A Scale for Crunchiness in RPGs?

 Have I come back from hiatus?

No. No, I don't think so.

However, after writing the last two articles (review of Modiphius's two new rpgs), I found that I have some things I want to say. So I'm going to write a couple more articles, and then probably go radio silent again for... who knows how long?

To start with, I was thinking about crunchiness in rpgs. I started really thinking about it when I was reading the Fallout rulebook, and wanted to compare its crunchiness level to other games.

What is crunchiness, you may ask? Let me explain.

Or rather, let me describe the quivering morass that is people's differing opinions on what crunchiness is.

Inclusive NPCS Volume 5: Pilar

We've come again to the time for an inclusive NPC. Here, I provide you with another NPC that you may use to ensure that your games are welcoming, by including non-stereotyped minority characters. As always, I describe these characters from the viewpoint of a basic modern setting, but you are free to adapt them to whatever setting you need for your games. Are you playing in a fantasy game where modern countries don't exist? Adapt the character's origin story to fit your world (just remember with ethnicity to maintain the minority status as much as possible; that is, after all, the point of these characters). Is your game set in a distant galaxy? Add some ultra-tech gear to the character. Are you playing pirates on the high seas? Adjust the skills accordingly.

I provide stats for the D20 system, GURPS, the original World of Darkness, and Fate Core. But you are always welcome to adjust these stats for whatever system you are using.

This time around, we will be meeting Pilar Montes Rodriguez. She is courteous and honest, but with a tendency to be outrageously playful. She has big dreams, but is really too timid to try to achieve them. She's generally shy, but loyal to those she calls friends. Although she's not looking for romance, she can be flirty as a way to play and have fun. She's sensitive to the suffering of others, but not really brave enough to get involved in politics or other ways of trying to help.

Inclusive NPCs Volume 4: Chadra

Once more, it is time to provide you with an inclusive NPC. If you want to include a wider array of characters with whom your PCs may interact, you are free to use the characters I describe here. You may use them as they are written, or you may adapt and modify them to meet your needs. As always, I provide stats in the D20 system, GURPS, the original World of Darkness, and Fate Core. If you would like to use these characters in a different system, you are welcome to do so; just convert the stats using whatever method is best for you.

This week, our NPC is Chadra. She is a muslim of Syrian nationality, though she moved when she was younger to whatever location you need for your game. Her background is somewhat tragic; she was discovered at a fairly young age (somewhere around 13 or 14) by a woman named Tamsin, who claims to have had a vision of the future. In this vision, an apocalyptic event was destined to occur, in which hordes of demons swarm across the world, killing everyone in their path. Tamsin insists that the only way to survive this cataclysm is to offer sacrificial victims to these demons in exchange for her own life. Tamsin recruited Chadra into this cult and had her trained as her enforcer. The young girl was taught to be proficient with a number of melee weapons, most notably the sword.

PinkFae Archive #11: Roleplaying: An Adventure in Imagination

As I work on reposting the articles that I wrote for PinkFae, we come to entry number 11. This post was originally published on 13 March 2016. Enjoy!

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I have talked at some length about board games, and a little about one specific roleplaying game, but I haven't yet talked in general about my favourite kind of games: roleplaying games. It's not surprising that I enjoy RPGs; as I've mentioned here before, I am a storyteller player type, which means that I most enjoy games that follow Freytag's pyramid, especially if they involve character growth and the development of interpersonal relationships. Given the right gaming group, roleplaying games are the best vehicle for telling stories as a game that you can hope to find. So I'm going to talk today about this wonderful type of game.

Inclusive NPCs Volume 3: Da'kuan Newton

We have come to another Inclusive NPCs entry. As a reminder, the idea behind this series is to help promote inclusivity in the gaming community by featuring a diverse cast in our games. But as not everyone finds it easy to create interesting, dynamic, and plausible minority characters for their stories. So I am providing a number of NPCs from marginalised communities to be freely used by anyone who wishes to do so. The stats for each are provided in the D20 system, GURPS, the original World of Darkness, and Fate Core.

This week's NPC is Da'kuan Newton. He is a black man who was born in an area that is known for being ethnically segregated. He grew up in poverty, but his parents emphasised the importance of compassion and good will. He never really learned to fight, so he has suffered many injuries at the hands of others, but he still manages to maintain a mostly optimistic view of his fellow humans. He's tough enough that he can usually survive a fight with no serious injuries, but his real gift is in his words. He is a skilled diplomat, and often is able to talk his way out of a fight.

A Legitimate Complaint Concerning GURPS

I recently encountered an article about GURPS. In the article, the author outlines some of the problems he has with GURPS (and, in particular, with the 4th edition of GURPS). Many of the things he has to say on the issue are valid, and as I've recently done a bit of dabbling in GURPS again and had a number of thoughts on the topic, it helped me to crystallise what I was thinking. So today, I'm going to discuss my reactions to the article.

