A Little Pathfinder

My Elven Cleric

We've been playing quite a bit of Pathfinder over the last year or so.  We started with a Rise of the Runelords adventure path, but it quickly morphed into its own thing.  We were also playing a party of all Elves, which led to a lot of 'hilarity ensuing' moments, including the time we refused to speak to anyone in anything but Elven, even though the village folk all spoke lowly common.  Good stuff, we actually wrapped up that campaign around level ten, then started a new one.  The new one is all a homebrew setting, and so cool I'll save it for it's own post.  Rock on.

Undead slaying action

Friday Rucht Hour: The View from RuchtCon

Usually, around St. Patrick's Day, I run a gaming convention from my house. This year, I went big. As big as I could get. I had some folks flying into my tiny convention. There were the locals and there were folks from Georgia and North Carolina. Baltimore was as furthest distance traveled. Check out the dragon cake!

Anyhow, the weekend started with a round of roleplaying games. There was Gothic Earth Eternal, a Pathfinder-based horror game that I wrote. There was also Deadlands and Inspectres. Inspectres was interesting - basically it's a game where you form a Ghostbusters franchise of your own and go around bustin' ghosts!

Saturday morning was cartoons, sugar cereal and boardgames. We played more than one rousing game of Zombicide, which was great fun. Nick drove a car around the board, running over hordes of undead while the rest of us scrambled for resources.

While zombie killin' was going on, elsewhere people were playing Elder Sign, which is a dice-centric game which is the nephew of Arkham Horror. 

While some zombies were bashed and Elder Gods were battled, other folks adjourned upstairs for a game of Arabian Nights! 

After that, we adjourned back to role-playing games. I had tremendous fun playing the Trail of Cthulhu, which uses the Gumshoe system. In the Gumshoe system, you are allowed to "spend" skill points in order to gain or ensure success, which is great for investigative scenarios. It's not a question of if you find a clue, but how good the clue is that you receive. Meanwhile, other folks had fun with Mouseguard and Shadowrun. 

In the evening, for me it was another round of Gothic Earth Eternal, while Fantasy Flight's Only War got off of the ground. In the kitchen, people battled martians in a 50's sci-fi mash up using the Savage Worlds rules. 

Finally, on Sunday morning, we got together one last time to do that old favorite - Fiasco. However, I was lucky enough to play Jason Morningstar's newer game - Durance. I'll just say this. Mik, Durance is right up your alley. 

All right, that's all for now. Happy Friday everyone!

Some More Art Leftovers: Eastern Flavors

Well obviously it's not Tuesday, so these art leftovers will have to share a spot with today's Thor's Day Hero, lest I intrude upon Rucht's Friday slot!  Since he's still hitting the gamer books hardcore, I'll leave him to his own.

Eastern flavors abound this issue, coincidentally I might add.  Way back in the day...we were playing a lot of Legends of the Five Rings.  Man, what a great game; excellent system, amazing genre, great history, all kinds of good stuff.  Black magic was prevalent, and something you did not want to mess with.  The above pic is of two of us meddling PCs, obviously messing with the very thing they shoudn't.  To quote Primus, "...and in doing so, each gave just a little bit of their souls away."

The next one, as the joke goes, was inspired by my lovely wife.  Yes, this limbless, grotesque, demon-hag of an Oni was all because of the woman I married and chose to spend the rest of my life with.  See, she had a weird dream once, and woke up and hastily drew a very weird image of the "thing" from her dream.  This was the best translation I could come up with.  How'd you think she inspired me?

Next up is a pair of seafood flavored nun-chuks.  To those that are offended by those who can't spell these martial art beat sticks, I apologize.  Anyway, they belonged to a monk from a Forgotten Realms campaign, he worshiped one of the sea gods, whose name completely escapes me. 

And finally we have a Naga from Five Rings, or just about any eastern fantasy setting.  I wanted my Naga a little less snake-man and a little more man-snake.  Hence this guy.  All said and done I was really happy with the way his short sword / dagger turned out.

