Genghis Con XXX Wrap Up

I just got back from Genghis Con XXX (yes, it’s been going since 1979!) and wanted to make sure there was something fresh on the page! I had a great time running the Story Games Lounge and want to thank everyone who came by to play or just to check it out. I also want to publicly thank Jenn Tatroe for running “A Penny For My Thoughts” and Shannon Liska for running “Primetime Adventures” and for helping me run the lounge.

In addition to those two games, we played “Dirty Secrets”, “With Great Power…”, and a mess of role-playing poems. 

We haven’t yet held a Story Games Day in Denver, and I’d really like to give that a try. If you interested in helping run/host that or just interested in attending, please post in the comments below or on the Yahoo Group (see sidebar). I’ve been most-of-the-way-talked-into running the lounge at Tacticon in September (Labor Day weekend). If I do I’ll be looking for as much support from GM-Facilitators as I can get.

The Story Shtick is Moving

I’m moving the “Story Shtick” podcast to a new site. This site will now focus on Story Game events in Colorado. All of the old episodes will be hosted on the new site, but the show notes will reside here.

Save the World…Pay the Price

This post is mostly in response to a thread on the Story Games Forum. I was going to save this material for when I did a podcast featuring a “With Great Power…” play session recording, but I can always link back to this post when I do that. 

“Save the World…Pay the Price” is a convention scenario for “With Great Power…” that I’ve run three tables of. Most Story Games benefit greatly from player investment in the story during character creation, so normally I do character creation at the table. “With Great Power…” has the complications of the groups determining the thematic struggle together and the villain(s) keying off of the hero’s “Strife Aspects” to create the evil plan(s) that drive the plot forward.

That’s a lot to come up with at the table on the fly, but I didn’t want to lose the player investment either. So I pre-determined the conflict and the Strife Aspect for each of the characters so I could create the villains and their plans beforehand. The players created the other 80% to 90% of their character at the table, including the details of their Strife Aspect. For two of the characters I also filled in a gender based on the nature of the Strife Aspect, but I don’t think it would create a problem to change those.

In addition to the player character sheets and the villains, the zip file above also includes a “Heroics 101″ handout. The villain and character sheets are based off the blank versions which you can download free at the WGP Official Site.

Here’s a handout that’s generally useful when introducing new players to “With Great Power…”. It’s an example of what a certain famous superhero’s character sheet could look like. 

Please feel free to use all of these materials in anyway you see fit to spread the word about this great game!

Excuses, Excuses

I said in my last podcast post that it would be no more than a month until the next episode drops. Well it may be a bit more than a month now. It’s been a busy month for me in my home life (kids back to school/starting preschool, bought a new van), at work (I kinda/sorta got promoted – more responsibility, same pay), and, fortunately, in my gaming life!

In the past three weeks I’ve played “Sons of Liberty”, a roleplaying poem (which I recorded), and “With Great Power…” (as a player for once!). We also had a “Gamer Social Gathering” and out of that I made plans for a game this coming Friday that might turn in to an every-other-week regular game group!

My last and best excuse is that my basement – where I record commentary for the show – was partially flooded earlier this week. We got it dried out and we’re spending this weekend putting up new baseboards, painting, and putting everything back in place.

I’m hoping things settle down this week as the family returns to our routines of school and work. So maybe next week for the next episode, but no promises!

PS – If you haven’t checked out the Spooky Outhouse Forums, now’s the time! That’s where this podcast’s forums are located as well as several others (and growing).

Story Shtick: “Primetime Adventures” Session 1, Part 3

EDIT: You can find this episode here.

This is the third and final part of the first “Primetime Adventures” game I GMed at Genghis Con 08.

We have forums! Please come to the forums and talk about the show, the games, and anything else that is on your mind. Or you can send comments/questions to storyshtick@coloradostorygames.com, but I’m hoping that forums will be a more inviting format for feedback.

This is a short episode because it was a fairly short game (but a good one). Rather than a proper review of “Primetime Adventures”, I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the system at the end of the show.

Show notes:

- Californium
- Oppenheimer

There will probably be a break of several weeks before I start airing the next series, but no more than a month.

Two Story Game Events in Colorado!

We have two Story Games events in Colorado this month! If you’re in Colorado (or close enough), I hope you come and play with us!

In Denver on Sunday, 20 July

or

In Colorado Springs on Saturday, 26 July

Story Shtick: “Primetime Adventures” Session 1, Part 2

EDIT: You can find this episode here.

Here are the show notes for Part 2:

- Winston Churchill creates Iraq
- Producer Cards by chrisn from the Forge forum
- Pennsylvania Station

Check out the full show notes and “white board” in Part 1.

You can leave comments/questions below or send them to storyshtick@coloradostorygames.com. I’m continuing to evolve the editing and commentary, so please let me know what you think!

