So.... we FINALLY got around to trying FIASCO out last night.
IT WAS A BLAST!!!
There were four of us, Josh, Marty, and myself, who are veteran roleplayers, and Jen, who played D&D once and hated it but is taking improv classes currently. Even with learning how to play (I read the rules through twice beforehand), it took us just under three hours to complete a story, from beginning to end. And it was a DOOZY!
Here were some of the more interesting highlights of the game:
• Ecoterrorists selling weaponized algae to the Ruskies
• A bizarre love triangle between mother, father, daughter with an unexpected pregnancy
• One of the Ruskies killed with a pickaxe in the first act
• One of the characters burning half her face off and ending up in a morphine-induced stupor
• Three out of four main characters dying horrible deaths by the end of the story
• All of us enjoyed it immensely!
The rules as read, seem a bit weird at first, but in play they're dead simple:
Setup: Roll 2 white dice and 2 black dice per player (in this case, 16 total). "Spend" the dice to "buy" and qualify Relationships, Needs, Objects, and Locations. There is one Relationship between each player as they sit around the table (4 total) - so no characters, per se. With four players, there are two Needs, one Object, and one Location. Once the dice are spent, the players discuss who their characters are based on their Relationships (and Needs).
Act 1: The dice are returned to the center. Each player takes turns playing their character in a scene. They can choose to Establish the scene and have the rest of the group Resolve it, or choose to have the group Establish the scene so they can Resolve it themselves. Resolution is accomplished by grabbing one of the dice from the center and finishing the scene, white signifying a positive outcome of the scene, black signifying a negative outcome. The die is then given away to one of the players other than the one whose scene it is.
The Tilt: When half of the dice are gone, the players roll their gained dice, group totals into black and white, and subtract the lower from the higher. The person with the highest white score and the person with the highest black score roll the remaining dice from the center and "buy" and define two new complications, returning those dice back to the center.
Take a break: Discuss how the game is going, grab a drink, take a potty break.
Act 2: Second verse, same as the first. It plays exactly like the first act, except you now keep the Resolve dice. Try to bring in the complications from The Tilt.
The Aftermath: All the dice should be in the hands of the players. They roll them as in The Tilt, but now the white and black values determine what happens to their characters as the story crashes into the ground. Higher numbers are better (fame, fortune), lower numbers are worse (death, dismemberment). Then players then take turns describing what is happening to their characters at the end of the story in short vignettes, "burning" a die each time. Use the format, "This is [character name], [doing something]."
Like I said, easier to play than to read.
Two final thoughts:
1. Josh asked if he could run one of the scenes as a flashback. There was a resounding "Yes!" We like how flexible the game is to this kind of thing.
2. Marty said he would have gone to see it if it was a movie. He's in the process of writing it up. Hopefully I can post it here...
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Too Many Tabbies
Google Chrome has become cumbersome with the number of tabs I have open. You know what this means? Link Dump!
Art
Ambigrams
Map of the Interior World
Books
The Stainless Steel Rat Series
Art
Ambigrams
Books
The Stainless Steel Rat Series
Games
Gregor Hutton, author of Remember Tomorrow
Miniatures
GMF20 Fire Wasp at Grey Matter Miniatures
Bolter and Chainsword (awesome bases)
Secret Weapon Miniatures (for bases and weathering materials)
Creating Simple Water Effects with Magic Water
Vacation Spots
Misc
ElementCase for iPhone 4
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Link Dump - 'Cuz there's so much awesome out there...
...and this is such a small fraction:
Luke Spazzes Out with his Lightsaber
Star Wars Philosophy
Star Wars Propaganda Posters
Obi-Wan Kenobi Is Dead, Vader Says (be sure to read the comments)
Prairie Style PC
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories
Ice? On Fire?
Nature by Numbers (Fibonacci Sequence and Golden Ratio)
The Secret Number
Brilliant
RPG Link: Fate Spies
(Note to self: Google "shadow of the century" rpg)
Luke Spazzes Out with his Lightsaber
Star Wars Philosophy
Star Wars Propaganda Posters
Obi-Wan Kenobi Is Dead, Vader Says (be sure to read the comments)
Prairie Style PC
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories
Ice? On Fire?