All right, that's your art fix for the week.  Sorry it's a few days late, but better late than never!  How have you been?  Things are good here.  We got a Pathfinder game under our belts, so I'll be showing off some new Lego figs of that.  We've also got a Dark Heresy campaign about to kick off this Saturday that I'm really looking forward to, so until then, enjoy!

Mass Effect Rogue Space Wrap-Up

A rogue Geth, a Quarian, and a Turian walk into a bar...

There was a bit of a hiatus but just last night the boys and I wrapped up our roleplaying game of Mass Effect using the excellent Rogue Space rules.

I've talked about Rogue Space  quite a bit in the past, but to reiterate here; it's a great game.  It's put out by a gamer just like us, is dirt cheap, and let's you hit the table fast and furious without a lot of being bogged down by the rules.  Check it out here.  I would also be remiss if I did not mention the excellent, fan-assisted source material that Señor Swenson has been cranking out for Rogue Space found here.

Anyway, this was a short story arc of a campaign, just something to get the players into some sci-fi dice rolling.  I think it lasted three nights all told?  Rumor has it those knuckleheads over at Minions of the Monster Master have some actual play episodes of the game.  It concluded on an open-ended note, so there's definitely room in the future for more adventures of the crew.  Below are some eye-candy shots for the players to put a visual with some of the things they encountered last night.

 

Above we have the Normandy, which was blown up in our game mind you, and in the distance is the massive Citadel.  The Citadel was found tech left over by an ancient alien race.  It is seat to the galactic council, the four races that make up said council being the four races that stumbled upon it.  It's not just a space station, it's huge, small moon-sized huge.

 

This is a mass relay, also left behind by the same ancient aliens who built the Citadel, presumably.  These mass relays are all over the galaxy and make FTL travel between systems possible.  Without these, galactic expansion would not be nonexistent.

credit goes to "Raven" over at the Mass Effect Universe forums for this image

Finally we have the Voidbat.  As I mentioned, I blew up the Normandy in the game.  I wanted the group to start off on the same path as the main character from the videogame series, but didn't want them stuck to it.  What's a crew without a ship?  So here we a have a modestly sized, modestly armed vessel of Turian design and manufacture.  The group had three working options at the starport to commandeer and escape the planet; a huge and slow Salarian cargo hauler "Swollen With Nutrients", a fast and tiny Batarian attack fighter "Seeker of Woe", and this one which was a nice compromise between the first two. 

We set out what we planned on, a short little sci-fi RPG romp in a fun universe.  There are no plans at this time to return, but anything is possible.  If we do, there's a ship and plenty of source material ready to roll.  Until next time, enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

Gothic earth

eternal

Hey guys! 

For Halloween this year, I'm going to give you all a gift. The gift of free gaming materials. For about a year, off and on, in conjunction with the Fraternity of Shadows, I've been working on Gothic Earth Eternal. GEE is a modern horror game based on the old Masque of the Red Death game put out in 1994 by William W. Connors through TSR. 

The short, short version is that Masque of the Red Death was a setting in the 1890's where Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and Sherlock Holmes were all real. The new rules and game updates the setting to 2012, using the Pathfinder rules as its core.

We also let fans write in their own versions of various Darklords and villains to be included with the setting. Those write-ups will be coming shortly as well.

Anyhow, I'm giving this all away for free. Here's the link.

To find out more about the Gothic Earth Eternal project, find out more on the Fraternity of Shadows page. 

On a final note, I want to say that this is a bit of a dedication to Mik and the Minions of the Monster Master as well, because way back in the day, we played a short Masque of the Red Death game. I have found memories of that one. As I remember it, Mik got to play Nikola Tesla in a romping, horror-filed game of hauntings, cultists, and Creatures Beyond Time and Space. 

Enjoy, and Happy Halloween! 

Some End-of-Summer Notes

I haven't been the most active here on the blog, you can always count on Thursdays of course, and you can count on Mondays and Fridays, ahem, mostly. I kid of course, and am more than delighted to have both Miller and Rucht on board. Because of them Mik's Minis is starting to become something a little bigger and a lot better, if you haven't checked out their weekly features, you should, links above.