And the 14 seconds of Celtic music is back!

Story Shtick: “Primetime Adventures” Session 1, Part 1

EDIT: You can find this episode here.

This is part 1 of 3 of the first “Primetime Adventures” game I GMed at Genghis Con 08. Part 2 will air next week and part 3 the week after.

You can purchase “Primetime Adventures” at Indie Press Revolution.

Here’s the “white board” that was created during the pitch session. It should all make sense after you listen to this episode.

Links:
- Chrononauts
- Buck Rogers: Twiki and Dr. Theopolus
- Writer’s strike
- “24″ fourth season disclaimer

I decided to drop the intro music because it sounded distorted in my new headphones. I don’t know if it was distorted for anyone else, but it was just there for flavor anyhow. And it saves me the hassle of pasting it and the legal stuff into the episode.

I’m also trying a bit of tounge-in-cheek humor in the commentary. Please let me know what you think of it.

You can leave comments/questions below or send them to storyshtick@coloradostorygames.com

Cross-Pollination Part II

I’m going to try and organize two gaming events in July; one in Colorado Springs and one in Denver. If you’re in Colorado, please check out these links and respond with your preferred dates and times (in whichever forum suits you).

Denver: In the RPG Colorado Forum, on the Denver Indie Meetup Group

Colorado Springs: RPG Colorado Forum post, in the Colorado Springs RPG Meetup Group

There are message about both in our Yahoo Group as well (see sidebar link).

Of course, if you have the time you’re welcome to attend both!
I’ll update this post when we settle on dates, times, and locations.

Just Try It!

I’ve had this thought/rant brewing for a while that I didn’t know how to properly express. Roleplayers are a strange breed of gamer. We know that, that’s why we’re here. But there are good ways in which we are strange – we prefer to play out the lives of fictional characters rather than play competitive games – but some are bad, too. The one that’s always bugged me the most is our general unwillingness to try something new in terms of roleplaying. Just try it, not read it or read about it and then decide – before trying – that it’s “not for me”.

I think this point comes across a lot better in the hands of an clever writer, but I’m going to ramble on about it anyway.
Before I go on, let me say that I’m not without sin here. For several years (~2002 to 2005) I wasn’t interested in anything but d20 games. I had “made up my mind” that I really didn’t need/want to learn any other systems, I could do everything I wanted to with d20! Some of that was how much time and effort I had put in to becoming a good d20 GM and scenario writer, some of it was me getting set in my ways. It wasn’t that I looked at other systems and decided they were inferior, it was that I looked at what everyone was playing and running (mostly d20) and decided that I didn’t need anything else. I don’t really regret that position as I had a lot of fun playing d20 at the time!

Before and after that period, I tried lots of different games. I was always up for something new and when I went to conventions I went to play whatever looked like fun, regardless of system. But there were always people who stuck to one system – sometimes even one genre! I knew people that didn’t want to play anything in a modern setting, stuck with AD&D 2nd Edition or Star Wars D6, or wouldn’t play character-provided events. Whatever I was running, it seemed like there was someone who would say, “I don’t know about that.” Sometimes it didn’t matter how well they knew me; even if they’d played at my table before and had a great time that wasn’t always enough when I was running something new.

By contrast, it’s relatively easy to get gamers to try different board games and non-customizable card games. I’ll give CCGs and video games a pass as they usually require an up-front investment. But if I have the RPG and I’m willing to run it, that’s about the same low-entry-requirement as if I own the board game and I’ll show you how to play it.

So what it is it about roleplayers that so many of us will judge an RPG without trying it? Judge it and condemn it, in some cases. I don’t even understand how so many people write “reviews” of RPGs just by reading the book. If you haven’t even played it, why does your opinion hold any weight? I’ve been excited by an RPG and then disappointed after I played; that I can understand. I’ve been underwhelmed by the looks or premise of an RPG book and decided not to buy it; I get that too. But if you’re excited to run it for me, I’ll be happy to play.

At one convention, there were two players that had come to play Living Greyhawk. All of the LG tables were full. All of the bring-your-own-character events of all other stripes were full. I was running a character-provided D&D event and I needed more players. The con coordinator (have you hugged your con coordinator today?) brought them over to me in the “muster” area and said something like, “Scott runs a great game, I know you’ll have fun at his table!” But they decided to walk away and play nothing for that four-hour slot rather than try something new.

That was a bewildering and disappointing moment. Since then I’ve gone from character-provided events to Story Games and there’s even more “I don’t think that would work for me” out there - both online and at conventions. And the thing is, each one of these games is different. You really can’t judge all Story Games from what you heard about Primetime Adventures or Spirit of the Century. There’s an enormous range between these games and I sincerely think that there’s at least one Story Game out there you’ll love.

So go out there (or come over here, if you’re in Colorado!) and just try it!