Session 28: Ready, Set, Game PDX One Year Anniversary Extravaganza

5pm – 11pm
Tuesday, September 25
Guardian Games
303 SE 3rd Ave at Pine St

That’s right. There will be cake. Yeah, that’s a cake. No, that’s not our cake. Our cake exists in the future. How could I take a picture of a future cake? So, uh, anyways come kick off a second year of story gaming with us! This special event will feature extended hours (a huge thank you to Guardian Games for this!), and a handful of games too large for the usual slot! Stay tuned for cake related details. The games this week are Metrofinal Transantiago, FreeMarket, and a Dog Eat Dog/Bhaloidam Super Combo! That is to say, Bhalodam will follow Dog Eat Dog. The Assassin has murdered the world of suffering, garroting it with the crimson thread called desire. As the world dies, the poarts worth saving depart along the Night Road, which pours from the fatal would toward the World to Come. Since mortal minds cannot rightly conceive of the end times, we choose to imagine the hustle and bustle of those departing as a crowded day on the metro in Santiago, Chile.In these twilight hours eight chosen saints and bodisattvas – Those Who Tarry at the Door – scour Santiago’s subway stations, searching for those who will birth the next world and expose the mechanations of asuras and demons.Find enlightenment at: http://corvidsun.com/2011/11/05/metrofinal-beta-released/FreeMarket by Jared Sorensen and Luke Crane is a transhuman science fiction game set aboard a space settlement in the Saturnian system. Several generations are living on FreeMarket Station: the sons, daughters and grandchildren of the Originals; immigrant travelers from elsewhere in our solar system; and designed-to-order humans fabricated in 3d matter printers. It’s a world without death, without poverty, without sickness and without any need for laws. What will you do with forever? You could spend your days in blissful torpor browsing a universe of entertainment via your neural interface, oblivious to pain and hardship. But you’re not one of those baseliners, are you? You have hopes, dreams, fears, needs and passions. What will you do with forever? Start a cult? Create new technologies or living creatures? Express yourself through art or violence? Make friends or Make enemies? Be human or become something else? You have more than a lifetime to discover who you really are. For infovores: http://projectdonut.com/freemarket/ Dog Eat Dog by Liam Burke is a roleplaying game where you play out the colonization of a Pacific island, with the players taking on the roles of the Natives, while one embodies the Occupation forces. It’s designed to be fun and thought-provoking for experienced roleplayers, but easily accessible for people new to the hobby. A token economy tracks your decisions and determines whether you’ll go out fighting, assimilate, keep hold of the island, or lose it forever. Explore: http://rpgkickstarters.tumblr.com/post/20167485265/dog-eat-dog-a-game-of-imperialism-and-assimilation Bhaloidam by Corvus Elrod is a time, a person, a feeling. Bhaloidam is a language, an idea, a place, and a memory. Bhaloidam is a modern expression of three timeless cultural forces: bha to tell, loid to play, and dam the tribe. In other words, Bhaloidam is where Story, Play, and Community come together. Bhaloidam is also an independently-published tabletop storytelling platform. With it you can spin character-driven stories and weave them together with the stories of your friends. Bhaloidam lets you exert your influence upon the storyworld you create together, shaping its future and controlling your characters’ destinies as you perform their successes and their failures. Share the story here: http://zakelro.com/bhaloidam

XP: Getting Caught Up

Wow – the last few months have been quite an exciting time.

 

I never really meant to quit posting XPs of the games we have been playing. Lately RSGpdx events have been blowing up, with 12-18 people each event and two or three games being played each time. It has been truly rewarding to share this experience with faces new and old. In addition to that, there has been word of re-structuring some of the greater community events in order to bring all of the cool activities closer together. There has been a lot to think about.

 

So real quickly, I’m going to share my thoughts of all of the games I have played in at RSGpdx that I neglected to write about in more detail.

 

MONSTERHEATRS

Monsterhearts is another game powered by the still beating heart of Apocalypse World. This is the only one that has improved on the formula. It is a lighter, sleeker design which lends an ultra tight, ultra sharp focus to the game. The theming elements (strings, the darkest self and the maturity moves) are so beautiful I want to cry. Very powerful. But for some reason, this game burned me out very quickly. I have a tough time actually sitting down to MC a game of Monsterhearts. Maybe that is totally subjective, but it unfortunately taints the experience of the game for me. A pity, too, being that this is one outstanding piece of work. Find an MC who is hot for this game, drop whatever you are doing, and play it right now.

