Dark Heresy – playtest review

Warhammer 40k, maybe you can describe the setting itself best with one word, as the ultimate Dystopia. 41st millenium and humankind had gained a lot in technology over the time but even more have they forgotten. If you’re not familiar with the setting, I’m sure you find 1001 pages like the wh and wh40k lexicanum. Dark Heresy, published by Fantasy Flight Games is an approach to roleplaying in this dark setting. Now let’s have a look at how our playtest ran:

Initial position

At the very basis we had three players and the dungeon master for the first session and we started off with two of us familiar with the setting and two of us who had not heard a lot more than the sheer existence. As a dungeon master I would recommend strongly that you go through the Dark Heresy rulebook which gives you a very good idea of the world and setting and introduce your players with your version of it. That’s how Tom, our dungeon master, started off into the game yesterday and he did an astounding job that captivated us from the very beginning.

Once you know a bit about inquisition, the various orders, what Space Marines and Inquisitors are for and tend to be like you get very quickly into the game, for the first session this still means you have the hurdle of character generation before you, but fear not – this is quite easy and fast.

Character Generation

For character generation you start off selecting a region where you come from your options ranging from overpopulated hive-worlds to wild and bestial feral worlds, standard imperial worlds to void born. This list is adapted in the DH players handbook with a few more options but for 95% of your games these four should do it as they already give you quite a few options, differentiations and distinctive pros and cons. Read More »

Blog-game (the next chapter)

The advantage of keeping blogs in my reader even if I never meet the people again is, every once in a while when I’m having a little bit of time, it’s really hard – not – to find a game of creative idea in a blog.

Put your music player on shuffle.
Press forward for each question.
Use the song title as the answer to the question.
No cheating! (This is really funny and often quite true).
Repost this as what your music says about you.

and there we go… Read More »

Talarian and the misty swamps [pt. 1]

There are these special characters in the life of a roleplaying-gamer. When you first play them you know they are so very enjoyable, when you share them they’re almost everytime good for some smiles or laughter and you know you’re going to have some fun even before the adventure really starts… Talarian (black) circle mage of Waterdeep is one of those characters, when I created him he was just another wizard, I played around and tried to find something that felt right, I concentrated on making him a summoner, switched from Wizard to Sorcerer, enjoyed the thought of an Eldritch Knight even more and voilà, it started to feel just right.

Yesterday it was Martin’s PathfinderRPG debut as a dungeon master and when I try to describe it, I end up with one word: Impressive. Because his story was quite sophisticated, because his descriptions were quite in-depth, and mainly because I did not expect him to find such a very successful combination of story, fun, descriptions, player-integration and (again, because it was a lot of) fun; but he did find it. Furthermore it was an excellent gathering of players in one evening to remember.

Talarian, black robe of the waterdeep circle

Day 41 of the cross-breed study.

While my colleagues are still hesitating on the new calling, I am a step ahead. I’ve found a rare cross-breed of giant cockroachs and giant grasshoppers whose excrements are showing positive effects on the calling itself. I’ve convinced my near-sighted colleagues that I’ve retreated from this most valuable of studies and am currently working on a bat-dung replacement for their all-beloved fireballs. Fools, they can not see their mistake. The noble Duernatar has helped me greatly in locating these cross-breeds at the very watersides of the moon-sea. Shortly after I’ve taken two of those precious teleport-scrolls and started my journey, but there it started – everything was to go a little wrong…

Somewhere I might be meant to be but did not mean to be

“Talarian, Master Talarian?”, a young, almost childish voice woke me from the teleportal statis, after effects – Read More »

Quickreview: Dr. Parnassus

The Imaginations of Doctor Parnassus,

maybe to be subtitled with “in memorial Heath Ledger” was yesterday’s pre-premiere at our local cinema and I was curious.

I started headfirst into the movie, only having a (very) rough idea of what this all was about, feeling quite comfortable with the german translation of the title which hinted a relation of sorts with Doctor Caligari… Terry Gilliams newest project is weird and reminds of a strange combination of Alice in Wonderland (which is not yet out) and Goethe’s masterpiece Faust. The film very much profits from the ingenious performance of Tom Waits as Mr Nick (aka the Devil himself). What at first appears as an approach full of humor is one of tragedy.

