Savage Sword Audio Up on Spotify

 I have found some time to crack open my live play sessions and edit the audio for snappy playback. Here is the first one out of the box; The beginning of the Savage Sword online campaign!

I Bend the Knee to My Lord and Master

 I find this following blog post aligns with my tastes in fantasy fiction. Long live the king, King Conan!

Professional GM'ing, so far...

 The biggest take-away for me has been how bad 5e DnD is. For me, as a GM. I guess players love it. The character builds are more bloated and involved then a superhero game. But without being a cool superhero game. The discord channel for the startplaying.games service is filled with informative first hand experience of successful GMs running games of 5e. It seems they have to live on their laptop. Everything meaningful about 5e is linked to a digital platform of some sort, it appears. There just seems like such a heavy load between the GM, players, and the actual game. 

This has everything to do with how I learned to play ttrpg's, I get that. I just don't see how the GM/DM can have any fun. I don't see much player-agency in this gaming sphere for one. Or it is really an illusion. Everyone is running a campaign off of Hasbro product, so a determined storyline. Besides, a GM is not going to go off script when they have put a gajillion hours into the VTT set-up and balancing encounters. Not that this isn't what the players want. Everyone is getting what they want. It just feels so prefabricated. My eighties punk aesthetic just goes condition red on contact with this stuff. 

Therefore, I am only offering games I know I can run which offers true player agency. And that means old-school systems. Game systems designed as true tools for your imagination. For me this comes down to DC Heroes 2e, B/X DnD, Chaosium's BRP, Classic Traveller/Space Opera, and Gamma World 2e. Chaosium covers much ground for me. Any genre not covered by the others I've listed can be run with BRP. Just customize the skill list to make it genre specific.

This does mean the campaign world is built by me. But being a student of emergent play, this isn't much, really. Being enthused about the genre, reading original source material of the genre (reading Treasure Island for a game of pirates, for example), and coming up with an interesting and exciting start. After that the game kind of writes itself. 

I also have no problem poaching adventures written for other systems and using them in my campaigns. Ideas, I just need ideas. Nightmare fuel so I can get out of my head and expand my scope of view. 

All of these intentional actions serve one purpose; make the game fun to play for me. I like being a GM because it is a hard thing to do. It pushes my ability to interact with others to the maximum and demands my brain make quick connections which fit some type of relative pattern, contextualized into a fictional story, after the fact. Like a battlefield. I'm in a mental struggle which, at the end of the session I can survey the carnage and decide "did we win, did we lose?"

This truly puts me at odds with 5e's gaming products. They are designed to make the players feel special and their tastes catered to. To give participants the insular feel of a video game. The ability to disconnect as soon as they feel "uncomfortable". Heavy roleplay in 5e is a "look at me" proposal and "optimal" builds. Old school play is the guarantee if players and GMs do their part something amazing will occur. An unscripted performance done in one take by pros. 

So I guess that is what a "professional" GM is to me. The person who does the heavy lifting to make this experience a quantum potential when the game is on. And yeah, I think it is enough of a work load (mentally) that paying the GM makes sense. Game products and comic books are expensive.

Starfinder Design Test Conclusion

 The results are in, and are as expected! 

Hi jay  murphy,

Thank you for completing the Starfinder Design test. The hiring team has decided not to offer you an interview at this time, but I want to personally commend you for completing the test and candidly sharing your views about game design with us. I look forward to your future contributions to the tabletop roleplaying game industry, and I encourage you to apply for other opportunities at Paizo as they become available.

Best Regards,

Jenny Jarzabski
Creative Manager

l particularly like the statement "I want to personally commend you for...candidly sharing your views about game design..."

Besides I am not corporate material, I knew this section of the test was going to take me out of the running for round 3. I just can't say that game design has to support the product line as a whole. What I mean, and everyone knows this, Pathfinder and WoTC's 5e are so much tools of the imagination, but a homogenous place built around the company's particular canon. Or they just become this "thing" which is essentially immutable and unchanging. And I get why you have to drive a product line in this way, repeat business. Sales. 