DREAD

Dread is really cool. The Jenga tower adds a pace to the story and tension to every moment of play. But there are two blemishes. First of all, there is simply no place for player elimination in a game these days. I get that characters die in horror games, but a player should never be left out. Take a page from Zombie Cinema and have the player move from the protagonist side to the threat side. Do anything but remove the player from play. Second, when it got down to tough conflicts, we were just playing Jenga. The use of that tower is almost to grabby and distracting. Lastly, the horror medium has had a difficult time translating to table-top gaming. This might be the best example of a horror game out there, but it still relies upon a very traditional GM role and information control. I would be very excited to see a horror game without either. Totally play it once, but be sure you have the right atmosphere for a tense horror/survival game.

A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS

What an excellent commentary on the practice of role-playing. The details here are so finely coordinated – the sensory attributes, the shared meal/snacks, the playing a character who is playing a character – it all speaks to great inspiration. I kid you not; A Thousand and One Nights is a sublime experience. I have only one complaint, and it does not compromise the play in any fashion. The game wants you to pursue your character’s ambitions and play out their envies and admirations. But it doesn’t provide any incentive to do so – the game is totally neutral on that count. Super excited for the new edition. Keep this game in your regular rotation of one shots. A great reminder of what it’s all about. Mandatory!

MONSTER OF THE WEEK

Where Monsterhearts did everything right, Monster of the Week missed the mark. The general design is bulky where it is different from Apocalypse World at all (yup, another AW hack). The playbooks were very poorly laid out, the damage and luck mechanics seemed broken and un-playtested, the moves in general, while clever, lacked the interconnectivity that made things in Apocalypse World and Monsterhearts pop and pop. I think this game could shine with about a year of more development, but as it is, I just can’t recommend it. Play Monsterhearts instead.

THE MOUNTAIN WITCH

The Mountain Witch is a delicious story game classic. The trust, dark fate and resolution mechanics work so well that this functions as a treatise of thematic design. You really don’t need to do a damn thing but sit back and watch, occasionally pushing if the action lulls. This game has a long-standing reputation and it has earned it. This possibly ranks as one of my top five favorite games ever. Download the pdf and schedule a game.

THE SHAB-AL-HIRI ROACH

Lots of stupid crazy fun. Never have so many Pembertonians met their demise by whale song and tuba bludgeoning. I will play this game again soon, but you have to be aware of two things. First, the texts is not the finest example of a streamlined coherent text. The Roach sounds like a Fiasco, but it’s not. Second, playing all six events makes for a looooong game. Consider cutting two of them out (we cut our event two and five, and that’s probably what I’d do again). I had way more fun than I expected. If you get a chance to try the Roach, do it.

 

I will try to be more on top of this in the future. As RSGpdx moves into its second year expect to see many exciting developments! Stay tuned!

Session 27: GHOST/ECHO, Ninja Burger

5pm – 9pm
Tuesday, September 11
Guardian Games
303 SE 3rd Ave at Pine St

GHOST/ECHO:
While hunting for loot in the ghost world, your crew was sold out. You’ve walked right into an ambush, with hungry wraiths on your heels.

Questions you will answer as you go…
Why does your crew need loot?

What ghost powers does your particular crew member possess?
What is the ghost world?
What are Echoes?
What are Wraiths?

GHOST/ECHO by John Harper is presented as an ‘oracle game’. It provides only a starting point and a resolution mechanic. You and your friends fill in the rest of the details as you play.

Curiosity got the best of you? http://www.onesevendesign.com/ghostecho/

Ninja Burger:
Ninja Burger was founded in 1954, and soon became the world’s predominant undergound ninja-run fast food delivery service. We would be happy to tell you more about the company, but since we’re ninja, we would then have to kill you.

However, we can tell you about the Web site.

The Ninja Burger Web site was developed in 1999 by the honorable Kenshiro Aette-san and Miyoko Aenomi-san in the traditions of their honorable ancestors. Their solemn mission: to defend the downtrodden, fight for the honor of Ninja Burger, and to deliver hot and fresh food to Ninja Burger’s customers. Somewhere along the line it all went horribly wrong.

Ninja Burger’s customer list is quite impressive, although since we respect the privacy of our clientele we cannot release any names. However, we can say that our customers include many powerful, respected, influential and important people. No questions asked.

Currently, Ninja Burger is looking forward to doing business with its One-hundred-millionth customer in the very near future (of course, Ninja Burger cannot prove this number, but are you going to argue with them?)

