Metal Ever After (EDITED)

[nothing to do with rock music]

So…a couple-three days ago I wrote about being drawn in again to the idea of playing/running/designing a “war” RPG, by which I mean “a game where PCs are members of a small military or para-military unit” and adventure sessions being composed of “missions” of a military nature.  Done on a small scale, I think such a venture gives you:

a)     Good setting for deep/dramatic role-playing, AND

b)     Good setting in which to kick some (imaginary) ass.

I’ve owned and/or played a lot of “war” type role-playing games over the years, including Albedo, Revised Recon, Twilight 2000, Godlike, 3.16, Grey Ranks, and Carry…and probably a few others I’m forgetting at the moment. Even Mekton Zeta had some aspects of “military” to it (if only “military light”…see also Palladium’s Robotech). Most of these focus only on one of those two things, though, with the second part being mostly “incidental” depending on the GM running the thing…which ends up meaning they fail for me (personally) as “games I want to play.”

Of course, it’s quite possible that I’m being too hard on the designers. In fact, I know I am…I’ve written before about the goodness of both Revised Recon (the best, most complete game Palladium has ever published…and I mean EVER) and Twilight 2000. Still, most of these games are either to crunchy mechanically (GURPS War? No, not interested) or two “soft and squishy” (hey, I liked Enemy at the Gates, too, but I don’t want to run the same scenario every week!).

And then the other thing is that I really want cyborgs in my game.

So round about Wednesday, I hit on a great idea for a series of blog posts…basically an inside look at my “design process” (such as it is) as I create, from scratch, my own World War III RPG. I could put my “talents” (ugh!) on display, entertain my readers, and (hopefully) end up with a little game to show for it. Kind of like my Land of Ice supplement series (I’ll finish it someday, really!)  except with a lot of sidebars explaining my reasons. Actually, I guess the whole thing would be a sidebar of “thinking out loud” with snippets of chapters pasted onto the end of each thoughtful post. I went so far as to write a few paragraphs that afternoon, but then (day job) work got in the way, and nothing got posted to the blog.

Next day (Thursday, AKA “yesterday”), I decided that my mental design process and my “thoughtful writing” process aren’t really on the same page…so I scrapped the "series of posts" goal in favor of just doing the game. I spent my free time yesterday crafting the rules, and by the end of the day I had a new one-page micro-game (haven’t done that in a while!), with a pretty silly working title (“Asian Land War,” if I remember correctly). We play-tested last night, and today I figured out a better name for the thing:

Metal Ever After

A few random notes for those interested:

-        Micro-games are notoriously short on explanation, but try to condense and distill all the essentials. If this was expanded it would, of course, be groovier and probably include a lot more setting material and rules for mission creation and antagonists. Sorry about that.

-        There’s a reference to RULE ZERO in the game. For those who missed that blog post, you should read this. It’s something I’m using in 5AK with great results.

-        The game steals some of (what I think are) the best parts of Revised Recon and Twilight 2000 (including combining the two for character creation). In a full version, I would probably use the alignment system of RR. The squad rules are based (very, VERY roughly) off Albedo Platinum Catalyst.

-        I’m not really satisfied with the "ranking" system…we had a Lt. Colonel in a five man squad which is really too high a rank for infantrymen in the field…even a borged out recon team. For an “expanded game,” I would definitely take more time and make a better matrix, and include rules for how rank would adjust RP rolls with other soldiers. Maybe. I’d probably look at Albedo PC or 3:16 for a better way of doing rank “advancement.”

-        The terms “light” and “heavy machines” are taken from Rifts’s Warlords of Russia.

-        The inspiration for the setting is 80-90% ripped off from the Appleseed films…if you ignore the utopian cities like Olympus Complex. Basically, the world (Earth) has been in a World War for so many years, society’s mostly broken down and units are operating with little supervision or accountability. PCs get mission objectives via satellite phones (literally: if they can get their hands on a phone they call a satellite and pick up a voicemail message…totally impersonal and without much rhyme or reason). The default setting is Asia but North America would be pretty good, too (tooling around the ruins of Cleveland in an alcohol-powered, super-tank sounds like good times). The key concept is this: large continental theater (ground war) PLUS ruined dystopia. Soldiers are rebuilt as cyborgs because it’s cheaper and faster than training newbies and getting ‘em up to veteran status. “Reuse and recycle” is the phrase that pays…or maybe just “use, reuse, and use-up.”