Jenny is probably a forever DM as well, and would love to sit at my table and have that breath of fresh air which comes from campaigns that embrace genre over rules. She is probably busy as all get out, but I think I will offer to run a game for her and her cohorts.

I know my ideas are not alien, just unprofitable. But damn if I do not get great gameplay from the players that I get to be a player too. I truly never know where things are going to go. I get surprised constantly and consistently. Fuck yeah!  

Starfinder Design Test

I threw my hat in the ring two weeks ago for a design editor position opening up at Paizo. I thought why not. Because I wanted to see if my experience to date in the world of rpg publishing would get my feet in the door. I think I came upon the announcement with like a day before they closed the application process. 

So I put it together, I think it was all online, and clicked send. Shortly thereafter I received their design test. The test is to evaluate your skills working with the Starfinder 2nd Edition, designed to give insight into my understanding of the game, my ability to work creatively within strict guidelines, and to give Paizo a better sense of myself as a gamer and professional.

Who doesn't want to know that? Besides, I know jack-shit about Pathfinder/Starfinder. Never ran a game of it, never read a rulebook. But I do consider myself a student of the art, and I like to think after all the projects I put myself through I got a handle on the business. At some point you become your own authority and a pro performs without a net. I'm going back over the completed document. Looking for anything I can re-sharpen. And sending it out after I get done typing this post. Ahead of deadline by twenty hours. 

I do not intend to take the job if offered. I have another job lined up which is close to home with better pay and benefits. Besides, I have worked from home enough to know social isolation leads to depression and drink. No, I am in it for the validation. Once again to see if I can hit a mark set by others, not myself. And if the offer does come forth probably the best way to get a freelance gig. Which suits me a whole lot better. I'll keep you all informed.

Gaming Opinions and Their Consequences

I have pretty strong opinions on how one should run a ttrpg as, and in the role, of Game Master/Dungeon Master/Judge/Keeper, Starmaster, etc. What usually strikes folks I am in discussion with is my unwillingness to change my mind. That I do not have much wiggle-room in my definitions and positions. They also can't get over the fact that I have no issues with "I" statements. Such as, "I believe this...", "I do that...", etc. They are struck by the fact I will not see things "their" way. 

The one which really starts the fireworks is when presented with the fact of "learning" modes, or models. As in there are people who cannot visualize, are unable to interact in a roleplaying game via theater of the mind. I state then the game form of ttrpg's is not for them. Requiring the Game Master to change their methods and best practices to accommodate  these divergent thought structures. I say no I won't, don't and should not because I would be compromising my beliefs from hard-fought practice and exploration. I think "gatekeeping" is the most scurrilous of accusations. I'm not. I have no problem what others decided to do with their dice and their social gatherings. It just isn't what I am about, or interested in. Going along to get along isn't me.

So my two game sessions I ran at the convention were spot-on home runs accomplishing my goals and rewarding players with a fantastic theater of the mind role-playing experience. One session was to explore a difficult genre, for me, and see if the subject matter translated well for a game session. It did. The other was to run a crunchy, old game system with folks who wanted to explore these modes of play. This was a good discussion of what worked in the system, and some of the improvements over rules implementation here in the last ten years of gaming or so. 

"c'est la vie"

Ghengiscon 2025 Preflight

 Leaving soon from the Western Slope to descend on Denver, CO and Ghengiscon 2025, Colorado's oldest and longest running game convention. Snow in the forecast so, even though it is an interstate highway I travel, I do have my standard kit in the truck; winter boots, hat, gloves, and a blanket tucked under the back seat. Nothing sucks like 4 hours of stopped traffic due to some "incident". This can range from anything like deep snow, white out conditions, avalanche, 8 car pile-ups, and my favorite - flaming semis. I've seen them all. 

I should get into town around 3pm, check in, and wander the convention hall for a new set of dice to purchase. 7pm is Rock Hard 1977. Billed as a board game, you attempt to rise from obscurity into a mega rock star. Never heard of it, never seen it, but going to play it - hard! Then at 11pm is the after hours party with all the sponsors and vendors. I wish I had a good pitch all figured out besides pointing an executive to my drivethru page. Sure would like to pick up a freelance writing project while I'm there. I'm not drinking so that will be a plus, and I am a bit of an extrovert so I will at least be able to gather names and what these people actually do. 