Maybe it could be you! Whether you are a customer or a future employee, we welcome you to the world of Ninja Burger, and hope you enjoy your visit!

Visit the Ninja Burger website and place your order today! http://ninjaburger.com/

 

Session 26: Kobolds Ate My Baby, The Shab-al-Hiri Roach

5pm – 9pm
Tuesday, August 28
Guardian Games
303 SE 3rd Ave at Pine St

 

Kobolds Ate My Baby: It’s not your fault that Kobolds are gourmets. It’s not your fault that King Torg (All Hail King Torg!) is hungry. It’s not your fault that the tastiest thing a Kobold has ever eaten is sweet baby! And it’s definitely, not your fault that Kobolds are the most incompetent, reckless, and accident prone race to ever crawl out of a cave. But it IS your problem… King Torg (All Hail King Torg!) needs you – yes, you – to go out to the nearby human town and bring back the freshest, tastiest, plumpest human babies you can find – or, the King will be eating you (and Kobold’s pretty darn tasty.) In Kobolds Ate My Baby! Super Deluxx Edition you and your friends take on the roles of Kobolds (short, furry cannon fodder with a penchant for gluttony and mayhem). Your mission is to raid towns and villages in search of the most delectable of Kobold treats – Babies! Along the way, you will learn forbidden magicks, face fearsome chickens, worship the Big Red God, die Random Horrible Deaths, and cook your friends for dinner! Check it out at http://www.koboldsatemybaby.com/. The Shab-al-Hiri Roach: The Shab-al-Hiri Roach by Jason Morningstar is a dark comedy of manners, lampooning academia and asking players to answer a difficult question – are you willing to swallow a soul-eating telepathic insect bent on destroying human civilization? No? Even if it will get you tenure? Satisfy your curiosity at http://www.bullypulpitgames.com/.

Session 25: The Mountain Witch, Ocean

5pm – 9pm
Tuesday, August 14
Guardian Games
303 SE 3rd Ave at Pine St

“The Mountain Witch” by Timothy Kleinert is a single role-playing adventure in which the players take on the roles of ronin, masterless samurai in mythical medieval Japan, who have been hired to attempt an assault on the Mountain Witch of Mount Fuji, O-Yanma. The characters may have different reasons for accepting the task, but what they share is that they have all been disenfranchised from their former lives and from society. They also have all grown desperate from the difficulties of their lives, and hope the payoff from this adventure will finally allow them to regain whatever life they have lost.

Text taken from https://sites.google.com/site/mountainwitchrpg/home.

 

We’re a group of people trapped in an underwater research station. We can’t remember who we are or why we’re there. We don’t know what the monsters are that are picking us off one at a time. All we know is that we need to get out. We want to escape. That’s what Ocean is about.
Ocean is a game about self discovery and survival created by Portland’s own Jake Richmond and published by Atarashi Games (atarashigames.wordpress.com).

Session 24: InSpecteres, Monster of the Week, Dogs in the Vineyard

5pm – 9pm
Tuesday, July 31
Guardian Games
303 SE 3rd Ave at Pine St

 

 

InSpectres by Jared Sorensen is a game about the burgeoning supernatural investigation and elimination market. Start a company and try to stay afloat long enough to cash in those sweet, sweet stock options.

Visit http://memento-mori.com/inspectres/ for more information.

 

 

 

Monster of the Week by Micheal Sands is a pen & paper roleplaying game of modern day monster hunters. There are monsters out there. Most people don’t believe in them, but they’re real. Mostly, when someone finds out that monsters are real, that’s just before they die. But some people are mean enough, smart enough, crazy enough, or hurt enough, that they live. They go on a crusade to kill the monsters. That’s who you are.

Learn more at http://www.indiegogo.com/Monster-of-the-Week-rpg.

 

 

 

In Dogs in the Vineyard by D. Vincent Baker you play God’s Watchdogs in a West that never quite was. You stand between God’s law and the best intentions of the weak. You stand between God’s people and their own demons. Sometimes it’s better for one to die than for many to suffer. Sometimes, Dog, sometimes you have to cut off the arm to save the life. Does the sinner deserve mercy? Do the wicked deserve judgement? They’re in your hands.

Check it out at http://www.lumpley.com/dogs.html.

 

Session 23: A Thousand and One Nights

5pm – 9pm
Tuesday, July 17
Guardian Games
303 SE 3rd Ave at Pine St

Mysterious strangers. Beautiful women. Enchanted swords. Talking camels. You play members of the Sultan’s Court, whiling away the sultry nights by telling pointed stories to advance your own ambitions. Navigate the social maze and you could win your heart’s desire; offend the wrong person and you suffer the Sultan’s wrath.