The garden still grows. I got frustrated with the zucchini and removed it with extreme prejudice. Other than that, we are rolling along as you can see here.

Speaking of what you see here, as you can tell from my shoes and fancy moisture-wicking shirt, I am still playing tennis. I wish I could report a ton of wins, heh, but they seem to allude me. I am getting much needed exercise (which is my primary goal) and I am starting to feel myself get better at the game. It's been an interesting experience, and it has been a surprisingly mental exercise as well. Anytime you're playing strangers in direct head-to-head competition in a purely physical arena you're bound to learn all kinds of things about yourself. It truly becomes a 'make or break' situation.


We've been gaming too, but as I have mentioned many times in the past, we lack some focus. Hopefully Infinity will remedy that to an extent, but other great games seem to be hanging in the wind; such as the new Marvel RPG and a promising Legends of Anglerre campaign that never got off the launchpad. It's funny, with all the focus on minis (buying, painting, the like) it is these two roleplaying games that I miss the most.

On the other hand, lack of focus and not having a minis game prepped and ready to roll does mean that there has been a good deal of board-gaming going on. With all of the solid selections out there right now, this certainly can't be seen as a complaint. I've recently taken stock of my own boardgame collection and have been kicking around the thought of doing a new series where I learn/re-learn what I've got, play it with the group at least once, then review it here. I recently ordered the Gears of War boardgame, so that may be the first one I do if and when that happens.

Defining Game #1: Traveller

1. (Classic) Traveller, 1981.

Here we have it, my number one defining game/moment; Traveller.

Growing up my parents weren't gamers, but apparently they had gamer friends. We were at one such gamer friend's house when I was a wee lad of seven and these adults I knew were playing Traveller on a coffee table with dice and lots of sheets of paper with stuff written on them...and a drawing of a spaceship diagram.

They were obviously having a blast. I asked what they were doing and they had me sit in right there on the spot. "Just pretend you're there and tell [this guy] what you want to do." is pretty much all the instruction I got. We were in a space hangar trying to steal a ship or something, I don't remember the details but I was already in love; the concept, the setting, the everything.

They had an extra rulebook that they generously sent home with me with the instructed me to read it and start by making up some characters. I did this zealously and although I never went back and gamed with that particular group, my fate had been sealed. I wonder if all these years later if those guys realize what an impact that they had had on me? This really is it, the single most defining moment that everything else hinges on. Ironically enough, I've never even played Traveller, heh.

Defining Moment #2: Star Frontiers

2. Star Frontiers, 1983

So about a year after me #1 spot intro we were visiting some relatives in another state. Apparently my mom's cousin was (and still is) a big gamer. He had given me a present at one point during our visit and it was the sweetest package deal ever; a box of Star Frontiers miniatures and the Star Frontiers RPG boxed set.

Holy crap. To a nine year old this was amazing; the artwork, the user-friendly rules, and miniatures. Miniatures? What the heck are these? Then I saw all the minis that mom's cousin had painted, shelves full of them. I'm now thinking this gift was spur-of-the-moment out of his own collection, something I've caught myself doing for nieces and nephews form time to time. I remember making myself carsick on the long drive home because I couldn't put the rulebooks that came in the boxed down.

Whereas the #1 spot opened the door, this was the light beyond.

Defining Game #3: Twilight 2000

3. Twilight 2000, 1984

So by '84 I was a ten year old, full into GI Joe figures ('84 being the best year for them) and Star Wars. I had some RPG goodness behind me already, not to mention this was the same year Red Dawn came out.

That's when I found Twilight 2000, it was all the roleplaying I had experienced to this point, plus all the guns and paramilitary action that was prevalent at the time. It was kind of the perfect combination at the perfect time.

Twilight 2000 also marks a first in that this was the first roleplaying game I began playing with friends on a regular basis where your character one week was the same one you used the next. This is where the beauty of linked games, a campaign even, began to come to light to me for the first time.