Nature by Numbers (Fibonacci Sequence and Golden Ratio)
The Secret Number
Brilliant
RPG Link: Fate Spies
(Note to self: Google "shadow of the century" rpg)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Oil Rig Build Log - Part 4
As promised, here's the Oil Rig Build Log Update!
At this point, we're pretty much done with the playtest mockup. All we needed was a placeholder for the oil derrick. So, some scrap cardboard later, and voila!
To maintain overall proportion, we decided upon a 20" tall derrick.
Here you can see the scale of this project. Our stand-ins are a couple of PanOceania mins from Infinity.
Here's the PanO guys boarding a helo for a quick escape!
As I had mentioned, we planned on spray painting the rig to unify the appearance and hide the imperfections. Here's an action shot of Pete!
Four cans of cheap grey spray paint later and here's the finished product. Lookin' good!
That should suffice as far as usability for play testing!
Now on to the miniatures!
We had briefly discussed using the existing Infinity miniature line, but in a very specific scenario/terrain such as this, we figured we'd streamline the rules to minimize the complexity. As such, the mins weren't as important. That meant we could return to the concept of an SpecOps attacking force, and a "goon" defending force.
For the attackers, we found the Eureka Miniature line and really liked their NATO Special Forces Frogmen (this is the Eureka Miniatures USA link - they're based out of Australia). Here's what they look like cleaned up, their bases sawed off, and pinned:
For the defenders, after an exhaustive search, we settled on 'Guards in Hard Hats' from Copplestone Castings in their 1960's Characters line. I don't have a picture of them, so this will have to do:
We ordered 12 of them as we are assuming the defenders will be at a disadvantage, so a 2 to 1 numerical advantage should help.
Just a cool picture Pete took showing the scale of the bits we've assembled so far:
Pete cut 1" steps from some extruded polystyrene foam sheet insulation (otherwise known as "pink" or "blue foam"), glued them in place, and coated them with some left over household latex paint. The paint seals the foam so we can spray paint it. Without it, the propellant in the spray paint will dissolve the foam.
At this point, we're pretty much done with the playtest mockup. All we needed was a placeholder for the oil derrick. So, some scrap cardboard later, and voila!
Here you can see the scale of this project. Our stand-ins are a couple of PanOceania mins from Infinity.
(Check out those railings...)
Here's the PanO guys boarding a helo for a quick escape!
As I had mentioned, we planned on spray painting the rig to unify the appearance and hide the imperfections. Here's an action shot of Pete!
Four cans of cheap grey spray paint later and here's the finished product. Lookin' good!
Now on to the miniatures!
We had briefly discussed using the existing Infinity miniature line, but in a very specific scenario/terrain such as this, we figured we'd streamline the rules to minimize the complexity. As such, the mins weren't as important. That meant we could return to the concept of an SpecOps attacking force, and a "goon" defending force.
For the attackers, we found the Eureka Miniature line and really liked their NATO Special Forces Frogmen (this is the Eureka Miniatures USA link - they're based out of Australia). Here's what they look like cleaned up, their bases sawed off, and pinned:
For the defenders, after an exhaustive search, we settled on 'Guards in Hard Hats' from Copplestone Castings in their 1960's Characters line. I don't have a picture of them, so this will have to do:
Just a cool picture Pete took showing the scale of the bits we've assembled so far:
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Reboot on the horizon...
...means another link dump. I'll update the Oil Rig blog soon, I promise!
Cooking Quinoa
Quinoa Cooking Tips
How to Cook Quinoa Perfectly
TED Talk - Charter cities
Element Case
TRON Gaming Mouse and Mat
Movie T-shirts
www.geeksaresexy.net
Greg Rutter's you should have seen this and you should have also seen this
Headless Hollow's Free Game Sheets
Hey, this is related to the Oil Rig: North Sea Oil and Gas
Plastruct Complete Catalog
Cooking Quinoa
Quinoa Cooking Tips
How to Cook Quinoa Perfectly
TED Talk - Charter cities
Element Case
TRON Gaming Mouse and Mat
Movie T-shirts
www.geeksaresexy.net
Greg Rutter's you should have seen this and you should have also seen this
Headless Hollow's Free Game Sheets
Hey, this is related to the Oil Rig: North Sea Oil and Gas
Plastruct Complete Catalog
Friday, February 25, 2011
Adventures in Gamma World 4e - Season 2
Now that I have completed my tour of duty, Marty is taking the reins and running our Gamma World campaign, and I'll be putting on my PC hat. He's running us through "Famine in Far-Go". (BTW, I was using the "Steading of the Iron King" from the main Gamma World boxed set and the "Trouble in Freesboro" Gamma World Game Day module in case you were wondering.)