A quick summary of the article, for those who don't want to click on the link above (and it is a lengthy read, so I don't blame you if you don't):

GURPS 3rd Edition was great, but in translating the system into a 4th edition, they made the game incomprehensible for new players, and their ancient, arcane, and inflexible policies on intellectual properties only exacerbate the problem.

So, in order for my attitudes towards GURPS to make sense, I'm going to provide a little bit of context in the form of my personal history with the system.

Inclusive NPCs Volume 2: Quahtli

It's time again for another Inclusive NPC. As you may remember from the last entry, these NPCs are presented here for you to use as you see fit in any campaign you run. The idea is that you can contribute to a more accepting world by exposing your players, even in games, to a more diverse cast of characters. And since I am aware that not everyone finds it easy to come up with interesting supporting characters, I will provide you with some that you may use as-is, or that may inspire you to develop your own character from marginalised groups.

As I did last time with Cedar, I will provide you with the character's stats in four different systems: D&D, GURPS, the original World of Darkness, and FATE Core.

So let's meet Quahtli.

Quahtli is of Quechua ethnic heritage, originally living in Peru, but having travelled the world to see many different places, and having many new experiences. A few years ago, she met and fell in love with a woman named Cecilia. Quahtli's natural wanderlust and sense of adventure subsided enough for her to settle down with Cecilia. At first, they would travel together, seeing new places, but Cecilia suffered chronic depression, and after a short time, their adventures together grew less frequent. Now, Quahtli stays with Cecilia full time to help care for her and treat her depression.

PinkFae Archive #6: Social Stigma in Roleplaying Games

The time has come to repost another PinkFae article. As a reminder, or for those who are new to this blog, the PinkFae Archives are repostings of the articles I wrote for the trans-inclusive gaming blog pinkfae.com, before that site became defunct. Since I don't want all those articles I wrote to be lost, I am reposting them here on my personal blog. Today's entry was originally published on 7 February 2016. I hope you enjoy it!

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I was introduced to GURPS (the Generic Universal Role Playing System, published by Steve Jackson Games) in 1991. I admired the flexibility and adaptability of the system, as well as its realism and the fact that it encouraged rounded, dynamic characters. It didn't limit possible character traits to attributes and skills, but had mental, emotional, and social advantages and disadvantages. This allowed players to emulate a personality more fully than in games like Dungeons and Dragons. But there was one disadvantage that I have never given a character: Social Stigma. It provides an in-game mechanic for simulating a character that belongs to a group that is deemed by his or her society to be inferior. In looking back on it, I realise that I didn't fully grasp the possibilities of this disadvantage. Now, I have learned much, and I would love the opportunity to play a character with this disadvantage.

Inclusive NPCs Volume 1: Cedar

In PinkFae Archive #3, I mentioned that a good way to foster diversity and tolerance within the gaming community is to add diverse NPCs to your game. I've done this myself on several occasions. However, I also realise that it's not always easy for people to develop a diverse cast of characters for use in their games.

So, to that end, I am going to start a new series of posts called 'Inclusive NPCs.' Today's entry will be the first in that series, in which I introduce you to Cedar. I encourage you to adapt and use any NPCs that I publish here in your games as you see fit. With that in mind, I will (for both this entry and for any subsequent entries in this series) provide a basic write-up in four of the most common systems: D20, GURPS, the original World of Darkness, and FATE Core.

So let us meet Cedar. Cedar is an intersex agender individual who has chosen to become a vigilante. As a genderless person, Cedar prefers the use of gender-neutral pronouns 'they' and 'them' (as in 'They are a vigilante,' and 'Cedar has few friends, but all their friends greatly enjoy spending time with them'). Cedar was the child of parents who believed in the sanctity of the human body, and so refused to allow any surgical alteration to bring Cedar in line with any particular gender identity. As they grew up, Cedar presented as female until adolescence, when they began to explore the possibilities of being intersex. Eventually, they decided to eschew gender roles entirely, and began to identify as agender. Motivated by the mistreatment that they often received at the hands of others, Cedar chose to become a protector, and studied combat arts so that they could prowl the streets at night in search of people in need of help. Now twenty-five years old, Cedar considers themself to be an accomplished defender of the weak and helpless.

My Personal History of Roleplaying Games

I spent some time chatting with a friend recently. In the course of the conversation, I ended up describing to her how I got into gaming, and which games I've played, in rough order from earliest to most recent.

It occurs to me that this may be of interest to others, if only in part because my path into gaming was so very different from that of most other gamers. So I think I will describe it to you, my faithful readers.