Defining Game #6: Gamma World

6. Gamma World 3rd edition, 1987

Gamma World was the point where all of the gaming moments #1-#5 started to really come together. It was more than just roleplaying too because we really got into the creation of settings, rolling up NPCs, making monsters, equipment, cartographizing (yes, I just made that up) whole lands, and lots more.

Before Gamma World, roleplaying for me had some tentative steps and of course solid beginnings but Gamma World was the first time I personally put it all together. We had a lot of memorable post-apoc games starting with the box set you see here. It would expand of course, but it's important to note our games weren't always serious stuff, we were just having fun with it and seeing where the rules, and our imaginations, were going to go. This was the first time my gaming took a light-hearted approach, and for that I had such a good time, obviously a trend I would take with me, well, pretty much always.

Defining Game #7: WEG Star Wars

7. Star Wars RPG, 1988

I remember when this game first came out, it was a roleplaying game...set in the Star Wars universe. "What? Are you kidding me?", I thought. That was so awesome at the time, and West End Games had an instant hit, I was blown away.

It's really funny, in high school I got in with a group that was playing Star Wars, this would also be the first time I went somewhere else to game other than home (or the neighborhood). Not being old enough to drive however my folks had to drive me there. The house they drove me to is in the neighborhood I currently live in, in fact it's just one street over. It's kind of neat to think about. Anyway, WEG Star Wars was great fun, it was a great license and with the sourcebooks I got to learn so much more about my favorite franchise (at the time) to boot.

Defining Game #9: AD&D 2nd Edition

9. AD&D 2nd edition, 1989

Anyone who gamed in the eighties is going to have this one on their list. The weird thing is that this is number nine on mine. Usually Dungeons and Dragons is at the top, if not in the number one slot. Nope, it's not even top five material for me believe it or not. It doesn't make it any less special, it's just noteworthy that in all of my gaming foundations, DnD came pretty late in the game.

Of course once it made its debut it never really left, so for that reason and more, here it is. We usually played in the Forgotten Realms, but had brief stints in pretty much all of the other settings out there, Dark Sun being one of my more favorites, though it was short lived. Homebrew campaigns, hand drawn dungeon maps, lengthy character bios, all the tropes and more that come with the territory were formed during this time. As far as staying power, and games that shape what the future was going to bring, AD&D had it all. We would eventually go back and play first edition, as well as have a very long 3/3e campaign within recent years. Whatever its incarnation, DnD is just that, DnD; it's not just a staple, it's the staple..

Defining Game #10: Champions

10. Champions 4th edition, 1990

Starting off with number ten does leave a lot of questions unanswered as to what came before, but suffice it to say the other nine spots before this one helped only to make this one that much better.

It was 1990, I was sixteen and had a car, and a bunch of gaming under my belt. I was also big into comic books, so when a superhero rpg came out, I had to sign up. This was also the first time I remember having to actually work for the money to buy the hardback rulebook, which was kind of expensive at the time!

So I was mobile, driving myself to comic shops and games of Champions at other friends' houses, it was a good time indeed. I remember a lot of these games mainly due to the characters we painstakingly crafted but also the epic four hour battles against equally cool villains.

After 1990, and this foray into Champions, everything else gaming in my life just kind of exponentially grew. There's a reason I stuck with the first ten for this list, because the next twenty plus games could go on and on for quite a while!

I've got a lot of honorable mentions along the way, cool games that might've been one-shots or short-lived. The ten I picked out for this list however are the milestones themselves. So with Champions in the number ten spot we kick off the first ten gaming moments that have defined who I am, as a gamer, today. Enjoy!

MERS: Weaponry

Probably one of the easiest conversions so far for Mass Effect Rogue Space has been in the weapons department. In the Rogue Space rulebook there is a very large selection of weapons, both melee and ranged. I just took the ME equivalent, figured out which Rogue Space gun was the closest in scope, and mashed up the two with some minor tweaks as needed. If you haven't figured out by now, I take the laid back approach to conversion, not the "easy" route mind you, just not the "going to reinvent the wheel from scratch" route either.

