gamesandrants

Kia Ora patient nerds!

Today's Topic: 2018 so far

It's been quite some time since I last posted, which means our main conventions of the year have been and gone! Buckets of Dice and Phoenix were both fantastic as ever and I even went to my first Cerberus (Dunedin's annual LARP convention).
My newest LARP, Tears of Heaven, is intended to tell the story of the extended walking part of a high fantasy adventure. It ran for the first time at Phoenix and was really well received. Now, for the first time, I am trying to write another LARP specifically to build on the format of a previous game, another walking game but in a post apocalyptic setting With four completed LARPs now (not including Brokenville) I really need to get around to publishing some things!

What I'm playing

I successfully ran my first D&D game, so there's a goal achieved! I have also got two new games that blur the lines of board games and roleplaying in interesting ways: Roll Player and Phoenix: Dawn Command. I think both kinds of game have a lot to learn from each other, so I am excited to see more interesting cross overs in the future.

Here's a thing

Some of my friends have quite a lot of feelings about Mars rovers, so I made a scenario for 14 Days about being a little Mars rover who is trying their best. 14 Days is a game about dealing with chronic migraines, but I felt like it was also weirdly perfect for what I wanted from this.

Brave Little Rover


Ciarán

Kia Ora friends

Today's Topic: Games online!

I currently have friends who are not only all over New Zealand, but spread out across the world. If I was more of a video gamer, then MMORPGs or other multiplayer video games would be a good way to connect with them, but I really do prefer traditionally analogue games. That being said, I am by no means opposed to bringing technology into play. I harbour dreams of screens built into tables or hidden speakers playing soundscapes to liven up a game session.
I still haven't fully experimented with Play by Post or attempted to run a traditional RPG via webcam, but I am certainly interested in the possibilities there.
In a number of the RPGs I've played, the games have continued their lives online between sessions. In a Primetime Adventures game I ran, the players and I cast every character in the game as a real actor, posting a picture of them to our facebook group in a growing album. My game club's Living Dungeon World projects featured players posting in character to the facebook group with reports of adventures and requests for aid. While this occasionally could become a little overwhelming, I think that it really added to the collective worldbuilding that made those games great.
While there are a few tools out there for helping you run tabletop RPGs online, I can't help but feel that the big step that will really make it easy and rewarding is still to come.

What I'm playing

Yesterday I finally got around to organising a game of Viewscream, which is a kind of larp system that is designed to be played through a group video chat, using Google Hangouts or Skype. I was fortunate enough to play with three of the most experienced and competent LARPers I know, which really contributed to the game being a success. The system gives you characters who are the last surviving members of a starship crew, separated and dealing with emergencies before they can make their escape. The system is also set up so that it is impossible for everyone to make it out alive.
I am looking forward to trying the game again with a different scenario to make the most of the webcam format. Other players were prepared with props such as lights and cables to be messing with and code that they would throw up onto the screen as damage reports. I struggled a bit myself with coming up with suitable technobabble, but the other players carried it well. I'm also excited at how easy it seems to write a scenario yourself.
Viewscream's design necessitates the use of technology, and I think this is a good direction for making online play better. When the technology is inherent to the design, it feels less like a barrier and more like a tool.

Here's a thing

This isn't exactly new, but it does relate well to the topic I ended up writing about today. A while ago, I got quite excited about the idea of creating hypertext fiction. Essentially, that's digital choose your own adventure books. This is one I made based on a Ryuutama scenario I ran. The tool I used was Twine and I highly recommend it if you are interested in creating these playable stories. I found it fairly easy to use and intend to use it as a teaching tool when I have my own English classes as a different approach to creative writing.

Westhazel


Ciarán

Kia Ora exhausted people

Today's Topic: On Demand

Being in Christchurch as I am, this last weekend was our largest annual convention, Buckets of Dice! This was the 23rd year of the convention, and just as strong as ever. For those of you not in the know, Buckets includes board games, RPGs and LARP.
I oversaw the "Games on Demand" room, ours modelled after what I have seen at Kapcon in Wellington. Rather than submitting particular RPGs, this meant that I was taking an unknown number of players and GMs, pitching games and seeing what stuck. The room was never especially busy, but I did get to facilitate something in each of the four rounds I ran Games on Demand, with each of them being relatively successful.
As a GM who loves to improvise, I enjoy the unstructured feel of the GoD room and the ability to play what I feel like in the moment. However, this doesn't mean that a bit of prep can't go a long way. I got my first game of Monsterhearts 2 going, and really valued the new "Small Towns" pdf that came with it. Each town is a one page description that gives you everything you need to run a rich and interesting game.
I also love games that I would describe as "prepless". Games like Fiasco, A Taste for Murder and Enter the Avenger (the three other games I ran are, by necessity, games you cannot prepare for. I would say that most GMless games fit this category and few that aren't don't, however, I did GM or at least facilitate the game of Taste for Murder we played so it is not always the case.

What I'm playing

Buckets of Dice has been my main gaming intake recently, so I will talk about the three big games that I did not facilitate.

1. The Storm- a LARP by Inveighed. I can't say too much about this one while avoiding spoilers, but I truly appreciated the human and emotional quality of many of the characters written, despite the wild mix of settings. I also got the feeling that the number of combinations of how things might end and who could work with who was staggering.
2. The Lark Rises- a LARP by Jan-Yves Ruzicka. I've been excited about this one for quite some time and I am pleased to say that the hype did not fail. This was a lot more gamey than most LARPs I have been involved in, but rather than removing from the characters or emotional content, it struck home that all actions had consequences. A tense and thrilling game, which was surprisingly smooth given its complexity.
3. The Colour of Credits- a grand strategy board game by Matthew Smith. I almost didn't play this as I was only roped in at the last minute, but I'm certainly glad I was. After assuring everyone I would have to leave partway through, I ended up staying through to the end. The production values were high and despite not even having seen the rulebook before the game, I managed to get a reasonable grasp on what I needed to do through play. I was astounded at just how asymmetrical the factions were and yet how smooth and balanced it all seemed. This was clearly a labour of love.

Here's a thing

Last week, I made a wee Dread hack that I hoped to maybe run at Buckets. It turns out I didn't have chance, so fair warning; this is entirely un-playtested. Let me know if it works!

Tower of Temptation

Enjoy,

Ciarán