It's all my father's fault, really. When I was a teenager (15 or 16, as I recall), my father brought home a number of Marvel comic books. He was an executive in the regional offices for Hardee's, the fast food restaurant, before it was purchased by Carl's Jr. At the time, Hardee's was considering doing a merchandising promo with some Marvel characters, and so he brought home a handful of issues of various titles for research. There was an Iron Man, a couple of different Spider-Man titles, an Incredible Hulk, and so forth. But the two that caught my attention were the Uncanny X-Men #258 and Wolverine #23.

I Want to Play More Games

Note: The article begins below. I'm going to try something different. I'm contemplating the idea of making this blog a podcast as well. To that end, I've made today's entry into a prototype podcast. Let me know what you think. Or, if you're not interested, skip to the regular text version below the podcast.

It's my own fault, really.

I should never have agreed to play with them. John decided that, for his birthday, he wanted to run a special two-session game. We played The Dresden Files Role Playing Game. I played a young changeling who had just recently learned of his faerie heritage and was trying to learn more about his father to understand why he would agree to enter into a somewhat deleterious relationship with a faerie woman. There was also a necromancer, a witch, and a vampire of the Yellow Court. For the first session, we also had a were-armadillo, but that player's son fell ill and he had to miss the second session.

Ever since then, I've been wanting to play more games. It didn't help that, as I was sitting around with the Dork Spouse and two of my good friends, we somehow managed to talk about the Little Fears RPG that I have. I've only been involved in one session of that game, which did not turn out well, because I was GMing for a group of Butt Kickers and Power Gamers who were unable to appreciate the 'you are a child fighting against the monsters from Closetland that adults cannot perceive' aspect of the game.

A close look at combat and other systems

I was thinking this morning about the combat systems in roleplaying games. With the exception of Fiasco (and possibly Amber Diceless Roleplaying which I've never been able to try), the mechanics of any game system focus very heavily on combat.

Rules systems vary from incredibly complex and detailed, with exacting descriptions of any foreseeable permutations described (like those in Dungeons and Dragons or GURPS) to vague and intuitive (like Little Fears). But no matter the system, it is always the most detailed part of the rulebook (unless you count the magic system, but given how many of the spells described in most games are usually most applicable in combat situations, the magic section may as well count as part of the combat system).

This makes sense, given the way that roleplaying games grew out of miniatures war games. It's only reasonable that the first RPGs were, in essence, a system for emulating combat between individual characters.

Player Aids

Once, many years ago, I participated in a game of Dungeons and Dragons set in an alternate history version of Middle Earth. I did this primarily at the request of the GM, who wanted an experienced gamer to assist the newbies, as they were having trouble progressing in the plot.

This was  a challenging situation, not only because I dislike D&D, but because after every session, when we received XP and levelled up, there was a protracted period of passing around the one copy of the Player's Guide so that players could choose new skills, acquire new feats, learn new spells, etc. It was a boring time, sat waiting for the book to get back round to me, as all the other players fought over who got to look at it next.

This inspired me to create a booklet that I could easily and cheaply photocopy which contained all the necessary information not only for spending experience, but also for walking the players through the character creation process, step by step. I'd hand this out to players during the chargen session, and let them go, and be nearby if anyone had any questions. Nobody had to wait for the book to get to them, because everyone had their own copy.

Story versus Action

I was unable to post an entry last week. I apologise. It has been a crazy spring season. Although it's not technically summer yet, my 'summer season' began today, so I expect fewer obstacles for a while.

Today, I want to talk about an exchange I had on Tuesday. I was at the weekly meeting of the local board game club, when two young men walked into the building and said that they were hoping to get to attend, but would need to ensure that they had a ride home. I offered my services. So they stayed, and games were played by everyone present, and at the end of the night, I ferryed them to their residence.

As we were driving, we the conversation turned to role-playing games. They asked me if I had ever played Dungeons and Dragons. I informed them that yes, I had, but that I was not a fan of the game, because it emphasised hack-and-slash over storytelling. They attempted to defend their beloved game, saying the usual things like 'It's not the game that determines the story's structure, it's the GM,' and 'We've played in games that have great stories.'

Which is true, to an extent, but what they don't seem to notice is that the game's mechanics have a distinct effect on the types of stories being told. I've talked about this before, but only in passing.

Your input needed for the direction of this blog

As I mentioned last week, I've been getting a fair amount of traffic from around the world. But one thing I've noticed is that, by far, the posts that are getting the most views are the Board Game Reviews. I've published 85 entries in this blog so far (this entry is number 86).

