, and then get into the ship. The ship itself was mainly random, they got some bonus rolls for some earlier skill checks, and had a chance to get less rolls if they did poorly on said skill checks. In the end, the party was, believe it or not, vocally disappointed the ship wasn't more of a wreck. I don't know if this is the case because I listed off a few bonuses they were getting, or if it was because they don't understand how many awesome things there are out there. Finishing up, they chose their destination, then headed off to the next station. After this there were complaints about no combat or 'great escape' with the ship. But I wanted to put off ship combat to it's own period of time.
The third session was introducing some person to person combat. I tried hard to keep the party from splitting, but even as I was going I saw it happening. I really didn't want it to happen, but so be it. There was a lot of social exchanges rather than fighting at first, but then at the end as things were wrapping up, the players actions caught up with them and there was a shootout. It was the most fail shootout ever, the players just couldn't roll for shit. On the bright side, neither could the opponents. I think I also tuned the enemies defenses a bit too high, so I'm going to drop that down a hair next time. This was person to person, which isn't homebrew at all, but it's just inexperience with GMing the system I think.
The fourth session is coming up, I have plans, but right now things are still in the works. Waiting on next Friday hopefully when things come together.
Outside the game I spend most of my time figuring out how best to display the space combat, and efficiently convey all the data from it. I'm hoping things go well when the time comes.
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