tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54129482024-02-28T18:02:41.178+01:00Fourclover RPGSometimes we play...Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.comBlogger162125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-52106030862490669572010-09-13T22:53:00.001+02:002010-09-13T22:54:20.413+02:00Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-42807826729328076442010-08-16T22:06:00.002+02:002010-08-16T22:06:00.290+02:00Changing relationship mapsIn previous discussions about relationship maps, the map has been a static map over how things are in the world at a given moment. This time, however, I'm going to talk a little about the idea of relationship maps that develop over time.
The main idea is that one of the goals of a session can be to change how the map looks. Sworn allies can be made into enemies, or leaders whole cities can be Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-70509799217936269572010-08-16T16:04:00.000+02:002010-08-16T16:04:17.766+02:00Relationship maps expandedA while ago I wrote a little about how to build an adventure using relationship maps.
Mapping out your adventure pt1
Mapping out your adventure pt2
Mapping out your adventure pt3
Mapping out your adventure pt4
In many cases, these maps describe a number of secrets for the characters to uncover. However, the map in itself doesn't say anything about HOW these relationships are discovered.
You Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-27457575338243960742010-08-13T10:44:00.000+02:002010-08-13T10:44:18.266+02:00Micro-tip: Use Google maps for inspirationSometimes it can be hard to come up with names and maps for a specific place. For instance, not long ago I wrote an adventure sett in a slightly oriental/ arabic setting. Since I had a hard time coming up with names that had the right feeling, I took a look at Google Maps, and zoomed in over places like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and similar. It didn't take me long to find a couple of names that Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-40241007424856671352010-08-12T09:35:00.000+02:002010-08-12T09:35:57.276+02:00Player vs. player - or "The golden rule of roleplaying"In our last game, the issue of player vs. player action came up. More specifically, one player said that his character did a mind control on another players character. This wasn't appreciated by the other player, who was open with it, so the first player changed his course of action.
The incident, however, got me thinking (and spurred some discussions on the groups Wave about the game). Several Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-54794572739827773052010-08-08T20:10:00.000+02:002010-08-08T20:10:31.661+02:00Cabincon 2010So, this weekend was time for the annual (and second) little retreat with our gaming group. We went out to a cabin, next to lake Vänern, the largest lake in Sweden. The idea is to play some games full time for a weekend, and to try out at least something new. The games this year was a DnD3.5-game (the demonweb pits), a Star Wars Saga-game, where we played separatists running from the newly formedUlf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-60886303310270914552010-08-02T12:12:00.001+02:002010-08-02T12:12:11.881+02:00The Hopeless Gamer on Die Rollshttp://thehopelessgamer.blogspot.com/2010/08/whats-in-roll.htmlIn the blog-post above, The Hopeless Gamer writes about the Dice Roll. Their thoughts on rolling the dice are quite similar to mine (and he is for instance referencing a couple of my favorite sources as well, Luke Crane and John Wick). Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-17417475273633585492010-08-02T00:04:00.001+02:002010-08-02T00:04:04.687+02:00Drivethroughrpg app? - RPGnet Forumshttp://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?p=12578678#post12578678According to this thread, it seems that there will be an app for the iPad for browsing and buying books on drivethroughrpg. I will post more info on this as soon as I hear anything. In the meantime, I have a couple of posts on the way dealing with using the iPad and iPhone as a gamer. (and for all you Android users: it's not that I Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-4539788222563611282010-08-01T09:35:00.001+02:002010-08-01T09:35:46.049+02:00Concept ships - inspirational siteSo, I'm finally back after some travelling around the globe (or at least around Europe). Today I'd like to share a site I found a while ago. It's called, short and simple, conceptships, and features collections of space ships drawn by various artists. I'm definately going to use this as a source of ideas (and also to find images to show to my players) when doing my next sci fi game (which, Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-53346011110154977242010-07-12T19:25:00.000+02:002010-07-12T19:25:12.948+02:00Some thoughts on failureNote: Very few of these thoughts are my own. They are picked up from different games and articles, and I just sum them up here.
GM: "Give me a skill-check on skill X"
Player: "Ok"
Rolls dice
Player: "Dammit, I fail"
GM: Ok then... you don't find anything/you fall down on your behind while trying to climb the wall/ nothing happens
Now, this is.. well, let's face it, not particulary exciting, is Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-33849714399160500362010-07-08T15:03:00.000+02:002010-07-08T15:03:07.548+02:00Random plots, characters and storiesSometimes we get stumped for ideas, and whatever we do, we can't come up with a decent idea. This means we, for most parts, need to kickstart our creativity. One way to do this is to get some random ideas thrown at you, and then you see what you can do with those.
The site Archetypewriting.com has a number of nifty generators that might help you
Plot Scenario generator
Character generator
Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-63922881072810948922010-07-08T08:30:00.001+02:002010-07-08T08:33:29.949+02:00Worldbuilding: Keep It Weird, Part Two, by Justin AchilliThis is an interesting article by Justin Achilli about how to use a well known concept or situation, and then add 10% twist to that (let's call it "just a little twist of twist" )
Justin Achilli - Justin Achilli -- Blog - Worldbuilding: Keep It Weird, Part Two: "The 90/10 rule states that when executing a given concept, 90 percent of that concept should be what your audience expects, and 10 Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-1372768898655279132010-07-08T08:15:00.000+02:002010-07-08T08:15:05.289+02:00Hamlet's hit point - New book by Robin LawsIt seems that the good man Robin D Laws has another book coming. "Hamlet's hit points", as the book is called, is a book about story structure, and how you as a GM can use classic story structure to make a more exciting game.