[here's a video link to show you what I'm talking about...it's about 4.5 minutes in length]

-        There’s a derived ability score – "Cool" – that has absolutely no game mechanic/system purpose to it. I put it in because I loved it as a concept (it's from TL2K, where it works great), but as I put the system together I couldn’t really find a place for it. However, I left it on the one-sheet for "flavor" and in an “expanded version” of the game would probably use it as some sort of saving throw against long-term combat fatigue (or something). I just think it’s a good stat for “losing your shit.” Kind of like sanity in Call of Cthulhu.

Last night’s game found Greg playing in a re-skinned Vietnam-era adventure (of the “go find the charismatic dissident visiting him mother’s village” kind of thing) taken directly from Revised Recon. There was some good game play, a bit of casual brutality (zip-tying civilians and eating their lunch, for example), but we hardly had a chance to touch on combat before wrapping up (though what we did test worked the way I intended: quick & bloody). It’s definitely something in need of further play-testing…and since I’m waiting on 5AK edits to come back, I figure I have some time to kill.

Unfortunately, time to actually game will be in short supply the coming month. Next Thursday, my Dear Old Dad is in town and that’s the only day I’ll have to see him (his schedule, not mine). Following that is 4^th of July, which my son has been talking about incessantly since March. Following that, my wife’s out of town till the 12^th…and then we ALL fly down to Mexico, meaning I’ll miss the 18^th as well. I won’t be getting back to the gaming table till July 25^th which is just…crazy, man.

SO…I’m strongly considering running (or attempting to run) a play-by-post game over the internets. I’ve had good success with this in the past (at least when we’ve used simple systems) and I’m thinking that might be a way to “keep my hand in” AND get some play-testing in, even as I’m forced to do my drinking at home. If anyone’s interested, post a comment here or drop me an email at:

bxblackrazor AT gmail DOT com

Right now, the only game I’m interested in running via PBP is Metal Ever After (I don’t have a one-sheet for 5AK at the moment), so be ready to rock-n-roll with your chrome beret, pal.

[BTW: just in case I wasn't totally clear before, you can download the Metal Ever After micro-game HERE on mediafire]

Questions, comments, and criticism are (as usual) both welcome and wanted.

: )

Art by John Liew (used without permission...sorry)

 

EDIT: The game's name has been changed to WORLD WAR BORG. Links above corrected.

Leveling Up

The cleric I’ve been playing in an on-line B/X game just hit 2nd level after four (plus) months of play. This is the first time I’ve earned a level in ANY edition of D&D (on-line or not) in YEARS…as in, more than a decade.

Four months is a long time, but having played and run PBP and PBEM games in the past I understand it takes 3-5 times as long to get anything accomplished in this format…and it takes longer the more players involved in the game. We’ve really only had three (four?) excursions to the local dungeon in that time, so that’s about a “par” rate of return for B/X, maybe even a little quick. But then again, clerics advance quicker than most other classes (only 1500XP needed for 2nd level), and my character receives an XP bonus for a high Wisdom score.

SO…how do I feel about the accomplishment?

Honestly, gratified. I see what all the fuss is about: why D&D, with its class/level system, has enjoyed such immense popularity over the years. As a DM, I’ve always enjoyed seeing my players “level up” because it A) makes for happier players, and B) opens up new adventure opportunities for ME as a DM (using niftier traps, monsters, encounters, treasures, etc.). But it’s been a long while since I was on the other side of the screen…and it IS cool to have a concrete measure of achievement.

