Eclipse Phase

The more I read about this game the more intrigued I become.

The turn-ons for me are the fact that it seems to deal with a slice of the science fiction genre that I'm new to but enjoying, that of high-concept transhumanist sci-fi, and it also has a healthy dose of horror thrown in. Sitting here listening to Jerry Goldmsith's ALIEN soundtrack and looking at that cover is making me nod my head. That and the system is percentile based, which is one of my favourite resolution systems coming as I do from a WFRP background. I downloaded the quickstart from http://www.eclipsephase.com/ and I'm impressed. I'm considering a full purchase in the near future.

It's nice to come across a game that I haven't had thrust down my throat by banner ads and drooling gamers. I've always known it was there, like we've been looking at each other across a crowded bar for the last few weeks, and I think I've got the courage to buy it a drink.

Mini Six, Mini Six, ooooh, loooolly-lolly-lolly

Mini Six. (POP!) Badum-dum-dum...

I think the elegance and simplicity of the Mini Six system, a cut down version of the D6 System that's now available on OGL as OpenD6, has won me over. The great guys over at www.antipaladingames.com have done a cracking job and well done to them.

What makes this great for me is that I think I've now decided on a system for my magazine-format printed project. I was so intent on creating a whole new system for a whole new game I lost sight of th ereason why I wanted to do this. I wanted to present a whole new setting for players to gamein, the system itself was secondary. As a lifelong fan of the D6 System thanks to WEG's original (and, in my opinion, by far the best) Star Wars RPG I'm more than happy to use Mini Six for the game. Now I just need to get an SRD from the guys at Antipaladin that's not a PDF - I like to make my life easy and there's nothing easier than copy n' paste.

People complain about the D6 System, stating that it's easy to 'break'. Well, don't fucking break it, then. That's like buying a dog and seeing how many times you can kick it before it dies.

I'll be damned

Yesterday me and the wife went on a little jaunt to the local places of interest, one of them being a small place called Barton Marina (www.bartonmarina.co.uk), especially a toy shop and museum (http://www.bartonmarina.co.uk/p3_5_1.htm) that dealt with new and classic, antiquarian toys.

After my last post about the old Star Trek RPG, what do I find tucked away in the corner? Yes, a complete and good condition Star Trek RPG box set, exactly the one I was talking about. I don't see one in years and then one turns up in the middle of nowhere in a shop I didn't even know existed until I went to the marina on a whim.

That's fate, that is. Fate is telling me I have to play the Star Trek RPG.

Star Trek RPG

I was always really pleased with my quick 'n dirty D6 System conversion of Task Force Games' 'Prime Directive' core rulebook, that even used the book's own system and character sheet. It can be found in the free section of my website http://www.farsightgames.com/. It was simple and yet effective and, even though you'll need to locate extra rulebooks that are very old and out of print, it worked well.

This brings me to the original FASA game from waaaaaaay back in the midst of time, when hairspray was abundant and 18th century clothing and a white stripe across the nosebridge was the 'in' thing. Of course, I'm talking about the early 1980s.

The copy I have is the Games Workshop Second Edition printing. It was a great little system, percentile based, and the characters you could create were given depth by having them develop through applying to Star Fleet, going through Academy training and then active service. The final character was fleshed out and easy to play, and whilst the damage of weapons of the era (the Original Series) was slightly over the top (one hit disintegrations!) the system was pretty fluid and fun.

I created a character for this back in 1989 but never played him. I might give this game a stab at some point.

I now have the time to design again!

I’ve designed a few RPG systems in my time. Some worked well, some crashed in a spectacular fashion. I’ve always enjoyed designing and writing them, though.

I’ve had a mind to design yet another system but, to be honest, I didn’t want to create a whole new dice mechanic for people to (yet again) learn. This time I’m thinking of creating a system that doesn’t require a whole load of new rules and yet has much in common with existing games systems.

My first thought was a variation of the D6 system, which I love, and then maybe a version of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay rules, as used in WFRP 1st and 2nd Edition and the 40K games. I do like the percentile system, but at the same time I wanted to go even further back, to a system that held some nostalgie for me.

I’ve gone right back to the old D&D system and I’m looking at the old ways of doing things; 3D6 for stats, a D20 for task resolution, that kind of thing. The stats really are that – STATS. Strength, Toughness, Agility, Teaching and Social. It’s a cheap gimmick but, hey, it’s all embryonic at the moment. I’m looking to do a generic sci-fi game, a kind of D&D in space, but we’ll see. Early days yet.

Why I'm shying away from complicated RPG systems

I began to hate complicated systems years ago when I had to spend six hours creating a character for Rolemaster under the watchful eye of the GM. When the game started I was killed in the first twenty minutes - I was backstabbed by the GMs fucking NPC assassin! All that time in character creation, wading through books and choices and complicated crap that would make no difference to the character anyway and I don't even get to experience the very reason why I'm in the hobby; playing an RPG.