Marty started by narrating the events that transpired immediately after the previous group jumped into the Beta Chamber. Frank and Gypsie went in together, but were separated kicking and screaming. The rest went in at various intervals. Since it's essentially a new game with new players only Chris decided to stay with his character Brainulo. Pete wasn't available for this session, so Gypsie made it through as well, but we'll see if Pete joins the new session.
So on to the new roster!
Aloicious or "Al" (played by Mike): Gelatinous Fungoid - A lump of clear Jello that releases spores on occasion. Also has the personality of a lump of Jello.
Brainulo (played by Chris): Radioactive Telekinetic - Basically a giant floating brain that armors itself with a shifting shield of telekinetically manipulated scraps of metal and talks with a Stephen Hawking-like voice box.
Charlie (played by Ashley): Ectoplasmic Shapechanger - Simply, a shape-changing ghost! She's still trying to get a handle on how to wear armor, use weapons, and carry things.
Chum (played by me): Simian Electrokinetic - "Chum was naturally born on Gamma Terra in a sentient great ape enclave on the shores of an electric volcanic lake. He was born the middle child - older brother Fodder, younger sister Gibs. These are their common names, chosen when they are of age to leave the enclave. The family chose the names on the belief that "lucky" names bring nothing but ill, ergo "unlucky" names bring prosperity.
Their names may have saved them, but unfortunately did not save the enclave. One day, the fish folk of the lake decided to take to the shores and ransacked the village, scattering the surviving inhabitants far and wide.
Chum has been moving from settlement to settlement, lending a hand as needed. He's currently settled in Far-Go as the townsfolk have given him a sizeable home in exchange for some basic protection from the nearby wildlife.
Chum's getting up in ape years (around 45, give or take) and has decided he is looking for a few things before he can take his final rest: a little knowledge, a little spirituality, a little compassion, a little bit of home, and maybe a really pretty laser rifle."
Zazz!™ (played by John): Felinoid Arachnid - "Zazz!™ doesn't remember much about his childhood. Dad was furry and Mom had extra legs. Zazz!™ is something in between. His parents died some time ago and left him alone. Zazz!™ wandered away from home after getting lonely and bored. He has wandered the waste for some time and has met many people, none who have had a more snazzy name than 'Zazz!™'. Recently he met Charlie, some sort of ghost thing in a suit of armor. Zazz!™ thinks Charlie is pretty, but Charlie 'just wants to be friends' and always tells Zazz!™ what a good friend he is. He doesn't like that, but is glad for the company."
And now on to the recap:
Chum's Log - 2-22-Six-Monkey-Aww screw it! If I ever find out who came up with that nomenclature, I'll plant some cast iron in their face!
Slept hard after the locals and I did some weed-whackin' last night. Those little plant things make my fur tangle.
Woke up to the sound of breakfast blurpin' in my ear. Unfortunately, the bastard got away before I could get my mitts on it. Half-way though plan B - Cap'n Cola - the town alarm went up. Grabbed my gear and headed out in the crappy Far-Go weather. Thank the Great Ape for umbrellas - if I didn't have one, my coat'd be singed somethin' fierce.
Turns out Jessup found some brain-thing in his fields. Swear he should have scooped up a handful and shoved it into his ear - he could use a healthy heapin' of grey matter. Anyway, grabbed Jake and Lyall and followed Jessup to his find.
On the way there, we stumbled across a blonde human also layin' in the field. She was bloodied up a bit and held a severed digit of some sort in her clawed hand. She was still breathin' and seein' as humans usually pose less of a threat than others, I had Jessup take care of her while Jake, Lyall and I continued on our search for Jessup's brain.