The Imaginations of Doctor Parnassus are wonderful and inspiring, they are an approach to storytelling and to dreaming. They speak of change and danger and are translated with a lot of love and passion behind every single picture. I very much like the Heath Ledger part in it with the perspective of change and the three replacements of Heath in those imaginations. (Farell, Law and Depp)

For my part, I couldn’t get warm with Lily Cole, mainly due to her ever-child appearance, though her role fits very good in… Andrew Garfield on his part was a troublesome tragic, at times a bit annoying but playing perfectly the role of the one in love who just can’t get out of this all…

All in all, the movie was good, very thoughful and dramatic. The pictures were wonderful and inspiring. The end is a little disappointing and some parts just could have been improved in my view. Still, I would give Mr Plummer for his very heart-warming Parnassus a 6 of 10 points. With a recommendation for all friends of tragic fantasy (in this case you would probably give 8/10).

Psychoquiz #2

11.11.2009

Bist du gerade glücklich?
gute Frage – k.a.

Was hörst du gerade für ein Lied?
im Kopf einiges, laut leider nix

Du wünscht dir:
grad – abwechslung

Dein Lieblingsduft:
für Männer JP Gaultier Le Male;
bei Frauen lebhafte Düfte

Was machst du heute noch?
sinnvolles? frag ich mich auch…

Bist du ein Perfektionist?
nur in wenigen Belangen

Nagellack, wenn ja welche Farbe?
nein

Hast du schon mal etwas gesagt und es danach bereut?
ja

Magst du chinesisches Essen?
ja

Telefonierst du gerne?
nein

Lieblings-Kino:
Millenium City, der Einfachheit halber

Bist du allein im Moment?
nein

Wie ist deine aktuelle Stimmung:
k.o.

Sprichst du andere Sprachen:
englisch

Irgendwelche Allergien:
kalte, feuchte luft (physisch), heiße luft (psychisch)

Chinesisches Sternzeichen:
Ziege

Etwas das du ganz arg vermisst:
Flexibilität

Die nächste Reise geht nach:
voraussichtlich Wels

Sternzeichen:
Schütze

Der Mensch der dich am längsten und am besten kennt:
ob’s den gibt…

Der Mensch der glaubt alles über dich zu wissen aber eigentlich gar nichts weiß:
k.A.

Magst du Computerspiele, wenn ja welche magst du am liebsten
gelgentlich

LETZTE / S / ER:

Essen ?
Pizza Rucola

Trinken?
Wasser

Gespräch?
@work

Krankenhausbesuch?
nach Motorradunfall im Sommer

mal gekotzt?
Mai, 2009

LETZTE PERSON:

die dich angerufen hat?
irgendein Spam-anrufer mit unbekannter Nummer

mit der du geschrieben hast?
Danijela

die du gesehen hast?
Arbeitskollegen

mit der du gelacht hast?
Arbeitskollegen

mit der du einkaufen warst?
ALLEINE

der du was geschenkt hast?
Klaudia nehm ich an / hoffe ich

SONSTIGES:

was hast du heute in zwei Wochen vor?
nix Besonderes

An wen denkst du gerade?
meine bessere Hälfte

Bist du zufrieden mit deinem Leben?
ja

Bist du in einer Beziehung?
ja

Wärst du gern in einer?
hmm?

Bist du eifersüchtig?
gelegentlich

Auf was freust du dich?
Schlaf

Wie wird dieses Wochenende für dich?
hoffentlich noch entspannt

Was willst du jetzt gerade?
ruhe

Wer schafft es dich aufzumuntern?
frag ich mich auch

Wer hat dich als letztes umarmt?
meine katze *lach*

Wie geht es deinen Freunden ?
zuviele sind krank

Hast du mal in einem Restaurant oder einem Imbiss gearbeitet?
ja, beim Bundesheer

Hat die Nummer 2 in deiner freundesliste dich schon einmal zum weinen gebracht?
Nummer 2?

Wo ist die Nummer 1 deiner Freundesliste gerade?
Wer?

Hattest du heuer einen schönen geburtstag?
kommt noch…

Dein Name?
markus

Spitzname?
lemmi

Deine Lieblingsfarbe?
violett, dunkelgrau, bordeaux

Magst du Schule?
prinzipiell, jein

Hörst du gerne Musik?
Ja!

Hast du schon mal geküsst?
ja

Gibt es jmd. den du hasst?
nein

Tanzt du gerne?
ja

Dinge….