After that I was loathe to spend any longer than half an hour in character creation. That spread on to the rules themselves. Now I just want simplicity. I want to be able to sit at the table for a four hour session and be able to have the characters ready in the first 30 minutes, spend the next 30 minutes making sure everyone is up to speed on the basics of the mechanics and then the next three hours playing an actual game. Then we're sorted for the campaign.

I don't want complicated character advancement, either. Got points to spend? Levelled up? Right, end of session, ten minutes to spend/choose. That's that, ready for the next game.

I'm over rules - I just want to play and be played!

BRAGGART review

BRAGGART – A game of heroes, lies and unfortunate fish.

So, the other day , While wearing nothing more than my boots and a smile... I got into a bar fight with... a party of drunken dwarves... and now barmaids all over town are unable to resist me!

What? Are you calling me a liar?

And so it goes with BRAGGART. A simple, fun and funny card game designed by Kyle Daniel and released through Spiral Galaxy Games. Imagine that your roleplaying characters have had a hard day’s adventuring and they all retire to the local tavern for a drink. As the beer flows their tales of derring-do get even more wild and outlandish, until they’re competing with each other for best boast. The more outlandish the boast the bigger the score but beware – being called out as a liar will not only reduce your points but also make you look foolish!

So how does this work? Well, before we get into that lets have a look at what you get in the game – a nice box with some excellent artwork which contains 120 full colour illustrated cards and a fold-out instruction manual. It’s very small, small enough to go in a coat pocket or in your bag with your gaming manuals. The artwork and the quality of the cards is great and it’s all done in the style of an old tavern with foaming tankards and wooden boards. It’s a lovely looking game, simple but well presented.

To play the game you’ll need 2-6 players (and it is one of those games where more players is better) and about half an hour to an hour. The manual suggests that the person who starts the game is decided in this way – ‘Argue amongst yourselves to determine who has performed the most impressive feat during their life. That player will start the game...’ After this real-life moment of bragging the game mechanics begin. The player starting the game is given a ‘My Round’ card. Each player is dealt four random cards. Each round consists of two phases: Draft and Boast. The Draft phase consists of placing as many cards as there are players on the table face up. The player with the ‘My Round’ card chooses what card they want first, followed by the other players going clockwise. The Boast Phase starts again with the starting player either going to the Bar or making a Boast (as you can see, the entire game is fashioned after drinking in a tavern – everything a player does is based around what people get up to in pubs). Going to the bar means you can draw another three cards, or you can make a Boast.

Ah , yes, the Boast. This is where the name of the game comes into play. You have four cards to play; 1 Scene, 1 Deed, 1 Foe and 1 Result. You can just play the Deed and Foe cards, if you want, but Scene and Result cards get you even more points. So, using the example at the beginning of the review, I played 1 Scene card (‘While wearing nothing more than my boots and a smile...’), followed by 1 Deed card (‘I got into a bar fight with...’), followed by 1 Foe card (‘a party of drunken dwarves...’), and topped off with 1 Result card (‘...and now barmaids all over town are unable to resist me!’). The cards total points, and the bigger the points the bigger the boast. There are 92 cards in total that are designed to follow on from each other; this enables players to string together all kinds of tall tales. Other players can play ‘Liar!’ cards and accuse you of making stuff up, enabling them to exchange one of your cards for something worth less and ruin your story. So, if another player had played a ‘Liar!’ card, they could have changed ‘...and now barmaids all over town are unable to resist me!’ to ‘...and then I hid in my house crying!’, losing me points and making me look foolish. There’s also Ploy cards to be played that enable players to take cards from other player’s hands.

So, during one game I’ve had such boasts as ‘In the Queen’s bedchamber... I was forced to pose for a portrait with... the foulest of all dragons... and now I’ve been offered the post of King’s champion!’, and ‘While using forbidden sorcery... I was captured and left at the mercy of... a tribe of peaceful fairies... and then I hid in my house crying!’. The first boast got me some points. The second one, not so much.

Players are encouraged to ‘roleplay’ their boaster and speak out their deeds as they are written on the cards, call out their played ‘Liar!’ cards and generally get into character. I’m a roleplayer and I’d love to do an evening’s gaming and round it off with a game of BRAGGART, and have our characters sat in the tavern swapping stories. After a day’s adventuring what better way to celebrate it than to go down the pub and boast about your exploits.

This is an excellent, fun little game that is great at helping to kill time before or after a session. It’s a great pick-up-and-play game that’s easy to get the hang of and is definitely better served by multiple players. Waiting for the night’s gaming session to start? Whack out BRAGGART and have a blast. On a long train journey? BRAGGART! Waiting in the airport? BRAGGART! At the convention, between games or having a break? BRAGGART! It’s great because it’s involving, enjoyable and incredibly portable. It’s great for roleplayers but is just as good for someone looking for a fun, quick game of something different. The boast combinations are genuinely funny and there are plenty of cards to make sure that they stay original and fresh, even if the same cards come up every few games. A downside may be similar combinations cropping up if the game is played regularly, with exploits becoming too much like a previous game and losing that original humourous punch. An expansion would be more than welcome, some kind of pack of extra cards to add more possibilities and wild boasts to the mix. There’s plenty of fun to be had with this game, mind you.