Stat blocks for Rogue Space weapons are fairly straight forward as well. As for ammo, since everything in the ME universe seems to run off of thermal clips, we will just keep track of how many rounds a particular gun holds, then reload with these universal thermal clips.

M-3 Predator Pistol: DAM (L), Range (M), Ammo (12)

Manufactured by Elanus Risk Control, the Predator is valued as a powerful, deadly, and relatively inexpensive weapon. While it is not generally deployed in the military, due to commonality of kinetic barriers, it’s still very popular in the Terminus Systems where these defenses are less common.

M-5 Phalanx Heavy Pistol: DAM (M), Range (S), Ammo (15)

The M5 Phalanx is the product of the Alliance's Offensive Handgun Project that developed a close-in weapon to be used on armored or shielded targets with no loss of stopping power in comparison to the soldier's assault rifle. The Phalanx enjoys a ballistics advantage even over most "hand cannons" and features an integral laser sight which is highly visible even in bright lighting conditions.

M-23 Katana Shotgun: DAM (M), Range (M), Ammo (5)

Common military shotgun. Deadly at short range, but ineffective at long range. Very effective versus shields and biotic barriers, but weak versus armor. Manufactured by Ariake Technologies, the Katana is a common mercenary weapon.

M-92 Mantis Sniper Rifle: DAM (M), Range (L), Ammo (5)

Manufactured by Devlon Industries, the Mantis is primarily used by police and planetary militia groups. The prevalence of kinetic barriers has made this weapon less popular with the military, but it is used more frequently in the Terminus systems where these defenses are less common.

M-4 Shuriken Machine Pistol: DAM (L), Range (M), Ammo (24)

As kinetic barriers have grown in popularity, so has the popularity of submachine guns. Manufactured by the Elkoss Combine, the Shuriken machine pistol has a reputation for being deadly and easy to use, but is weak against armor.

Krogan Combat Axe: Damage (M), Range (Melee)

The Krogan combat axe is both a ceremonial symbol as well as a devastating hand-to-hand weapon. Made of modern synthetic polymers and carbides, it is able to penetrate the toughest of armored opponents, especially with the full strength of a Krogan behind it.

Combat Knife: DAM (L), Range (S)

The standard combat knife comes in many forms but the premise is universally the same; it slices, it dices. Often carried as part of the soldier's kit, the combat knife is useful as a tool, a hand-to-hand weapon, and more. In the right hands it can also be used as a thrown weapon, albeit with a severely limited range.

Across the Mass Effect franchise there are dozens of rifles, pistols, and more. On top of that you further modify your weapons with all manner of additional equipment like scopes, barrels, heat sinks, and more. Then there's a half dozen different ammo loads to boot. Needless to say, this only scratches the very tip of the iceberg when it comes to ME weapon conversions. It's enough to get the troopers, err, players started however, and once they start bagging some Geth they'll get upgrades I'm sure. Speaking of Geth, next time we will look at putting these bad guys on paper to duke it out with the NPCs.

MERS: Krogan, Quarian, and Batarians

Today we're going to look at playable alien options for Rogue Space in the Mass Effect universe. In addition to the above three alien races, the obvious fourth option is good ole human. Races in Mass Effect are broken down into two categories; those aligned with the Citadel Council, and those who are not (for a variety of reasons). Here's a great wiki link detailing them. If you're in with the council you're pretty much with the "in" crowd and enjoy the greatest freedoms and privileges across controlled space. If you're not a council race however you're going to find suspicion, profiling, and sometimes outright hostility levied your way.