I just want to note a few additional thoughts:

- While it’s a nice “rah-rah” moment to go up in level, it’s especially nice that the level up brings a concrete increase to my character’s effectiveness. As a cleric, my character receives his first 1st level spell (awesome) and a boost to his turning ability (auto-turning skeletons!), in addition to the bonus hit points. If my character was a fighter or dwarf, achieving 2nd level would do nothing but give me an extra roll for HPs. As a design consideration, rewards mean more when they carry some actual value other than a +1 BAB or a couple more skill points.

- Having different XP rates is nice because it staggers the leveling of party members, “keeping the party going” (so to speak) over several sessions. That’s hip…I’m looking forward to the next guy’s turn, which should occur shortly, followed by our fighter and then our illusionist. When you have everyone level at once (such as in D20), you get one “big party” followed by long, dry stretches of grinding.

- There is definitely a “sweet spot” to leveling up and…for me…it’s sooner rather than later. 20+ sessions (what would amount to 4-5 months in a table-top game) is waaaay too long; at least during the low to mid levels. Unfortunately, it’s the low levels where leveling seems to take the longest, due to the poor output of XP from tiny monsters and stingy treasures.

- Personally, it’s not just quantity of the accomplishment, but the quality of the accomplishment that is satisfying. To me, this game feels like I’m doing more than just “going through the motions” of kicking in doors and stabbing things. There’s mystery, there’s history, there’s “local politics,” and sub-plots and much of the adventuring is fueled by the players’ motivations rather than by railroads or “carrots” dangled by the DM. It’s to our DM’s credit that he’s able to run with and adapt to the interests of the players.

I’ll (possibly) talk about some of that last one in a later post. Heron (the DM) has graciously given his approval to discuss and quote his campaign on Ye Old Blog (our campaign/game blog is a closed one so I can’t simply direct folks with a link). There are several topics of conversation to take from his game and besides this is a gaming blog; I should probably discuss some actual gaming rather than simple theory right?

All right, more of that later. Right now I’m going to spend a little time familiarizing myself with the 1st level cleric spell list. Heron says my character is more likely to cast cause fear than cure light wounds (there doesn't seem much of the "healer archetype" to my character) but I do like to know all my options.
; )

Later Gators.

Don't Sass an Assassin (Part 4)

Or not! I have been axed from the campaign!

For my part, there are no hard feelings; I dug my own hole on this one.

It does, however, mean I will be getting back to my normal B/X posting.

Once More Into The Breach

Wasn't it just last Thursday I was comparing my relationship with AD&D to an on-again-off-again romantic fling with a neurotic significant other?

Yeah, it was.

For those readers who are too young to know what I'm talking about, let me paint you a picture. This is a standard type of coming-o-age experience found amongst folks who spent their 20s in the USA during the 1990s. Those of us born in the 70s, often coming from broken or "semi-broken" homes (with regard to the nuclear family) had an interesting mental dichotomy when it came to relationships...being brought up to hold that monogamy and "till-death-do-us-part" was an ideal, and yet all the libertine freedom from convention that had been built up in the wake of the swinging 70s, the hedonistic 80s, and the "intellectual" (pseudo-intellectual?) 90s. Leading us to have relationships with people when we really didn't know what the hell a relationship...or even a real commitment to another human being...entailed. That is, trying to make a relationship work without the actual work and sacrifice that goes with it (and which helps develop character and growth in an individual), but instead trying to be "true to yourself" even though "yourself" was a selfish, insecure, and/or inconsiderate bastard.

And, yeah, it went both ways.

For male heterosexual folks, like myself, this generally manifested in the long-term relationship with the "neurotic" girlfriend..."long term" being more a state of mind than anything else (three months, a year, multiple years...the point is, it felt long). Neurotic is the term generally given to the girl in the situation because she seems to have multiple personalities...sometimes the sweet, sexy person you want to spend the rest of your life with, sometimes the "crazy bitch from hell." That's the male perspective.

The thing is, there was really nothing wrong with the girl, save for the same lack of maturity and unrealistic expectations found in both parties. You'd stick together, trying to "make it work" when often you weren't doing any work on yourself...leading to break downs and then break ups. And, sometimes, repeat cycles where you'd start the relationship back up and go through the whole damn thing again.