..die immer in meiner Handtasche sind:
handtasche?

.. Freunde die mir am wichtigsten sind:
gibt’s ein paar, die sollten’s wissen

..die ich morgens im Bad benutze:
Zahnbürste, Mundspülung, Haarshampoo, Duschgel oder Erkältungsbad

wie hat dein heutiger Tag begonnen?
mit ‘nem Handy das abgestürzt ist (Software) aber sonst nicht so
schlecht

Hast du dich heute schon aufgeregt?
ja

Wer war die letzte Person mit der du gesprochen hast?
arbeitskollegen

Könntest du so, wie du jetzt aussiehst auf die Straße gehen?
ja

Bist du gerade alleine?
nein

I hit AC 16 and do 11 damage…

…or – howto improve your combat experience

It’s probably 15 years ago, when we played a lot of games after school and on weekends. Back then we were pretty inexperienced and it was a different – drive. When I was younger, I think most of us were powermongers in one or more ways. Mostly it was great to beat the evil guys (sometimes it wasn’t necessary to have them being evil at all) and the more damage you made, the better it was.

Things are constantly changing and – hopefully – improving. It’s basically still about having options and achieving something together, but the game-mechanics are getting more and more in the background, as long as the general feeling of a working game-mechanic is present. It’s about telling the story with the utmost possible imagination level. As a dungeon master you’ve to prepare a lot and be prepared for most possiblities. Combat is, in most gaming rounds, an essential part, it’s some kind of highlight in the game. Now this is about improving the overall gaming experience for you with a few ideas that we’re working on or have been working on for a decade now. Read More »

The Pinnacle

Playing dungeon master in roleplaying games on a regular base is something that will take you from the lowest depths of the Abyss, Baator, Hell, Hades and the Grey Wastes of Gehenna right to the top of Mount Celestia, the Heavens, Arcadia and all the other planes you can, or can not (yet) think of. What is the point of this?

Well, I think you should see it as a mirror to a gamers soul. To his inner beliefs and this leads sometimes to extended reflection on his beliefs, fears, needs and wishes. To my very self, this is a positive thing, a fortunate activity and especially fortunate since you don’t face everything at once and nothing of it (during the game) directly. It’s a workaround with a lot of interaction, to experience, toying around with fundaments of your – self.

The most pictographic approach usually can be found within the hells, no matter what name they might carry. What comes to your mind when you think about devils? What comes to your mind when you think about demons? I’ll tell you what my imagination tells me about it.

Read More »

Psychoquiz

Ärgert es dich wenn dich jemand anlügt?
wenn ich draufkomme – sehr.

Hast du ältere Brüder?
nein

Wie war deine letzte Nacht?
nach einigen Tagen quasi ohne Schlaf, sehr angenehm zwischen besserer Hälfte und ein paar miesen Katzen aufzuwachen hat meine Laune sofort gehoben heute morgen trotz aufstehen.

Wie fühlst du dich grade?
k.o. grad zwei interne Audits und viel Arbeit um die Ohren

Fährst du nächste Woche auf Urlaub?
nein

Trägst du grade Socken?
klar, schwarze – an denen mich meine liebe Freundin zuletzt beim Oktoberfest blind erkannt hat.

Läufst du vor etwas weg weil du nicht weißt wie du mit der Situation umgehen sollst?
Gelegentlich

Hast du jemals mit wem eine Bettdecke geteilt?
Ja, und das auch manchmal am Morgen frierend bereut .

Magst du lange Umarmungen?
Kommt drauf an von wem.

Eine Sache die dich grade am meisten ärgert
es ist Montag morgen und nicht Freitag nach Mittag.

Hast du ein Tattoo?
nein

Hat dir jemals wer dein Herz gebrochen?
ja

Wie alt wirst du 2010 sein?
11 Monate lang 30

Magst du RedBull?
nur Redbull Cola

Kannst du erschreckende Filme schauen?
ja, komm nur nicht oft dazu

Vermisst du irgendwen?
regelmässig mehr Schlaf

Ist es dir unangenehm ein Kompliment zu bekommen?
sowas krieg ich nicht oft also kein Problem

Gibt es eine Person bei der du automatisch lächeln musst, wenn du sie siehst?
Ja

Wann war der letzte Moment wo du mit deinem Leben unzufrieden warst?
schon länger her

Möchtest du dass dein Leben so wie es nun grade ist bis an dein Lebensende weiterläuft?
naja, die eine oder andere Baustelle würde ich gerne als Abgeschlossen sehen vorher.

