Finally got to play DW thanks to Steve Kunec running a one shot for us tonight.
Finally got to play DW thanks to Steve Kunec running a one shot for us tonight. Ended up with a TPK, but honestly, I had fun regardless. Hope I can play with him again!
Finally had a chance to GM using Grim World for the first time last night.
Finally had a chance to GM using Grim World for the first time last night. We didn’t have our usual group together, so we decided to throw together a party and run through Indigo Galleon.
The players came up with some interesting class choices, and my favorite was the fire Primordian Necromancer. That player decided that the fire was infused in his character’s eyes, which would dance with flames and licks of fire. He also decided that his hexed body part would be one of his eyes. This resulted in on of the best moves of the evening: while battling Sea Ghouls on the Relentless, the necromancer threw his burning hexed eye, catching the rigging and the Sea Ghouls climbing in it on fire.
We also had a huge gambit play out by the Battlemaster in the group, which was immensely satisfying to the players, turning the tide of battle in their favor during a point where they were close to being overwhelmed.
Thanks again Trenton Kennedy and Deanna Nygren for this awesome resource! I’m really looking forward to using it more in future sessions.
We played the last session in my Keep on the Borderlands ’83 sandbox last night.
We played the last session in my Keep on the Borderlands ’83 sandbox last night. Two groups, somewhere between 20 and 30 sessions over a whole year, it’s been an amazing ride. My notes and fronts were messy as hell and I wasn’t sure how to end it, so this is how I prepared. (Yes, this is an air café receipt.)
Threats included mind flayer marketing executives and their bugbear mercenaries, a modron ‘angelic’ invasion planning a nanocalypse on the whole region, a pirate speljammer, the Bloodstone Idol, the Eye of Gruumsh and the Apocalypse Dragon. I stayed away from most of my notes and stuck to asking questions and building on answers.
And I’m glad I did. The modrons, idol and dragon never showed up and the climactic scene felt really fresh: a raid from the ship onto a Drow tower, with assorted spiders, poisoned blades and evil magicks. Also, having the Underdark as a backdrop gave the session a special, very TV show finale feel.
The heroes saved the day and the Border, freed the Keep from Mindless, Inc. and decided to open a tavern in the village nearby.
I’m looking forward to visiting this setting again, thirty years in the future, when everything is cyberpunk’d up. (Cause 2013 is when cyberpunk happens – finally an excuse to run Sixth World!)
So there was talk of a Wild West AW hack that got me fired up to play Cowboys and Crooks again.
So there was talk of a Wild West AW hack that got me fired up to play Cowboys and Crooks again. I quickly cobbled something together this afternoon after my worst defeat ever in the Game of Thrones boardgame this morning.
These are the highlights:
☆ Classless system. Inspiration for this was from Tim Franzke even though he may not realise it. He wanted smaller playbooks.
☆ Characters based on the Tri Stat system with three modifiers: Body, Mind and Soul.
☆ A skill system based on the three base stats.
☆ All skills are based on the character’s background and occupation, which can be anything.
☆ About 8 basic moves and no class moves. Some basic moves cloned from AW.
☆ Hitpointless harm system adapted from AW.
So we had a 4 hour jam. The characters were the sherriff-blacksmith, the 84 year old retired law man who became a bar tender, identical Native American twin girls who ran away from their tribe and the delinquent girl thief who was arrested by the sherriff who took pity on her and took her under his wing. The BBEG was the corrupt mine owner who stole his workers’ wages by robbing his own coaches. We had bar fights, people drawing guns on each other, gun battles and dynamite explosions. The old timer died in the last big explosion that blew up the mine.
Introduced my two sons to Dungeon World tonight. I’ve done some minor role playing things with them over the years, but always the “kiddie version.” This was full blown DW and as others have reported the conversational tone of the game made it so easy for them to get right into the swing of things.
What was interesting to see was how they almost NEVER just attacked or cast a spell. There was alwasy a story based effect they were trying to achieve. Amazing to see what happens without the preconceived notions that come from having played other games. Perfect example, I let them come up with what magic items they found on the main bad guy they defeated and my younger son immediately describes a Necklace with a mirror inside that will show you a hopeful future… I have no idea what that will do exactly, but what a concept.
Looking forward to seeing what happens as their adventure continues.
Found a new site off Ken & Robin Talk About Stuff podcast (great on all kinds of game design), apparently they did a…
Found a new site off Ken & Robin Talk About Stuff podcast (great on all kinds of game design), apparently they did a mix of games on their site but here’s some Dungeon World AP at Peaches & Hot Sauce.