Scott's Case Files

Late Salute To Gary Gygax

All present day games owe something to Gary Gygax, who recently died, for bringing RPGs to such a level of popularity and sustaining it for so  many years.  Here's to you, Gary!  (HERE is a link if you can't see the comic clearly)

The Gaming Monkey

I just checked out the latest post from one of the bloggers on my must-read list - Wil Wheaton.  My favorite posts of his these days are the dialogs (with anyone).  They're great, witty, and they really have a voice all their own (his voice, I assume).

Check it out HERE.  But to whet your whistle, here's a quick excerpt:

"It's like there's a monkey on my back. A gaming monkey, and he's rattling dice in my ear."

"Like he's shaking them in a Yahtzee cup?" She said.

"Gamers don't use Yahtzee cups," I said, as patiently as I could.

The Saga Edition

A while ago now, my buddy Just Plain Jim posted about the new Star Wars Role-Playing Game Saga Edition.  I figured, now that I've checked over most of it, that I'd put in my two credits as well.

It's simplified.  I like simplified.  Simplified can rob you of some of the more DEEPLY in-depth character development, but it makes the rules easier to understand and (even more importantly) combat is quick!  So I'll live without being able to stat out every single iota of my character's existence if that means combat moves.

Abstract is the key-word for this rules-set, and that's a good thing. I like it.  More on that in the continuation of this post.

I think that this edition has alot to offer.  In addition to being a good core rules-set it has the advantage of working (Coincidence?  I think not!) very well with the more profitable Star Wars minis collections.  So if sales are at least decent here it means that this addition will be around for a good long while with actual support from Wizards of the Coast.  For those of you who haven't played Star Wars RPGs forever (depending on how you are counting) I'll have purchased at least three different sets now as time has gone on.  I'd like to see one set be developed and be around so that I don't have to keep buying stuff just to have a good time.

More on the game in my continuation...

A Resurgence In the Force

Ready are you? What know you of ready?
- Yoda, Jedi Master

So recently the new Star Wars RPG Saga Edition came out, which is basically a streamlined version of the previous edition and is also similar to the new D&D ruleset coming out.  And The Guys have shown an interest in playing.  Now I've gamed with Just Plain Jim here and there in Star Wars, but I don't believe that The Bratmeister and IronMonkey have gamed really at all in years now.

We're looking to use an online gaming client, once I get it tested with JPJ and configured the way that I want it.  In-person gaming is the best though, but I'm willing to see how this pans out.  With the right tools it could even be more cool.  The gaming client will provide a general map/item/event interface, Ventrillo or whatever will provide voice, and a messenging client will allow me to send subtle notes to the players without anyone else knowing.  The last is the coolest to me.  Wouldn't it be cool if the GM sent you special info and nobody else saw, then you bust out of nowhere with a statement like, "These power converters were obviously scavenged from an L-11 speeder and I know just the guy in Mos Espa that probably sold them."  Tell me that wouldn't be cool!

I'm looking to get JPJ to Knight status (he plays a jedi) before the others join so that someone has the opportunity to be a padewan and JPJ has the opportunity to be an in-game mentor.  That's a cool situation that you really don't generally see in gaming (at least in my experience).  Normally, the characters are roughly equal or have their specialty and like it and any inter-training consists of a few quick classes.  But to have an entire relationship/bond formed over the apprenticeship process - that's novel.

The era is somewhere between Episodes I & II, so if they should survive they could potentially get to fight in the Clone Wars and beyond!

Anyway, we'll see how this goes.  I have to get off of my butt and test and configure!

Vampire On the Horizon

Hi, my name is Scott and I'm a role-playing game addict.  *Hello Scott*  It's been over three or four months since my last gaming session.  I have bookcases full of games that I've never even played.  Yes, I'm that sad.  I'm almost at rock bottom.

My gaming group (The Guys) has long since dispersed over the area and with all of their responsibilities (read as: all married and most with children) it's been tough to get everyone together at one time.  And when The Guys do get together we use that time to catch up and bond and, though we all like to game, the other stuff is really more important in our limited time together.  If we're lucky we're talking one weekend every two months or so.  My last session was with my bud Just Plain Jim and he's just been really busy and all over the place socially so no dice (pun intended) there.  And, for the record, that's not a slight against any of my buds - getting together as a group has just become a very difficult thing to plan with so many other factors and priorities coming into the mix.  It just so happens that I am the one with the fewest responsibilities outside of myself, so it's sometimes hard for me to remember that not everyone else has as much time or opportunity on their hands.