For the type of campaign I am hoping to craft I opted to put the 'rogue' in Rogue Space. Much like the crew of the Serenity, I'm hoping my players will tend towards the fringe, making due with whatever odd jobs that come along regardless of what side legality those jobs fall on. Of course I couldn't help but stack the deck with Krogan (savages), Quarians (techno-thieves), and Batarians (terrorists). All unjust stereotypes, true, but perhaps there's a grain of truth to them? Alien races in Rogue Space just come with a few tweaks and starting perks, of course the big in-game difference is that you're playing an alien.

Krogan: Gain +2 HP and +1 Fight at character creation in addition to starting class attributes. Krogan have the Headbutt ability, allowing them to make one headbutt attack per encounter. A successful hit deals a massive 2d6 points of physical damage.










Quarian: Gain +1 Scientific at character creation in addition to starting class attributes. Quarians have the Bypass ability, giving them a +2 situational modifier when attempting to access, alter, or bypass electronic and computer devices. It should be noted that Quarians have to exist inside an environmental vacc-suit. To keep things simple in-game this will be a player constraint in terms of roleplaying instead of an actual (and potentially fatal) game mechanic.



Batarian: Gain +1 Acquiring at character creation in addition to starting class attributes. Batarians have the Far Shot ability, allowing them to gain +1 to hit when firing at Long range and +2 to hit at Far Range, offsetting ATK modifiers to a degree.

Given how many viable races are still out there, there's a lot more room to add these to the list. I personally would like to see Drell, Turian, and Volus thrown into the mix. Although they didn't make the cut as a starting PC race (all Council races were off-limits) there's no reason I won't be statting them up in the future. Next time around we're going to look at Rogue Space stats for Mass Effect weaponry. Until then, enjoy!

MERS: Classes, Biotics, and Engineering.

MERS = Mass Effect Rogue Space. Know it, love it.

Our second roleplaying session set in the Mass Effect universe and using the Rogue Space rules is scheduled for this evening. To that end it's high-time I started putting out the material I've cranked out to help facilitate the marriage of these great rules and fantastic setting. Before tackling races however we're going to look at the classes of Rogue Space and how we can mash those up with the classes of Mass Effect. For many of my MERS conversions I look to the multiplayer part of ME3 because it's boiled down and streamlined.

There are three classes in Rogue Space; warrior, rogue, and technician. Just to keep more in line with ME sounding terms I simply changed their names to soldier, scoundrel, and engineer. There is benefit to what class you play in the form of how many hit points you start with and a bonus skill point to one of their abilities. These three classes, other than a name change, remain mechanically the same.

Rogue Space also has optional rules for Psionics, however these aren't a Mass Effect staple. ME has something just as good however and can be implemented with little effort; biotics. The term biotics refers to the ability for some lifeforms to create mass effect fields using Element Zero nodules embedded in body tissues. These powers are accessed and augmented by using bio-amps. Biotic individuals can knock enemies over from a distance, lift them into the air, generate gravitational vortices to tear obstacles or enemies apart, or create protective barriers.

Biotic mechanics are simple and operate almost identical to Rogue Space's core psionic mechanics. I tried to give most of the players at least one biotic power too, since its so prevalent in the videogame. Below are the mechanics and the powers I've selected for use:

Using Biotics: Roll 2d6, plus Empathy score, vs. TN. May ‘push’ biotics by expending HP, whether or not it is successful. To retry a failed power in the same turn costs 1HP, or to boost an attempt spend 1HP per point added to the roll.

• Warp: You create a rapidly shifting mass effect field to hurl at the target, effectively tearing it apart. Range is M and damage depends on field intensity and TN: L (TN7), M (TN9), V (TN11), 2d6+2 (TN13) *basically it's a ranged attack
• Barrier: You surround yourself with a high-gravity mass effect field, strengthening your current shields or providing them for those without. Effect lasts until bonus shield strength is depleted. TN: L (TN7), M (TN9), V (TN11), 2d6+2 (TN13) *bonus shield strength is depleted once you have taken damage equal to the bonus shield points generated
  
• Pull: You use Pull to generate a mass-lowering field, moving your target around the battlefield. Your TN determines how far the target is moved: one space (TN7), two spaces (TN9), three spaces (TN11), four spaces (TN13) *spaces defined here are specific to your game whether it's on a grid map, represented in inches, in-game feet, or what have you

In the videogame there is little mechanical difference between hurling biotics at the enemy and using tech-based powers against the enemy. To that end Technician skills are handled almost exactly like Biotics. Losing hit points when "pushing" your powers here represents the extra strain and surge feedback when performing these maneuvers.