I must admit, I am a bit sceptical about this. The more I game, the less I see the point of having a story structure in my game. Roleplaying isn't story-writing in the Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-83211874504690635482010-07-07T14:39:00.001+02:002010-07-07T14:40:37.100+02:00So.. A new toy has arrivedToday I finally got my iPad, after a long wait. Being the avid gamer that I am I naturally intend to get back to you with thoughts and reviews about how to use it in relation to games.The apps I've installed so far is dropbox and goodreader (to read pdfs of course), and also Dicenomicon, which propably is the best dice-roller for the ipad and iphone so far. I liked it on the iPhone and after a Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-12947265983313405202010-07-01T09:39:00.000+02:002010-07-01T09:39:01.018+02:00New design journal from DC Adventures RPGIn their latest Design Journal, Steve Kenson and Green Ronin presents a short fight between Batman and some thugs. From what I can see, rules-wise it doesn't differ that much from previous editions, for good and bad. It does, however, seem slightly more streamlined. One part of this seems to be something called Routine Checks. From what I can see, that's when your skill or bonus is at a certain Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-15387123163286230052010-06-23T10:50:00.001+02:002010-06-23T10:51:25.309+02:00ICONS - First play impressionsSo, yesterday I got a chance to play Icons! for the first time, since our regular gaming was interrupted. The group was all experienced players, but we were all new to Icons! (to be expected, really..) Two of us had played in fate-like games before and had some idea about the principles behind it.
Character Creation
Characters in Icons! are built randomly. First you roll the dice for your Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-88840534013171612432010-06-16T13:46:00.000+02:002010-06-16T13:46:51.587+02:00Even I can bleed - Design ideaFor previous posts in "Even I can bleed", look here
One if the core ideas in the game Even I can bleed is that it's one player against a group of GM's. That player rotates in the group. Each session has a number of phases (initial conflict, buildup, turning point, confrontation, finale). At the start of each session, the player running the protagonist has a number of Hero Points. These are pointsUlf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-24517100181255803992010-06-13T19:32:00.000+02:002010-06-13T19:32:54.207+02:00My current projectsFrom time to time, I tinker a little on a couple of different Roleplaying Games. Hopefully, at least one of them will actually become reality. I can't make no promises though.
WAR: The RPG
This is a game aimed at playing in violent times. The characters play soldiers and fighters on both an individual level and on squad (and higher) level. The rules are supposed to be light, with a slight Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-34064214746045152932010-06-11T13:44:00.000+02:002010-06-11T13:44:14.681+02:00Make Your Own Condition Markers Effect Markers Out of Paper Clips - RPGnet ForumsI found this very clever tip on a thread on rpg.net. I can see heaps of uses for that..
Make Your Own Condition Markers Effect Markers Out of Paper Clips - RPGnet Forums: "Just wanted to share something I made for use with my dnd/pathfinder game. There pretty easy to make. (instructions on my website) but all you do is use an acrylic rod to bend jumbo sized paper clips (which are coated in a Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-9394626782649309332010-06-11T12:28:00.000+02:002010-06-11T12:28:50.920+02:00The first lineup revealed for the new DC Universe RPGYesterday Green Ronin announced which characters that are included in their new DC Universe roleplaying game (at least in the core book). This is the lineup (for actual power levels, read the full article):
Heroes
Superman, batman, wonder woman, green lantern, the Flash, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, Zatanna, Robin, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Nightwing, Plastic Man
Villains
Lex Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-76132122515665851492010-06-10T15:47:00.000+02:002010-06-10T15:47:56.180+02:00RPG reviews on youtubeBelow is a short video containing a nice review on Barbarians of Lemuria. The interesting thing isn't actually the review as such, but the fact that it's up on youtube. While I shouldn't be surprised by the presence of rpg-reviews on Youtube, it hasn't occured to me before to look for them.
Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-41864084623929246042010-06-10T13:31:00.001+02:002010-06-10T13:31:49.630+02:00Review of Houses of the Blooded - RPGnetA long time now I've been thinking about running a game of Houses of the blooded. In the meantime I have to settle for reading the review on rpg.net. It's long, well written and gives a good image about the game.
Review of Houses of the Blooded - RPGnet: "A bunch of sociopathic hedonists more fixated with image than substance."Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-53409577253865793442010-06-08T14:41:00.000+02:002010-06-08T14:41:17.491+02:00Can RPG's be used for all genres?Lately, one question has been nagging me more and more. What if not all genres are suitable for RPG's?
So far in life, I've been more or less convinced that most genres could be simulated in a roleplaying game, given a decent rules-set, good gm-ing and well written adventures. Now, I'm not that certain anymore...
For instance, the occasions where I really feel that I'm in an action packed Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-24927960522289555782010-06-08T11:33:00.000+02:002010-06-08T11:33:16.994+02:00Icons! playtest reviewSome Space to Think: Nerdy Saturday: "This weekend ended up having the right combination of scheduling openings to allow for a bit of pickup play, so I gathered some friends to try out some newly acquired games, one RPG and one board game."
These words is the beginning of a well written review of the new Icons! rpg. The sum of it all is that it's a fun game that has its' issues. Go read it, it Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5412948.post-40004068742330331092010-06-02T15:30:00.000+02:002010-06-02T15:30:20.426+02:00[CoC] Carl Sagan Helped Me Understand - RPGnet ForumsThis is from a thread on RPGnet where the poster(s) talk about how to use Carl Sagans explanations of cosmos and the fourth dimension to get how the Cthulhu cosmology works. I think he is dead on with this!
[CoC] Carl Sagan Helped Me Understand - RPGnet Forums: "So, now I understand that many mythos monsters move through more than three dimensions, hence they would have a constant and terrifying Ulf Anderssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11893213083448171015noreply@blogger.com0