Entries	Number of entries	Percentage of total entries	Number of views	Percentage of views
Total Entries	85	100%	2201	100%
Board Game Reviews	19	22.4%	1647	74.8%
Other entries	66	77.6%	554	25.2%

Anyone can see that there is clearly a massive disparity there. Obviously, people are coming to my blog for the board game reviews (interesting note: so far, my review of Storming the Castle has the most views, with 358, followed by Anima: Shadow of Omega with 340, then Three Musketeers: The Queen's Pendants at 221). Not many people seem to care about my other entries (the largest page views on the non-Board Game Review entries are the ones I wrote about new GURPS divination spells (part 1 had 38 views, and part 2 had 121).

So my question for you good people is this: Should I stick to writing only board game reviews? Or do you think I should keep doing what I'm doing and let the traffic go where it will regardless of what I'm writing?

Please leave your response in the comment section below. I'm really looking forward to hearing what you lovely people have to say!

Until next week,

Game on!

My Game In Progress

I've mentioned here before that I'm working on writing a roleplaying game. I think it's high time I talked about that.

I'm actually working on two games. They use the same system; I started writing Shifters and then realised that the system worked really well for an RPG set in the Tron universe. So I've begun adapting the rules for a game called The Grid.

I got the idea for Shifters when playing with a group that would cycle through GMs; one GM would run a game, then another GM would take over and run a different game. We played Changeling a lot, and one of the games was a crossover of Mage: The Ascension and Werewolf: The Apocalypse. Several of the players in that group were new to gaming, and there was talk of introducing them to a lot of different RPGs. I found myself worrying about the fact that every time we switched to a new genre, we'd have to teach them a new system and spend time creating new characters. Even if we'd used a universal system like GURPS, we'd still have to make new characters every time we switched genres.

Tabletop Role Playing Games

In 1971, Gary Gygax's game Chainmail (which he adapted from a rules system created by his friend Jeff Perren) was first published. This was a miniatures wargame, along the same lines as Warhammer 40,000 and Bolt Action. It had rules for mass combat, jousting, and single combat, and also contained a supplement that allowed you to include fantasy elements (magic, wizards, etc) in your war game.

Dave Arneson later took those rules and merged them with his own ideas for controlling a single warrior instead of an entire platoon. He showed this adaptation to Gygax, and the two of them created Dungeons and Dragons from it. Thus, the first roleplaying game was born.

The idea took off, and Gygax released another RPG two years later, Boot Hill. Variations on the original D&D soon sprang up, such as The Complete Warlock, by Robert Cowan, Dave Clark, Kenneth M. Dahl, and Nick Smith, and Tunnels and Trolls by Ken St. Andre. Bunnies and Burrows was an early attempt to push the boundaries of what was possible in an RPG, and as early as 1977, gamers had already started to adapt existing franchises with the introduction of the game Flash Gordon and the Warriors of Mongo.

Game Clubs

So, you have a problem. You love to play games, but you don't have many people with whom to play. Maybe all your friends are too busy, or their schedules conflict with yours. Perhaps the people with whom you used to play have moved away, or no longer have a lot of interest in playing games. Maybe you've just arrived in a new city and don't know anyone yet. But whatever the reason, you're stuck at home wishing you could play games, but not having anyone to sit down at the table with you.

What do you do?

Well, your friendly neighbourhood Game Dork is here with a solution for you. The answer to your dilemma is simple: join a game club.

There are ridiculous numbers of game clubs. They're all over the place. I've learned of many in places I wouldn't have ever expected to find one. But I think you'll find that once you've joined a club, you'll make new friends, discover new games, and have the opportunity to scratch that gaming itch that's been bothering you for so long.

Eiru: Part 5 - Setting

We're nearing the end of the Eiru series. This post will introduce the general setting of Eiru: magic and technology. The previous four posts will be useful in understanding the information below.

This being designed for GURPS 4th edition, it will of course describe everything in GURPS terms. Thus, the GURPS Basic Set will be useful in deciphering the gibberish below, as well as the 4th edition version of GURPS Magic. And of course, the disclaimer:

The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the GURPS system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.

Technology in Eiru

Eiru is a TL 2 world, but their technology is retarded in the areas of construction and warfare. With the exception of the Fir Bolg, who know how to create any of the items crafted by the other races but simply choose not to do so in most cases, all the people in Eiru have the same weapons, buildings, farming techniques, and so forth.

Eiru: Part 4 - Fir Bolg

We conclude the series of races in Eiru with our last entry: the Fir Bolg.

Again, for safety's sake, we include the disclaimer.

The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the GURPS system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.

The Fir Bolg are a race of humanoids, smaller than humans (around 4 feet tall), with a thin covering of fur. Although they are slightly more bestial than the other races in Eiru, they are not animals. They have a true culture and possess technology just as the other races do. They are not fully bipedal, having a stooped posture. But they speak the same languages as the other races (in fact, they have more languages than even the humans do).