Start Playing New Listings

 I have two new campaigns  available on startplaying.games; B/X Dungeons & Dragons Rom'Myr, a  Dying Earth and Gamma World 2e Metal Earth!

I am old-school after all. Gamma World was the first ttrpg I purchased with my own money. Basic Dungeons & Dragons was the first ttrpg I ever had, a Christmas present from my parents. They had seen me since 1976 bringing home other people's books so I could learn to play the game. They were a little concerned of my fast friendship with kids much older than me, but I was hooked. I was not to be denied! 

It was a heady brew as the 70s came to a close. Besides ttrpgs, there were all the science fiction and fantasy paperbacks I was devouring by the hour, and a raft of Savage Sword of Conan and Heavy Metal magazine underneath my mattress. Not to mention the starting collection of Star Wars action figures!

So, like a newborn chic, these two gaming properties define much of how I view, and play, roleplaying games.   

VTT and the Original Dark Magic

I have been hosting games on startplaying.games  for month now, and it has cemented my opinion on using VTT to run a TTRPG online. "Using VTT to run a TTRPG online". I mean this literally. If you commit to using a VTT for your game, the VTT is in charge. You are only going to be doing things in the game which translate to the digital screen. I imagine for some players they only know how to play VTT game and not really know how to play TTRPGs. I never had these tools when I was caught up in the hobbies first days. What we did have, like today, was robust discussions on how to play these games, what these games actually were, and whether or not other mediums have a place in these games. I don't recall important discussions around the use or not of DM/GM screens like there is today, but I loved them as a Dungeon Master, Gamma Master, Star Master, etc. One, they usually came with a decent adventure inside, and would have great art. But they were invaluable because they saved me time looking up, and re-looking up rules and modifiers. Mostly the modifiers. I do remember the screen was up on the table or laying flat, depending on my current needs. 

What I did not have to do was micro-manage tokens, scenes, graphics, lists, character sheets which crunch the numbers for you, tell you what you can and can't do, and the set up of all this takes time. And it is technical. I like ttrpgs because it takes me away from the technical, the managed, and (relatively) controlled aspects of my life. And everyone turns off their camera so they will have the necessary band-width to hang. This is what sunk the whole prospect for me. Call me strange, but I believe this is the greatest gift ttrpgs offer which many games cannot even touch; players invested in their group, dedicated to trying to have their best game possible. This means talking, like a lot. 

Obviously I am in the minority. Not providing an interactive tabletop software program is seen as a negative, a deal-breaker for many players, regardless how promising the campaign. The good news is this market is well served. On my side of the table I see room for an interactive game between the players. Roleplaying comes alive with face-to-face interaction. What player does not enjoy the twists and fits of facial expressions from a flabbergasted, stunned GM by your cockamamie action topped with a critical success roll!?!

The VTT feels like a video game to me. Probably because, like ttrpgs, in the seventies consul and arcade video games were in their infancy. And contrary to popular opinion, most gamers knew ttrpgs were what they had been looking for all this time, but just didn't know it. The game, the concept of the game was dead simple and easily understood. I do remember as a wee child being bored with Monopoly, Clue, Candyland (makes a great drinking game though), Stratego, and Risk. I had been exposed to tactical wargames before I was double digits, and if was going to move counters around the board they better be able to blow hell out of the countryside. But before all this, I only had paperback fiction delivering the imaginative excitement I craved. When Arneson and Gygax put the chocolate with the peanut butter what I needed had been just born. I cannot be the only one the first time someone told you about this game Dungeons & Dragons you got it. The lightbulb didn't just turn on, it exploded. I didn't have any of these game books and boxed sets until '81. What I did have was enticing rumors of this game, what it looked like, where you could find it and who was playing it near you. These trails, these breadcrumbs were everything like a classic Call of Cthulhu game. I was searching secrets many did not know. Picture a seven-year old hanging around the roller skating rink investigating the whereabouts of some person I never met who might know a little something about DnD. 