Gibt es eine Nacht die du nochmals erleben willst und diese dann bis an dein Lebensende?
Rationell gesehen – nein, sonst kommt mein Lebensende etwas früh.

Bist du zu jedem freundlich?
anfangs…

Gibt es etwas in deiner Vergangenheit was du gerne wiederholen möchtest?
ja

Wie lange hast du letzte Nacht geschlafen?
6 Stunden

Bist du verwirrt?
gelegentlich

Was hat dir den Tag gerettet?
Sonne von links, Kuchen rechts…

Pläne für morgen?
früh raus, internes Audit bei zwei Abteilungen durchführen, mal sehen was danach kommt

Wo warst du letzte Nacht?
heimgekommen nach der RPG Runde, Maroni gefuttert, Columbo geschaut – geschlafen.

Wie lange noch bis zu deinem Geburtstag?
6 Wochen

Hast du irgendwelche Prellungen am Körper?
seit dem Motorradunfall nicht mehr

Wann stehst du morgen auf?
meistens gegen 6:30

Siehst du fern, während du das hier ausfüllst?
nein

Woran denkst du grade?
Guglhupf, brauche mehr Guglhupf

Dreh dich um, was siehst du?
eine Palme, Schaumstoff und Klebeband

Hattest du gestern Nacht einen schlechten Traum?
keine Ahnung

Hast du jemals darüber nachgedacht, dir die Zunge piercen zu lassen?
ja

Wenn du jetzt etwas haben könntest, was würdest du dir wünschen?
Urlaub

Könntest du, so wie du jetzt aussiehst auf die Straße gehen?
klar

Magst du Bier?
nur dunkles

Sprichst du über deine Gefühle oder verbirgst du sie?
wenn, dann selten

Hast du Angst davor dich zu verlieben?
nein

Hast du schlechte Laune?
nein

Fiel es dir schwer heute aufzustehen?
ja

Hattest du schon mal so einen realistischen Traum, dass du Stein und Bein geschworen hättest, das er wahr ist?
ja

Hast du dich in den letzten fünf Jahren verändert?
ja

Mit wem hast du heute als erstes geredet?
mit einem meiner Kater

Recent developments

It’s been a while since the last update of this blog. I guess it was more like a vacation from writing and focussing on other things. When blogging became more of a necessity than actual fun, I thought it was a good time to make a full-stop.

With my sundaily gaming group things are going quite well. Quite well? Yes, it’s still improvable especially when it comes to focussing on goals. As a matter of fact this blog entry is for reflection but I hope there are some gamemasters out there who can use this for their personal benefit.

Yesterday’s gaming afternoon started with the usual player’s recap, in my point of view one precious developement to have everyone at the table remember what happened last and since this is done together by all players it really helps to get the feel back where we last stopped. Where did we stop? Well, over time our little gaming group has grown into quite experienced characters in the world. Every character that participated for more than a few evenings has some kind of reputation or title, it isn’t always the best reputation but “there is no bad  publicity”, is there?

Our gaming group currently consists of 6 players: Read More »

Linearity of Games

In the recent games in which I had the joyful part of dungeon mastering, I’ve had feedback of too many choices, too many opportunities and not enough direct linear goals (milestones) to achieve. Giving this a little thought it turns out to be a very basic necessity for many gaming groups and might be something you want to have a more in depth thought about when designing your games. (As I most likely will from now onwards, depending on my gaming group).

Factors

In the process of writing this entry I’ve seen an influence in terms of what you should focus on and this single influencing factor is – your party. The gaming group…

Driver

Players that focus on giving your game their unique fingerprint.

Since I consider my style derived more from this category, I’ll describe what I like best and where I see the dangers of this type. Driving players will make sure your game, no matter how little you actually prepared, will hardly ever get boring. They will do their best to integrate their characters into the game and will pick a path they like best – anytime – rely on it. The downsides of drivers are, they might be going straight against your preparations and plans, since they tend to have a good idea where they want to take your whole party, it is usually best to make sure their plans are similiar to yours. I guess a table of drivers will give any DM a hard time, unless he’s really taken some time before play and knows exactly who’s up to what.

Driven

Players that are pulled through the game.

Driven like the concept of a more or less linear game. Read More »