But I do have that need to game and I haven't found anyone to game with locally that I would feel comfortable doing so with.  Then I got my first Email from Ted...

The Chosen Contest

White Wolf, in strange form, has started another writing contest.  I say strange because in all their years of existence this is only the second such contest that they've had (the first within the last year).  So maybe with the first contest they found that it did some good and maybe revitalized their product line a bit.  I can only guess.

But back on track to the contest.  This contest is called The Chosen Bloodline Writing Contest.  For those of you not familiar with the concept of bloodlines from a White Wolf point of view, I shall explain.  A bloodline is a divergence, either politically or supernaturally, from one of the main blood-based clans of vampires.  The difference in a bloodline of a clan could be as simple as a group of vamps following a specific leader or it could be as big as changing what they look like or even a new discipline (vampiric power).

In Vampire: The Requiem (White Wolf's main vampire sourcebook) each clan's listing includes a section on bloodlines, giving a one sentence description of that bloodline.  The contest, then, is to expand on that bloodline from one sentence to it's own main listing which will then appear in an upcoming book of bloodlines.

Demons & Angels

For an Atheist I suppose that it's strange that I have a fascination with angels and demons.  Then again, I see the Bible as a storybook so it's not so strange that I'm interested with some of the players on its stage.  And it's no surprise that others share this fascination and have gone so far as to build role-playing games around the myths of these beings.

People normally associate angels with bright light and goodness and demons with evil.  The Biblical truth is a little different.  Angels do three things: their main job is to deliver messages from god to specific humans, they guard things (the entrance to Eden and the Israelites during their Exodus), and when god wants a large number of people executed he sends an angel.  Demons possess an odd person here and there, causing them either debilitating effects (deaf and dumb) or insanity.  Otherwise, the Bible doesn't talk about them doing much else.  It does reference people worshiping "devils" but never references them, in my studies, asking for this worship.  So, in the grand scheme of things, which of the groups does the most "evil" as we would define it presently?

A few very cool role-playing games have come out that have different (but strangely logical) takes on demons and angels.  The best are In Nomine (based on two French RPGs) and Demon: The Fallen (from White Wolf).

Dark Dungeons

Wow.  All I can say (okay, not really) is...wow!

I ran across these "tracts" several years ago.  I was riding the bus and one was sitting on a seat, so I picked it up.  They're small pamphlets with cartoon-like drawings in them that purport to teach Christian values to those who are unknowingly following Satan.  What they amount to is a messed up propaganda that poses as Christian but is anything but.  I think it actually is an insult to the real Christians I know (those who follow the faith in a try your best to be a good person and love thy neighbor kind of way) and is in actuality just another hate rag.

I actually mentioned these a while ago in a Halloween post, but I'll bring it up again here.  I tripped upon this one completely by chance.  It's called Dark Dungeons (these things are put out by Chick Publications).  It is not only an insult to good Christians, but an insult to role-players (RPGers), Wiccans, and (I kid you not) anyone who loves rock n' roll.

Click on the continuation to read on about this tract...

A Lil' Vamp Story

Every so often I submit a piece of material to White Wolf in an effort to get into their pool of freelance writers from which they draw talent to write their sourcebooks and what have you.

I've never been successful.

I actually posted this fiction submission attempt a while ago in Word format but I'm trying out podcasting here and figured this was an interesting experiment, so I've turned it into a kind of audio book podcast for your listening (hopefully) pleasure.  I tried my best to get in character and hit it here and there, so if my performance wasn't the best...well, I don't do it for a living, right?

Here you go.  "My Precious One"

Download precious_one_podcast.mp3

The music included in this podcast:
"Don't Quit Your Day Job"
Written & Performed by:
Derek R. Audette - (C) MMIV
(Creative Commons)

Podcast: RPGs

I've decided to experiment a little with podcasting, so here goes.  My first subject is role-playing games.  No, not the kind you do in the bedroom with your woman where you're a villain and she's Wonder Woman with her golden lasso and forces you to tell the truth.  The type of role-playing game I'm talking here is the kind where you buy the books for it at hobby or actual RPG shops and take on the role of another character with a Game Master (aka Storyteller) at the helm of the world for the players.

So, for more, check out my podcast.  The intro music is a small slice of the song "Lost In Space" by my buddy Danny Joe who has graciously given me permission to use it.  I don't see that song on his page at the moment, but check out some other cool tunes of his HERE.

And without further adieu, the podcast: Download Podcast_RPG.mp3

(Note: This podcast is released under the Creative Commons License)