Using Engineering: Roll 2d6, plus Scientific score vs. TN. May ‘push’ Engineering by expending HP, whether or not it is successful. To retry a failed power in the same turn costs 1HP, or to boost an attempt spend 1HP per point added to the roll.

• Combat Drone: You spawn a tech drone that draws enemy fire and can electronically stun targets and/or damage their shields. Your TN determines how powerful the drone is: MV is equal to half that of the user (TN7), MV equal to user (TN9), MV equal to user plus two and can fire (L) damage at (S) range (TN11), as before but will short out target shields upon successful hit (TN13) *I patterned this power dort of after the 'summon animal' psionic power, but it obviously has more bite to it, obviously at low-powered levels it's just a recon drone but as your TN gets higher it begins to acquire offensive capabilities
• Incinerate: You fire a high-explosive plasma round from your Omni-tool at your target inflicting immediate and lingering damage. Range is L and ignores 50% or lower cover defense. Lingering damage and effectiveness depends on your TN. 2kL and d2 lingering damage for one round (TN7), 1d6 and d4 lingering damage for two rounds (TN9), 2dH and d4 lingering damage for three rounds (TN11), 2d6+2 and d6 lingering damage for three rounds (TN13) *Another ranged attack where you are the point of origin

So there you have the classes of MERS, and the powers associated with both Biotics and Engineering. There's a lot more powers to choose from that can be converted for future use. In the next installment we're going to look at what playable races there are to pick from and what special racial abilties they may bring with them to the table. Until then, enjoy!

A New Laser in Town

We have been playing a lot of the new Marvel Heroic roleplaying game. I'm quite enamored with it and a "how great is this game" post (also called a review) is in the works.

Until then I leave you with the new and improved Living Laser to the left. Normally a C-List villain, there was a chance that my character (Iron Man) could spend experience points to "unlock" the Laser as a PC. I did this, because it was a neat idea, and the chance to play a character outside of the box was too good to pass up.

So look for a redeemed Laser v2.0 soon also drawn by my buddy Chris "Biscuit" Miller (sketch by me in the mobile reel right). You can see the rest of his superhero banner from the left at the top of the Minions blog. Enjoy!

Mass Effect Rogue Space...Stuff

Thankfully I've brought Rucht on board here at Mik's Minis because let's face it, my own content has been somewhat slim lately. I do have content in the works though, and it goes by the name of Mass Effect Rogue Space. Really I should put Rogue Space first, since that's the engine, but then I couldn't do the anagram MERS, which Rogue Space is known to do!

So, I've got conversion material already finished that I need to post here. It's done, and it's been used in one game already, the next game is due up this Saturday. Here's the material I've got to get out and into your hands:

• Playable Races (Krogan, Quarian, and Batarian)
• Weapons (Shuriken pistols, Mantis sniper rifles, and more)
• Enemies (Geth, Geth, more Geth, and a Husk or two)
• Adventure conversion from in-game storylines

So that's off the top of my head, there may be more. Also remember to check out the official Rogue Space site as well for the rules. The reason I went with Rogue Space is because it is elegantly quick and easy, and gets you into the game with little fuss making your own conversions a snap to implement. Rock on.

Rogue Space RPG Review

I picked up Rogue Space, an independent, sci-fi rpg, a couple of weeks back but wanted to hold off on a review until we actually got it out for a test drive. To quote its summary it "is an easy to learn and flexible Role Playing Game. It requires two six sided dice, two players, paper, pencil, and imagination. A flexible system allows you to create the game you want to play!"

