Cabincon 2010

So, 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 formed Empire, and finally a game of Legends of Anglerre. This last game was the game most new to all of us.

A longer review will follow, but the weekend all in all was a blast, we had a very good time, and we enjoyed the games. I myself has been talking about trying out a fate game for some time, and I wasn't let down by the game as such, and the rest of the guys seemed to enjoy it as well. So, in one shape or another, we will try it out again.

So, what's next.. well, currently we are doing a Reign-game that will last a couple of months more. After that, there's talks about either Mouse Guard or Starblazers. Reviews will follow.

When it comes to new games, the ones that I'm closest to buying right now are Dresden Files and Smallville. There are other games out there that has my interest, but those two are the main ones. If you also include supplements, Greg Stolze just released the Progenitor-book, which seems very interesting, and this weekends game made me more determined to get the Legends of Anglerre companion. Propably as a PDF, but it may come as a print copy as well. With that said, the iPad has lessened my need for printed books slightly. They do look nice in the book-shelf though :-)

For my own projects. There are a few, including some ideas for a book, the writing on my games continues, and I also have some ideas about a longer article concerning relational maps. Consider it a continuation of my articles about Mapping out an adventure (part 2, part 3, part 4)

The Hopeless Gamer on Die Rolls

http://thehopelessgamer.blogspot.com/2010/08/whats-in-roll.html

In 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).

Drivethroughrpg app? - RPGnet Forums

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?p=12578678#post12578678

According 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 don't like Android-phones, its just that I don't have one. This in turn makes it harder for me to write about it)

Concept ships - inspirational site

So, 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, incidentally, will be next weekend. My first Starblazers-adventure)

concept ships

Some thoughts on failure

Note: 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 it?

In addition to this, there are two worst case scenarios here: The first is that the adventure comes to a grinding halt. The other is that after a while, the players tries again... and again.. and sooner or later he succeeds. Neither of these solutions are good (and the second solution is more or less an attempt to solve the first solution).

One thought I've read lately (among other places I've seen it in the excellent game Burning Wheel, by Luke Crane) is that in any one scene you only get one check for a particular skill or action. You need to cross that wall and you fail. Sorry, then the climb check has failed. No rerolls!

However, there are a few things you can do that makes things more interesting:

• You as a player could change the circumstances. In most cases this means making things more serious. Can't find what you are looking for in that room? Well, try actually prying open the doors and the cupboards. People will see that you've been here, but you are allowed a reroll. In the case of social interaction, you could go from Diplomacy to Intimidation.. or to violence. The key word is "in order to get a reroll, change the circumstances significantly". Some games calls this "raising the stakes"
• Instead of failing the attempt, the attempt is still a success. You climb that wall, you find what you are looking for. But there is a side effect. You are noticed by the guards or trigger an alarm. Yes, you convince someone to give you information with that failed diplomacy-check. However, they get annoyed with you and sell you out at the first opportunity.