The problem was, no one was learning a damn thing. Relationships spur growth in a person and help one develop into a higher level of human being...if you let it. But it takes awhile (and some practice) to get ahold of THAT little lesson. Oh, yeah...and some letting go of one's own ego. I know for me it took several relationships and a number of years to grasp the concept. Once I did, I met my wife...and we've been married since 1998. And still happily (despite our individual foibles).

So, yeah, AD&D...when you first get AD&D (assuming that, like me, you start with some "basic" edition of the game: Holmes, B/X, BECMI) it feels like you've finally found the Holy Grail of your fantasy role-playing. I mean, look at it! How awesomely wonderful it is. It's complex and complicated compared to the basic editions, but most of its complexity is simply elaboration, and for the most part it's all stuff you WANT to have elaborated. Look at all these classes! Look at all these new magic items! Look at these awesome spells and diabolic monsters! Look: saving throws for equipment! Look: drowning rules and astral plane wandering monster charts! Look: ingestible poisons and ranger followers and NPC personality tables and Secondary Skills and using weapons in your off-hand, etc.

Things that you always wanted to know, but had to "make rulings on" before. Things that you didn't know you wanted to know...like gambling dens and wandering prostitutes and random urinary tract infections and other diseases. The seedier side of medieval fantasy!

Demons and devils and liches and golems and Bigby's Clenched Fist and a well of many worlds. Really, what more do you need for your fantasy adventure? Look at all the different pole arms! Look, you can buy chickens and pigs! Look at all the special powers of monks! And new class choices for demihumans that don't have level restrictions (not to mention multi-class characters and "exceptional strength" and druid shapeshifting, etc.). It's everything you ever wanted...everything you think you ever needed.

And so you play AD&D. My friends and I played AD&D...we played the hell out of it, for years. And we pushed it and pulled it, and added to it, and tweaked it in little ways to make it work better for our particular game group and incorporated rules and ideas from Dragon Magazine.

Well anyway, that was a loooong time ago. Years ago, like 1997 (with maybe a "one-off" adventure or two in '99 or 2000). The reasons for AD&D falling by the wayside are many, but some include over-complexity, poorly designed systems open for abuse, lack of agreement/uniformity in which rules are "important/necessary," excessive "power creep," and the silliness of its particular hodge-podge of fantasy/literary tropes.

And, of course, now that I've spent a couple years analyzing and deconstructing D&D, I've come to love the B/X edition...and have come to see AD&D as simply one man's house ruled version of the "original fantasy role-playing game." Not a bad thing, but my adult mind has different wants and needs for a role-playing experience and AD&D feels lacking in many areas. As a kid, I wanted it to be "the game" so much that I was able to look past its flaws...or I was simply blind to them. Now I want a game that will help me grow, either by spurring my imagination (and leaving some questions unanswered) and/or by providing a rule system that "gets the hell out of its own way" and lets me get down to the role-playing. Now, I don't have the same rose-colored glasses I once did when it comes to AD&D.

Only nostalgia.

So then, it's a tribute to how sick I've been lately (I spent half of Tuesday at the doctor, being poked and prodded, x-rayed and medicated for this stupid bronchial infection) that I've jumped head first into Alexis's on-line AD&D campaign. I haven't been to work a single day this week, but I've managed (in between sleeping jags) to create a new blog for my character and tally up a page worth of equipment, calculating the encumbrance to the ounce and noting the location of every scabbard and small belt pouch...engaging in the complexity that I profess to loathe. Hell, I spent my time in the waiting room Tuesday playing 30+ rounds of rock-paper-scissors just for the privilege of doing so.

And I find I'm REALLY looking forward to running in this guy's game.

[see why I hold onto these books?]

I've been on antibiotics for a couple days now, and the doctor says I'm clear to get back to work tomorrow, so I'll be working up more LAND OF ICE posts for those who've been waiting (treasure lists are easy to write up, right?). But readers can expect the grim possibility of some very un-B/X game reports and/or observations to be posted here in the near future as I take a wild ride in an elaborate, exotic AD&D landscape.

Heck, I nearly considered playing a halfling thief. Ha!

; )