BRAGGART is well designed and well presented and fun to play, with excellent and atmospheric artwork that suits the game perfectly. Highly recommended.

You can find out more at www.spiralgalaxygames.co.uk

HARD SIXES CLOSING DOWN

It’s sad, but after an extremely short sortie into the gaming retail world we’ve decided to let the physical shop go and concentrate on a part-time online store.

We’ll really miss the place. We’ve met new people and made new friends and broadened our gaming horizons and social circle. There’s more gamers out there than you realise, and there’s plenty of younger people wanting to get in on the action. Honestly, it’s been real fun and we don’t regret giving it a go for a second.

So – as we’ll be gone in the next couple of weeks we’re having a sale, lots of money off most things, and we’ve got plenty of stuff here. RPGs, boardgames, cardgames, classic M:TG cards, some old Warhammer stuff, figures, collectibles, all kinds of stuff.

We hope to see you, so that you can say goodbye and get a bargain to boot!

Cheers!

Jonathan and Richard

Dark Roguewatch

Huh?

Look, I'm a busy man but I'm never to busy to bring life to my ideas. Something I've not done in a loooooong time is design a campaign. I've usually just designed a situation and then let the story grow organically by reacting to what the players are doing, kind of a sandbox setting but with a definite goal. Yes, I set the goal, I just don't define the path.

Right now I'm designing a massive Warhammer 40K Roleplaying campaign. Now that I have Deathwatch (*giggles uncontrollably*) I have the whole set. I was wondering what to run, but then hit on an idea; why not just run a campaign incorporating the whole three books? Start with Dark Heresy, where they uncover the threat. Then move on to Rogue Trader, where they seek the threat out. Then finish with Deathwatch, in which they deal with the threat. Three massive campaigns combined into one huge epic campaign. Of course, I've had make it about something pretty huge, and I've shied away from the 'Chaos/heretics/xenos are going to attack us en masse! As was prophesised! Or something!' I'm making it much more huge, Imperium-shattering as a whole. I'm not turning the setting up on it's head... that's up to the players to stop from happening.

Should be fun. I'm truly looking forward to running it. Now to start work on the Rogue Trader section...

*Phew*

That was a tough month. Due to job situations I had to bring my three-year old son into the shop with me for four weeks. Now that his care has been sorted out I can get back to normal, with one major drawback. I really miss him. I've not been without Bruce for a month and now the shop is empty and quiet. What am I gonna do?

*sniff*

Anyway, apologies to all those (insane) people who follow my blog for not posting in a long while. I'm still here, Farsight Games and Hard Sixes is still going and things are pretty good. The shop is still establishing itself but I've come to realise something in the two-and-a-half months we've been open - it's insanely difficult to get new blood into the hobby.

I've run some demos for the yonger generation (10-14 years old) with the intention of getting them hooked but the attention span is not there. They simply do not want to invest the time into playing a game where there's a learning curve involved when they can simply turn on a computer or slap a disc into a console and get into the action straight away. How do you compete with that?

Well, I'm relying on the schools and colleges. There's a local college which does not have an established club, so I've given the players who attend the place some discount cards and told them if they create one and get new or exisiting players in I'll help support it. Last week I had a visit from a primary school teacher and her son and he's interested in the games, so I said that if they want to sort out an after-school trip to the shop I'll run some games for them for a couple of hours. There's also a local Comprehensive School (oh, sorry - we call them High Schools now, don't we?) but I'm finding that a lot more difficult to convince that tabletop gaming is a good idea, most likely because they're a bit older and a bit more established in the computer/console genre. I'm hoping to be surprised.

There's not a lot else I can do. I've had an advertisement go out in the local papers regarding the shop and the hobby, so I'm still waiting for feedback on that. I really want to get new players in to keep the hobby going. Don't get me wrong, my reasons aren't completely altruistic; I also need the customer base!

ADDITIONAL

Lichfield's ORC is being ressurected and we're looking to recruit. Games will take place at a yet to be determined location in Lichfield, Staffs on Thursday nights from 7:00 to 10:00. Any game accepted, but primarily our focus will be on tabeltop RPGs. Initial costs are looking at around £1.50 to £2.00 for members, +£1.00 for non-members. It will be a non-profit organisation, of course, and any monies left over will be spent on games decided on by club member vote.

We're also looking at a possible one-day convention next year at the Guild Hall in Lichfield, but these details are yet to be finalised.

Members of any clubs are be entitled to 10% discounts instore at Hard Sixes in Sutton Coldfield - www.hardsixes.moonfruit.com - with extra discounts and offers for members of LORC.

If you're interested then please register at our forum by going through the gateway site www.lorc.moonfruit.com. The more people who can make it the more chance I have of getting this club off the gorund.

Cheers!