Didn't take long before the idiot started screamin' and runnin' back into town. Looked like he kicked up some dust as he went. The boys and I went back to the female and discovered she was not alone. Couldn't make out what it was, so against my better judgement, I decided to toss a beer on it hopin' the liquid gold might make it more visible. To our surprise, it caught the damn thing and returned the favor. Turns out it's some sort of sentient gelatinous beer dispenser. Says its name is "Al".
Sent Jake into town with the human. As he was headin' out, a couple of strangers came to meet us and the beer dispenser - a furry spider-lookin' thing with a belt buckle that says ZAZZ, and an honest-to-goodness ghost named Charlie. Apparently, they were respondin' to the town folk's call for help.
Sent Lyall to go check on Jessup and the new three and I went to go find the brain.
Sure enough, there it was, big as a tree-stump, complete with eyeballs, all connected to wires and such, and formin' a bruise on one side. Got 'round the side without the eyes and poked it a bit. The others got it awake tho. "Al" let loose a cloud of somethin', helpin' the brain resume normal functions and invigoratin' the rest of us. Weird li'l bastard, but somethin' we should keep handy.
Anyway, the brain tells us it fell form the sky. Doesn't remember much else, however. That's about the time we heard the town bell AND siren.
As we got closer to town, the alarm fell silent - along with the rest of the town. Eerily so. When we got to the center, we found a small army of Dead'uns, this time commanded by three flyin' eyeball things. That's new. What's with all these flyin'/fallin' body parts? Speakin' of, Brainy rushed in (against my warnin' 'bout them explodin' Dead'uns) and blasted a bunch of 'em with some thought-wave or somethin'. He can stay, too.
The eyeball things shoot some sort of blindin'-purple-death-ray. Blinded Brainy, Charlie, and Zazz a couple times. Fortunately, they knock out of the sky pretty easily.
After the first go-'round of blindin', Brainy and Charlie disappeared. Shortly thereafter, our ghostie came through the walls of a nearby building and gave one of them flyin' eyes a good squeeze - kinda creepy, kinda interestin'. Zazz coughs up some sort of webs - kinda disturbin'.
All the while we were workin' on the flyin' eyes, our li'l beer dispenser was whittlin' down the Dead'uns. I was kinda worried it'd befriend them, but it kept at its task. Dropped a beer in the scuffle, however. That beer turned out to be the final killin' blow on the last eye. I gotta stop wastin' beer like that. At least I got a sip before slingin' it at the damn thing.
Now about that screamin'.....
Marty started by narrating the events that transpired immediately after the previous group jumped into the Beta Chamber. Frank and Gypsie went in together, but were separated kicking and screaming. The rest went in at various intervals. Since it's essentially a new game with new players only Chris decided to stay with his character Brainulo. Pete wasn't available for this session, so Gypsie made it through as well, but we'll see if Pete joins the new session.
So on to the new roster!
Aloicious or "Al" (played by Mike): Gelatinous Fungoid - A lump of clear Jello that releases spores on occasion. Also has the personality of a lump of Jello.
Brainulo (played by Chris): Radioactive Telekinetic - Basically a giant floating brain that armors itself with a shifting shield of telekinetically manipulated scraps of metal and talks with a Stephen Hawking-like voice box.
Charlie (played by Ashley): Ectoplasmic Shapechanger - Simply, a shape-changing ghost! She's still trying to get a handle on how to wear armor, use weapons, and carry things.
Chum (played by me): Simian Electrokinetic - "Chum was naturally born on Gamma Terra in a sentient great ape enclave on the shores of an electric volcanic lake. He was born the middle child - older brother Fodder, younger sister Gibs. These are their common names, chosen when they are of age to leave the enclave. The family chose the names on the belief that "lucky" names bring nothing but ill, ergo "unlucky" names bring prosperity.
Their names may have saved them, but unfortunately did not save the enclave. One day, the fish folk of the lake decided to take to the shores and ransacked the village, scattering the surviving inhabitants far and wide.
Chum has been moving from settlement to settlement, lending a hand as needed. He's currently settled in Far-Go as the townsfolk have given him a sizeable home in exchange for some basic protection from the nearby wildlife.
Chum's getting up in ape years (around 45, give or take) and has decided he is looking for a few things before he can take his final rest: a little knowledge, a little spirituality, a little compassion, a little bit of home, and maybe a really pretty laser rifle."