Trying to get a game group together is much like dating, for me. And can feel as awkward as asking someone on a date, hoping not to get rejected. And many, like me, got over these hang-ups quickly because we were driven to get into this game. Eventually getting the Moldvay Basic set in 1981 was like receiving ancient, magical tomes of wonder. It was easy to see a DM was nothing short of a wizard conjuring magic out of thin air. Almost. You did need pencil, dice, paper, and other people. Who could get along and carry a satisfying narrative with them as they explored the unknown, in game and adventure. That was appealing to me. I did not have any cash, and limited means of earning some. My friends like me who could not afford the game books, this was nice. There was no barrier to entry. 

I lose all this with a VTT. 

Savage Sword, the BRP version of Adventures in Xoth

I should have been on this years ago, but I was determined to write from the ground up my version of a
human-centric sword and sorcery game, which we all know resulted in Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery. Now, twelve years later, and I am once again a serious fan of Chaosium's BRP game system! In the last decade I have thoroughly explored the game systems of Dungeons and Dragons and lots of the OSR retro-clones, Classic Traveller, Space Opera, Clockwork & Cthulhu, Champions, DC Heroes, Cyberpunk 2020, MS&PI's. Some of these systems I had played with before, some it was my first time running the system. And others... I just plain forget all the games I've done a deep dive into since 2012.

There are so many rich rewards I have gained from all this, and the one I am talking about tonight is how much the BRP system suits me. A truly great universal game system it is. You can pick up any of their different types of games and play them all with a brief refresher on the buffs, and options being used which make the games, while using the same system, all having their own unique aspects. Rule tweaks, optional rules, powers, abilities, skills- under it all is just a d100 roll for success mechanic. Combat rules in each different game (Call of Cthulhu and its immense list of specific genre-takes, Runequest, Pendragon, Magic World, Superworld, hundreds of fan-made systems for a specific purpose...

This is all to say, I feel BRP is the best system to run human-centric, pulp-fantasy sword and sorcery tales. If written "right". I am in the process of writing up the rules for Savage Sword, Fantastic Pulp-Fantasy Adventures in a Primordial World. And this world is the tremendous campaign setting Xoth, a creation of Morten Bretan. 

I will be importing all the things I have learned about game systems, tables, random charts and use the coherence of Chaosium's BRP to put it all together. Character Creation is as streamlined as I could make it, skill resolution and task resolution are a snap. Combat system, including simultaneous hand-to-hand combat, is the chariot of this ride. Yes, I love pulp sword & sorcery because of the limb-lopping and corpse-strewn trails of gore! And the combat system has to reflect this. One of the easiest tweaks is to reserve Critical Hits and Critical Successes for PCs only. NPCs... sure they can fumble, but the average gate guard is not going to be the cur slicing your head off. Important NPCs, the important villain will get all the combat bells and whistles, but there are going to be mook rules. 

You know how Stormbringer resolved this design "question"? They gave Elric an 880% skill level with his hell-sword. Basically it allows this top-tier warrior 9 attacks a combat turn! Now, I am not one for bloated skill levels, but it works because it is BRP, and because it is sword and sorcery in the worlds of Michael Moorcock where the heroes reach god-like proportions. I will be tackling this design question differently, just like every other iteration of the BRP system does.

Even Heroes Bleed is Back on the Air

 

I mean, the Vanishing Tower house game has been going steady. We are live streaming the session. But it has been a year since I downloaded a recorded session and created an edited audio of the session for snappy play back! 13 months actually. Since an edited audio of the session is the only thing I can stomach to listen, I have got myself out of my omnipresent god-like vision which has me aware of everything which is going on in the Capitol City universe. Not good. This is a supers game so the subplots and NPC threads are like a busted can of spaghetti-oos on vinyl, spread out everywhere!