Shortly after our decision to jump into the 'making our own RPG' ocean I began looking for other 'garage level' sci-fi RPGs out there. I didn't have to look far, Christopher Brandon has hit the nail on the head with this one. It's got an old-school RPG feel to it but handles overly complicated tasks such as starship combat with the same simple elegance as is found in the rest of the book.

For an amazingly low eight bucks you get a 64-page "workbook" sized game in black and white. The original artwork within, drawn by the author's wife and seen at the top of this post, is really cool and stylish, and interestingly enough a mix of public domain art within also adds to an overall pulpy sci-fi feel. Examples are given throughout, plenty of tables, GMing advice, sample setting, and more pack those 64 pages full of material.

Reading through character creation it became apparent to me that this is the kind of game that gets you stuck in your adventures right away with little time wasted on the minutia of the character itself. Throughout the book acronyms cleverly spell out sections of rules such as your character's attributes (FASER): fighting, acquiring, scientific, empathy, and repairing. The names pretty much describe what they do and that's the bulk of your character in a nutshell.

I wanted to actually play the game before posting my impressions, and the Minions and I did that very thing. Just as the author intended, the rules form an open sandbox to create your own worlds and adventures. My gameplan here was a simple one; put the game smack in the middle of the Mass Effect universe. With more hours than I care to admit invested in Mass Effect over the last three videogames it's something I can run easily without reinventing the wheel. And with the Rogue Space rules, I can facilitate it all into a seamless package.

I'll post more on converting Mass Effect staples into the Rogue Space system later, such as NPC and adversary stats, and I'll throw in a little on my overall conversion thoughts as well. As for the Rogue Space rules themselves, well you'd be hard pressed to find a better, open-ended sci-fi RPG under ten bucks. I can see this as a quick, low-prep pickup RPG for downtime and one-shots, or alternatively, it has the legs to run for campaign length adventures.

Our first Rogue Space foray can be found here, remember this is explicit material and not safe for work or children. The game itself can be bought here at Lulu, and the official site is here. For a little more thorough review, especially in the mechanics department, you might want to check out A Susurrus in Carcosa. This won't be the last you've heard of Rogue Space here. Until next time, enjoy!

The Big Announcement

Here's your Saturday morning "big announcement"! As you probably know I'm part of the [explicit] podcast over at Minions of the Monster Master. We basically just set up a microphone at the game table and have at it, it's not polished whatsoever.

Well, those guys and I have been gaming together for a long time, twenty plus years in a lot of cases, and in that time we've played a lot of games and had a lot of fun together. So we decided to take the plunge and do our own roleplaying game. Yup.

There's several reasons I brought my friend Rucht on-board as a writer here at Mik's Minis, but the main one is that he is central to this latest endeavor. He's no stranger to the gaming industry, and ultimately he's going to be steering the ship. Miller will be doing the lion's share of the artwork (just check out his logo at the top!) and I'll be helping with overall design and background. Everyone else, like Andy of Little Lead Heroes, is pitching in with playtesting and more. We're hoping to use Mik's Minis here as a launching point for designer diaries and the like to generate interest. Eventually, as the project takes on a more definitive shape, we'll move the material to its own dedicated blog.

So what is it? It's called Alpha Wolfpack, a military sci-fi roleplaying game of action and exploration. It will be a completely contained system and utilize open storyetelling formats that you see in many independent games such as FATE, Zombie Cinema, and the like. There will be skirmish elements as well to facilitate miniatures-focused play if that's what you're looking for. We've got some basic playtesting under our belts already you can check out here:

AWP Character Creation
AWP Playtest Session #1
AWP Playtest Session #2

Alpha Wolfpack is based on a D20 Modern campaign that we played together ten or so years ago. At the time D20 Future wasn't published so we 'homebrewed' a lot of that material into a futuristic setting. It was one of those 'magical' campaigns where synergy took over, everyone was pitching in equally, and when the dust settled and the last die was cast you just kind sat back and said, "Whoa."

We can't give you that campaign, but we're hoping to give you a rulebook where you can make your own equally memorable games.