Zazz!™ (played by John): Felinoid Arachnid - "Zazz!™ doesn't remember much about his childhood. Dad was furry and Mom had extra legs. Zazz!™ is something in between. His parents died some time ago and left him alone. Zazz!™ wandered away from home after getting lonely and bored. He has wandered the waste for some time and has met many people, none who have had a more snazzy name than 'Zazz!™'. Recently he met Charlie, some sort of ghost thing in a suit of armor. Zazz!™ thinks Charlie is pretty, but Charlie 'just wants to be friends' and always tells Zazz!™ what a good friend he is. He doesn't like that, but is glad for the company."
And now on to the recap:
Chum's Log - 2-22-Six-Monkey-Aww screw it! If I ever find out who came up with that nomenclature, I'll plant some cast iron in their face!
Slept hard after the locals and I did some weed-whackin' last night. Those little plant things make my fur tangle.
Woke up to the sound of breakfast blurpin' in my ear. Unfortunately, the bastard got away before I could get my mitts on it. Half-way though plan B - Cap'n Cola - the town alarm went up. Grabbed my gear and headed out in the crappy Far-Go weather. Thank the Great Ape for umbrellas - if I didn't have one, my coat'd be singed somethin' fierce.
Turns out Jessup found some brain-thing in his fields. Swear he should have scooped up a handful and shoved it into his ear - he could use a healthy heapin' of grey matter. Anyway, grabbed Jake and Lyall and followed Jessup to his find.
On the way there, we stumbled across a blonde human also layin' in the field. She was bloodied up a bit and held a severed digit of some sort in her clawed hand. She was still breathin' and seein' as humans usually pose less of a threat than others, I had Jessup take care of her while Jake, Lyall and I continued on our search for Jessup's brain.
Didn't take long before the idiot started screamin' and runnin' back into town. Looked like he kicked up some dust as he went. The boys and I went back to the female and discovered she was not alone. Couldn't make out what it was, so against my better judgement, I decided to toss a beer on it hopin' the liquid gold might make it more visible. To our surprise, it caught the damn thing and returned the favor. Turns out it's some sort of sentient gelatinous beer dispenser. Says its name is "Al".
Sent Jake into town with the human. As he was headin' out, a couple of strangers came to meet us and the beer dispenser - a furry spider-lookin' thing with a belt buckle that says ZAZZ, and an honest-to-goodness ghost named Charlie. Apparently, they were respondin' to the town folk's call for help.
Sent Lyall to go check on Jessup and the new three and I went to go find the brain.
Sure enough, there it was, big as a tree-stump, complete with eyeballs, all connected to wires and such, and formin' a bruise on one side. Got 'round the side without the eyes and poked it a bit. The others got it awake tho. "Al" let loose a cloud of somethin', helpin' the brain resume normal functions and invigoratin' the rest of us. Weird li'l bastard, but somethin' we should keep handy.
Anyway, the brain tells us it fell form the sky. Doesn't remember much else, however. That's about the time we heard the town bell AND siren.
As we got closer to town, the alarm fell silent - along with the rest of the town. Eerily so. When we got to the center, we found a small army of Dead'uns, this time commanded by three flyin' eyeball things. That's new. What's with all these flyin'/fallin' body parts? Speakin' of, Brainy rushed in (against my warnin' 'bout them explodin' Dead'uns) and blasted a bunch of 'em with some thought-wave or somethin'. He can stay, too.
The eyeball things shoot some sort of blindin'-purple-death-ray. Blinded Brainy, Charlie, and Zazz a couple times. Fortunately, they knock out of the sky pretty easily.
After the first go-'round of blindin', Brainy and Charlie disappeared. Shortly thereafter, our ghostie came through the walls of a nearby building and gave one of them flyin' eyes a good squeeze - kinda creepy, kinda interestin'. Zazz coughs up some sort of webs - kinda disturbin'.
All the while we were workin' on the flyin' eyes, our li'l beer dispenser was whittlin' down the Dead'uns. I was kinda worried it'd befriend them, but it kept at its task. Dropped a beer in the scuffle, however. That beer turned out to be the final killin' blow on the last eye. I gotta stop wastin' beer like that. At least I got a sip before slingin' it at the damn thing.
Now about that screamin'.....
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