A Thousand and One Nights: A Game of Enticing Stories is by Meguey Baker. Text taken from http://nightskygames.com/welcome/game/1001Nights.

Session 22: Dread

5pm – 9pm
Tuesday, July 3
Guardian Games
303 SE 3rd Ave at Pine St

Dread by Epidiah Ravachol is a game of horror and hope. Those who play will participate in a mutual telling of an original macabre tale. The goal of Dread is to sustain the delicate atmosphere that invokes the hand quivering emotion that lends its name to the game. The thrill of a Dread game lies within the tension between desire and loss. You will take on the role of someone trapped in a story that is only as compelling as it is hostile—someone who will find themselves making decisions we hope never to face in real life.

During a Dread game you and your friends will create characters to populate your own brand of horror story. This character creation is done through a questionnaire that is created by the player who is hosting the game. Each questionnaire provides a skeleton of a character for one of the players to flesh out with their answers, creating the character they want to play. In this way, characters are molded to the story by the host, and shaped to the players’ fancy.

As the game begins, the host sets the first scene for the horror tale everyone is about to participate in. The other players interject with questions and explanations of what their characters are doing. When a character attempts a task beyond their capabilities, it’s time to turn to the Tower–a stack of blocks, such as the Jenga® game, placed within reach of everyone at the table. Players allow their characters to succeed by pulling a block, or choose to let them fail by not pulling. If, at any time in the game, the tower falls, the character of the player responsible is removed from the game, never to return. Their fate might be death, insanity, cowardice, imprisonment, possession, or something else, as the story dictates. Players prone to martyrdom can mollify this somewhat by deliberately knocking over the tower, resulting in a heroic or dramatic success which ultimately consumes the character.

Those are the rules in a nutshell, but for more information, please visit www.tiltingatwindmills.net.

XP: Kingdom

Kingdom has got to be one of my favorite games. In my top five for sure. Usually these XP posts end up being critical and improvement seeking. But this one is going to be me gushing about Kingdom for several paragraphs.

HERE WE GO

Everything is so easy. In character creation you simply answer a few questions about who the character is and what it is they do. Building the characters builds the setting effortlessly. Everything you need for your character can be recorded on an index card.

Even the Roles are easy. Kingdom does not rely much on tactile mechanics such as dice rolls, but instead it gives each player incomplete authority over the Kingdom as a whole. The different roles interact is a very intuitive fashion, and the interplay between these Roles is all the mechanics this game really needs.

Each player can ask a question about the Kingdom’s future via Crossroads. So like, you get to explore the most interesting stuff.

The Arbiter function, which is a quasi-minimalist GM sort of thing, passes around the table. So there is no real way to know who will be Arbitrating when and if that comes up. It’s always a surprise, and it again helps get each player’s input on the Kingdom out in the open.

Though there are no mechanical details to make it so, the tension found in the Crossroads and Crisis naturally bring everything to a boil and the consequences are felt hard.

Stealing Roles is just awesome. In out game the Kingdom was Heaven, and I, playing Archangel Michael actually stole Power (the Role) away from God. Beyond epic.

Kingdom reminds me of Fiasco. I like to be reminded of Fiasco. It’s probably the open ended scene framing and the almost total lack of situational mechanics.

WHAT ELSE IS THERE?

I would like to see the game manage to do away with the scant d6 rolls. They are used in only a few specific situations, but the game would be more pure in my mind without them.

The text is still a work in progress, so it’s understandable that there are some minor issues to be resolved there. I really appreciate the accessibility of Microscope’s text, and I hope that Kingdom will follow suit.

Keep your eyes peeled for Kingdom. You have got to play this. There is not a soon enough!

Session 21: Monsterhearts

5pm
Tuesday, June 19
Guardian Games
303 SE 3rd Ave at Pine St

Monsterhearts lets you and your friends create stories about sexy monsters, teenage angst, personal horror, and secret love triangles. When you play, you explore the terror and confusion that comes both with growing up and feeling like a monster.

Based on the Apocalypse World engine, this is a game with emergent story, messy relationships, a structured MC role, and a focus on hard choices.

It’s designed to evoke stories like True Blood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ginger Snaps or The Twilight Saga. If you like supernatural romances, or stories of monstrosity and personal horror, or if you just like watching sexy people ruin their lives, then you’ll love this game.

Text taken from http://buriedwithoutceremony.com.