It was not too long into the recording before I was made aware, again, of the sticky points in the game we go around on. In the case of DC Heroes, it is about turn order, initiative, and surprise. Since I have not been editing the audio of live plays on a weekly basis, our last game (two nights ago) got caught up in these same issues again. We had been not holding sessions through the holidays, so on return to the table it was a processes of uncovering our common arguments. Like, I am editing a session from September 22. On the listen through of our in-game rules discussions, I was made aware of how I was fouling-up calculating knockback. This is one example of how I use recorded game sessions to step up my "game". It has been the best way to correct poor decisions I make during play. You hear the misstep, you cringe, and then it falls out of practice. 

Per usual the  playback reminded me on campaign "fact" we all have agreed on and the ones we all seem to have forgotten. For example, my players were arguing about why they could not do shit with the magic house some of the heroes part-live/part-guard at the mystical Avery mansion. I informed them every time they interacted with the magic house there was a character of mystical abilities and/or had occult lore. That was the key, the house is magic, it takes a magic user to know the proper buttons to push to get reactions. They backed down because I dropped my "this discussion is at an end" statement, "Play the tape." Nothing establishes better what everyone actually said and agreed to during a game session then the recorded audio. I also believe it is the fastest way to improve your roleplaying abilities, listen to what you sound like!

Space Acid, the Mothership Mod

No need to write up a Space Opera retro-clone, just use Mothership as the basic rules chassis and modify from there. Then you are just creating a setting book instead of this comprehensive rule book. And it is really simple to do. Just add the 2 new character class options I have outlined at the end of this blog post!

Psychedelic Science-Fantasy

Space Acid is a science-fantasy roleplaying game. Science-fantasy stories often feature scientifically logical worlds with hard science-like explanations for supernatural elements. They may also include alternate or imaginary science and technology that is not possible based on known scientific laws.

A hybrid genre within speculative fiction, science fantasy simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scientifically logical, while a conventional fantasy story contains mostly supernatural and artistic elements that disregard the scientific laws of the real world. The world of science fantasy, however, is laid out to be scientifically logical and often supplied with hard science-like explanations of any supernatural elements. For this author Heavy Metal magazine typifies the best elements of the diverse world of science fantasy. For yourself it could be much different.

No matter, this kitchen-sink rule kit should provide more than enough tools to capture the spirit of your campaign. If you ever need inspiration for your next Space Acid adventure, thumb the catalogue of movies, comics, music, books, and magazines which brought this genre to life in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. There is literally a bottomless reservoir of material to draw from.

1.2 New Character Classes

Character creation follows the standard one-page procedure outlined in the Mothership core rules. There are two new character Classes to choose from. They are the Clone, and the Fixer. The Clone uses the Android Class but may freely choose the 3 Trained Skills they begin with. The Fixer uses the Teamster Class, but with Max Health being 3x Strength (not the normal 2x).

 

How to be a Professional Game Master

 Like many things in this hobby, you just need to get up and go at it! I'm "in-between" jobs right now so I decided I needed to generate some income via my life long passion, TTRPGs. You are going to need, want, and should set up a profile on startplaying dot games.

And a thumbnail. A really good thumbnail. Since people have only one way to see choices and make selections your front end pitch has to beat thousands of others vying for the same euro and dollar.

Move to a foreign country. Unless you already live somewhere that doesn't use the euro or dollar as their currency. Then stay right where you are and rise to the top 20% of income earners! Living in a third world country with their own currency will make the money you make from players exponentially "more";

Constantly churn options. If an offering isn't getting any hits you need to toss it and put up something new. The internet is a loop, continually spewing content like a news ticker at the bottom of your television screen. You need to be constantly feeding this loop with intriguing and flashy offerings. 

5E and Curse of Strahd. Be prepared to run a whole lot of this. Whatever WotC/Hasbro is doing you need to be right in their back pocket mimicking. In fact it is best to consider yourself a Mimic. An alluring trap which can change faces instantly. Then hang on with all you got and never let these people go. You need to shadow their life constantly and..... no, no, no, none of that. 

But marketing, marketing, marketing is the nit to crack to get steady money from the gig. I have been up and posting just this last week and have had one gig. This is from doing it all wrong and just winging it, like I do any game session. Hopefully I can turn this into some regular cash money so I never have to leave the house! Or where pants for that matter.