Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
My RPG to-do list
Here's what's on my RPG to-do list, and maybe some commentary on each part.
Legend of the Five Rings: Character history, ancestry, finish up my character sheet. I think this campaign is going to be fun. I got really pissed at how L5R divided up the UCI RPG Club, but I think the group here will be able to just have a fun RPG without getting too into it. I'm glad Chip is setting the game back in Rokugan's 'history' a bit, because nothing was more annoying than listening to the constant stream of clan news when people down South were really into the game. Imagine a bunch of college students pondering and debating the plotline of Days of Our Lives.
Demon: The Fallen: I need to do something to get 1 XP, because being 1 XP short of what I want to buy all the time is frustrating! (We get 5 XP a night, usually, and everything I've been buying costs multiples of 5.)
Exalted 2nd Edition, Solars and Lunars: I need to figure out a plot! A lot of my games stall at this point. I love my characters, I love the world, I just don't know what to do in that world. I don't want to let this one stall. I'm considering making it a face-to-face game...but it also sounds cool to do it online. Dunno.
Mage LARP: That's the problem I'm having here. The system and setting are ready to go, but I just don't know what to do as an overarching plot. LARPs are tricky. Too much handholding/railroading, and you're just running a tabletop session that's way too GM-time intensive. Too little handholding/railroading, and the players are just mulling about, chatting about nothing as they look for something to do.
I feel like I need to get some LARP going, though, partially because a lot of people are getting into the Vampire LARP in San Francisco. I'm constantly tempted to go join in, but...I just haven't been having fun with Vampire. I don't like the Mind's Eye Theater system, and I don't like the Vampire: The Masquerade setting. The STs could be doing a stellar job, but the burrs of the system and setting would just keep knocking me out of the fun zone. So I want to get my Mage LARP going, or do some kind of other LARP. Any kind of LARP, really, it doesn't matter to me much. Exalted, Nobilis, four-guys-locked-in-an-elevator, whatever, just something to show to the world that not all LARPs are huge, overarching political conflicts.
So, Mage...I just don't know what to do with it. I guess I really should just storyboard it out, like I would a tabletop game. This scene features this event, it approaches this conclusion...fight scene! Continue...
It'd be easier if I had my characters lined up, so I could base the plot off them, but I don't want to announce I'm getting this started and get 20 characters only to let it falter. I worry about time - if I'm going to have time to organize games while working, or organizing a business, or whatever I end up doing.
Ok, so here's what we've got as far as games for me - which are pretty much my whole schedule at this point.
Tuesday, 6-10: Zombies!
Thursday?, 7-10: Demon
Saturday, 4-7: Serenity
There's my D&D game, which was Thursdays, but I'm kinda tired of running it. It was fun while it lasted.
Doug's Sandstorm game was usually Wednesdays or Thursdays, but I'm gonna leave that in one or two more sessions. I don't really like my character or the group. I mean, it's not a bad group or a bad character, but neither one really makes me want to spend 3 hours a week there.
Games to be added:
Legend of the Five Rings
Exalted 2nd Edition
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon
That's at least 6 games I'll be in...probably 1 per night. Pretty intense. I guess I could run one more game, just to make sure I'm gaming every night! Maybe a short game of something on my bookshelf. There are plenty of games I'd love to try...Mage: The Awakening, Rune, Nobilis...um, some others I'm forgetting. Oh well.
Oh, right, Hunter. 7th Sea, too. And Fireborn.
Legend of the Five Rings: Character history, ancestry, finish up my character sheet. I think this campaign is going to be fun. I got really pissed at how L5R divided up the UCI RPG Club, but I think the group here will be able to just have a fun RPG without getting too into it. I'm glad Chip is setting the game back in Rokugan's 'history' a bit, because nothing was more annoying than listening to the constant stream of clan news when people down South were really into the game. Imagine a bunch of college students pondering and debating the plotline of Days of Our Lives.
Demon: The Fallen: I need to do something to get 1 XP, because being 1 XP short of what I want to buy all the time is frustrating! (We get 5 XP a night, usually, and everything I've been buying costs multiples of 5.)
Exalted 2nd Edition, Solars and Lunars: I need to figure out a plot! A lot of my games stall at this point. I love my characters, I love the world, I just don't know what to do in that world. I don't want to let this one stall. I'm considering making it a face-to-face game...but it also sounds cool to do it online. Dunno.
Mage LARP: That's the problem I'm having here. The system and setting are ready to go, but I just don't know what to do as an overarching plot. LARPs are tricky. Too much handholding/railroading, and you're just running a tabletop session that's way too GM-time intensive. Too little handholding/railroading, and the players are just mulling about, chatting about nothing as they look for something to do.
I feel like I need to get some LARP going, though, partially because a lot of people are getting into the Vampire LARP in San Francisco. I'm constantly tempted to go join in, but...I just haven't been having fun with Vampire. I don't like the Mind's Eye Theater system, and I don't like the Vampire: The Masquerade setting. The STs could be doing a stellar job, but the burrs of the system and setting would just keep knocking me out of the fun zone. So I want to get my Mage LARP going, or do some kind of other LARP. Any kind of LARP, really, it doesn't matter to me much. Exalted, Nobilis, four-guys-locked-in-an-elevator, whatever, just something to show to the world that not all LARPs are huge, overarching political conflicts.
So, Mage...I just don't know what to do with it. I guess I really should just storyboard it out, like I would a tabletop game. This scene features this event, it approaches this conclusion...fight scene! Continue...
It'd be easier if I had my characters lined up, so I could base the plot off them, but I don't want to announce I'm getting this started and get 20 characters only to let it falter. I worry about time - if I'm going to have time to organize games while working, or organizing a business, or whatever I end up doing.
Ok, so here's what we've got as far as games for me - which are pretty much my whole schedule at this point.
Tuesday, 6-10: Zombies!
Thursday?, 7-10: Demon
Saturday, 4-7: Serenity
There's my D&D game, which was Thursdays, but I'm kinda tired of running it. It was fun while it lasted.
Doug's Sandstorm game was usually Wednesdays or Thursdays, but I'm gonna leave that in one or two more sessions. I don't really like my character or the group. I mean, it's not a bad group or a bad character, but neither one really makes me want to spend 3 hours a week there.
Games to be added:
Legend of the Five Rings
Exalted 2nd Edition
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon
That's at least 6 games I'll be in...probably 1 per night. Pretty intense. I guess I could run one more game, just to make sure I'm gaming every night! Maybe a short game of something on my bookshelf. There are plenty of games I'd love to try...Mage: The Awakening, Rune, Nobilis...um, some others I'm forgetting. Oh well.
Oh, right, Hunter. 7th Sea, too. And Fireborn.
Friday, August 24, 2007
First Steps
Today, I took the first concrete steps toward opening a new game store. I arranged an appointment with a local real estate agent to look inside a property across the street, and I composed my membership application for GAMA. I'll send that in tomorrow. GAMA is the Game Manufacturer's Association, and they have a mentoring program specifically designed for people in my situation, who know what they want to do but are bewildered by the choices involved in getting there. I'll write a business plan, then secure funding: either my parents, or small business loans, if I feel confident enough about this. I'd like to get a retail job in the meantime...maybe at Stonestown, just for a few months of grinding to the next level.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Gen Con
By chance, I ended up near Gen Con Indy this year. 'The big one' for gamers, and it falls in my lap. It's only Thursday, but I'm going to have a good time. Take some photos, attend some seminars. If there's anything anyone wants, of course, let me know. Maybe in a year or two, some of us can make a real trip to the con.
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